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U.S. investors seek comfort in flood of data

Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 29, 2019

By Sinéad Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street will be watching next week’s economic data with a laser focus after a dismal February jobs report and recessionary warning signals from U.S. Treasury yields.

After the longest U.S. government shutdown on record, bad weather and a late 2018 equities sell-off muddied market participants’ view on the U.S. economy in recent months, they are hoping for a clearer view from upcoming data.

Investors have been anxious for reassurance since U.S. Treasury 10-year note yields last Friday fell below three-month Treasury bill yields for the first time since 2007.

The S&P fell almost 2 percent that day as yield curve inversions are widely viewed as recessionary indicators and this one occurred two days after the U.S. Federal Reserve pulled back on expected rate hikes amid signs of slowing economic growth.

“Investors are going to be hyper-sensitive to data,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management in Chicago. “The yield curve inversion is the manifestation of investors’ fears that the U.S. is getting caught up in a global slowdown.”

Many investors say they do not expect a U.S. recession any time soon. But they are seeking confirmation for this optimism in next week’s data, which includes retail sales, manufacturing activity, durable goods orders and non-farm payrolls.

Reports that meet or beat expectations “would suggest the soft patch we entered the year with is temporary” and would confirm economic projections for 2019, said Russell Price, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan.

February’s U.S. retail sales data, due on Monday, and the March jobs report, scheduled for Friday, may be the most closely watched indicators as economists want reassurance on the spending power and confidence of U.S. consumers, which represent about 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

U.S. non-farm payroll growth almost stalled in February, with only 20,000 jobs created. Economists polled by Reuters last expected an average of 170,000 new jobs for March.

January retail sales rose a modest 0.2 percent after a December decline, but were not seen as strong enough to alter slowing U.S. economic momentum. Economists, on average, expect a February increase of 0.3 percent.

“If we were to witness a faltering of the U.S consumer, that would be very difficult for markets, which are relying on the U.S. consumer to propel the cycle through at least another year,” said Frances Donald, head of macroeconomic strategy at Manulife in Toronto.

Graphic: Jobs rebound sharply in month following last two slowdowns – https://tmsnrt.rs/2HNQePZ

But Donald expects a rebound in both retail sales and jobs, since the last reports were weakened by the December-January government shutdown. She will also watch durable goods data, due on Tuesday, for a view on corporate capital spending.

“I have less conviction capex will take off markedly, but if we do see an improvement, that would be a substantial surprise,” said Donald.

Strong capex would also surprise TD Ameritrade Chief Market Strategist JJ Kinahan, who says companies have stalled spending as they await the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks.

Kinahan says U.S.-China tensions could mute market reactions to data “unless it’s so far off to the upside or the downside.” The two countries are due to negotiate in Washington, D.C., next week after what Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said were “constructive” talks in Beijing this week.

Options contracts on the S&P 500 Index and its tracking fund, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, show a modest uptick in the volatility priced into contracts expiring next Friday, compared with other near-term expirations.

“We should expect more volatile days,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis. “Probably the job numbers will be the biggest focus, partly because of February’s miss and partly due to the overall concerns about slower growth.”

Manufacturing data will also be under close scrutiny on Monday after weak U.S. and German March data last Friday, according to Cresset’s Ablin.

While Ameriprise’s Price is expecting solid data, he cautions: “The market has more downside risk than upside risk primarily because of the yield inversion, the concern over the tone of economic data over the past few months, not just in the United States, but around the world.”

(Additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

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French World War II soldier’s colorful, abstract paintings capture ‘everything that he felt’ after horrors of battle

Guy de Montlaur grew up knowing he would have to “fight the enemy”, but when he experienced the horrors of World War II firsthand, his life – and the art that he made – would change forever.

The French painter-turned-soldier took part in D-Day, battled a German in hand-to-hand combat and lived out the rest of his life with shrapnel in his face after being struck by cannon fire during an amphibious invasion of a Nazi-held Dutch island. Now, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is honoring his life and art with a special exhibit that also delves into the efforts the U.S. military made at the time to diagnose and treat combat stress.

“Everything that he felt during those years -- the anger, the terrible things he saw during the fighting, is translated into his art,” his daughter, Dauphine Sloan, told Fox News.

A self-portrait Montlaur made in 1939, during the outbreak of World War II, then another one he did of himself around 30 years later. What he saw during the battles would later play a pivotal role in the art he created. (Courtesy Montlaur Family)

A self-portrait Montlaur made in 1939, during the outbreak of World War II, then another one he did of himself around 30 years later. What he saw during the battles would later play a pivotal role in the art he created. (Courtesy Montlaur Family)

The late Frenchman’s abstract paintings that are now on display, with titles like “One June early morning” – a nod to D-Day – and “fire”, are colorful, emotional and foreboding. Sloan says his art is a “testimony to what it was like to have those experiences.

“He’s not alone,” Sloan told Fox News. “He is just one person, he was lucky to have this talent and put it all in his art.

“A lot of people are not able to get it out of their system and they keep it to themselves and it drives them to a life of depression or a lot of difficulties,” she added.

Born in 1918, Montlaur was always told stories of how his family members fought in World War I, where his father survived being gassed by German forces. Montlaur took a keen interest in drawing and painting while he was young, and would spend time touring the sprawling Louvre Museum in Paris.

Montlaur later went on to learn oil painting techniques at an art academy in the area, but when World War II broke out, he was ready to defend his home, Sloan says.

“He grew up with this idea that the enemy was right next door and… he would have to fight the enemy,” she told Fox News. “When the war started in September 1939 he was just at the right place and for him that was a good thing, he was never afraid.”

Montlaur's 1977 painting "One June Early Morning", which the Museum says references D-Day, which he took part in.

Montlaur's 1977 painting "One June Early Morning", which the Museum says references D-Day, which he took part in. (Courtesy Montlaur Family)

Montlaur put down his paintbrush and left behind the art he created before the war – which included landscapes, horse scenes and portraits – and joined the French Army for a cross-border invasion of Germany.

The following year, the Germans overwhelmed the French and Montlaur eventually made his way to England -- by way of Spain and Portugal -- to link up with the Free French Forces, under the command of exiled General Charles de Gaulle, the museum said.

Montlaur then became a sergeant in the Fusiliers-Marins Commandos (Marine Riflemen Commandos), a unit of more than 170 Frenchmen who would go on to suffer 25 percent casualties during their landing on Sword Beach on D-Day. His role there – where he was wounded twice -- later was portrayed by French actor Georges Riviere in the 1962 war film “The Longest Day”.

Montlaur pushed on in the Normandy campaign for more than two months and saw his last combat in November 1944, during an amphibious invasion of the heavily-guarded Dutch island of Walcheren.

This 1969 painting titled "Il dort" (he is sleeping), is Montlaur's "rendering of a fallen comrade on D-Day", the Museum says.

This 1969 painting titled "Il dort" (he is sleeping), is Montlaur's "rendering of a fallen comrade on D-Day", the Museum says. (Courtesy Montlaur Family)

The Museum says Montlaur’s landing craft was hit by German cannon fire during that fight, piercing his face with shell fragments, killing seven men onboard and causing it to sink around 150 feet offshore. Despite the injuries, Montlaur went ashore and fought with his unit in a house-to-house battle to secure the island, wanted by the Allied forces for its port.

For his service, Montlaur received the French Croix de Guerre -- an award for valor -- and the Legion of Honor, the country's highest award for military and civil merits.

After World War II ended, Montlaur once again picked up his paintbrush. From then until his death in 1977, at age 58, his art was influenced by his extensive combat service. A car accident he was involved in during the 1960s also caused his wartime trauma to resurface, the museum said.

“I want to shout: ‘Just look! Look at this mystery! It pierces the eyes!’ And nobody sees it. Nobody but me. People see colors, shadows, lights, forms. They see (but what do I know they really see?) the canvas, the stretcher nails,” he wrote about his work, according to the museum. “And I don’t understand why they can’t guess at all the distress here, right in front of them, as it was during the war: the noise, death, love, betrayal; the lies, and the fear. And still, more than I cannot say, but I know how to do it.”

WWII US AIRMEN WHO DIED SAVING BRITISH CHILDREN HONORED WITH FLYOVER 75 YEARS ON

Sloan told Fox News that “he never explained his paintings because for him everything was there.

“We grew up with our own interpretations, he told us you can see in these paintings whatever you like, just figure it out,” she said.

Montaur's 1951 "Composition Beach" painting. The Museum says "Colleville Beach was Montlaur’s inspiration" for this work, and "in 1944, the beach at the village of Colleville-sur-Mer was code-named Omaha and was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting on D-Day."

Montaur's 1951 "Composition Beach" painting. The Museum says "Colleville Beach was Montlaur’s inspiration" for this work, and "in 1944, the beach at the village of Colleville-sur-Mer was code-named Omaha and was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting on D-Day." (Courtesy Montlaur Family)

The exhibit at the museum, titled “In Memory of What I Cannot Say: The Art of Guy de Montlaur,” will showcase archival photography, artifacts from the time of war in which Montlaur served, and video segments from John Huston’s 1946 documentary Let There Be Light, which analyzes WWII veterans who suffered from combat stress.

The condition is defined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as: “A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances related to combat operations.”

Larry Decuers, the exhibit’s curator, told Fox News it will also feature a letter from an American soldier expressing his desire to undergo electroshock therapy, believing it would help him erase the memories of combat.

Decuers says World War II soldiers who were burnt out from fighting – causing some to shake all over -- often would be whisked away from the front lines to stations set up within earshot of the battlefield. There, they would be given drugs like sodium amytal, which would induce them into a prolonged sleep.

After waking up, the soldiers would be given a shower, a clean uniform, a hot meal and a re-evaluation. Around 30 percent of the time, Decuers said, that treatment wasn’t enough and the troops would be evacuated to hospitals and never see combat again. But for most, they returned from the stations to the battlefield.

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“It probably wasn’t the best thing for the soldiers, but considering they were having a manpower crisis at that point, they needed everyone they could get,” Decuers said.

The exhibit will run through Oct. 20 and the Museum says it will be “further explored through a robust schedule of free public programming and educational initiatives, all produced in partnership with local veterans groups and art institutions.”

Source: Fox News National

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Army Calls Base Housing Hazards 'Unconscionable,' Plagued by Toxic Mold

Army Calls Base Housing Hazards 'Unconscionable,' Plagued by Toxic Mold

Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army’s top leadership vowed Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes.

In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army’s privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families.

The secretary’s conclusion: Private real estate firms tasked with managing and maintaining the housing stock have been failing the families they serve, and the Army itself neglected its duties.

“You’ve brought to light a big issue that demands our attention,” Esper said Friday morning at the Pentagon. “It is frankly unconscionable that our soldiers and their families would be living in these types of conditions when we ask so much of them day in and day out.”

The Reuters reporting described rampant mold and pest infestations, childhood lead poisoning, and service families often powerless to challenge private landlords in business with their military employers. Many families said they feared retaliation if they spoke out. The news agency described hazards across Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps base housing communities.

The reports have already spurred a raft of reforms and investigations, and on Wednesday, U.S. senators pledged more action to come during Senate Armed Services Committee hearings.

Two days after those hearings, the Army outlined to Reuters its immediate and longer-term plan of reform.

“Our instinct is this is bigger even than what’s been reported, and we want to get to the bottom of it, get to the bottom of it fast,” said General Mark Milley, the Army’s Chief of Staff.

To do so, the Army said it will conduct an extensive survey of its family housing across the country to define the scope of potentially hazardous conditions. Reports in the past, provided by the private industry companies themselves, painted a “false picture,” Milley said.

Army leaders singled out mold infestations as the leading cause of health concerns. On Thursday, the Army ordered its private partner at Maryland’s Fort Meade, Corvias Group, to conduct air quality testing in the nearly 2,800 homes it operates there, and report back within 60 days. The Army expects Corvias to cover the costs, up to $500 per home. The directive came after Army leaders visited Meade, hearing first-hand about pervasive mold and maintenance lapses.

An earlier Reuters report described Meade families suffering from mold-related illnesses, ceilings collapsing in children’s bedrooms, and maintenance neglect leaving families unprotected from hazards.

In addition, the Army said it will begin renegotiating the 50-year housing contracts it has with its seven private housing partners, including Corvias. As Reuters reported, Corvias stands to earn more than $1 billion in fees and other compensation from six of the 13 military bases where it operates. Its fees continued flowing even as maintenance lapses plagued service families.

When unsafe conditions persist, the Army will seek to reduce or withhold fees from its private partners. And, it is examining ways to give service families more avenues to stop rent payments if problems are not quickly addressed, Milley said.

The re-negotiation process could begin as early as next week, when Army Secretary Esper will start holding regular meetings with the CEOs of its private housing partners.

Another problem the Army acknowledged: Military commands across the country, many times relying on the word of private partners, allowed housing hazards to fester. Now, Milley said, Army commanders will be tasked with greater oversight.

The Military Housing Privatization Initiative, the largest-ever corporate takeover of federal housing, began in the late 1990s in an effort to rebuild an aging military housing stock by enlisting private developers and property managers.

“Just because someone said it’s privatized,” Milley said, “doesn’t wash our hands of the responsibility to take care of our soldiers and their families.”

Esper added: “We are acting now. More to follow.”

Source: NewsMax America

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No need for Shinzo Abe: Trump already nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

FILE PHOTO - U.S. President Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Abe hold bilateral meeting on sidelines of 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York
FILE PHOTO - U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

February 18, 2019

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not saying whether or not he nominated Donald Trump for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, but the question may be moot: the U.S. president has been put forward by others for the prestigious award.

During a White House news conference on Friday, Trump said the Japanese premier had given him “the most beautiful copy” of a five-page nomination letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Since then Abe has declined to say whether he had done so. Regardless, Trump has already been nominated by two Norwegian lawmakers.

“We have nominated him of course for the positive developments on the Korean Peninsula,” Per-Willy Amundsen, who was Justice Minister in Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s cabinet in 2016-2018, told Reuters.

“It has been a very difficult situation and the tensions have since lowered and a lot of it is due to Trump’s unconventional diplomatic style,” he added.

Amundsen, who is a member of the rightwing Progress Party, wrote a letter to the award committee together with his parliamentary colleague Christian Tybring-Gjedde, he said.

The letter was submitted in June, immediately after a summit Trump held in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un aimed at easing tensions and tackling Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Tybring-Gjedde, who sits on the Norwegian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, also confirmed the joint nomination of Trump when contacted by Reuters.

“A possible award would of course depend on the talks leading to a credible disarmament deal,” he said.

A wide range of people can nominate for the Nobel Peace Prize, including members of parliaments and governments, heads of state, university professors of history, social sciences or law and past Nobel Peace Prize laureates, among others.

The deadline for nominations for the 2019 prize, which will be announced on Oct. 11., was Jan. 31.

The five-strong Norwegian Nobel Committee, which decides who wins the award, does not comment on nominations, keeping secret for 50 years the names of nominators and unsuccessful nominees.

Still, it did say earlier this month that 304 candidates were nominated for this year’s prize, of which 219 are individuals and 85 are organizations.

Last year’s prize was jointly awarded to Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad.

(Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Dollar holds gains, sterling up on Brexit deadline extension

An employee counts U.S. dollar bills at a money exchange office in central Cairo
An employee counts U.S. dollar bills at a money exchange office in central Cairo, Egypt, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.

March 22, 2019

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar largely held onto the previous session’s gains in early Asian trade on Friday, while sterling edged up on news that Britain could leave the European Union without a Brexit deal at a slightly later date.

Against a basket of key rival currencies, the dollar was about 0.1 percent lower at 96.394.

The index had recovered three-quarters of a percent overnight after falling to a more than six-week low on Wednesday on news the Federal Reserve had abandoned plans to raise rates this year.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday welcomed the European Union’s decision to delay Brexit, saying that lawmakers in the British parliament now had clear choices about what to do next.

Britain could leave the European Union without a Brexit deal on April 12 if lawmakers next week reject May’s agreement with Brussels, EU leaders said on Thursday.

They also gave the British leader an extra two months, until May 22, to leave if she wins next week’s vote in parliament.

Sterling rose one-sixth of a percent to $1.3126. It had retraced sharp losses overnight, when it touched as low as $1.3004.

“Whenever we get news of the can being kicked down the road, the market reacts positively,” said Bart Wakabayashi, Tokyo branch manager at State Street Bank.

“Investors are probably shying away from exposure to the UK right now in terms of positioning – probably going back to benchmark exposures and wait-and-see mode,” he said.

The Bank of England kept interest rates steady on Thursday and said most businesses felt as ready as they could be for a no-deal Brexit.

Figures on Friday showed Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.7 percent in February from a year earlier, slowing from the previous month’s pace.

The data underlines the fragile nature of Japan’s economic recovery, as escalating U.S.-China trade frictions and slowing Chinese growth weigh on exports and business sentiment.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was a shade lower at 110.71 yen, staying well away from the 111-level last breached before the Fed’s rate announcement.

Three in four Japanese companies expect U.S.-China trade frictions to last until at least late 2019, a sharp contrast to market hopes that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping might soon strike a deal, a Reuters poll found.

The euro was a tad lower at $1.1370, extending losses into a second session after dipping one-third of a percent overnight.

Data showing the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week had helped lift the dollar overnight.

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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No upset alert for No. 1 seed Gonzaga in first-round rout

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Farleigh Dickinson vs Gonzaga
Mar 21, 2019; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Rui Hachimura (21) reacts after a three point basket against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights during the first half in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

March 22, 2019

Rui Hachimura scored 21 points, Killian Tillie had a season-high 17 and top-seeded Gonzaga dominated from the start in an 87-49 beatdown of Fairleigh Dickinson in a first-round West Region game Thursday in Salt Lake City.

Gonzaga set a school record for margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game.

Brandon Clarke had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Bulldogs. He combined with fellow frontcourt players Hachimura and Tillie to make 21 of 32 shots against the 16th-seeded Knights.

Gonzaga, stewing for nine days after a loss in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game, was relentless from the opening tip, preventing the Knights from making a basket through the first six-and-a-half minutes.

The Bulldogs went up by 10 points with 15:49 to go in the first half, by 20 with 9:35 left and by 30 with 1:45 remaining.

Gonzaga (31-3) will play in Saturday’s second round against No. 9 Baylor, a 78-69 winner over No. 8 Syracuse later Thursday.

Fairleigh Dickinson, which defeated Prairie View 82-76 in a First Four game Tuesday, shot just 30 percent (15 of 50).

Mike Holloway Jr. and Elyjah Williams each scored 10 points to lead the Knights (21-14). Senior guard Darnell Edge, who scored 33 against Prairie View and was Northeast Conference tournament Most Valuable Player, mustered only seven against Gonzaga on 2-of-11 shooting.

The Bulldogs had a 47-30 rebounding advantage.

Gonzaga poured in the final 19 points of the first half to take a 53-17 lead into the locker room.

That marked the ninth time this season that Gonzaga reached 50 in a half, and the 53 points were six more than it scored in a 60-47 loss to Saint Mary’s in the WCC tournament title game.

Hachimura scored 14 points in the first half and had as many baskets (five) as FDU. Gonzaga had more fast-break points (18) than Fairleigh Dickinson had first-half points.

The Knights played better in the second half, needing just over seven minutes to match their first-half scoring total, but Gonzaga never faltered in winning a first-round game for the 11th consecutive year.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Kim-Putin summit was short on substance, but had symbolism both men need: Bill Richardson

Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson said on “America’s Newsroom”  Thursday that the first summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was short on substance, but long on the kind of symbolism that both men need.

“It’s not much substance,” said Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico. “No economic assistance went to Kim, but it fulfills the objectives of the two leaders.”

“For Putin, it shows he is still a major player on the world stage. For Kim, it shows he is not isolated diplomatically,” Richardson said.

“And basically Kim is building support in two areas with Russia – one, give me a little sanctions relief, in other words, cheat a little bit on the border, let some of that oil come in. And secondly, I think he is saying Russia needs to be part of the countries that supervise any deal between the U.S. and North Korea, the way they used to 10 years ago, the six-party talks included Russia, but they’ve been excluded the last 10 years.”

After the two leaders’ summit, Putin said that the North Korean leader confirmed during it that he is willing to give up his nuclear weapons — but only if he gets an ironclad security guarantee first.

The Russian president stressed that Moscow and Washington both want North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. But he said the security guarantees should be underwritten by multiple countries, hinting at an arrangement like the six-nation talks that Richardson referred to in the “America’s Newsroom” interview.

Putin added that Kim encouraged him to explain the nuances of Pyongyang’s position to President Donald Trump. He said he’s willing to share details of the summit with the American president.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi. Kim says he’s open to having a third summit with Trump if the United States could offer mutually-acceptable terms for an agreement by the end of the year. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi. Kim says he’s open to having a third summit with Trump if the United States could offer mutually-acceptable terms for an agreement by the end of the year. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Putin’s remarks, after the one-day summit just off the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, reflect Kim’s growing frustration with Washington’s efforts to maintain “maximum pressure” until the North commits to denuclearization.

Richardson said that the Trump administration should proceed with caution in its dealings with Kim.

“I hope the president is not too hasty in saying ‘Let’s have another summit,’” Richardson said. “He has to enable the secretary of state to narrow the differences. We have not decided what our strategy is and the North Koreans want us to have full sanctions off. We don’t want that to happen unless they take concrete steps toward denuclearization, which they have not.”

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Richardson, who traveled to North Korea several times as a special U.S. envoy, said Trump should let others in his administration conduct talks with the North Korean leader's officials to bring the two sides closer together on denuclearization and the sanctions before another possible meeting between Trump and Kim.

Trump’s much-anticipated meeting with Kim, held in late February in the Vietnamese capital, ended abruptly and without the two leaders signing any agreements. Trump spoke with reporters soon after the talks broke down and said the dispute over sanctions was the deal breaker. Trump said he walked away from his second summit with Kim Jong Un because Kim demanded the U.S. lift all of its sanctions, a claim that North Korea’s delegation called a rare news conference in the middle of the night to deny.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Joe Biden’s brain surgeon said his former patient is “totally in the clear” as speculation over the candidate’s health — with Biden possibly becoming the oldest president in U.S. history — is likely to become a campaign issue.

The former vice president, who had been perceived by many as the strongest potential contender for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, formally announced his candidacy Thursday.

But Biden’s age – 76 – is expected to become a source of attacks from a younger generation of Democrats not because of obvious generational differences, but possibly for actual health concerns if Biden gets into office.

WHY THE MEDIA ARE CONVINCED JOE BIDEN WILL IMPLODE

Biden himself agreed last year that “it’s totally legitimate” for people to ask questions about his health if he decides to run for president, given his medical history — which has included brain surgery in 1988.

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality,” Biden told “CBS This Morning.” “Can I still run up the steps of Air Force Two? Am I still in good shape? Am I – do I have all my faculties? Am I energetic? I think it’s totally legitimate people ask those questions.”

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality. …  I think it’s totally legitimate [that] people ask those questions.”

— Joe Biden

But Dr. Neal Kassell, the neurosurgeon who operated on Biden for an aneurysm three decades ago, told the Washington Examiner that Biden appears to be “totally in the clear” — and even joked that the operation made Biden “better than how he was.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it,” Kassell said. “That’s more than I can say about all the other candidates or the incumbents.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it.”

— Dr. Neal Kassell

BIDEN’S CLAIM HE DIDN’T WANT OBAMA TO ENDORSE TRIGGERS MOCKERY

At the same time, however, Biden hasn’t been forthcoming about his health at least since 2008 when he released his medical records as a vice presidential candidate. The disclosure that time revealed some fairly minor issues such as an irregular heartbeat in addition to detailing previous operations, including removing a benign polyp during a colonoscopy in 1996, the outlet reported.

It remains unclear if Biden had more aneurysms. Some medical experts say that people who have had an aneurysm can have another one.

An aneurysm, or a weakening of an artery wall, can lead to a rupture and internal bleeding, potentially placing a patient’s life in jeopardy.

Biden won’t be the only Democrat grappling with old age. Sen. Bernie Sanders, another 2020 frontrunner, is currently 77 years old and agreed with Biden last year that their ages will be an issue in the race.

“It’s part of a discussion, but it has to be part of an overall view of what somebody is and what somebody has accomplished,” Sanders told Politico.

“Look, you’ve got people who are 50 years of age who are not well, right? You’ve got people who are 90 years of age who are going to work every day, doing excellent work. And obviously, age is a factor. But it depends on the overall health and wellbeing of the individual.”

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Sanders released his medical records in 2016, with a Senate physician saying in a letter that the senator was “in overall very good health.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

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The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

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At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

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