Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Sweet seats and candy canes: Inside Fiat Chrysler’s Toledo turnaround

FILE PHOTO: 2019 Jeep Wranglers move to the Final 1 assembly line at the Chrysler Jeep Assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio
FILE PHOTO: 2019 Jeep Wranglers move to the Final 1 assembly line at the Chrysler Jeep Assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, U.S., November 16, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

April 8, 2019

By Nick Carey and Ben Klayman

TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) – Lots of workplaces have a hot seat. At the Jeep assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, there is a “sweet seat.”

In the production line where Jeep Wrangler sport utility vehicles are made at the rate of about one a minute, a panel must be screwed into the bottom of the vehicle. It used to be back-breaking work for two union members to carry the panel and screw it on as the vehicle moved down the line.

Occasionally, they would miss screws.

Now two workers sit comfortably on adjacent chairs that follow the vehicle. Lasers point out where the screws go, reducing errors.

What is remarkable about the so-called “sweet seat” at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Toledo plant is that like many other innovations here, it originated with United Auto Workers union members on the factory floor.

Production workers here create proposals to simplify tasks that are “too heavy or too hard,” said millwright Greg Harman, who is on a team of 10 UAW workers that implements those ideas. A handful of automakers have adopted aspects of a similar system, pioneered by Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp.

The uncommon level of union collaboration with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) management in Toledo offers a road map for union negotiations this summer with Detroit’s Big 3: FCA, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co.

According to officials at the automakers, their key focus in this year’s contract talks will be on productivity and profitability in the face of an anticipated downturn in vehicle sales and non-unionized competition from the likes of Toyota, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Volkswagen AG.

That clashes with union demands to maintain healthcare benefits and boost job security, and comes on the heels of GM’s warning that it could shutter a car factory in Lordstown, Ohio, along with three other UAW-represented plants. GM’S move drew harsh criticism from President Donald Trump, and prompted the UAW’s new president to bulk up the strike fund – serving notice the union is not afraid of a fight over jobs.

At a time when national UAW membership fell 8 percent in 2018 after rising for nine consecutive years, and has failed to organize a single U.S. assembly plant owned by a European or Asian automaker, FCA’s Toledo plant has more than tripled its workforce to 5,700 workers since 2009. For a graphic, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2I4S0wa

The biggest reason: Americans’ love with the Wrangler and other high-margin SUVs.

The Wrangler became so hot that FCA started running the plant virtually round the clock. So UAW Local 12, which represents workers at the Toledo plant, pushed for a flexible system under which workers could choose to work between four and seven days per week – a first for any FCA plant.

Temporary workers fill in the gaps, and Local 12 sought more protections for those workers, including providing a clear path to full-time employment status.

“Our members went way, way, way beyond the call of duty to provide what the company’s needs were,” said Mark Epley, the plant’s union chairman. “It’s a competitive market out there and we know that any plant can be taken away at any time.”

Thanks largely to its success at FCA, UAW Local 12 has hit a 40-year high in membership through organizing workers at many other companies in the area, including a Dana Inc plant where workers make Wrangler axles.

SANTA ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE

Success at Toledo took years to build. A decade ago, when the former Chrysler Corp was going through its government-funded bankruptcy, Toledo had a reputation as the automaker’s worst-run plant.

As Italian automaker Fiat S.p.A took control of the Chrysler, then-Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne turned to Fiat executive Mauro Pino with a challenge: which legacy U.S. Chrysler plant should they use as a proving ground for what Fiat called “World Class Manufacturing,” a version of Toyota’s lean production strategy but adapted to the Italian automaker’s culture?

Pino chose Toledo with the idea of turning the worst performing plant into the best. He had two years to prove he could turn the plant around, he told Reuters in an interview outside Cleveland, where he now runs an Eaton Corp aircraft parts plant.

Pino found a workforce of around 1,700 people, demoralized by Chrysler’s bankruptcy. The plant produced just over 140,000 vehicles in 2009.

He began working to win the workers’ trust. He dressed as Santa Claus before Christmas 2010 and handed out candy canes to workers on the line, greeting each by name, workers at the plant recall.

Pino also pushed for more productivity but did so by asking workers how they would redesign their own cumbersome jobs.

    “Usually you need to convince people to change, but when they saw what we were doing they started coming to us,” he said.

“The new system gave everyone a voice,” said Cheryl Reash, a 36-year worker at the plant.

Tracy Seymour, also at the plant nearly 36 years, said the team of 10 millwrights – a team started by Pino – came up with a system for parts kits that eliminated the need for vast amounts of inventory on the line. That made it possible for workers to build 10 different engine types without having to bend over, lift heavy objects or walk off the line in search of parts.

“I wouldn’t run without their equipment,” Seymour said. “It would be impossible.”

RUNNING HOT

Over time, workers and managers at Toledo worked to unplug bottlenecks up and down the assembly line.

“Why we succeed and exceed is that union and management came together,” Seymour said.

Soaring customer demand for sport utility vehicles also helped the Toledo plant. As workers cranked out around 500,000 Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee SUVs annually from 2014 to 2016, the plant’s two production lines began running at well over 100 percent capacity, according to data from AutoForecast Solutions. This level of capacity utilization is rare in the industry.

Still, Fiat Chrysler could not keep up with demand in both the United States and in the 105 countries where the Toledo-made Wrangler is sold.

To ease the crunch, the company proposed moving the Cherokee to another factory so Toledo could make more Wranglers. In return, Local 12 was promised another new product. Baumhower said the local accepted the move based on that promise.

The plant is now ramping up production of the Gladiator pickup truck, which shares many parts with the Wrangler and is getting glowing reviews in the automotive media.

But while FCA’s Toledo success shows what can happen when a Detroit automaker and its union work together, it also shows how a strong local can also punch back. In February 2018, for instance, Local 12 publicly protested an FCA plan to replace 88 UAW-represented truck drivers with contractors, forcing the company to back down.

“We’re good at getting along if you want to get along,” said Bruce Baumhower, who has been president of Local 12 for 26 years. “And we can fight all day if you want to pick a fight.”

(Reporting By Nick Carey and Ben Klayman; Editing by Joseph White and Edward Tobin)

Source: OANN

0 0

Comoros opposition say presidential vote marred by irregularities

Comoros incumbent President Azali Assoumani casts his ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Mitsoudje
Comoros incumbent President Azali Assoumani casts his ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Mitsoudje, in Comoros March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Ali Amir Ahmed

March 24, 2019

MORONI (Reuters) – Opposition candidates said Sunday’s presidential poll in Comoros was marred by irregularities including barring of independent monitors and marking of ballot papers before voting began, charges rejected by the government.

About 300,000 voters in the Indian ocean archipelago of 800,000 people took part in the poll, with results expected to be announced by the electoral body CENI on Monday.

Incumbent Azali Assoumani, a former military officer, is widely expected to be re-elected from a field of 13 contenders.

“Election monitors for various independent candidates did not receive necessary accreditation documents to access the polling stations,” the 12 opposition candidates said in a joint statement on Sunday.

Some polling stations had opened earlier than the official time while some ballot boxes were already filled, they said.

The opposition also accused authorities of arresting some of their representatives and preventing others from accessing CENI’s premises.

Interior minister Mohamed Daoudou, who organized the poll, denied the opposition’s claims.

“The poll took place in a calm and peaceful atmosphere,” he said, adding voter turn out was 40 percent.

In the capital Moroni, groups of youths massed on main roads after polls closed in the early evening, erecting barricades and protesting against the alleged irregularities.

Last year Comoros was rattled by months of unrest as authorities moved to quell protests against Assoumani’s bid to extend presidential term limits.

People on the archipelago’s Anjouan island were angry that the move, which allowed Assoumani to participate in Sunday’s poll, would deny them the presidency under a system that rotates the post among the country’s three main islands.

(Reporting by Ali Amir Ahmed; editing by Elias Biryabarema and Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

0 0

Push to raise smoking age to 21 catches fire at state level

At 18, you have the right to vote, serve on a jury and serve your country.

But buy cigarettes? In a bid to snuff out smoking among teens, an increasing number of states are trying to delay that ‘right’ until age 21.

TEEN VAPING BOOM

New York and Maryland became the latest states to act this week. The New York state Senate voted Monday to raise the tobacco and e-cigarette purchasing age from 18 to 21, sending the bill to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk. The Democratic governor is expected to sign it – coming after New York City already raised its smoking age to 21 under the Bloomberg administration.

Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan is considering similar legislation that just passed the General Assembly but reportedly has not said whether he would sign it.

Katherine Ungar, executive director of Tobacco 21, the anti-smoking advocacy group backing the push, told Fox News that support for raising the smoking age “reaches across all demographics.”

“Increasing the sale age of all tobacco products will help counter tobacco company efforts to target young adults at a critical time when many move from experimenting with tobacco to regular smoking,” Ungar said.

As part of their push, Tobacco 21 is targeting products ranging from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco to e-cigarettes. Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, California, Maine, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arkansas and Washington D.C. have already raised their tobacco purchase age to 21, all in the last five years.

YOUTH SMOKING DECLINE STALLS

New York will soon join the list presuming Cuomo signs the state bill – and the governors of Illinois, Washington state and now Maryland are considering signing similar legislation. Several other states are pressing forward with their own bills including Florida, Ohio, Louisiana and Arizona.

Florida state Sen. David Simmons of Florida, a Republican who introduced the “Tobacco 21” legislation, told Fox News that he is “getting tremendous support.”

“It’s a common-sense issue,” he said.

A new law in Arkansas, meanwhile, would gradually raise the tobacco age from 18 to 21 over the next three years. State Rep. Lee Johnson, a Republican who introduced the legislation in his state, told Fox News: “While it won’t prevent all high school consumption of nicotine, I do believe it will be effective at reducing rates of use.” He notes that active military are exempt from the new rules.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that “Nearly 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers first try cigarette smoking by age 18” and that “Nearly 1 of every 5 high school students (20.8%) reported in 2018 that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days—an increase from 1.5% in 2011.” The CDC, in the report, recommended raising the tobacco age to 21 to curb youth tobacco product use.

Most pieces of Tobacco 21-backed legislation include prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes for those under 21 years old. That industry is not publicly opposing the legislation, however. A Juul spokesman reportedly said in reference to Ohio legislation that “Tobacco 21 laws have been shown to dramatically reduce youth smoking rates,” voicing support for raising the minimum purchase age for all tobacco products.

Altria, which owns Marlboro and a 35 percent stake in Juul, also told Fox News in a statement: “We agree that the current trends in underage e-vapor use must be addressed. Tobacco harm reduction for adults cannot succeed without effective measures to reduce underage use of all tobacco products. The best approach to achieving this goal is to increase the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. Taking this important step will address the main way underage youth gain access to tobacco products today – from friends who are of legal age.”

San Francisco, meanwhile, has proposed banning all e-cigarettes until the FDA has time to evaluate the risks associated with “vaping.”

Opponents of the legislation, however, have voiced concern that it could drive up illegal sales among young smokers.

Todd Maisch, CEO of The Illinois Chamber, a nonprofit group which lobbies for a variety of businesses, told Fox News “we remain opposed to the Tobacco 21 push” and that the legislation “creates a gray market in the industry, the more you restrict the use of a legal product the more you drive people to purchase on the gray or black market.”

Addressing one area of potential concern, many of the states have exceptions for active-military members between ages 18 and 21.

In Florida, Simmons said, “We believe that if you are serving in the military and you want to go ahead and smoke or take whatever other tobacco products that are permitted then you go ahead” and that “the overall danger is to young people.”

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Missouri man charged with infecting woman with HIV, then offering to pay for her silence

A Missouri man was charged Wednesday for allegedly infecting an unsuspecting woman with HIV and then offering to pay her for her silence once police became involved.

Marcus Price, 36, is facing two felony charges and the possibility of life in prison after authorities say he had unprotected sex with a woman in March 2018 and failed to tell her he was HIV positive, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

The woman, who has not been identified, only found out she was HIV positive when she was hospitalized later that same month.

PENNSYLVANIA BOY, 4, DIES AFTER BEING IMPALED WITH GLASS SHARD

According to a probable cause statement obtained by The News-Leader, Price tested positive since at least 2010 in Illinois. The woman had been tested a few months before her encounter with Price and did not have and sexually transmitted infections at the time.

In addition to being charged with recklessly infecting another person with HIV -  a Class A felony which could carry a life sentence - Price is also charged with witness tampering.

Price allegedly offered to pay the woman with money he was supposed to get from another legal settlement if she promised not to cooperate with investigators, KHOU reported.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The bases of that legal settlement was not disclosed.

Price is being held on a $50,000 bond in Greene County Jail.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

California city tests universal basic income program ahead of 2020

The city of Stockton, Calif., which launched a universal basic income pilot program earlier this year, will listen to stories from a select group of recipients of the no-strings-attached cash by the end of April, adding tangible anecdotes to the national political conversation on income inequality ahead of 2020.

NEW JERSEY'S LARGEST CITY PLANS TO TEST UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME PROGRAM

The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, a pilot program on universal basic income, launched in February, the Los Angeles Times reported.  Over 100 residents from the city’s lower-income neighborhoods will be administered $500 a month via debit cards for the next year and a half. The money comes without any restrictions, such as requiring recipients to be employed or maintain sobriety.

Head of Stockton’s program, Sukhi Samra, told the Los Angeles Times that 25 participants dubbed “storytellers” will offer their experiences on how the extra monthly cash has contributed to their lives. While data from the program’s research findings won’t be available until 2021, Samra expects anecdotes to resonate more with voters who could hear the potential effects of their political decisions.

Stockton became the first to move ahead on a universal income pilot, as other U.S. cities, including Newark, NJ and Chicago, consider similar programs that would deal out monthly payments to struggling residents. Programs in Canada and Finland were scrapped for being unstainable.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Stockton received $1 million in initial funding for the $3.1 million program from the Silicon-Valley-based organization The Economic Security Project. Further research should reveal how basic income programs could be sustained by local or federal governments on a more permanent basic.

Fox News' Brook Singman contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Southwest removes 737 MAX jets from schedule through August 5

FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California
FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 12, 2019

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co said on Thursday it would remove its 34 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets from its flying schedule through Aug. 5, leading to around 160 daily flight cancellations during the revised summer schedule.

In a statement, Southwest President Tom Nealon said the decision is meant to “increase the reliability of our schedule and reduce the amount of last-minute flight changes,” especially during the summer travel season.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

0 0

Retail Sales See Largest Drop in a Decade

Even as the Federal Reserve and the financial news network pundits continue to dangle the prospect of a booming economy in front of us, we’re seeing more and more bad news that undermines this narrative and reveals the rotting foundation of the US economy.

The wholesale inventory report that came out yesterday is the latest gloomy example.

Mike Adams exposes the agenda of the private Fed as a war against the prosperity of Americans that simply want to make America great.

Last week, we learned US retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December. Receipts fell across the board – in brick and mortar stores, online and also in restaurants. As a number of analysts put it, this suggests a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018. Sales fell 1.2% from November to December. It was the biggest monthly decline since September 2009.

Economist David Rosenberg added another layer to this noting in a tweet that restaurant sales have declined in four of the past five months at a pace we haven’t seen in 25 years. That means worse than the depths of the 2001 and 2007-09 recessions.

Yesterday we got even more bad news indicating consumer demand seems to be declining, signaling a slowing economy. US wholesale inventories posted their largest gain in more than five years in December as sales fell off for the third straight month. As Reuters put it, this suggests “unintended piling up of goods at wholesalers that could be flagging a slowdown in demand.”

According to the Commerce Department, wholesale inventories surged 1.1% in December. Analysts were forecasting a modest 0.3% rise.  As it turned out, it was the largest gain since October 2013. The Commerce Department also revised November higher to 0.4% from 0.3%. Wholesale inventories increased by 7.3% year-on-year in December.

Bank of the West chief economist Scott Anderson told Reuters that the higher inventory levels could push Q4 GDP up, but it may indicate a drop in Q1 2019 economic growth.

“While the jump in inventories in December represents an upside risk to the fourth-quarter GDP report coming out on Thursday, declining wholesale and retail sales in December could be another sign of weaker demand and slow GDP growth in the first quarter.”

Reports on business spending plans on equipment have also pointed to a slowdown in growth at the tail end of 2018, according to Reuters.

Considering that consumer spending drives the US economy, this apparent falloff in consumer demand is not good news.

(Photo by Pixabay)

And yet, the mainstream continues to talk up the US economy. During an interview about the Green New Deal last week, Peter Schiff said the real problem isn’t the climate deniers, it’s the economy deniers. Peter noted that we were in the great recession the last time retail sales came in as poorly as they did in December. He also mentioned the all-time high in auto loan delinquencies and the fact that restaurant sales are falling at the fastest pace in 25 years.

“We’d all be better off if Cortez was still waiting tables instead of working in Congress. But these crazy policies she’s advocating – look, the public just might turn to them in 2020 if we are in a bad recession and it’s all blamed on the tax cuts, on Trump, on deregulation, and the only solution left for people to grasp for is socialism. Of course, you know, it’s never worked. It’s failed every time it’s been tried. But that doesn’t stop people from trying it again.”

The Fed seems to have injected some life into the stock market with the Powell Pause, but Peter has been saying it won’t be enough. The recession is a done deal.

“Of course, stock market investors are clueless about that. They’re just having a party because the Powell Put is back on the table. And they think simply because the Federal Reserve is no longer hiking rates that they no longer have to worry about the Fed pushing the economy into a recession. Well, it’s too late for that. The rate hikes of the past have already guaranteed that the economy is headed for recession. It doesn’t matter whether they continue to raise rates in the future. The recession is a done deal. It’s just now you have that calm between the storm while investors are still clueless and haven’t yet connected those, what should be, very obvious dots.”

The latest retail sales and wholesale inventory numbers certainly give the pundits some more dots to connect.

Alex Jones exposes this eugenics talking point now going mainstream.

Source: InfoWars

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

BONN (Reuters) – Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s $63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

Several large investors said they will not support aspirin investor Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its annual general meeting.

Bayer’s management, led by chief executive Werner Baumann, could see an embarrassing plunge in approval ratings, down from 97 percent at last year’s AGM, which was held shortly before the Monsanto takeover closed in June.

A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. Although it has no bearing on management’s liability, it is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.

“Due to the continued negative development at Bayer, high legal risks and a massive share price slump, we refuse to ratify the management board and supervisory board’s actions during the business year,” Janne Werning, representing Germany’s Union Investment, a top-20 shareholder, said in prepared remarks.

About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) have been wiped off Bayer’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found the pesticide and drugs group liable because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

Bayer suffered a similar defeat last month and more than 13,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

Deutsche Bank’s asset managing arm DWS said shareholders should have been consulted before the takeover, which was agreed in 2016 and closed in June last year.

“You are pointing out that the lawsuits have not been lost yet. We and our customers, however, have already lost something – money and trust,” Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at DWS, said in prepared remarks for the AGM.

He said DWS would abstain from the shareholder vote of confidence in the executive and non-executive boards.

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that Bayer’s largest shareholder, BlackRock, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions.

Asset management firm Deka, among Bayer’s largest German investors, has also said it would cast a no vote.

Baumann said Bayer’s true value was not reflected in the current share price.

“There’s no way to make this look good. The lawsuits and the first verdicts weigh heavily on our company and it’s a concern for many people,” he said, adding it was the right decision to buy Monsanto and that Bayer was vigorously defending itself.

This month, shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommended investors not to give the executive board their seal of approval.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Sudan’s military, which ousted President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year rule, says it intends to keep the upper hand during the country’s transitional period to civilian rule.

The announcement is expected to raise tensions with the protesters, who demand immediate handover of power.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the protests, said Friday the crowds will stay in the streets until all their demands are met.

Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, the spokesman for the military council, said late Thursday that the military will “maintain sovereign powers” while the Cabinet would be in the hands of civilians.

The protesters insist the country should be led by a “civilian sovereign” council with “limited military representation” during the transitional period.

The army toppled and arrested al-Bashir on April 11.

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist