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

Ford investigating possible problems with fuel economy, emissions tests

The 88th Geneva International Motor Show
The logo of Ford is seen during the 88th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland, March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy/File Photo

February 21, 2019

By Joseph White

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it had hired outside experts to investigate its vehicle fuel economy and testing procedures after employees raised concerns, and did not know whether it would have to correct data given to regulators or consumers.

The investigation and concerns involving Ford’s testing processes do not involve the use of so-called defeat devices – hardware and software designed deliberately to deceive government emissions tests, Kimberly Pittel, Ford’s group vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering, told Reuters on Thursday.

The automaker since last fall has been investigating concerns raised by employees that incorrect calculations were used to translate test results into the mileage and emissions data submitted to regulators, Pittel said.

Ford said it was evaluating changes to the process it uses to develop fuel economy and emissions figures, “including engineering, technical and governance components.”

Ford shares dipped slightly in after-hours trading following the disclosure.

Ford has hired the Sidley, Austin law firm to lead an independent investigation into possible discrepancies in calculations used to produce emissions and fuel economy figures, Pittel said. The company is using an independent laboratory to conduct testing.

U.S. and California regulators have been cracking down on automakers for emissions cheating following revelations in 2015 that German automaker Volkswagen AG had used defeat devices to make models equipped with diesel engines appear to comply with emissions standards when they emitted far more pollution than allowed in real-world driving.

“We have voluntarily shared this information” with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, Pittel said. Ford notified the agencies this week, she said.

The EPA said in a statement on Thursday that information from Ford’s investigation is “too incomplete for EPA to reach any conclusions. We take the potential issues seriously and are following up with the company to fully understand the circumstances behind this disclosure.”

The investigation has started with testing of the 2019 Ranger pickup truck, and the company expects data back next week, Pittel said.

Pittel said it was not clear what impact the review will have on advertised mileage or fuel economy data submitted to regulators, nor is it clear how many vehicles could be affected if Ford is required to revise the data.

“We are going to go where the investigation takes us,” she said.

Ford has been embarrassed in the past by errors in fuel economy claims. In 2013, the automaker cut by seven miles per gallon the claimed fuel economy for its C-Max hybrid model following complaints that real-world mileage did not match the claimed fuel economy. In 2014, Ford lowered fuel economy ratings for six other models and offered compensation to customers.

(Reporting by Joe White; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

0 0

Sen. Pat Toomey: Congress Needs More Power in National Emergencies

One of the 12 Republican senators who voted against President Donald Trump's use of the 1976 National Emergencies Act to secure border wall funding said his vote came down to the separation of powers.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he is in favor of the border wall but against using executive powers to find money to build it.

"What's important to me is the source he uses to fund that. It should be a combination of sources that Congress has approved of, not those that have a very legally dubious basis," Toomey said. "For me, it was about the separation of powers, and I think that's an important issue."

Toomey added that Thursday's vote, which passed 59-41 before it was struck down by a presidential veto, was a vote on the legality of how Trump secured roughly $6.7 billion of federal money for the wall.

"We voted on whether we approve of what he did. I approve of border wall construction. I don't approve of the way he's funding it," Toomey said.

"I think for decades now, Congress has been transferring way too much constitutional authority from the legislative branch to the executive. That's very bad for a representative democracy, for a republic such as ours. This is one area where we should simply reclaim the legislative responsibility that we have in this regard."

Source: NewsMax Politics

0 0

San Diego County sues Trump administration over immigration policy

U.S. President Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee Annual Spring Dinner in Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee Annual Spring Dinner in Washington, U.S., April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

April 4, 2019

(Reuters) – San Diego County has filed a federal lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing it of leaving thousands of asylum seekers stranded without help and straining county resources, officials said on Wednesday.

The suit, filed by the county’s Board of Supervisors in the U.S. Distict Court in Southern California, asks a judge to issue an injunction ordering the federal government to resume its “Safe Release” program which ended in October.

The program had helped people seeking asylum reach relatives in the U.S. or connect with charities dedicated to helping migrants.

“The county formally filed a lawsuit this afternoon over this issue,” board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob wrote on Twitter.

The county has already spent over 1.3 million dollars operating a downtown shelter to accommodate asylum seekers, she wrote. “That figure is ballooning by the day.”

Immigration along the U.S. border with Mexico has been a key issue for the Trump administration, where the president has said he wants to curb undocumented migrants from entering the U.S.

Jacob wrote on Twitter that the president’s policy had left border communities and local taxpayers “holding the bag.”

Board member Nathan Fletcher told the Washington Post that 11,000 asylum seekers have come through the local shelters since November.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen was named in the suit along with senior officials in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol, the Post reported.

Neither immigration officials or a representative for the Trump administration could be reached early Thursday for comment.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

0 0

Italy to hike 2020 deficit goal to around 2.1 percent: sources

FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Italian Economy Minister Giovanni Tria shake hands during a final vote on Italy's 2019 budget law at the Lower House of the Parliament in Rome
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Italian Economy Minister Giovanni Tria shake hands during a final vote on Italy's 2019 budget law at the Lower House of the Parliament in Rome, Italy, December 29, 2018. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

April 7, 2019

By Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) – Italy will probably raise its 2020 budget deficit goal to around 2.1 percent of gross domestic product when it publishes new targets this week, three government sources told Reuters, and the figure could be hiked again after the summer.

Italy, whose public debt is proportionally the highest in the euro zone after Greece’s, is struggling to hold its finances in check while keeping costly promises made by the populist ruling coalition.

The new forecasts will be presented in the annual Economic and Financial Document (DEF) due to be issued by Wednesday, which sets the framework for the 2020 budget.

The current 2020 deficit target, set in December, is 1.8 percent of GDP, down from 2.04 percent this year, but a recent economic downturn means both years will have to be revised up.

Next year’s GDP growth will be trimmed to just below 1 percent from the current forecast of 1.1 percent, two of the sources said. They asked not to be named because they are not authorized to talk about the DEF.

The numbers in the DEF will not be finalised before the end of ongoing talks between the ruling coalition of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League.

The government will update its targets again in September, when it will have to find a way to avoid some 23 billion euros ($25.81 billion) of hikes in sales tax scheduled to take effect in 2020, but which the ruling parties have promised to scrap.

Claudio Borghi, the League’s economics spokesman, suggested last month the government might cancel the sales tax hikes simply by increasing public borrowing, which would raise the deficit above the EU’s 3 percent of GDP ceiling.

This is sure to be resisted by Economy Minister Giovanni Tria, an academic who is not a member of either ruling party.

Promised tax cuts, championed in particular by the League, add to Tria’s difficulties in keeping a lid on the deficit.

The government will gradually lower income tax and simplify the system by reducing the number of tax bands from five to two, and cut the company tax rate to 20 percent, according to a draft National Reform Programme seen by Reuters, which will be published alongside the DEF.

This year’s GDP growth forecast will be probably be cut to 0.3 percent or 0.4 percent from 1.0 percent, and the deficit will be raised to around 2.3 percent, Reuters reported on April 3, citing government sources.

The DEF will attempt to set the public debt on a declining path from last year’s record of 132.1 percent of GDP, Tria said last week, though the economic slowdown makes the task harder.

On Tuesday statistics bureau ISTAT will issue revised debt figures for 2018 and 2017, which are expected to show an even higher debt-to-GDP ratio.

($1 = 0.8913 euros)

(Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: OANN

0 0

Body of girl, 9, found near Los Angeles hiking trail ID’d, 2 ‘persons of interest’ detained

Authorities on Sunday identified the body of a young girl who was found at the bottom of an embankment near Los Angeles last week and said two "persons of interest" have been detained in connection with the girl's death.

Trinity Love Jones, 9, was the girl who county maintenance workers found partially inside a duffel bag near a hiking trail in Hacienda Heights on Tuesday, her father Antonio Jones told KTLA earlier Sunday. By Sunday evening the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department released a statement confirming the girl's identity.

"Although the Coroner's Office determined the death to be a homicide, the cause of death is being withheld," Deputy Tracey Koerner of the Sheriff's Information Bureau said in the statement.

The statement said that investigators have detained "two persons of interest in the case" and that an investigation is ongoing. No additional details were released.

BODY FOUND ON ISLAND NEARLY 23 YEARS AGO HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED

A candlelight vigil was held for Jones on Sunday at the site where the body was found, KCBS-TV reported. Family members brought candles, flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, and photos, the report said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or submit an anonymous tip to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Fox News' Amy Lieu contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Exxon Mobil wins three exploration blocks offshore Argentina

FILE PHOTO: Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File Photo

April 16, 2019

(Reuters) – U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp said on Tuesday its unit and an affiliate of Qatar Petroleum had won three exploration blocks offshore Argentina.

The three blocks will add about 2.6 million net acres to Exxon’s existing holdings in Argentina, the company said. The blocks are located in the Malvinas basin, about 200 miles (320 kms) offshore Tierra del Fuego.

Exxon’s existing Argentina holdings include 315,000 net acres spread over seven blocks in the onshore Neuquén Basin of the Vaca Muerta unconventional oilfield and a business support center in Buenos Aires.

ExxonMobil will have a 70 percent stake, while Qatar Petroleum’s affiliate will hold the rest.

The Argentine government issued a statement on Tuesday saying it received offers for the exploration of three offshore oil and gas basins from 13 companies for a total of $995 million. The country’s energy secretariat was expected to confirm which companies were awarded which areas next month.

Qatar Petroleum signed an agreement with Exxon Mobil in June to buy a 30 percent stake in two of Exxon’s affiliates in Argentina, giving Qatar’s state-owned entity access to oil and gas shale assets in the Latin American country.

Exxon has been investing heavily in its U.S. shale operations and in Guyana. Its development in Argentina has been slow due to several reasons, including the geographic remoteness of the country from U.S. shale operations as well as government controls on natural gas prices.

The U.S. oil company also invested in Brazil’s prolific offshore oilfields throughout 2018, clinching numerous blocks in partnership with other companies. Exxon and Qatar Petroleum International landed Brazil’s Tita area, locking in key real estate in the prized Santos basin.

The two companies have also partnered on three of Exxon’s offshore exploration blocks in Mozambique’s Angoche and Zambezi basins.

(Reporting by Shanti S Nair in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires; Editing by James Emmanuel and Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

0 0

FSU’s Cofer of father: ‘I will miss him dearly’

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Hartford Practice
Mar 20, 2019; Hartford, CT, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Phil Cofer (0) speaks with the media before a practice in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

March 24, 2019

Florida State forward Phil Cofer made his first statement about his father’s death this week, saying he “will miss him dearly.”

Cofer’s statement is posted on the GoFundMe page he started to raise money for his father’s funeral and lingering medical expenses.

“On Thursday March 21st, moments after my team’s win in the first round of the 2019 NCAA tournament, celebration turned into devastation as I received a phone call that would change my life forever,” Cofer wrote. “My dad, Michael Cofer, had passed due to a battle with a long-term illness. My dad has always supported me on and off the court and I will miss him dearly.”

The elder Cofer, 58, was a former NFL linebacker who played 10 seasons (1983-1992) for the Detroit Lions.

The Detroit Free Press said the cause of death was a rare disease, which it did not name, that affects organs and tissue.

“My family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and now humbly asks for the community’s help with our existing and continuing expenses,” Phil Cofer continued in the GoFundMe post. “All proceeds from this fundraiser will go toward my Dad’s funeral expenses and my family’s outstanding and ongoing medical costs. My family will contribute any donations that exceed our funeral and medical needs toward a charitable organization.”

As of Saturday afternoon, nearly $31,000 of the campaign’s $100,000 goal had been raised. The NCAA and Florida State’s compliance department gave the go-ahead for the fundraiser.

Phil Cofer did not play Thursday against Vermont because of a right foot injury, but coach Leonard Hamilton said Cofer would be with the team Saturday night when the Seminoles face Murray State at Hartford, Conn.

Injuries limited Cofer, a senior, to 22 games (19 starts) this season. He is averaging 7.4 points and 26.1 minutes per game.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEED FOR CASH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATE COMPETITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

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

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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

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

Title

Artist