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Trade war, Brexit could slow developing Asia’s 2019, 2020 growth: ADB

FILE PHOTO: A CRH bullet train runs past Beijing's central business area
FILE PHOTO: A CRH (China Railway High-speed) bullet train runs past Beijing's central business area, China December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 3, 2019

By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) – Growth in developing Asia could slow for a second straight year in 2019 and lose further momentum in 2020, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday, warning of rising economic risks from a bitter Sino-U.S.trade war and a potentially disorderly Brexit.

Developing Asia, which groups 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to grow 5.7 this year, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook report, slowing from a projected 5.9 percent expansion in 2018 and 6.2 percent growth in 2017.

The 2019 forecast represents a slight downgrade from its December forecast of 5.8 percent. For 2020, the region is forecast to grow 5.6 percent, which would be the slowest since 2001.

“A drawn out or deteriorating trade conflict between the People’s Republic of China and the United States could undermine investment and growth in developing Asia”, Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist, said in a statement.

The lender also cited uncertainties stemming from U.S. fiscal policy and a possible disorderly Brexit as risks to its outlook because they could slow growth in advanced economies and cloud the outlook for the world’s second largest economy.

“Though abrupt increases in U.S. interest rates appear to have ceased for the time being, policy makers must remain vigilant in these uncertain times,” Sawada said.

China’s economy will probably grow 6.3 percent this year, the ADB said, unchanged from its December projection, but slower than the country’s 6.6 percent expansion in 2018. Growth in the Chinese mainland is projected to cool further to 6.1 percent in 2020.

China has set its 2019 economic growth target at 6.0 to 6.5 percent.

By region, South Asia will remain the fastest growing in Asia Pacific, with the ADB predicting an expansion of 6.8 percent this year – lower than its previous forecast of 7.1 percent – and 6.9 percent next year.

From an estimated 7.0 percent growth in 2018, India’s economy is projected to expand at a faster pace of 7.2 percent in 2019 and 7.3 percent in 2020, the ADB said, as lower policy rates and income support to farmers boost domestic demand.

This year’s growth forecast for Southeast Asia was trimmed to 4.9 percent from an earlier estimate of 5.1 percent, as the Manila-based lender expect Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand to grow slower than previously thought. Next year, Southeast Asia is predicted to grow 5.0 percent.

Citing stable commodity prices, the ADB lowered its average inflation forecast for developing Asia to 2.5 percent this year from 2.7 percent previously, and it is expected to remain subdued at 2.5 percent in 2020.

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Source: OANN

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EBay offers concessions to avert fight with Elliott: sources

FILE PHOTO - An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California
FILE PHOTO - An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California May 28, 2014. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach (

February 26, 2019

(Reuters) – EBay Inc has informed Elliott Management Corp it is willing to explore shedding some of its key assets and giving the hedge fund board representation in a bid to avert a proxy contest, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The U.S. e-commerce company has offered to explore options for its StubHub ticket sales business and eBay Classifieds Group, including a sale, as Elliott has called for, the sources said.

EBay is also discussing offering board seats to Elliott, though no agreement has been reached and negotiations could still fall apart, the sources said. If a deal is reached, it could be announced by March 1, when the deadline to nominate directors to eBay’s board expires, the sources added.

The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Elliott declined to comment while eBay did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the settlement talks.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B. Baker in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Ocasio-Cortez and freshman allies amass power, creating problems for Pelosi and party

Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Twitter bio declares her the “Unbossed Congresswoman” for Michigan’s 13th District.

While the moniker has roots in Shirley Chisholm’s successful campaign to become the first black congresswoman, nowadays it also could be seen as a blunt message to Democratic leadership: Nobody is bossing around the class of 2019.

And that’s a problem for party bosses.

DEM FROSH TURN TABLES ON ANTI-SEMITISM REBUKE

On everything from the Green New Deal to impeachment to criticism of Israel, a squad of first-year congresswomen are flexing their muscle and posing an implicit challenge to Democratic honchos like Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Their stridently liberal agenda – and power to steer the national conversation via social media and press attention – has fueled tensions inside the party tent that in turn are testing leadership's control while stirring political concerns going into 2020.

“All of our problems are caused by three people,” one senior House Democrat lamented to Fox News.

That would be New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Tlaib – all freshmen, and all uniquely unencumbered by things like decorum or deference to party elders.

Ocasio-Cortez recently made waves by appearing to warn Democrats who vote with Republicans that they’re “putting themselves on a list” of possible primary targets (though she later denied she intended such a threat).

MODERATE DEMS FUME OVER OCASIO-CORTEZ 'LIST' THREAT

Tlaib famously made headlines upon taking office by vowing they’d “impeach the motherf---er,” in reference to President Trump. Pelosi this week tried to rein in the impeachment chatter, taking a firm public stance against that route. Yet in the immediate aftermath of Tlaib’s vow, Pelosi downplayed the hubbub, saying she wouldn’t use that language but it’s nothing worse than Trump has said.

'All of our problems are caused by three people.' 

— Senior House Democrat to Fox News

Fast-forward to this month, and Pelosi faced another discipline problem – concerning Omar.

Fresh off a dispute that saw Pelosi and fellow Democratic leaders condemn the Minnesota congresswoman for suggesting American allies of Israel were financially motivated, Omar riled party leaders again after suggesting Israel supporters expect or seek “allegiance” to the Jewish state. The statement was widely condemned, including among senior Democrats, as echoing the age-old “dual loyalties” smear against Jewish politicians.

“I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel,” New York Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey tweeted at the time.

Leaders hastily prepared a resolution to push back on anti-Semitism. Yet after Pelosi faced a rebellion in the ranks amid concerns the measure would unfairly single out Omar, a Muslim, and increase security threats against her (she was recently the subject of an inflammatory poster at the West Virginia capitol falsely tying her to the 9/11 attacks), the resolution was overhauled.

The result was a broad rebuke of bigotry, including anti-Semitism as well as “anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities” perpetrated by white supremacists and others. The resolution condemned “dual loyalty” accusations, but did not mention Omar by name.

DEM FROSH TURN TABLES ON ANTI-SEMITISM REBUKE, SHIFT SPOTLIGHT TO ISLAMAPHOBIA AND AIPAC POWER

Republicans claimed the end product was watered down.

“Clearly, Speaker Pelosi is afraid of some of the fringe elements on the socialist left, and that was on full display,” House GOP Whip Steve Scalise told Fox News.

The sequence of events only fed the narrative that party leaders are struggling to rein in freshman lawmakers who are pulling Democrats off message at a critical time, with the 2020 presidential campaign season getting underway.

A frustrated senior House Democratic aide told Fox News last week: "Here we are again, fighting with ourselves. I've spent another week dealing with this and not on policy."

The handling of the resolution exposed Democrats to barbed accusations from Republicans, with Trump calling them the “anti-Jewish party.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is Jewish, fired back by noting Trump’s infamous 2017 comments blaming both sides for violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville: "Mr. President, you have redefined chutzpah."

But the party is dealing with fallout on other fronts as well.

Ocasio-Cortez has led the charge on the Green New Deal, a sprawling plan that would aim to transition the country to renewable energy while instituting numerous government-heavy programs including guaranteed jobs. It has won endorsements from virtually all top-tier Democratic presidential candidates.

While far-reaching and controversial on its own, however, the resolution’s rollout was marred by FAQs from the congresswoman’s office which apparently were not ready for prime-time and that included items like “economic security” for those “unwilling to work.”

Instantly, the language fueled Republican allegations that Democrats’ 2020 vision is one of rampant socialism that would fundamentally upend the American system, even as the sponsors tried to downplay the FAQs. The party has used the “socialism” brush to paint virtually the entire presidential field. Setting the narrative, the issue became a dominant theme at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference – with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow calling to “put socialism on trial.”

LARRY KUDLOW ROUSES CPAC WITH CALL TO 'PUT SOCIALISM ON TRIAL'

In a new column for The Atlantic, Chicago Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel cited these kinds of attacks in imploring the party, "If Trump's only hope for winning a second term turns on his ability to paint us as socialists, we shouldn't play to type."

Meanwhile, Pelosi has urged caution with regard to another politically explosive issue: impeaching Trump.

In a fresh interview with The Washington Post Magazine, she declared outright she’s “not for impeachment.”

The issue, she said, is so “divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”

Yet Tlaib and Omar already have signed a pledge to impeach Trump. And, around the same time anti-Trump protesters were arrested outside Pelosi’s office last week, Tlaib assured them she’ll introduce a resolution this month urging the Judiciary Committee to proceed with impeachment.

IMPEACHMENT DRUMBEAT BUILDS ON LEFT, AS HOUSE SHIFTS PROBES INTO HIGH GEAR

Asked Monday about the Democratic members who would chafe at Pelosi's impeachment brush-off, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., assured: “We’ve got 62 new members. Not three."

For their part, the freshmen have argued they’re unfairly scrutinized, even likening the treatment to that experienced by Chisholm. Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News last week that the freshman Democratic women of color are “being treated [differently] and targeted.”

Looking ahead, some Democrats stress that it’s critical for the party to maintain focus.

“There’s always going to be distractions. It’s 435 people who are really their own boss, and they’re able to say whatever they want,” freshman Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., told “Fox News Sunday,” with regard to recent controversies in the caucus. “So, I think what we have to figure out what to do is to say, okay, this isn’t the views of everybody in Congress … but how do we maintain focus on our agenda as a whole?”

Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, speaking on “Sunday Morning Futures,” said the caucus has actually “moved to the center” – it’s just that those watching the media coverage might not realize that “because some of the more progressive members are far more outspoken.”

McAdams, who represents a deep-red state, played up the importance and influence of Democratic moderates in Congress.

But Ocasio-Cortez pulled no punches in letting the world know what she thinks of moderates, in a fiery appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Moderate is not a stance. It's just an attitude towards life of, like, ‘meh,’” the New York Democrat said Saturday.

At the same summit, despite the pleas of veteran operatives like Emanuel not to play into Trump's paint-them-socialist strategy, the unbossed Ocasio-Cortez all but handed him the brush. "Capitalism is irredeemable," she declared.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Gregg Re and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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California judge blocks Trump’s policy forcing asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico

A federal district court judge in the 9th Circuit on Monday blocked the Trump administration's new policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait for an immigration court to hear their cases, but the order won't immediately go into effect.

The so-called "Remain in Mexico" policy was one of the primary innovations of former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom President Trump announced on Sunday "will be leaving her position" after 16 months in the job.

Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco granted a request by civil liberties groups to halt the practice while their lawsuit moves forward. He put the decision on hold until Friday to give U.S. officials the chance to appeal.

The launch of the policy in January in San Diego at the nation's busiest border crossing marked an unprecedented change to the U.S. asylum system, government officials and asylum experts said. Families seeking asylum typically had been released in the U.S. with notices to appear in court.

The Trump administration says the policy responds to a crisis at the southern border that has overwhelmed the ability of immigration officials to detain migrants. Growing numbers of families are fleeing poverty and gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Trump, earlier this week, flatly stated that the "the asylum program is a scam," often abused by thousands of migrants hoping to take advantage of U.S. law intended to shield individuals from near-certain death or persecution -- not poor living conditions and economic despair. Most asylum applicants are often rejected for having an insufficient personalized fear of persecution.

"Some of the roughest people you have ever seen," Trump said, referring to some fraudulent asylum applicants. "People that look like they should be fighting for the UFC."

TRUMP TRANSFORMS 9TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS, WITH NEARLY HALF OF JUDGES NOW APPOINTED BY REPUBLICANS

The lawsuit on behalf of 11 asylum seekers from Central America and legal advocacy groups says the Trump administration is violating U.S. law by failing to adequately evaluate the dangers that migrants face in Mexico.

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, an asylum-seeking boy from Central America runs down a hallway after arriving from an immigration detention center to a shelter in San Diego. San Diego County sued Wednesday, April 3, 2019, to overturn the Trump administration's cancelling of an immigration program that quickly released families after they cross the border without allowing time for travel arrangements. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, an asylum-seeking boy from Central America runs down a hallway after arriving from an immigration detention center to a shelter in San Diego. San Diego County sued Wednesday, April 3, 2019, to overturn the Trump administration's cancelling of an immigration program that quickly released families after they cross the border without allowing time for travel arrangements. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

It also accuses Homeland Security and immigration officials of depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum by making it difficult or impossible for them to do so.

Under the new policy, asylum seekers are not guaranteed interpreters or lawyers and don't get to argue to a judge that they face the potential of persecution or torture if they are sent back to Mexico, Judy Rabinovitz, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said at a March court hearing.

Seeborg appeared skeptical of the lawsuit's argument that the administration misapplied a U.S. law that allows the return of immigrants to Mexico. The ACLU and other groups that are suing say that law does not apply to asylum seekers who cross the border illegally or arrive at a border crossing without proper documents.

The judge also questioned the Justice Department's argument that asylum seekers sent back to Mexico are not eligible for certain protections, such as a hearing before an immigration judge.

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Border Patrol agent Vincent Pirro looks on near where a border wall ends that separates the cities of Tijuana, Mexico, left, and San Diego, in San Diego. The government is working on replacing and adding fencing in various locations, and Trump in February declared a national emergency to get more funding for the wall. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Border Patrol agent Vincent Pirro looks on near where a border wall ends that separates the cities of Tijuana, Mexico, left, and San Diego, in San Diego. The government is working on replacing and adding fencing in various locations, and Trump in February declared a national emergency to get more funding for the wall. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

The administration hopes that making asylum seekers wait in Mexico will discourage weak claims and help reduce an immigration court backlog of more than 800,000 cases.

Justice Department attorney Scott Stewart said there is a process to protect immigrants who could face harm in Mexico. All 11 plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by attorneys, and 10 already have appeared for court proceedings, he said.

Border Patrol arrests, the most widely used gauge of illegal crossings, have risen sharply over the last year but are relatively low in historical terms after hitting a 46-year low in 2017.

The launch of the policy followed months of delicate talks between the U.S. and Mexico. Mexicans and children traveling alone are exempt from it.

Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Germany kicks off 5G mobile spectrum auction

A journalist uses his mobile phone to take a picture of the 5G logo prior to the auction of spectrum for 5G services at the Bundesnetzagentur head quarters in Mainz
A journalist uses his mobile phone to take a picture of the 5G logo prior to the auction of spectrum for 5G services at the Bundesnetzagentur head quarters in Mainz, Germany, March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

March 19, 2019

MAINZ, Germany (Reuters) – Germany launched its 5G mobile spectrum auction on Tuesday, finally going ahead after a court threw out legal challenges and regulators resisted U.S. pressure to ban Chinese network vendors from building out next-generation networks.

Four firms are vying for 41 blocks of spectrum in the 2 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands that are suited to running ‘connected’ factories – a priority for Europe’s largest economy as it seeks to remain competitive in the digital age.

“It is important for us that we have a focus on industry, and on better coverage,” Jochen Homann, head of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) said ahead of the auction.

Germany’s three network operators – Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica Deutschland – have been admitted into the auction.

Also participating is 1&1 Drillisch, a virtual mobile operator controlled by United Internet that wants to run a fourth network.

Bid teams surrendered their smartphones on entering the former army barracks in the southwestern city of Mainz where the auction is being held. They are bidding via a secure network from separate rooms and can only discuss strategy with their head offices via fax.

All 41 blocks will be auctioned simultaneously, with results posted online after each round. The government hopes to raise billions from the auction – a 4G auction in 2015 collected 5.1 billion euros ($5.8 billion) – which is likely to go on for weeks.

After months of uncertainty, the auction went ahead after a court last week threw out lawsuits from the operators, who had complained that a requirement to provide high-speed coverage to 98 percent of households by 2022 was too onerous.

Regulators also clarified ground rules applying to network equipment vendors following U.S. pressure on its allies to ban China’s Huawei Technologies on national security grounds.

Germany opted instead to impose tighter compliance requirements on all vendors, creating a level playing field and allaying the concerns of the operators – all of which already use Huawei equipment – that they would have to replace parts of their networks at great expense.

“The same rules apply, whether you are from Sweden or China,” Homann told reporters.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Steve King: 'Nothing to Apologize For,' Will Seek Re-election

Embattled Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, says he will seek re-election in 2020.

Rep. King also said Thursday he has nothing to apologize for following backlash for his use of the terms "white nationalist" and "white supremacist."

"I have nothing to apologize for," King said during an appearance on Iowa Press. "If I look back through this, each thing starts out with some formerly credible organization that launches this, and then we have this phenomenon that America is not ready for and that's this cyberbullying that unleashes that is there and creating a firestorm. That is what has happened.

"If you would just hold these publications to what is true, there is no story whatsoever."

King was quoted in The New York Times article in January as saying: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?"

In October, the lawmaker was criticized after The Washington Post article said he met with members of a far-right Austrian party with historical Nazi ties during a trip to Europe financed by a Holocaust memorial group and questioned the value of diversity with an Austrian newspaper during the trip.

Still, King won a ninth term to Congress in November despite criticism from his own Republican colleagues.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Joe Biden has a big 2020 announcement; Putin and Kim have ‘good’ nuke talks

Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here's a look at what you need to know today ...

Ready, set ... Joe? Biden expected to launch 2020 presidential campaign
After months of speculation, former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce Thursday morning that he’s joining the crowded field of Democrats running for president in 2020. Biden is expected to release a video with his announcement. Despite the recent #MeToo controversy where several women accused him of touching them inappropriately at events, Biden, 76, has remained at the top of most public opinion polls. His strongest competition for the Democratic nomination right now is Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., 77, who has stirred controversy this week for his support for allowing prisoners to vote. Sanders also has faced tough crowds at recent town halls and gatherings, most recently at a She The People Forum devoted to women of color in Houston on Wednesday night, where hecklers left the self-described democratic socialist visibly frustrated.

When Kim met Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Thursday they had good talks about their joint efforts to resolve a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program, amid stalled negotiations with the United States. Speaking at the start of the talks at a university on Russky Island across a bridge from Vladivostok, Putin voiced confidence that Kim's visit will "help better understand what should be done to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what we can do together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes going on now." Kim's trip to Russia, his first, comes about two months after his Hanoi summit with President Trump failed because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. Putin, observers say, wants to expand Russia's clout in the region and gain more leverage with Washington. - The Associated Press

To impeach or not to impeach?
Leading Democrats and 2020 Democratic candidates for president have been divided over whether to pursue impeachment against President Trump since last week's release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report, which found no evidence of collusion and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Despite various ongoing congressional investigations of Trump, which the president has vowed to fight, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not want to pursue it. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., known for rallying supporters with her cries to "impeach 45," now seems hesitant. And Hillary Clinton has cautioned House Democrats in a Washington Post op-ed against immediately launching impeachment proceedings against Trump and urged the party to widen its platforms to a more “sensible agenda” for the upcoming elections.

Fox News legal analyst and commentator Gregg Jarrett agrees with Clinton, telling “The Todd Starnes Show” on Wednesday that attempts by Democrats to impeach Trump would be "poison for them." President Trump may likely address the Democrats' impeachment dilemma when he talks to Sean Hannity tonight in an exclusive interview on "Hannity" at 9 p.m. ET.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Jewish group calls for controversial freshman lawmaker's removal from committees, Democratic Party
One of America’s oldest Jewish organizations called Wednesday for U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to be removed from congressional committees and from the Democratic Party. In an editorial posted on its website, the Zionist Organization of America, which dates to 1897, pointed to what it described as Tlaib’s “anti-Israel record,” and accused the freshman congresswoman of associating with “terrorists, anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists.” “Rashida Tlaib’s anti-Israel record was already well-known before she was elected in last year’s midterm elections,” the ZOA article asserts. Since taking office in January, Tlaib has been a lightning rod for criticism from Republicans as well as from members of her own party.

Blockbuster numbers anticipated for 'Avengers: Endgame'
"Avengers: Endgame" hits U.S. movie theaters nationwide on Thursday night and marks the highly anticipated conclusion to a decade-long run for the Disney-owned Marvel series, which reintroduced several classic superheroes to modern audiences. “Avengers” has been one of Disney’s most bankable film franchises at the box office. Fox Business breaks down “Avengers: Endgame” by the numbers.


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

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEED FOR CASH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATE COMPETITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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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

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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

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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

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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

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