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

As Australian banks’ funding pressures ease, will rate cuts follow?

Illustration photo of Australian dollars
Australian dollars are seen in an illustration photo February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

March 22, 2019

By Swati Pandey and Paulina Duran

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A fall in funding costs for Australia’s biggest banks is raising the prospect that they could hand on the savings to consumers in the form of lower lending rates, which would in turn reduce pressure on the central bank to ease policy.

The benchmark short-term bank-bill swap rate (BBSW), the main measure of banks’ funding costs, has fallen close to 40 basis points from a 2018 high of 2.2 percent. Almost three-quarters of that fall has come in the past six weeks or so, offering the banks a bigger lending margin.

Lower lending rates from Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank would help them regain some public goodwill after high-profile hearings into the financial sector smeared their reputations.

“I suspect politically they would pass it all on,” CLSA banking analyst Brian Johnson said. Nearly two thirds of Australian banks’ funding is linked to the BBSW.

Analysts said that while it is too early to bet on lower lending rates, the slide in the BBSW has at least raised the question.

CBA and ANZ declined to comment on future rate moves. Westpac did not return requests seeking comment, while a spokeswoman for NAB said “we continually review our products and prices.”

A fall in consumer lending rates would be timely for the A$1.9 trillion ($1.4 trillion) economy, which slowed sharply in the second half of 2018.

The banks have raised their mortgage rates during the past eight months and they tightened lending standards, weighing on the once-booming property market and small businesses.

So if they now offer some payback by cutting rates, it would be welcomed by the central bank, which has kept its policy rate at a record low of 1.5 percent since August 2016 awaiting a pick up in economic activity. Financial markets have been pricing in an easing in policy later this year.

“There is a strong bias for BBSW to drop in April,” said Prashant Newnaha, senior rates strategist at Singapore-based TD Securities.

Newnaha expects A$65 billion of cash to be injected into the financial system from bond maturities, buybacks and corporate dividends over March and April. That is 50 percent higher than last year.

(For a graphic on ‘3-month money market rate well below policy cash rate’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2HzFLHG)

SURPRISE MOVE

The fall in BBSW to 1.8 percent compares with a variable lending rate for an owner-occupier loan on average of just under 4 percent and boosts bank profit margins for now.

Analysts estimate that a move of about 25 basis points in BBSW translates into a change in profit margins of about 4 basis points, on average, for the major banks.

But banks are in no rush to cut lending rates just yet.

Their net interest margins narrowed about 3-4 basis points to 1.9 percent to 2.2 percent in the six-months ended December, contributing to a slowdown in bank earnings growth.

And while the spread between the three-month BBSW and cash-rate is the smallest in a year – indicating an easing in funding conditions – it is nowhere close to the averages of the two years through 2017, noted Westpac rates strategist Damien McColough.

“The move in recent weeks had surprised markets,” he said.

“I think now most people are sitting back and watching it, saying this is interesting. I don’t think there are big bets of speculative positions on it going in either way right now.”

(Reporting by Swati Pandey and Paulina Duran in Sydney; Editing by Neil Fullick)

Source: OANN

0 0

Australia central bank research shows income, not just property weakness, key for policy

FILE PHOTO: Two women walk next to the Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters in central Sydney
FILE PHOTO: Two women walk next to the Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters in central Sydney, Australia February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

March 21, 2019

By Swati Pandey

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s tumbling house prices would not necessarily translate into cuts in official interest rates if growth and inflation expectations remain strong, central bank research showed on Thursday.

While the report from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is not a policy outlook paper, it provides an insight into the research that shapes its views.

The paper also comes as the country’s once high-flying property market nosedives and consumers in the A$1.9 trillion ($1.36 trillion) economy cut back on spending.

The article, which appeared in the RBA’s monthly bulletin, said “a fall in housing prices would have fewer negative consequences if it was offset by other developments which meant that the overall economic outlook was positive and the unemployment rate was falling.”

It also noted that “despite the fall in housing prices, interest rates may not need to be reduced as much to offset the effect of that price fall” if households and businesses expected strong growth and inflation in line with central bank targets.

The research noted the uncertainties related to estimating the effects of plunging property prices on household consumption. It identified a “positive and stable relationship” between household wealth and consumption, but that link somewhat broke when prices were in a downward spiral.

“A decline in household wealth is less likely to coincide with weaker consumption growth if it occurs at a time when the labor market is strong and household income growth is firm,” the RBA’s researchers noted.

The RBA has said previously the economy is entering “uncharted territories” as this housing downturn has occurred alongside record-low policy rates and solid jobs momentum.

Data out earlier in the day showed Australia’s jobless rate fell to a near eight-year low of 4.9 percent as employment growth extended its dream run.

However, there are questions over how much further unemployment could fall and how households would react to an extended downturn in the property market. Australia’s housing stock is worth a cool A$6.68 trillion, but has fallen by A$280 billion since its peak in early 2018.

An increasing number of economists already expect a cut in the official cash rate from a record low of 1.50 percent this year, while financial markets are fully pricing in a policy easing as early as September.

The RBA’s modeling shows net wealth is not the sole determinant of consumption though. Household disposable income, the level of real interest rates, the unemployment rate and the economic performance also matter.

The RBA also looked at the effects of a prolonged fall in housing prices – an experience that Australia has not had in the past.

“The net effect of a fall in housing prices that occurs when broader macroeconomic conditions are positive might be only a small slowdown in the pace of economic activity,” the RBA said.

“However, if the same fall in housing prices occurred alongside a broader slowdown in economic conditions, this could add to any case for an easing of monetary policy coming from the broader slowdown.”

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Source: OANN

0 0

Aid showdown: Venezuela opposition prepares to deliver goods

Venezuelans frustrated over their nation's crippling food and medical shortages are expected to join opposition leaders Saturday in a potentially risky push to deliver international aid that Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept into the country.

The opposition is calling on masses of Venezuelans to help trucks carrying the nearly 200 metric tons of humanitarian assistance delivered largely by the United States over the last two weeks across several border bridges in Colombia.

Once the trucks reach the border they'll face a crucial test: Whether the military standing guard on the other side will let them through.

"We think it's going to enter," opposition leader David Smolansky said in the lead up to the push. "There will be so many people gathered at the border and in different cities around the country that it will be impossible to stop it."

The critical moment for both Venezuela's government and opposition comes exactly one month after 35-year-old lawmaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president under the constitution before thousands of cheering supporters. While he has earned popular backing and is being recognized by over 50 nations, he has not sealed the support of the military, whose loyalty is considered crucial to unseat Maduro.

International leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are appealing for the sides to avoid violence as the opposition tries to get food and medical supplies across bridges that Venezuelan authorities ordered closed Friday night. In previous waves of unrest, citizens have been tear-gassed and even killed during protests.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the military would "never have orders to fire on the civilian population" and likened the aid push to a media spectacle.

"We can only hope that sanity and good sense prevail in Cucuta, in Colombia, and that it will remain as a big show, a bit party, and that they don't try to open the doors to a military intervention," he said at U.N. headquarters in New York Friday.

The aid push comes on the heels of a giant concert organized by British billionaire Richard Branson aimed at pressuring Maduro to accept the aid. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans gathered in a field to hear pop stars like Juanes sing beneath a scorching sun. Guaido made a surprise appearance toward the end.

"Juan arrived! Juan arrived!" people shouted as they spotted him smiling near the stage.

In remarks after the event, Guaido spoke alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and said he had been able to circumvent Maduro's travel ban only with the help of the armed forces.

"Here is a Venezuela in search of freedom," he said at the aid storage facility. "Thank you, to the people of the world, for opening your doors to us."

The opposition is planning to hold three simultaneous aid pushes on Saturday. Aside from the events in Colombia, they also hope to get humanitarian assistance delivered by sea and through Venezuela's remote border with Brazil.

On Friday, a member of an indigenous tribe was killed and 22 others injured in clashes with security forces who enforced Maduro's orders to keep the aid out at a crossing with Brazil.

Venezuela's military has served as the traditional arbiter of political disputes in the South American country and in recent weeks top leaders have pledged their unwavering loyalty to Maduro. However, many believe that lower-ranking troops who suffer from the same hardships as many other Venezuelans may be more inclined to let the aid in.

Opposition leaders are pushing forward in belief that whether Maduro lets the aid in or not, he will come out weakened. They also contend that if the military does allow the food and medical gear in, it will signify troops are now loyal to Guaido.

Analysts warn that there may be no clear victor and humanitarian groups have criticized the opposition as using the aid as a political weapon.

"I don't know that anyone can give a timeline of when the dam might break, and it's quite possible that it won't," said Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society, a Washington-based think tank.

Fearful of what they might encounter, some Venezuelans in Cucuta said they planned to stay away, while others said they'd face the risks and go.

"For my son, I'd risk everything," Oscar Herrera, 25, a Venezuelan man who took an 18-hour bus ride to Colombia to buy his infant medicine for a skin irritation earlier this week.

Hernan Parcia, 32, a father of three, said he planned to go with his entire family.

"I'm pained by what's happening to my country," he said. "They can count on me."

Source: Fox News World

0 0

US man to be sent to Australia in Thai national’s killing

Authorities have identified an American suspect in the killing of a Thai national whose battered body was found bound, gagged and wrapped in plastic on the side of a road in a high-profile case in Australia, according to a federal search warrant obtained Tuesday.

Australian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Alex Dion in the killing of 33-year-old Wachira "Mario" Phetmang, whose body was found on the side of a freeway in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in June. The arrest warrant for Dion was issued in September while he already was in custody on a domestic violence charge in San Diego, according to the federal search warrant filed by the FBI on Friday.

The warrant, which marks the first time a suspect has been publicly named in Phetmang's killing, was first obtained by Seamus Hughes, a terrorism researcher at George Washington University who mines federal court databases.

Dion, 38, was set to be extradited from San Diego to Australia this coming Friday, according to the warrant. It's unclear whether he has an attorney.

Phetmang, a Thai national who lived in Australia for a decade, was last seen alive on May 25 at a gas station in the Sydney suburb of South Hurstville. An autopsy found that he suffered more than 20 wounds to his head and had multiple skull fractures.

The day he died, Phetmang told his partner he was going to pick up methamphetamine and later met Dion at the gas station, according to surveillance footage, the search warrant said.

Phetmang and Dion left the gas station together in Dion's car, according to the surveillance footage, and that was the last anyone saw of Phetmang.

Dion flew back to the U.S. two days after Phetmang's death but before the body was found on June 6, according to the search warrant.

A boot police believe belonged to Dion was found with Phetmang's body, and the matching boot was later found in Dion's apartment, the search warrant said. Police also believe Dion used a high-pressure washer to scrub the inside of his car, and dumped both his and Phetmang's clothing, two tire irons and a metal bar inside a water-retention tank where he used to work.

When Australian police held a news conference seeking the public's help in the case, Dion called them and tried to blame an associate for Phetmang's killing, while also acknowledging that he had Phetmang's credit cards and cellphones with him in San Diego, according to the search warrant.

Dion told police that he had met Phetmang at the gas station to buy meth but that he left when their associate showed up, a story police say is contradicted by surveillance footage.

The New South Wales Police Force in Australia said in a news release that detectives traveled to San Diego this week to coordinate the extradition and that no further information was available.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

U.S.-China trade talks to continue next week by video link: Kudlow

FILE PHOTO: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow listens to a question from the media outside the White House in Washington
FILE PHOTO: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow listens to a question from the media outside the White House in Washington, U.S., December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Young /File Photo

April 5, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators will continue their talks next week by video conference as they try to reach a deal to resolve a nine-month-old trade war, White House adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a third straight day on Friday after President Donald Trump hailed progress in the talks and said a deal could be announced in the next four weeks.

Kudlow, speaking on Bloomberg Television, said Liu was due back in Beijing after today’s talks but the two sides would press ahead to resolve remaining differences by video link.

“There’s no letup here, this is an ongoing process,” Kudlow said.

The United States is seeking reforms to Chinese practices that it says result in the theft of U.S. intellectual property and the forced transfer of technology from U.S. companies to Chinese firms. Washington also has demanded that Beijing curb industrial subsidies and open its economy wider to U.S. companies and that it increase purchases of U.S. goods including farm and energy commodities to shrink the gaping U.S. trade deficit with China.

“We are making headway in a lot of areas. That includes enforcement, that includes IP (intellectual property) theft, that includes forced technology transfers, ownership, cyberspace, commodities and all the rest of it,” Kudlow said. “Those are of course in the middle of the negotiations that are ongoing but we’ve come further and farther than ever before.”

(Reporting by David Lawder and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: OANN

0 0

Trump says North Korea potential is ‘awesome’ but experts warn against hasty peace deal

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Noi Bai Airport for the US-DPRK summit in Hanoi
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Noi Bai Airport for the US-DPRK summit in Hanoi, Vietnam February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kham/Pool

February 27, 2019

(Reuters) –

0240 GMT: TRUMP SEES AWESOME POTENTIAL FOR NORTH KOREA

U.S. President Donald Trump said North Korea had “awesome” potential to thrive if it would denuclearize.

In a Twitter message ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Trump said: “Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize.

“A great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon.”

The White House said Trump would meet Kim at the French-colonial-era Metropole Hotel in Hanoi at 6:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) and have a 20-minute one-on-one conversation before a dinner scheduled to last just over an hour and a half. Both arrived in the Vietnamese capital on Tuesday.

(The Metropole hotel is seen ahead of the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam: https://tmsnrt.rs/2VmjrnF)

0212 GMT: EXPERTS URGE CAUTION ON PEACE DEAL

Analysts however cautioned that a peace deal between the two sides would not end the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Officials and experts have said the two leaders are likely to sign a peace declaration to symbolically end the 1950-53 Korean War. Other agreements could be to open liaison offices in each other’s countries and adopting denuclearization measures, such as allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, in exchange for a loosening of U.S. economic sanctions against Pyongyang.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said a peace deal needed to be carefully worked out, otherwise it could lead to regional security risks. “Peace between Washington and Pyongyang might contribute to an untimely withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea, encouraging dangerous misconceptions in Pyongyang,” it said.

Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia until 2017, said: “A peace treaty that leaves in place the arsenal of North Korean chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that directly threaten Americans and our allies is not much of a peace treaty.

“The path to real peace on the Korean Peninsula begins with irreversible steps by North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons program.”

0215 GMT: MARKETS QUIET BUT MAY REACT POSITIVELY

Singapore’s DBS said news about details of denuclearization and the possible easing of North Korea sanctions would be taken positively by markets.

Nomura analyst Chetan Seth said in a note: “If we somehow see some progress towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, this could be another positive catalyst for Asian equities, particularly Korea.”

However, Nick Twidale, Sydney-based analyst at Rakuten Securities Australia, said although the summit is expected to be positive with regard to denuclearization, “little is expected in terms of market moving updates”.

(Graphic: Markets vs North Korea’s provocations – https://tmsnrt.rs/2BWJQkN)

0220 GMT: SUMMIT VENUE HOSTED CHAPLIN ON HIS HONEYMOON

Trump and Kim will meet on Wednesday at a storied French colonial-era hotel once used by the North Vietnamese government to house foreign guests during the Vietnam War.

The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has hosted dignitaries and celebrities from Charlie Chaplin on his honeymoon in 1936 to “Hanoi Jane” Fonda during her 1970s anti-war campaign and even Trump himself on a recent visit to the Vietnamese capital.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stayed in the 118-year-old hotel in 2007. The Metropole also hosted Graham Greene, who wrote part of his seminal 1955 work, “The Quiet American” there, and numerous war correspondents during the 20-year-long Vietnam War that ended in 1975.

EXEMPTING S.KOREA FROM N.KOREA SANCTIONS A POSSIBLE CONCESSION – ANALYST

One possible concession that could be offered to North Korea at the summit is exempting South Korea from sanctions imposed on the North for pursuing nuclear weapons, said Brian Meyers, a professor at South Korea’s Dongseo University.

“I urge everyone to focus less on the Pyongyang-Washington axis and more on the Pyongyang-Seoul axis because that’s where the action is,” Meyers said on the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

He said the key issue to be decided at the summit was whether the North would agree to close or allow monitoring of its Yongbyon nuclear facility. “This would not necessarily solve the problem of the North’s existing nukes but it would still be a significant enough concession to enable the Americans to loosen sanctions,” Meyers said.

Kim Young-hwan, an analyst at KB Securities in Seoul, said there was unlikely to be a strong reaction in South Korean financial markets to any loosening of sanctions.

“Stocks with exposure to inter-Korean business exchanges will benefit and post some gains in the following months,” Kim said. “But their weighting on the broad index is just around 4 percent, and therefore, you can’t expect any significant rally for the whole market even if there’s a material agreement at the summit.”

(To see an interactive graphic on inter-Korean relations, click https://tmsnrt.rs/2KdXMcS)

Other summit stories:

Live: North Korea – Reuters social media blog https://www.reuters.com/live/north-korea

(Hanoi newsroom, Swati Pandey, David Brunnstrom, Karishma Singh, Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: OANN

0 0

Rep. Tim Ryan holds kickoff rally in Ohio, says he wants to unite ‘divided country’

Days after declaring his candidacy for the Oval Office on ABC's "The View," Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio held a kickoff rally on Saturday, emphasizing his aim to bring together “a divided country.”

“I'm Tim Ryan and I'm running for president of the United States of America,” he said to start the event, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Ryan stressed throughout his speech in Youngstown, Ohio, that the U.S. had become split and claimed that there were some politicians who've sought “to divide us” and “want to put us in one box or the other.”

REP. TIM RYAN LAUNCHES PRESIDENTIAL BID, SAYS HE CAN SENT TRUMP BACK TO MAR-A-LAGO

“I'm tired of having to choose,” he said. “I want us to come together as a country.”

He pledged that if he captures the presidency, he'll always consider the public’s problems as his own and “will work every single day” toward improving people's lives.

“I will tell you that if there is one value that I will bring to the highest office in the land when I wake up, it's going to be how today can I use every ounce of power that this office has to help ordinary people do something extraordinary today in America."

SANDERS UNLOADS ON TRUMP AT SHARPTON CONFERENCE, SAYS HE’S RACIST AND ‘THAT IS THE DAMN TRUTH’

Ryan added his candidacy to a crowded field of 2020 Democratic White House contenders, taking the plunge during an appearance on “The View” on Thursday.

“I can win western PA, I can win Ohio. I can win Michigan. I can win Wisconsin. And that means Donald Trump is going back to Mar-a-Lago full time,” Ryan said on the show.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He also touted himself as “a progressive who knows how to talk to working-class people.”

Ryan gained national prominence in 2016 when he launched an unsuccessful challenge to unseat Nancy Pelosi as Democratic House leader.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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