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

‘Spoiling’ for a fight? Dems frantic over fears Schultz bid could boost Trump

If Republican President Trump is at the top of the Democrats' political target list, billionaire Howard Schultz may soon be second.

Ever since the lifelong Democrat and former chairman and CEO of Starbucks announced on "60 Minutes" in late January that he was mulling an independent bid for the White House, the reaction from Democrats has been ice cold.

HOWARD SCHULTZ TARGETS 2020 DEMOCRATS AS TOO FAR TO LEFT

Democrats quickly united, fearing a Schultz candidacy would wound their efforts to oust Trump from the White House in the 2020 election.

Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts slammed Schultz as a billionaire who thinks he can “buy the presidency to keep the system rigged for themselves while opportunity slips away for everyone else.”

WATCH THE HOWARD SCHULTZ TOWN HALL ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL ON THURSDAY AT 6:30 PM ET. 

Fellow billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – who at the time was considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination – criticized a possible independent run by Schultz, saying it would “end up re-electing the president.”

'If he becomes a candidate, then we’ll treat him like a target.'

— Priorities USA communications director Josh Schwerin

HOWARD SCHULTZ: 2020 DEMS WILL PLAY THE 'SPOILER'

David Axelrod, the former top political adviser to President Barack Obama, tweeted that “If Schultz decides to run as an independent, @realDonaldTrump should give Starbucks their Trump Tower space rent free! It would be a gift.”

This was just a taste of what's to come if Schultz moves ahead with an independent bid for 2020.

American Bridge 21st Century, a leading pro-Democratic opposition research shop, already is mounting an offensive against him.

“We think it’s very clear that Howard Schultz would throw the election to Donald Trump and so we’re treating him as a target of equal standing with Trump,” American Bridge communications director Andrew Bates told Fox News.

He explained that “we’re thoroughly researching him in a number of ways. One is his business record. Another is his history aside from his business record. We’re looking into his finances, his public statements.”

Bates said that his group’s arsenal would include opposition research, rapid response and possibly digital ads.

Also getting into the game is Priorities USA, which is the largest pro-Democratic super PAC.

“If he becomes a candidate, then we’ll treat him like a target,” Priorities USA communications director Josh Schwerin told Fox News.

“Anything is on the table,” he stressed.

Also targeting Shultz in the hours after his news shook the political landscape: freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The View’s Joy Behar, and HBO host Bill Maher.

“Really? The coffee guy wants to be president?” Maher tweeted. “Just because you had one profitable insight — people will overpay for coffee — doesn’t mean you can run the world.”

The anger hit Schultz head-on, as he was heckled on the streets of New York City by a protester yelling “Don’t help elect Trump, you egotistical billionaire a------.”

Some activists even threatened boycotts of Starbucks.

SCHULTZ: DEMS NEED 'LITTLE BIT LESS CAFFEINE RIGHT NOW'

The Democrats’ rage is no surprise. It stems from painful political memories of lost presidential elections.

Nearly two decades after the 2000 election, many Democrats still blame independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader for playing the spoiler in then-Vice President Al Gore’s narrow and controversial defeat by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. And they point to the 2016 election, arguing that votes won by Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein siphoned support away from Hillary Clinton, helping Donald Trump win crucial swing states.

But Schultz argues that Democrats are the ones who could play the "spoiler" in 2020, if they keep drifting further left.

"If you want to talk about spoiler, if the Democrats decide in their wisdom to nominate a far-left person who is professing policies ... of a socialist — that will be a spoiler,” Schultz said last month in an interview on Fox News.

When Bloomberg decided against launching a campaign for the Democratic nomination, Schultz didn’t waste an opportunity to highlight that there’s no room anymore for a centrist in the Democratic Party.

“Mike Bloomberg governed from the center with big ideas, pragmatism and common sense. In an era of paralysis and dysfunction, he’s an exception,” Schultz tweeted as he pointed to Bloomberg’s tenure as New York City mayor. “I've long said there isn't room for centrist moderation in either party and it appears Mr. Bloomberg has come to the same conclusion.”

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Red Hot Chili Peppers rock Egypt’s pyramids

Singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Egypt's Giza pyramids, on the outskirts of Cairo
Singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Egypt's Giza pyramids, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Nadine Awadalla

March 15, 2019

By Nadine Awadalla

CAIRO (Reuters) – Californian group Red Hot Chili Peppers played in front of Egypt’s great pyramids of Giza on Friday, entertaining more than 10,000 people at the site and many more over a livestream link.

With the three ancient monuments silhouetted behind the stage, the funk-rock band opened with “Can’t Stop” from the 2002 album “By The Way” and followed with “Californication”, “Dark Necessities” and other hits.

The concert, held under tight security, was promoted by Egypt’s tourism ministry, which is trying to put the country back on the map as a prime destination after an uprising in 2011 and years of subsequent turmoil scared many visitors away.

“It was a lot of work to get here but it was absolutely worth it,” said fan Christina Robertson, from Madison, Wisconsin, who left five children at home to make the trip.

“I’ve always wanted to come to Egypt, I’ve always wanted to see the pyramids, it’s spectacular, it’s a dream, and to see Red Hot Chili Peppers here, my favorite band of all time.”

Singer Anthony Kiedis, bass player Michael “Flea” Balzary and drummer Chad Smith join the likes of The Grateful Dead, Scorpions and Frank Sinatra performing at one of the seven wonders of the world.

The concert is the first international gig to be held at the ancient site since pianist Yanni in 2015.

Fans traveled from 67 countries, said concert organizer Karim El Chiaty, Vice Chairman of Travco Group.

“I think there’s a big fan base in Egypt and I think for what we’re trying to achieve here today, which is to promote tourism in Egypt, we needed a band of that kind of scale and that influence,” said Chiaty.

Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold more than 60 million albums, won six Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

The band is currently on a world tour and working to complete their 12th album following their 2016 release “The Getaway”.

(Writing by Nadine Awadalla and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: OANN

0 0

UK retailers report first rise in sales for five months: CBI

FILE PHOTO - A person walks past a sale sign on Oxford Street in London
FILE PHOTO - A person walks past a sale sign on Oxford Street in London, Britain, December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

April 25, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British retail sales rose for the first time in five months in April, a leading employers’ group said on Thursday, adding to signs that consumers have recovered their appetite for spending even as the country’s Brexit impasse drags on.

The Confederation of British Industry said the later timing of Easter this year probably helped to push its monthly sales balance up to +13, meaning more retailers reported rising sales than falling sales.

The index suffered its biggest fall in 17 months in March when it sank to -18.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of zero for April.

“It’s encouraging to see retailers with more of a spring in their step than in recent months,” Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s chief economist, said.

“The recent pick up in real wages is a welcome support to the sector, making the pound in people’s pockets stretch that bit further.”

But falling sales in clothing and department stores showed how tough the underlying conditions were for retailers, Newton-Smith said.

Official data published last week showed retail sales volumes surged by the most in nearly two-and-a-half years in annual terms, leaping by 6.7 percent.

The CBI said retailers were more optimistic about sales in the month ahead than they had been in March.

(Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

0 0

Ban on TikTok app would harm free speech, China’s Bytedance tells India’s top court

FILE PHOTO: The logo of TikTok application is seen in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: The logo of TikTok application is seen on a screen in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Illustration/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian court’s call for a ban on the popular video app TikTok will hurt free speech rights, China’s Bytedance Technology Co has said in a request for the Supreme Court to quash the directive.

Bytedance is one of the world’s most valuable start-ups and its TikTok app lets users create and share short videos with special effects. It has become popular in rural India, where most of a population of 1.3 billion lives.

TikTok, whose video-only interface makes it easier to use than platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, has been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, says app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

A ban “amounts to curtailing of the rights of the citizens of India…who have been using the platform everyday to express themselves and create content,” the company said in a court filing reviewed by Reuters, asking for the order to be quashed.

The company’s Monday filing is not public and has not previously been reported. The Supreme Court has set next Monday for a hearing.

Bytedance did not respond to a request for comment. India’s information technology ministry also did not respond.

Last week, a court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu asked the federal government to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and made child users vulnerable to sexual predators.

TikTok’s inappropriate content was a dangerous aspect of the app, it added.

Jokes, clips and footage related to India’s movie industry dominate the platform, along with videos in which young people, sometimes scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to music.

Bytedance said users flagged only a tiny proportion of TikTok videos, showing that a “very minuscule” proportion of its content was considered inappropriate or obscene. TikTok was primarily used to circulate amusing videos, it added.

It also argued that it could not be held liable for content posted by users.

Some of TikTok’s content was “unbearable”, M. Manikandan, the minister for information technology in Tamil Nadu told Reuters in February, and a Hindu nationalist group close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also called for a ban.

In its filing, the company said TikTok had experienced immense success in India, which fueled controversy. Bytedance employs more than 250 people in India and plans more investment as it expands the business, it added.

The BJP is tracking conversations on TikTok, the party’s information technology chief, Amit Malviya, has previously told Reuters, calling it a brilliant medium for creative expression.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil; Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Sudarshan Vardhan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Clarence Fernandez)

Source: OANN

0 0

CNN Wins ‘Cronkite Award’ For Parkland Town Hall Which Saw NRA Rep Berated, Threatened With Violence

CNN was bestowed the Cronkite Award for its “Parkland Town Hall” which resulted in NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch being escorted off the premises after attendees berated and tried to assault her.

The University of Southern California held the 10th biennial Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism on Wednesday, honoring CNN for its Parkland Town Hall last year for “helping advance the national conversation on gun control and violence.”

Loesch attended the event to defend the Second Amendment following the left’s calls for gun control over the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, but the audience ended up hurling insults and threats of violence against her.

“Is this a joke? Seriously,” she tweeted Tuesday, before releasing several video clips of the event while it wasn’t televised.

“Here is some footage where people were yelling to burn me at CNN’s award-winning townhall where they ‘advanced the conversation on gun control,'” she said.

“Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!” the audience chanted as Loesch was escorted from the event.

Some conversation.

Here’s more of the “conversation.”

“This is what happened when the cameras turned off at @CNNPR ’s award-winning townhall. They’re proud of it,” Loesch continued.

In the mainstream media bizarro world, CNN is given awards for “advancing the conversation on gun control and violence” for hosting an event that demonizes the Second Amendment and threatens violence against detractors.

Even CNN CEO Jeff Zucker was given a First Amendment award after lobbying to censor his competition online.


Twitter: 

Will Johnson joins Alex Jones live via Skype to talk with callers about the distinct possibility of Globalist forces using the New Zealand shooting, whether as a premeditated false flag or not, to practice ’emergency’ internet censorship and gun confiscation on a global scale.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Was This Nude Photo Edited? Debating Kourtney Kardashian’s New Instagram Pic

DCNF Video Team | Contributor

What can be said about Kourtney Kardashian’s nude post on Instagram, Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s tweets about coffee and 2020 presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke’s odd joke?

David Hookstead and Katrina Haydon, with special guest Guillaume Pierre-Louis, take on topics like these in this podcast episode.

Check out who had the best take.

In typical Hookstead fashion, David opens the conversation with comments on Women’s History Month competing with March Madness saying, “Women can find a different month or I guess 15-20 minutes to tell us what they’ve done.”

Haydon responds, “you mean like carrying the human race?” (RELATED: Bar Hopping With Liberals On Election Night)

Watch some of The Daily Caller News Foundation’s other videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel to make sure you never miss out.

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Check out the most recent videos by TheDCNF:

Is Thanksgiving Racist?

Super Bowl Or See Michelle Obama Speak?

Do You Really Need An ID To Purchase Cereal?

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Source: The Daily Caller

0 0

China says probing more people after former Interpol chief’s fall

FILE PHOTO: INTERPOL President Meng Hongwei poses during a visit to the headquarters of International Police Organisation in Lyon
FILE PHOTO: INTERPOL President Meng Hongwei poses during a visit to the headquarters of International Police Organisation in Lyon, France, May 8, 2018. Picture taken May 8, 2018. Jeff Pachoud/Pool via Reuters/File Photo

March 28, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Public Security Ministry said it would conduct further investigations into its own senior ranks late on Wednesday after a decision to prosecute former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, and warned that disloyalty to the Communist Party would not be tolerated.

China had announced earlier on Wednesday that an investigation had found Meng spent “lavish” amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow party decisions, and that he had been expelled from the party and sacked as deputy public security minister.

Last October, Interpol, the global police coordination agency based in France, said Meng had resigned as its president, days after his wife reported him missing after he traveled back to China.

In statement late on Wednesday following an internal meeting, the public security ministry said Meng was “totally to blame” for the decision to expel him from the party and sack him.

“When it comes to party loyalty and sincerity, it is absolutely not allowed to be duplicitous, to agree overtly but oppose in secret, or to be a two-face person, or lead a double life, or engage in political social climbing,” it said.

“It is absolutely not allowed to make decisions without authorization, to do or say as you wish.”

While the statement gave no details, the party’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign, championed by President Xi Jinping, has increasingly been focused on those it judges are disloyal to the party or question the decision of the top leadership.

China has persistently denied its war on graft is about political maneuvering or Xi taking down his enemies. Xi told an audience in Seattle in 2015 that the anti-graft fight was no “House of Cards”-style power play, in a reference to the Netflix U.S. political drama.

The ministry said there needed to be a “thorough rooting out of Meng Hongwei’s pernicious influence”, and that there would be further probes on others.

“For those in leadership positions in the Public Security Ministry connected with Meng Hongwei’s case, no matter how high or low, no matter who is involved, no matter their position, all must be seriously handled in accordance with the law and discipline.”

The government announced its plans to prosecute Meng after Xi returned from a state visit to France, where Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of human rights in China and certain specific cases, a French presidency official said.

It has not been possible to reach Meng for comment since he was detained, and unclear if he has been allowed a lawyer.

Meng’s wife, Grace Meng, told French television on Sunday that she had written to Macron ahead of Xi’s trip seeking his help protecting their “fundamental human rights”.

Meng is certain to be found guilty when his case eventually comes to trial as the courts are controlled by the party and will not challenge its accusations.

Meng became president of the global police cooperation agency in late 2016 as China widened its bid to secure leadership posts in international organizations.

His appointment prompted concern at the time from rights groups that Beijing might try to leverage his position to pursue dissidents abroad.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

Title

Artist