Statements by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Beijing’s allegedly “pretended” friendship with the countries of Latin America are slanders that constitute a deliberate provocation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday, adding that China strongly opposed such claims.
“The cooperation between China and Latin America is based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. It is focused on common development. China has made a significant contribution to the economic development and the improvement of living conditions of peoples of Latin America… State Secretary Pompeo’s statements regarding China’s relations with Latin American countries are baseless slander and deliberate provocation, his statements are meaningless and unfounded. We strongly oppose this,” Lu said at a briefing.
China has been exposed for trying to export electronics to the US that have the ability to spy for the Chinese government. Former NSA whistle blower William Binney joins Alex to discuss the future of 5G technology.
The diplomat stressed that China’s position on the situation in Venezuela remained unchanged and corresponded to the principles of the UN Charter.
During his visit to Chile last week that aimed to boost opposition to the Venezuelan legitimate authorities in the region, Pompeo said that he considered Russia and China to be “pretended friends” of Latin America, claiming that the two countries “spread disorders” on the continent by cooperating with local leaders in exchange for political and economic influence.
Russia and China have been among the countries that voiced their support for Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s only legitimate president after US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido illegally declared himself the country’s interim president in January. The United States and many other countries immediately endorsed Guaido and called on Maduro to step down. The Venezuelan president, in turn, accused the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup in order to bring to power Guaido, whom he calls “a US puppet.”
Big Tech is immune to F.O.I.A. requests in certain cases of wrongdoing so the best thing for society is to have employees of Big Tech become whistle-blowers. Dr. Nick Begich hosts and breaks down how whistle-blowing may just save the future of free speech.
The North Carolina State Board of Election unanimously voted on Thursday for a new election in a contested House race that has been marred by claims of ballot fraud.
The decsion to call a new election in the state’s 9th congressional district comes after emabttled Republican politician Mark Harris said a new election should be held and after days of testimony in a hearing on ballot-tampering.
“I believe a new election should be called,” Harris said. “It’s become clear to me that public confidence in the 9th District has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted.”
During his testimony in an election fraud case, Harris said the new evidence that has come forward about a political operative working for his campaign who had allegedly tampered with mail-in ballots in the November congressional race means that "a new election should be called," The Charlotte Observer reported.
Harris, who outpaced Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the contested race in North Carolina took the stand on Thursday in the fourth day of hearings in the election fraud case. He told those gathered in court that he has suffered two strokes since the election and is “struggling” to get through the hearing.
In his sworn testimony, Harris said that he was assured by political operative – and convicted felon – Leslie McCrae Dowless that campaign workers would never collect absentee ballots, despite concerns from Harris’ son, John, that Dowless was illegally collecting and turning in ballots from voters.
“I shared with him (John Harris) again, based on what I was hearing, that I didn’t sense that,” Harris said, according to the Charlotte Observer.
“McCrae had been so clear I didn’t think it was necessary,” Harris added. “I didn’t go back any further...I did have a comfort level at that point."
One of the methods participants said Dowless used was to hire workers to collect absentee ballots from voters who received them, and then turn them over to him, according to an elections board investigation.
State election law prohibits anyone other than a guardian or close family member from handling mail-in ballots. Harris' team said in a legal briefing submitted to the elections board last week the board should certify him the winner -- no matter what Dowless did for the campaign.
Harris’ comments came a day after his son took the stand in emotional testimony that left his father in tears.
"I raised red flags at the time the decision was made to hire Mr. Dowless," John Harris said in his testimony on Wednesday.
"I love my dad, and I love my mom. I certainly have no vendetta against them, no family scores to settle," he said. "I think that they made mistakes in this process and they certainly did things differently than I would have done them."
Harris’ son’s testimony bucked the politician’s previous claims that he had no knowledge of fraudulent election activity. On Thursday, the elder Harris admitted that his son had warned him about his concerns over Dowless.
“My son was a bit prophetic in his statement that day,” Harris said.
At stake in the hearings is the seat for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Charlotte. The State Board of Elections has not certified unofficial results that showed Harris narrowly beating McCready by 905 votes. The state has twice refused to declare Harris the winner, after hearing reports of irregularities just before the election in rural Bladen County, where Dowless lives.
The North Carolina Democratic Party cheered the move to hold another election, saying Harris' campaign "funded and directed an elaborate, illegal scheme to steal an election."
"North Carolina Republicans, following Mark Harris’ lead, repeatedly lied to the people of the Ninth district, silenced their voices, and undermined our entire state’s faith in our democracy," NCDP Chairman Wayne Goodwin said in a statement. "This saga could only have ended in a new election, and we look forward to repairing the harm dealt by Republicans and giving the people of the Ninth district the representative they deserve.”
Mar 10, 2019; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Adrian Mannarino (FRA) during his second round match against Kei Nishikori (not pictured) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
March 10, 2019
(Reuters) – Roger Federer began his campaign for a record sixth Indian Wells title by defeating German Peter Gojowczyk 6-1 7-5 in the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday.
Fresh from earning his 100th ATP singles title a week ago in Dubai, the Swiss fourth seed repelled a tough second set challenge from the world No.85 before booking his third round place.
Federer, who won the last of his Indian Wells titles two years ago but lost in the 2018 final, used his backhand slice to keep Gojowczk from gaining any rhythm in the first set.
Yet the second proved more of a challenge as the German saved four break points in his first service game, then used his momentum to break for a 3-1 lead.
Federer immediately broke back before later benefiting from an untimely double fault for another break and serving out for victory in just over an hour and a quarter.
Earlier, Japan’s Kei Nishikori narrowly avoided a second round defeat against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino before battling through 6-4 4-6 7-6(4).
World number seven Nishikori was not at his best with the left-handed Mannarino’s flat groundstrokes neutralizing his attacks and the Frenchman seemed to be heading for victory when he served for the match at 6-5.
Yet he double faulted on the third break point he faced in the game and, in the deciding tiebreak, Nishikori raced into a 6-2 lead.
Still, Mannarino kept fighting, saving two match points before the Japanese finally wrapped up victory after two hours and 33 minutes.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Ian Chadband)
A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house after Israeli air strikes targeted a nearby Hamas site on Monday, in Gaza City March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
March 27, 2019
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Schools reopened in southern Israel and traffic clogged Gaza’s streets on Wednesday in signs of a pullback from the most serious escalation of cross-border fighting in months.
But while violence eased amid Egyptian mediation, Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were on hair-trigger footing, with rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli air strikes in the enclave briefly resuming late on Tuesday after a day-long lull.
Despite dozens of rocket launchings and Israeli attacks, no deaths have been reported. Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile interceptors have destroyed some of the rockets and Palestinian militants vacated facilities targeted in the air strikes.
Towns in southern Israel, where rocket-warning sirens have disrupted daily life since the current round of fighting began on Monday, reopened classrooms. In Gaza, schools were also operating and cars filled the streets.
The Gaza frontier remained tense, however, with Israeli troops and tanks deployed along the border. Both Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group made clear that attacks by the other side would not be tolerated.
Even if the crisis subsides, it could shadow Israel’s April 9 election, in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has campaigned on a tough security platform.
TENSIONS BUILDING
The latest fighting has added to tensions that were already building ahead of the first anniversary on March 30 of the start of weekly Gaza protests at the border. Some 200 Gazans have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli fire during those protests, and one Israeli soldier has been killed.
Israel says its use of lethal force is meant to stop attempts to breach the border and launch attack on its troops and civilians.
The protesters are demanding the right to return to lands Palestinians fled or were forced to leave in Israel during fighting that accompanied its founding in 1948.
Seven Israelis were injured in Monday’s initial rocket attack that hit the village of Mishmeret, 120 km (75 miles) north of Gaza. No other casualties in Israel have been reported. Twelve Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli strikes, Gaza health officials said.
Egypt was expected to pursue further truce talks on Wednesday, said a Palestinian official involved in the efforts.
U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council on Tuesday he had been working with Egypt to secure a ceasefire and that a fragile calm had taken hold.
Security is a major issue for Netanyahu, in power for a decade and beset by corruption allegations that he denies. He is facing his strongest electoral challenge from a centrist coalition led by a former general.
In Dheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, a 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes with stone-throwers, an ambulance service official said, identifying him as a volunteer wearing a paramedic uniform. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: A Gulfstream logo is pictured during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Geneva Airport, Switzerland May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
February 20, 2019
(Reuters) – Gulfstream Aerospace intends to deliver its first G600 business jet during the first half of 2019, President Mark Burns said on Wednesday, in a boost for the large-cabin, corporate plane program.
Gulfstream, a division of U.S. aerospace and defense company General Dynamics Corp, said in January the G600 would be certified during the first half of 2019, with deliveries to start this year.
Gulfstream is “working through” the backlog created by delays from a 35-day, partial U.S. government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25, Burns told Reuters on the sidelines of a general aviation event in Washington.
(Reporting By Mike Stone in Washington Writing by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Tom Brown)
FILE PHOTO - A ferry sails past commercial buildings with Christmas decorations at the financial Central district in Hong Kong, China November 29, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
February 27, 2019
By Donny Kwok and James Pomfret
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s economic growth halved in the fourth quarter and the outlook for the financial hub is clouded by a trade war between Washington and Beijing, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Wednesday, as he announced his budget for Asia’s financial hub.
Hong Kong’s open and trade-reliant economy has been buffetted by external risks, including the U.S.-Sino trade war, an economic slowdown in China, cooling property prices and stock market volatility.
Chan said the economy grew 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the weakest increase since the first quarter of 2016, and slower than downwardly revised 2.8 percent growth in the previous three months.
The economy grew 3 percent for the full-year 2018, slightly slower than the government’s forecast of 3.2 percent.
Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, said in a report the weaker than expected growth was due to spillover from the U.S.-China trade dispute.
“This was mainly a result of the trade war, which dampened export activities and related jobs in Hong Kong and on the mainland, with negative feedback into consumption in Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong’s economy is forecast to expand 2-3 percent for this year and average 3 percent growth from 2020-2023, Chan said in his televised budget speech.
Hong Kong is expected to record a budget surplus of HK$58.7 billion ($7.5 billion) for 2018/2019, Chan said, less than half the bumper surplus of HK$148.9 billion announced for the previous financial year.
Hong Kong’s trade-reliant economy is vulnerable to simmering trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies and, if unresolved, they pose broader risks to the city this year.
As one of the most open and free economies in the world, Hong Kong’s growth is also highly reliant on capital, trade, tourist and investment flows from China.
Chan also rolled out tax cuts, including a 75 percent cut in salaries and profits tax, both capped at HK$20,000.
(Additional reporting by Twinnie Siu; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
April 23, 2019
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google has completed a 10,000-kilometer (6,214-mile) subsea cable linking the coast of California to Chile, a key step in its plans to bolster its global cloud computing infrastructure.
The cable, dubbed the “Curie” project, arrived at the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Tuesday, Google said in a post on their regional website. The cable starts in Los Angeles before making its way to South America under the Pacific Ocean.
Google has been investing heavily in technology infrastructure, especially in vital submarine cables connecting up its global network. Other links include a cable connecting the United States to Denmark and Ireland, and another linking hubs in Asia.
Chilean Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Gloria Hutt, in a statement to mark the cable’s arrival, said the new link would “provide advantages and opportunities for millions of Internet users” in Chile.
Google has a data center in the Chilean capital Santiago. The country is working on deploying a fiber-optic network to connect the entire country, and is moving ahead with a separate plan to install a submarine line with Asia.
(Reporting by Natalia Ramos in Santiago; writing by Adam Jourdan, editing by G Crosse)
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)
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)
KHARTOUM, Sudan – 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.
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)
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.
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