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Montana pair get life for killing 2 found partly dissolved

A Montana judge sentenced a man and a woman Friday to life in prison after they pleaded guilty to stabbing two people to death, including a teenager, and trying to dissolve their bodies in tubs filled with chemicals.

District Judge James Wheelis gave both Augustus Standingrock and Tiffanie Pierce life terms with the possibility of parole for the 2017 deaths of Jackson Wiles, 24, and Marilyn Pickett, 15.

The sentences are in line with the recommendations prosecutors made in plea agreements. Standingrock pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide and accountability to deliberate homicide, while Pierce pleaded guilty to attempted deliberate homicide and accountability to deliberate homicide.

Pierce's plea to attempted deliberate homicide was from a separate attack in which she entered a Missoula home and stabbed a woman eight times, injuring her.

Pierce wept and Standingrock sat silently as relatives and friends of Wiles and Pickett testified for about 90 minutes about the pain they suffered after the killings, Missoula news station KGVO-AM reported .

Pierce's former roommate told police he was awakened by a woman's screams in their Missoula home in August 2017, according to court records. He said he found Pierce and Standingrock in the bathroom washing off blood and that Pierce told him there was a dead woman in the basement.

Police found Wiles' and Pickett's bodies dismembered and partially dissolved in the basement.

Prosecutors previously said Standingrock believed Wiles had sexually abused a young girl close to him.

Given the chance to speak in court, Standingrock said: "I apologize. There's nothing I can say or do to bring anything back," he said.

The roommate told investigators that Pierce said Standingrock brought over a couple of people and that he took them to the basement and attacked one while Pierce attacked the other.

Pierce said she never intended to cause anyone's death.

"Especially someone so young and beautiful and with as much potential as Marilyn," she said. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could trade places with her."

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Information from: KGVO-AM, http://www.kgvo1290.com

Source: Fox News National

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Exclusive: Iran’s Zarif believes Trump does not want war, but could be lured into conflict

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sits for an interview with Reuters in New York
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sits for an interview with Reuters in New York, New York, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

April 24, 2019

By Michelle Nichols, Lesley Wroughton and Phil Stewart

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif does not believe U.S. President Donald Trump wants war with Iran, but he told Reuters on Wednesday that Trump could be lured into a conflict.

“I don’t think he wants war,” Zarif said in an interview at the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York. “But that doesn’t exclude him being basically lured into one.”

Zarif said a so-called “B-team,” including Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, an ardent Iran hawk, and conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could goad Trump into a conflict with Tehran.

“Those who have designed the policies that are being pursued do not simply want a negotiated solution. But let me make it clear that Iran is not seeking confrontation, but will not escape defending itself,” he said.

In somewhat cryptic remarks, Zarif also warned of the possibility that people could try “to plot an accident” that could trigger a broader crisis.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from an international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions.

The U.S. blacklisting of the IRGC, Iran’s most powerful security organization with huge stakes in the economy, was the first time any nation has labeled another country’s military a terrorist organization.

Zarif said Iran would act with “prudence” in response to what he saw as dangerous policies by the United States. In one example, he said Iran would still allow U.S. warships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Zarif called the decision on the IRGC “absurd,” but suggested that Iran did not plan to respond militarily unless the United States changed the rules of engagement guiding how it interacts with Iran’s forces. The U.S. military has not suggested it would change its behavior after the blacklisting.

“We will exercise prudence but it doesn’t mean that if the United States changed the rules of the game, or changed the rules of engagement, it would be able to get away with that,” Zarif said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and some senior military commanders have threatened to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran oil exports.

Carrying one third of the world’s seaborne oil every day, the Strait of Hormuz links Middle East crude producers to markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.

When asked if U.S. warships could still pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Zarif – a veteran diplomat who has been foreign minister for more than six years – said: “Ships can go through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“If the United States wanted to continue to observe the rules of engagement, the rules of the game, the channels of communication, the prevailing protocols, then in spite of the fact that we consider U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf as inherently destabilizing, we’re not going to take any action,” Zarif said.

The United States has accused Tehran of destabilizing the Middle East and helping to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that began in 2011.

Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, the overseas arm of the IRGC, appeared on frontlines across Syria.

Zarif said Iran would remain “vigilant” in Syria and in Iraq after investing resources to fight there. “And we will not simply abandon that, that fight,” Zarif said.

‘PHD’ IN SANCTIONS BUSTING

Zarif, the U.S.-educated architect of the 2015 nuclear deal who came under attack from anti-Western hardliners in Iran after Trump pulled out of the agreement last year, signaled Tehran would be resilient in the face of U.S. sanctions.

“I mean there are always ways of going around the sanctions. We have a PhD in that area,” Zarif said.

The United States on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes. [nL1N22410R]

Zarif acknowledged that oil sanctions hurt ordinary Iranians and the government would do whatever it could to sell oil to provide for its citizens.

When asked who else Iran might consider selling oil to, Zarif said: “If I told you, we won’t be able to sell it to them.”

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Lesley Wroughton, Phil Stewart; editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: 1 tornado death confirmed in Mississippi

The Latest on severe weather in the South (all times local):

10:45 a.m.

Local emergency management officials say one person is dead after a tornado swept through a northern Mississippi town late Saturday.

Monroe County Road Manager Sonny Clay said at a news conference Sunday that a man was killed in Hamilton when a tree fell on his trailer.

Clay said 19 people were taken to hospitals for treatment, including two in critical condition.

Hamilton, Mississippi, is 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Memphis, Tennessee.

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8:35 a.m.

A possible tornado has left damage in southeastern Alabama on Sunday morning.

Power poles and trees were knocked over and parts of buildings were left hanging across utility lines in Troy, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Montgomery. A mobile home community was damaged, but no injuries are being reported.

The National Weather Service detected a possible twister on radar, but it's unclear whether a tornado or straight-line winds caused the damage.

The Storm Prediction Center says trees and power lines are down in Brewton near the Florida line, and some power is out. Homes were damaged about 250 miles (402 kilometers) to the north in Glencoe, and there's scattered damage south of Birmingham.

About 65,000 homes and businesses are without power in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama along the path of storms crossing the region.

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12:45 a.m.

Multiple people have been reported injured as tornadoes continued to flare along the Mississippi-Alabama state line late Saturday and early Sunday.

Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley says multiple people were injured and multiple homes were damaged in Hamilton, Mississippi, which is 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Memphis, Tennessee. A tornado was reported in the area at the time.

At least one mobile home was destroyed, throwing a man from the mobile home. No fatalities were reported.

The roof of a hotel in New Albany, Mississippi, was damaged, although the cause was unclear.

A twister hit Vicksburg, Mississippi early Saturday evening. Earlier, two children died in East Texas after a tree fell on their moving car.

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11:30 p.m.

Deadly storms continue to move across the South after spawning suspected tornadoes and damaging several homes.

The National Weather Service says a twister was reported Saturday night in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area. No injuries were reported, and news footage showed shattered windows and rooftop debris.

In East Texas, authorities say two children were killed when high winds toppled a tree onto the back of the family car while it was in motion. The Angelina County Sheriff's Office says an 8-year-old and 3-year-old died after the tree hit the back of the car in Lufkin, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Houston. The parents in the front seats were not hurt.

The weather service also says preliminary information showed an EF-3 tornado with winds of 140 mph touched down in Franklin, located about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Dallas.

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This story has been corrected to show Hamilton, Mississippi is about 140 miles southwest of Memphis, Tennessee, not 60 miles.

Source: Fox News National

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Why U.S. growers are betting the farm on soybeans amid China trade war

Farm equipment and grain storage belonging to farmer Austin Rincker sit outside in Moweaqua Illinois
Farm equipment and grain storage belonging to farmer Austin Rincker sit outside in Moweaqua, Illinois, U.S., March 6, 2019. Rincker will farm approximately 2500 acres in the upcoming season, split evenly between corn and soybeans. Picture taken March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Daniel Acker

March 14, 2019

By Mark Weinraub

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. farmers are gearing up to plant what could be their third-largest soybean crop ever despite failing to sell a mountain of beans from their last harvest due to a U.S.-China trade war that remains unresolved.

Soybeans were the single most valuable U.S. agricultural export crop and until the trade war, China bought $12 billion-worth a year from American farmers.

But Chinese tariffs have almost halted the trade, taking the biggest buyer out of the market and leaving farmers with crops they cannot sell. The U.S. government estimates farmers will have 900 million bushels, or approximately $8 billion, of last year’s soybeans in storage silos around the country when they start harvesting the next crop.

The U.S. government rolled out a $12 billion farm aid package last year to soften the impact of falling revenue on farmers, an important source of votes for U.S. President Donald Trump.

As winter ends and farmers begin planting, they will continue to plant soy despite uncertainty over whether they will be able to sell beans to China later this year. There are simply no better options, farmers say. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2TkUDjk)

“It is tough to rotate out of soybeans because what else are you going to plant?” said Darin Anderson, a 41-year-old farmer from Valley City, North Dakota.

One alternative, sorghum, was also dragged into the trade war. Farmers also could increase their corn acreage but the corn-based ethanol industry is struggling. Additionally, farmers who plant corn on the same fields two years in a row need to buy extra fertilizer and fuel.

Alternative niche crops such as hemp are expensive to start growing and have limited markets.

“Farmers have made long-term investments whether it is equipment or storage,” said Josh Gackle, a 44-year-old farmer from Kulm, North Dakota.

“All that is very specialized and the transition to something else takes a new set of investments.”

That means farmers will plant soybeans in the hope that the trade war ends, or that they will be compensated by another bailout or crop insurance schemes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts farmers will sow 85 million acres of the oilseed this spring. That is down just 4.6 percent from last year and would be the third largest U.S. area planted with soybeans.

The USDA expects soybean prices will fall in 2019 due to tariffs and rising supply. But soybean futures prices have performed relatively well, considering the disruption to markets from tariffs. The price is up 5.3 percent since China imposed a 25 percent tariff in July. That means many growers have made a slim profit from seeding soybeans.

“It is not a lot of gravy by any means,” said Austin Rincker, a 30-year-old farmer from Moweaqua, Illinois. “But with a good crop, we could still maintain some profitability.”

Rincker is aiming for a 50-50 split between corn and soybeans on his farm after a similar division in 2018. Any further increase in corn would add to his expenses, he said.

Growers are also confident their government-subsidized crop insurance plans will soften the blow if soy prices fall.

Farmers pay for their individual insurance policies, which provides a minimum price they will receive when they book sales for their crops. The federal government funds around 60 percent of the insurance payouts.

“It is nice to know it is there,” said Art Bunting, an Illinois farmer who typically opts for plans that cover 85 percent of expected revenue, the maximum amount offered under the plans.

The 2019 crop insurance price for soybeans was set at $9.54 a bushel based on the futures market activity during February, a rate 62 cents lower than last year. The November soybean futures contract, which is used to determine the crop insurance price, had dropped 18 cents below that level by the middle of March.

As well as the insurance, farmers were able to tap the government aid program to boost the profit on their 2018 crop. The bulk of the program’s budget was devoted to soybean claims. The USDA has said repeatedly the package was a one-off deal.

‘BLOODY OUT HERE’

The economic future of U.S. farmers is in the hands of U.S. and Chinese negotiators working to end the trade war, said Bob Utterback, president of consultancy Utterback Marketing.

“It’s going to be bloody out here in farm country,” without a trade deal, he said.

The USDA expects China’s annual soy imports to fall this year for the first time since 2004. China has booked just 11.0 million tonnes of U.S. soybean shipments since the marketing year started on Sept. 1, 2018, down from 28.2 million at the same point a year ago. The country’s total soy imports for the year are expected to be 6.5 percent below last year.

A fast-spreading outbreak of African swine fever reported in 28 provinces and regions has led to mass culling and reduced China’s demand for hog feed. China has also tried to boost the amount of alternative feeds used in livestock rations to reduce its dependence on U.S. imports.

But many farmers are convinced China will have to return to the U.S. market because even if it succeeds in reducing soymeal demand as Chinese demand for soybeans has more than tripled in the past 15 years.

And Beijing has promised 10 million more tonnes of goodwill purchases as part of the trade negotiations, U.S. officials have said.

“I think the demand will continue,” said Roger Hadley, a 66-year-old Indiana farmer who is aiming to divide his 1,000 acres evenly between soybeans and corn this spring.

“Their folks have got that taste in their diet.”

(Reporting by Mark Weinraub; Additional reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Simon Webb and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: OANN

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Explainer: Five ways Trump’s moves to stem border surge have hit hurdles

Central American migrants walk during their journey towards the United States, in Villa Comaltitlan
Central American migrants walk during their journey towards the United States, in Villa Comaltitlan, Mexico April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

April 18, 2019

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) – Grappling with a ballooning number of migrants at the U.S. southern border, President Donald Trump has suggested increasingly bold steps to fulfill his signature campaign pledge to stem illegal immigration.

Yet many of his administration’s ideas have been hindered by legal, practical and political obstacles.

Meanwhile, the flow of migrants seeking asylum or a better life in the United States continues to swell. By March, the number of illegal entrants into the country had surged to the highest level in more than a decade.

On Wednesday, the acting director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan visited the Texas border to underscore the administration’s concerns about a growing crisis.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Thursday that the agency would set up two temporary tent facilities in Texas to process migrants, each with a capacity to hold up to 500 people. Such camps have been criticized by Congress members for holding migrants too long and not providing adequate places to sleep or shower.

The president, whose statements and tweets suggest a rising level of frustration, recently cleaned house at the Department of Homeland Security, firing Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and several other high-ranking staff. He has vowed to move in a “tougher direction.”

But a look at several significant Trump Administration ideas or policies shows the difficulty the president faces in trying to reverse the tide of migration, which today is largely driven by poverty, corruption, crime and other factors in Central America.

Some examples of administration proposals or policies that have run, or may run, into trouble:

DETAIN ASYLUM SEEKERS INDEFINITELY

U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday issued a ruling that allows asylum seekers who cross the border illegally to be held without bond as they challenge their deportation – a decision affecting perhaps tens of thousands of migrants. It was the latest move by top justice officials seeking to reshape legal precedent in the country’s U.S. immigration courts.

(See graphic here on such actions: https://tmsnrt.rs/2XmGDDg)

Rights groups have already threatened to sue over the measure – which goes into effect in 90 days – and as a practical matter, additional detention space would be needed, requiring funding from Congress. Until that happens, many migrants are likely to continue to be released with an order to appear in court.

SEND IMMIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES 

Earlier this month, Trump proposed sending “an unlimited supply” of immigrants who are fighting deportation to so-called sanctuaries – the hundreds of cities, counties and states where law enforcement limits its cooperation with Trump’s crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

Immigration experts said it would be costly to transport migrants from the border and would require shifting funds from Border Patrol and other operations. In addition, the migrants would be free to move elsewhere once released.

CLOSE THE BORDER WITH MEXICO

The administration recently backed off a threat to shut the southern border, one of the busiest in the world, amid opposition from Democrats as well as often Republican-friendly business groups. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called the idea an “economic calamity.”

MAKE ASYLUM SEEKERS WAIT IN MEXICO

One of the boldest proposals by the Trump administration has been to tap a little used clause in immigration law to send hundreds of migrants who ask for asylum in the United States back to border towns in Mexico to wait months – or potentially years – for their cases to be resolved in U.S. courts.

Local Mexican officials say their towns are already overwhelmed with migrants who have nowhere to live and few job prospects, while immigration advocates say those who are stuck in Mexico often have trouble finding lawyers and receiving proper notice for their U.S. hearings. A federal judge ordered a halt to the policy but an appeals court said it could continue while the administration appeals.

DETAIN MIGRANT CHILDREN

The current wave of migrants includes many more families, as opposed to the single men who flocked north in the past. That has caused the administration to take another look at a 1997 agreement, known as the Flores settlement, that strictly limits detention of children.

The administration has said repeatedly that t wants to scrap the legal deal and propose new regulations. It is unclear where – and with what funding – the government would detain the youngsters. Legal challenges to this proposal have been in the works from the moment it was announced.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Julie Marquis)

Source: OANN

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UK economy dodges no-deal Brexit hit, for now

People walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London
FILE PHOTO: People walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London, Britain, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

March 22, 2019

By William Schomberg

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy has struggled beneath the weight of Brexit uncertainty for nearly three years, but many business leaders would probably be relieved just to have more of the same for the next few months.

The risk of a damaging no-deal exit by the world’s fifth-biggest economy from the European Union on March 29 has been averted by the reprieve granted to Prime Minister Theresa May by other EU leaders on Thursday.

But the possibility could return as soon as April 12. Or the delay could stretch into May or beyond, depending on the prime minister’s ability to break the Brexit impasse in parliament.

Employers took some comfort from the postponement, even if it did little to settle the wide range of Brexit outcomes that has led to many of them putting their expansion plans on hold.

“Businesses will accept a short extension because it’s a better alternative to no deal,” Seamus Nevin, chief economist at Make UK, an engineering trade group, said.

“But we really need to make decisions soon. Prolonged uncertainty just means the investment decline of recent months will continue and companies will be forced to decide whether to move production elsewhere.”

Carmakers have reduced expansion plans in Britain and many financial firms have set up operations in other EU countries.

Overall business investment fell throughout 2018, the longest such run since the global financial crisis, and another fall is expected in 2019, threatening to worsen the country’s weak productivity growth.

Britain’s economy lost momentum after the 2016 referendum decision to leave the EU.

The slowdown deepened last year as the Brexit deadline approached, with no guarantee of a transition to smooth the shock, but also reflecting the weakening of the world economy.

While Britain would bear the brunt of a no-deal Brexit hit, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said it is a risk for the slowing U.S. economy, along with Washington’s trade war with China.

The shock would also be felt in Europe where Britain’s closest trading partners are struggling.

“It would be a material shock for the EU at a difficult time,” Brian Coulton, chief economist at ratings agency Fitch Ratings, said. “Among the things that could tip the euro zone into a recession, it might be a candidate.”

“NATIONAL EMERGENCY”

Even the strongest Brexit supporters say a no-deal divorce would deliver a shock. But they believe the economy would adjust and flourish once it is free of the constraints of EU rules and can strike its own trade deals around the world.

Gerard Lyons, a pro-Brexit economist, said weak business investment was a long-standing British problem, not just a Brexit one, and he pointed to strong jobs growth and tax revenues as a sign of underlying resilience in the economy.

While his preferred option was for Britain to leave EU with a transition and then hammer out a trade deal, he said a no-deal Brexit would not be a disaster because progress has been made to prepare Britain’s finance industry, ports and logistics.

“It’s like a kick in the groin. It depends how hard the other side wants to kick you, and how well you maneuver yourself,” Lyons said.

The Bank of England said on Thursday that about 80 percent of almost 300 companies it surveyed felt they were as ready as they could be for a no-deal, no-transition Brexit, up from 50 percent in January.

The BoE has said a worst-case no-deal Brexit scenario — in which Britain loses the confidence of global investors and chaos hits transport and ports — could mean that the economy is 5 percent smaller in three years’ time than if the country stayed in the EU.

A more managed no-deal Brexit could reduce the hit to about 2.5 percent, still a material hit at a time when the economy is struggling to grow by more than 1.5 percent a year.

Most economists say the higher the barriers for British firms to do business in the EU, the bigger the drag will be on economic growth stretching out into the decades ahead.

Any gains from free trade deals with countries such as China or the United States would be “relatively modest”, Britain’s independent budget forecasters have said.

It is small wonder therefore that many employers are hoping for a change of the Brexit plan, even if it means yet more sapping uncertainty.

“Our country is facing a national emergency,” the Confederation of British Industry, a major employers group, and the Trades Union Congress umbrella group said on Thursday in a rare joint letter to May, urging her to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

“The shock to our economy would be felt by generations to come.”

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Source: OANN

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GE shares fall as J.P. Morgan analyst downgrades, lowers PT further

FILE PHOTO: The logo of US conglomerate General Electric is pictured at the company's site of its energy branch in Belfort
FILE PHOTO: The logo of U.S. conglomerate General Electric is pictured at the company's site of its energy branch in Belfort, France, February 5, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – Shares of General Electric Co fell about 6 percent on Monday after J.P. Morgan’s Stephen Tusa, a top-rated analyst on the stock, downgraded and further cut his target price to a Street-low of $5.

Tusa, a long-time bear on the stock, cited significant liabilities and little free cash flow to support the company’s ongoing reset and cut his rating to “underweight” from “neutral”, an about-turn from his upgrade in December.

“Investors are underestimating severity of challenges and underlying risks at GE and overestimating value of small positives,” Tusa wrote in a note.

Tusa said investors are “significantly over projecting” the bounce in free cash flow and sees weakness in the company’s power and renewables unit.

He also expected GE Capital Services unit to likely consume cash for the foreseeable future, while aviation fundamentals were weaker than what meets the eye.

GE’s new Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp in March called 2019 a “reset year” and said free cash flow at GE Power would turn positive only in 2021.

On Monday, European Union antitrust regulators fined the company 52 million euros ($58.4 million) for providing misleading information related to the takeover of Danish rotor blade maker LM Wind two years ago.

GE’s shares were down at $9.45 in early trading and have lost about two-thirds of their value since late 2016.

(Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Source: OANN

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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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