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

Japan’s MUFG considers scaling back overseas markets division: sources

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a signboard of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and MUFG Bank at its headquarters in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a signboard of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and MUFG Bank at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

April 9, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is considering scaling back its bond and equity sales and trading operations in London and New York, as part of a broader restructuring of its global markets division, two sources said on Tuesday.

MUFG, Japan’s biggest bank by assets, will also overhaul its Japanese equity business at home and overseas. The move comes after Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings last week said it would cut $1 billion in costs from its wholesale business and shut domestic retail branches.

MUFG has yet to finalize the plans, the sources said, declining to be identified because the information was not yet public. The size of the likely reductions was not clear. It was also not clear how many people were employed in the those divisions.

A representative for MUFG said the bank was progressing in its structural reform plans, but declined to comment further.

(Reporting by Taro Fuse; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

0 0

New York mobster, who served jail time age 100 because he didn't rat: 'Jesus suffered. He didn't squeal on nobody'

Longtime Colombo under-boss John “Sonny” Franzese is the living embodiment of the ultimate mob rule — bragging in an interview about refusing to rat despite it making him the oldest federal prisoner at the age of 100.

Wheelchair-bound Franzese, now 102 and living in a nursing home, told Newsday about his life of crime — and how he stuck to the “Goodfellas” adage of “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut” despite facing 50 years behind bars.

LEGENDARY NYC MAFIA BOSS CARMINE PERSICO DIES BEHIND BARS AT 85

John "Sonny" Franzese, after being released $150,000 bail in 1966

John "Sonny" Franzese, after being released $150,000 bail in 1966 (Photo by Nick Sorrentino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

“They wanted me to roll all the time,” Franzese insisted. “I couldn’t do that. Because it’s my principle. I could never give a guy up because I knew what jail was. I wouldn’t put a dog in a jail pod.”

Speaking for the first time since his release in June 2017, Franzese bragged to the paper that “no one in history” had done as much, likening it to godliness.

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING GAMBINO MOB BOSS FRANK CALI FORMALLY CHARGED IN NEW YORK

“Jesus suffered,” he said. “He didn’t squeal on nobody.”

In an age where other mob bosses turned, his commitment also caught the attention of the late John Gotti, who called Franzese “one tough [expletive] guy” for his refusal to rat.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

This story originally appeared in the New York Post. For more from the Post, click here.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Again? Establishment Democrats Are Plotting To Sabotage Bernie Sanders Because They Are Scared Trump Would Beat Him

Bernie Sanders is on a roll, and this is absolutely terrifying many establishment Democrats. 

He has raised far more money that any of the other Democratic candidates, he just took the lead in a major national poll, and a Fox News town hall featuring Sanders was just watched by nearly 2.6 million viewers.  You would think that the Democratic establishment would be thrilled to see such enthusiasm for one of their presidential candidates, but instead they are totally freaking out because they don’t want him to be the nominee.  On Tuesday, the New York Times published an article entitled “‘Stop Sanders’ Democrats Are Agonizing Over His Momentum”, and in that article we are told that “his critics are chiefly motivated by a fear that nominating an avowed socialist would all but ensure Mr. Trump a second term”.  And of course those critics are right.  If Sanders is the nominee, that will give Trump the best chance of winning again in 2020.  It would be a complete and total nightmare for the Democratic Party, and so in order to avoid that scenario some Democratic operatives are already plotting how to sabotage the Sanders campaign.

Right now there are 17 Democrats running for president, and it looks like Joe Biden will jump into the race very soon.

But most of the other candidates have not gained any traction at all, and a brand new poll that just came out actually shows Sanders beating Biden

Sen. Bernie Sanders finished ahead of Joe Biden in the first major national poll of the year that did not find the former vice president leading the pack of potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

When asked whom they would support from a list of 20 candidates – including “someone else” –  29% named Sanders, and 24% named Biden in an Emerson College poll released Monday. They were trailed by South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was the pick of 9% of likely Democratic primary voters.


Bernie Sanders appears to be ok with the possible physical attacks on Kaitlin Bennett due to his rhetoric and characterization of Kaitlin and Infowars. Alex exposes this false narrative smear from the left.

What is even more important is the trajectory of the support for the two candidates.  Biden’s support appears to be dropping because of his history of “inappropriate touching”, and support for Sanders has risen 12 points since February

“Biden has seen his support drop. In February, he led Sanders 27% to 17%, and in March, the two were tied at 26%. Now, Sanders has a 5-point lead,” said Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson Polling.

If Biden ends up flopping as a candidate, establishment Democrats are going to be in quite a quandary because nobody else is even polling in double digits at this point.  Perhaps someone like Pete Buttigieg will end up catching fire, but there is no guarantee that will happen.

As it stands today, there is a very good chance that Bernie Sanders could be the Democratic nominee, and many establishment Democrats are trying to figure a way out of this mess

From canapé-filled fund-raisers on the coasts to the cloakrooms of Washington, mainstream Democrats are increasingly worried that their effort to defeat President Trump in 2020 could be complicated by Mr. Sanders, in a political scenario all too reminiscent of how Mr. Trump himself seized the Republican nomination in 2016.

How, some Democrats are beginning to ask, do they thwart a 70-something candidate from outside the party structure who is immune to intimidation or incentive and wields support from an unwavering base, without simply reinforcing his “the establishment is out to get me”’ message — the same grievance Mr. Trump used to great effect?

Of course if Sanders supporters get the impression that the nominating process is being rigged against their guy again, that could cause a full-blown civil war in the Democratic Party.

Needless to say, Republicans would absolutely love that.

But despite that danger, establishment Democratic operatives such as David Brock are publicly talking about sabotaging Sanders

“There’s a growing realization that Sanders could end up winning this thing, or certainly that he stays in so long that he damages the actual winner,” said David Brock, the liberal organizer, who said he has had discussions with other operatives about an anti-Sanders campaign and believes it should commence “sooner rather than later.”

Once this New York Times story came out, it was inevitable that there would be a tremendous amount of backlash from Bernie supporters.

For example, Bernie supporter Katherine Krueger very quickly released a response piece entitled “I’m Going to Have a Rage Stroke Over This Story About Dem Elites Trying to Take Bernie Out”

I’m spent. I want nothing from these people; in fact, I’d prefer they retire from politics entirely for their role in losing what was arguably the most winnable presidential election in modern history. Neera Tanden might punch me in the chest for saying this, but that’s OK!

It’s insanely telling that the people featured in this story—who call themselves “progressives,” despite being wedded to deeply middle-of-the-road centrist policies—are so threatened by a candidate who, after being screwed by them in 2016, isn’t inclined to make concessions to the vast, useless apparatus of consultants and donors that they represent. Of course they want to stop Sanders. He’s sworn off big money, has actual progressive policy ideas, and is thumbing his nose at scolds like Tanden and her cronies! If the voters choose Bernie, he should be the nominee. End of story. If you’re the kind of person who would tack a “but,” onto the end of that sentence, you’re probably more wedded to rewriting the perceived wrongs of 2016 than actually taking back the White House in 2020.

The fact that Bernie Sanders has so much support shows how much America has moved to the left in 2019.  He represents just about the opposite of everything that our founders believed in, but a large percentage of the nation is embracing him anyway.

But could a self-described socialist actually go all the way and win the entire thing?

Probably not, and that is why establishment Democrats are so freaked out right now.

There is still plenty of time, and a lot can change in the coming months.  But at this moment, many are describing Sanders as the front-runner

“Right now, he is the front-runner,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the chief public affairs officer for MoveOn, a progressive group. “He is leading in the fundraising. He is leading in the polling — except for Biden, who has not jumped in yet. … Bernie’s start has been impressive. Clearly his base is still with him and still excited.”

Of course there is one Democrat that would beat Bernie very easily, but she has insisted over and over that she is not running.

However, the stronger the Sanders campaign gets, the louder the calls for her to run will become.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Biden Coverage Dwarfed by Mueller Report on MSNBC, CNN

X

Story Stream

recent articles

Former Vice President Biden has been making headlines this week as his potential presidential campaign gears up, but surely not the kind he was hoping for. Following Lucy Flores’ claims that Biden’s touching of her in 2014 made her deeply uncomfortable, more women have come forward with similar concerns, and Biden’s “hands on” style of greeting has become a political meme. Some Democratic-leaning news outlets have notably come to Biden’s defense, but what has TV coverage of the story as a whole looked like?

The timeline below shows the total percentage of weekly airtime on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News combined that mentioned Biden since June 2009, using data from the Internet Archive’s Television News Archive. The past week has seen the second-most television news coverage of him over the past decade, trailing only his 2012 reelection.

Looking at the past two weeks by channel, all three initially covered the Flores allegations, but CNN and MSNBC quickly moved on. Fox News, on the other hand, has continued to devote significant attention to the story. Since Flores spoke up on March 29, Fox News has spent almost as much time on the story as the other two channels combined.

The tremendous discrepancy in coverage can be seen most starkly in the graph below, which tallies the total airtime devoted by each station since March 29 to the Robert Mueller and Biden stories. MSNBC has spent 3.2 times as much time on Mueller as it has Biden, with CNN spending 2.3 times as much airtime. Fox News, on the other hand, has paid almost equal time to both stories.

Even two weeks after Barr’s release of key conclusions of the Mueller report, there has not been a single day in which the Biden story received more airtime on MSNBC than the Mueller story, and Biden bested Mueller for just a single day on CNN. It seems MSNBC, in particular, is working to keep the Mueller story alive.

Putting this all together, it is notable that in the #MeToo era, the reckoning over a powerful politician’s uncomfortable interactions with women has not drawn more attention. CNN and MSNBC have largely downplayed the Biden allegations, preferring to focus their time on the Mueller investigation, while Fox News has granted both stories nearly equal airtime.

If #MeToo allegations against one of the most prominent Democratic contenders can’t break through the news cycle on CNN and MSNBC, and with prominent Democrat Justin Fairfax withstanding his own #MeToo moment in Virginia, it raises the question of whether #MeToo’s role in the 2020 election cycle may be fading.

RealClear Media Fellow Kalev Leetaru is a senior fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security. His past roles include fellow in residence at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government.

0 0

As medical costs mount, Japan to weigh cost-effectiveness in setting drug prices

A staff member of the National Cancer Center Hospital shows the immune system-boosting cancer drug Opdivo during a photo opportunity at the hospital in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: A staff member of the National Cancer Center Hospital shows the immune system-boosting cancer drug Opdivo during a photo opportunity at the hospital in Tokyo, Japan December 26, 2018.REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

February 18, 2019

By Takashi Umekawa

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese doctor Yasushi Goto remembers prescribing the cancer drug Opdivo to an octogenarian and wondering whether taxpayers might object to helping fund treatment, which at the time cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, for patients in their twilight years.

Japanese have easy access to new medicines, whose prices are decided by the government and subsidized by the country’s public health insurance system.

But that may change. Japan, confronted with the ballooning cost of caring for an aging population, is introducing a cost-effectiveness test for drugs as a means of capping prices.

There are no plans to deny care for patients of any age. But limiting the prices of innovative but costly treatments might chase new drugs out of the $86 billion Japanese market, drugmakers say.

“If you ask whether it’s worth prescribing an 85-year-old patient Opdivo, a lot of people will say no. But patients and family members are going to say yes,” said Goto, who works at the National Cancer Centre Hospital.

Patients also fear more drastic changes, such as denying access to new medicines; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic council in December proposed considering cost in determining whether to approve treatments.

“For cancer patients like us, it’s not acceptable if the government applies a cost-effective analysis in determining whether to approve treatments,” said Yoshiyuki Majima, a director of patient advocacy group Rare Cancers Japan.

SUSTAINABILITY OR ACCESS

The Japanese government estimates that public medical spending could surge 75 percent to 68.5 trillion yen ($624 billion) by 2040.

“It is obvious that Japan will face difficulties in providing social security service,” said a government official involved in the discussions, declining to be named because he is not authorized to speak to media. “The cost-effectiveness analysis is a means to secure sustainability.”

The system that will be adopted in April, according to a draft published on the health ministry’s website, compares the cost to the effectiveness of new treatments using an “incremental cost-effectiveness ratio,” or ICER.

ICER, already used in countries such as Britain, considers how much it costs to give a patient one additional year of healthy life compared with existing alternatives. If that exceeds 5 million yen, for example, the government may insist on a lower price, according the policy draft.

There has been little public discussion; weekly meetings so far have involved mostly Health Ministry officials, doctors, academics and drugmaker executives.

“If I have rheumatoid arthritis and I can’t write or type, but then I get a treatment that enables me to go back to work, pay taxes, and take care of my family, that benefit is not going to be captured by the ICER,” said Kevin Haninger, a vice president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a lobbying group.

In an interview with Reuters, he insisted Japan should carefully consider an impact on the industry when introducing such analysis to reduce drug prices.

“If Japan is going to cut prices so much, I think Japan will really run a risk of losing its current position,” he said.

LUCRATIVE MARKET NO MORE?

Drugmakers have been complaining about price cuts since 2017, when the government decided to review costs more frequently.

Japan has slashed the price of Opdivo, developed by Ono Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and Bristol-Myers Squibb, by more than 75 percent in the last two years. It has also lowered Gilead Science’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi by 32 percent since 2016.

But while drugmakers threaten to pull back from Japan, the government is prepared to call the industry’s bluff, saying Japan is too lucrative a market for companies to ignore, according to two government officials, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Unlike the United States, where insurers may deny claims, or the UK, where patients can be denied costly drugs, Japan is seen as a relatively predictable market because of its social insurance system.

For example, Novartis’ Kymriah, a type of therapy in which a patient’s T-cells are modified to attack cancer cells, is expected to be approved in Japan this year.

The price for pediatric leukemia patients, to be set by a government panel after approval, is expected to start at about $475,000, similar to U.S. prices. With an estimated 250 Japanese eligible for treatment with Kymriah, sales in Japan are a potentially lucrative addition to Novartis’ bottom line.

Novartis declined to comment on potential effects of a new pricing policy.

Goto said the government should focus on reducing prescriptions for illnesses that are not serious, rather than costly but possibly life-saving treatments for a small number of patients.

“Flu medicines, for example, can be seen to have very low cost-effectiveness because they don’t save people’s lives, except those of infants or pregnant women, compared with cancer drugs that are critical for some patients,” he said.

(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa; Editing by Ritsuko Ando and Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

0 0

Finish what you started on reforms, IMF tells Greece

A Greek national flag flutters atop the parliament building in Athens
FILE PHOTO - A Greek national flag flutters atop the parliament building in Athens, Greece, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

March 12, 2019

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece needs to press ahead with unfinished economic reforms to cut risks to its recovery in the medium term, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday in its first report since the country exited its third bailout.

Under the terms of Greece’s exit seven months ago the Washington-based Fund, which took part in the first two bailouts, and its euro zone lenders are continuing to monitor its compliance with economic targets they set.

The IMF expects Greece’s economy to grow 2.4 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2020 before slowing in subsequent years, it said, reiterating projections it made two months ago.

Growth will be helped by stronger consumption this year after an 11 percent hike in the minimum wage, the first such increase since the crisis began. Greece took its first bailout in 2010.

But rising wage pressures and the reversal of labor reforms may hit employment in a country whose the jobless rate stands at 18 percent, and the banking sector remains vulnerable, the IMF added.

“Greece should reconsider recent changes in collective bargaining policies and press ahead with its unfinished reform agenda,” the IMF said.

It should cut taxes to facilitate growth and proceed with a planned broadening of the personal income tax base.

The latter has been expected to kick in next year but the leftist government of Alexis Tsipras, whose term ends in October, has said the measure will be annulled if it wins re-election.

The government has announced austerity-easing measures since the bailout program ended in August, but polls show the conservative New Democracy party is widening its lead over Tsipras’ Syriza party.

The IMF says the country must also prepare for possible fiscal risks, including increased budget costs due to legal challenges to past wage and pension cuts, reform fatigue and pre-election uncertainty.

Euro zone finance ministers could grant Greece close to 1 billion euros in April if Athens completes reforms agreed with creditors by then. So far, it has completed 13 of 16 promised reforms, the European Commission said.

Greece, which has tapped bond markets twice this year, has created a substantial cash buffer, the IMF said, adding that the country can service its debt through the end of 2022 without further market financing.

Its capacity to repay the Fund is currently “assessed to be adequate”, but if fiscal risks materialize, that capacity “could become challenged over the medium term”, the IMF said.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: OANN

0 0

Detroit Lions Sign Former Virginia Tech Quarterback Logan Thomas

David Hookstead | Reporter

Logan Thomas is the latest free agency signing for the Detroit Lions.

The former Virginia Tech star quarterback agreed to a deal with the Lions, according MLive.com. Thomas has switched positions since entering the league, and now plays tight end. He joins Jesse James as another new TE on the squad. Financial details of the deal aren’t known at this time. (RELATED: Tight End Jesse James Signs With The Detroit Lions For $25 Million)

First, I’m a little surprised Thomas didn’t work out in the NFL as a quarterback. He is absolutely massive and dominated the ACC during his days with the Hokies.

Given how the quarterback play in the league has changed, you’d think he’d be perfectly suited to be spinning the rock. I thought he was going to be just fine in the league coming out of VT. Clearly, I was wrong.

Secondly, I’m all for getting Matthew Stafford all the help we can. If Thomas can excel in the blocking game and provide an option in the passing game, then I’m all for it.

Last season was a disaster, and we can’t let that happen again. Beefing up the offense and the protections around Stafford is a major key to not repeating the same mistakes as last season.

Welcome to the squad, Thomas. Happy to have you here.

Follow David Hookstead on Twitter

Source: The Daily Caller

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