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UK man who fled to Georgia after speedboat death returns to Britain

Shepherd, who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames, is escorted during his extradition from Georgia in Tbilisi
Jack Shepherd, who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames, is escorted during his extradition in Tbilisi, Georgia April 10, 2019. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia/Handout via REUTERS

April 10, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – A British man who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames has returned to Britain after being extradited from the former Soviet state of Georgia, UK prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in his absence last July of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, and sentenced to six years in jail.

He will appear in court in London on Thursday to be sentenced in person for the death of Brown.

“Jack Shepherd has returned to the UK to face justice,” Angela Deal, head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, said.

“He will first appear at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for the gross negligence manslaughter conviction in connection with the death of Charlotte Brown, and then at a later date in the south west over the grievous bodily harm charge.”

After months on the run, Shepherd turned himself in to police in Georgia earlier this year, telling a court he was agreeing to extradition so he could take part in an appeal process.

Shepherd took Brown for a ride on a speedboat in December, 2015 during a first date.

Shortly before midnight, the boat hit floating debris and both were thrown into the water. Shepherd was found clinging to the hull but Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and died from cold water immersion.

Prosecutors said Shepherd was drunk and that neither he nor Brown was wearing a life-jacket.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Source: OANN

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Report: Rep. Omar Investigated for Campaign Spending

Freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is reportedly under investigation for her campaign spending as a state lawmaker, conservative media outlet Sinclair reported Monday.

Sinclair Broadcast Group's James Rosen, in a post on ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington that cited unnamed sources, reported the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board is preparing to issue rulings within the next 4-6 weeks on a pair of complaints filed last year by GOP state lawmaker, Rep. Steve Drazkowski.

Drazkowski alleged Rep. Omar improperly spent close to $6,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including payments to her divorce lawyer and for travel to Boston and Estonia. 

"I had observed a long pattern," Drazkowski told Rosen. "Rep. Omar hasn't followed the law. She's repeatedly trampled on the laws of the state in a variety of areas, and gotten by with it."

Rosen reported Omar, as a state lawmaker, had repaid $2,500 for honoraria she received for speeches at colleges that receive state funding, a violation of ethics rules for Minnesota lawmakers.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Eagle lands for Scott as Australian ties for halfway Masters lead

Second round play of the Masters at Augusta National
Golf - Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia, U.S. - April 12, 2019 - Adam Scott of Australia finishes on the 18th hole during second round play. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

April 13, 2019

By Andrew Both

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) – Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters when he took the Green Jacket in 2013 and he was back in unfamiliar territory at Augusta National on Friday when he ended the second round tied at the top of the leaderboard.

His five-way share of the lead marked the first time Scott has either led or co-lead after 18, 36 or 54 holes at Augusta National. He lurked close to the lead in 2013 before timing his run to beat Angel Cabrera in a playoff.

On Friday, it was a mighty two-iron at the 15th hole that gave Scott a taste of the lead.

His drive found the fairway at the par five, leaving him 230 yards from the hole when play was halted because of rain. During a 40-minute delay the wind shifted into his face, making for a much more precarious shot over the pond guarding the green.

He thought it through and decided not to go for the smart option.

“My shot got significantly longer, and it was now instead of a four-iron, it was now a two-iron, and I was thinking whether I should be smart and lay it up or not,” he told reporters.

“I had that discussion with the caddie, but it was kind of a perfect number for a two-iron, if there is such a thing, on 15 at Augusta, and hit a great shot, which set up an eagle.

“These are the kind of momentum things that you have to sometimes make happen to put yourself in a good position. When you’re swinging well, you have to go for it. I don’t know if it was the smartest decision, but it certainly paid off.”

The eagle took Scott into the sole lead at eight-under par, but he missed a three-foot par putt at the next hole and squandered a great birdie chance at the last.

He shot 68 to join compatriot Jason Day, American Brooks Koepka, Italian Francesco Molinari and South African Louis Oosthuizen at seven-under 137, with Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson among a group one behind.

“I think it’s going to be an incredible weekend no matter what happens now,” said the 38-year-old.

“There are so many great players in with a chance, and I think my game plan has to be the same as where I started the week.

“I wanted my ball‑striking to kind of show up this week a little more than it has any other week this year, and it looks like it has.

“I’m tied for the lead in the Masters. You can’t ask to be in a better position.

“I believe I’ve got the game to match it with everyone these days. It’s always a knife edge on who comes out on top of these things.”

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Source: OANN

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U.S. trade deficit narrows sharply as exports rebound

FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers are pictured stacked on a ship docked at Yusen Terminals at the Port of Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers are pictured stacked on a ship docked at Yusen Terminals (YTI) on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

March 27, 2019

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – – The U.S. trade deficit dropped more than expected in January likely as China boosted purchases of soybeans, leading to a rebound in exports after three straight monthly declines.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the trade deficit declined 14.6 percent, the largest decline since March 2018, to $51.1 billion also as softening domestic demand and lower oil prices curbed the import bill.

Data for December was revised slightly down to show the trade gap widening to $59.9 billion instead of the previously reported $59.8 billion. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap narrowing to $57.0 billion in January.

The trade deficit remains elevated despite President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies, which have left the United States mired in a bruising trade war with China and provoked retaliatory tariffs from other trading partners.

Washington last year imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods imported from China, with Beijing hitting back with duties on $110 billion worth of American products, including soybeans and other commodities.

Trump has delayed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as negotiations to resolve the eight-month trade war continue, with Beijing pledging to resume bulk purchases of soybeans after cancellations at the height of the trade fight.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are in China this week for another round of talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

The politically sensitive trade deficit with China fell 6.4 percent to $34.5 billion in January.

When adjusted for inflation, the goods trade deficit decreased $7.8 billion to $83.8 billion in January. The drop in the so-called real goods trade deficit could see economists bump up their very low first-quarter gross domestic product growth estimates.

Retail sales, manufacturing and homebuilding data have suggested the economy lost considerable momentum early in the first quarter. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting GDP rising at a 1.3 percent annualized rate in the January-March quarter. The government reported last month that the economy grew at a 2.6 percent pace in the fourth quarter.

But that estimate is likely to be lowered when the government publishes a revision on Thursday as some economic data for December was weaker than had been previously assumed.

The trade deficit in January was pushed down by a 0.9 percent increase in exports to $207.3 billion. Soybean exports rose by $0.9 billion in January.

Exports of motor vehicles and parts increased by $1.2 billion, but shipments of capital goods decreased by $0.8 billion, led by a $1.3 billion decline in civilian aircraft.

Export growth, however, continues to be constrained by slowing global demand and the dollar’s strength last year, which is making U.S.-made goods less competitive on foreign markets. Despite the rise in soybean shipments, exports to China were the smallest since September 2010.

In January, imports fell 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion, the lowest level since last June. Imports previously had surged, likely as businesses stocked up in anticipation of further duties on Chinese imports.

Capital goods imports dropped by $3.0 billion in January, led by a $0.9 billion decline in imports of computer accessories. There were also decreases in imports of semiconductors and civilian aircraft.

Crude oil imports dropped by $1.4 billion, partly reflecting lower prices. Imported oil prices averaged $42.59 per barrel in January, the cheapest since December 2016.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

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Admissions scandal is latest example of ‘elites’ betraying US institutions: Matthew Continetti

The scandal that’s rocking the higher education system is really about questioning the legitimacy of “elites” in this country, Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti argued Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, law enforcement officials announced that 50 individuals had been indicted as part of a nationwide scheme involving wealthy parents committing fraud in order to get their children into prestigious universities. Among those indicted were TV actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

During Tuesday's "Special Report" All-Star panel, Continetti -- along with Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason -- weighed in on the massive controversy.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SHOW

Continetti began by insisting that “elites” of all stripes “bend the rules in their favor” by using their money and connections.

“This scandal just shows another sphere of American life where elites have betrayed our country’s institutions and indeed, our country’s people,” Continetti said.

“This scandal just shows another sphere of American life where elites have betrayed our country’s institutions and indeed, our country’s people.”

— Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief

He explained that the suspects may have gone to great lengths such as bribery to get their kids enrolled in top universities because a degree from such institutions can earn graduates “exponentially” higher salaries.

“We need to think about how our economy is structured so that this wage premium isn’t so slanted toward college degree holders,” Continetti added.

Hemingway called the allegations “stunning,” but predicted that the scandal “will lead to major changes” in how college admissions are operated similarly to how other industries have been reformed in recent years.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Meanwhile, Mason called the controversy “very sad” because of the “lesson” the parents were allegedly teaching to their children.

“They’re teaching their children that it’s OK to lie and that it’s OK to cheat. And it’s incredibly sad,” Mason told the panel.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Russia’s top banks plot temporary sanctions workaround: sources

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Sberbank is seen on top of building in Moscow
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Sberbank on top of a building in central Moscow, Russia, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo

March 14, 2019

By Darya Korsunskaya, Elena Fabrichnaya and Tatiana Voronova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Leading Russian banks are working on plans to help each other retain at least short-term access to the global financial system in the event that they are hit by fresh U.S. sanctions, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank and others are examining how they can provide each other with access to U.S. dollars or other major foreign currencies by using so-called correspondent accounts, the sources said.

Banks access financial services in different jurisdictions and provide cross-border payment services to customers in various currencies through correspondent banking relationships.

The new scheme, which banks started to draft with Russia’s finance ministry and the central bank last year, would be unlikely to work indefinitely but could help avoid a panic if one or several big banks are cut off from dollar transactions.

U.S. lawmakers last year drafted a sanctions bill which proposed cutting off some of Russia’s top banks from the U.S. dollar system, mentioning Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Russian Agriculture Bank, Promsvyazbank, VEB and Bank of Moscow.

This did not come into force and recently another was proposed, without mentioning any specific banks.

But Russian banks still fear they could come under sanctions and so have begun to draft a contingency plan.

“Each important bank has a step-by step plan on what should be done in a given situation. The first month is set out day by day, if not hour by hour,” a senior financial official said.

The central bank and Gazprombank declined to comment. The finance ministry, Sberbank, VTB, Promsvyazbank, VEB and Russian Agriculture Bank did not reply to requests for comment.

The two biggest threats to the banking sector in Russia are being cut off from the SWIFT banking messaging system and losing access to foreign currency, which they usually get from U.S. banks via correspondent accounts.

In the event of being shut out of SWIFT, Russia already has its own system, which it is upgrading.

And for foreign currencies there are a number of options, said the sources, who include a high-ranking state banker, a well-placed industry official, an executive with a large bank and an individual in a foreign bank.

TEMPORARY FIX

The main option relies on at least one major Russian bank avoiding sanctions and being able to retain access to foreign currencies via correspondent accounts with major overseas banks.

Other Russian banks would then set up or upgrade existing correspondent accounts with that bank to shift currency around.

Publicly available documents show VTB has correspondent accounts with Sberbank and VEB, while Russian Agriculture Bank has accounts with VEB, VTB, Gazprombank, Sberbank and a number of other Russian banks.

VEB has such accounts with Sberbank and Gazprombank.

Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Gazprombank and Russian Agriculture Bank have correspondent accounts with the central bank as well.

However the bulk of these accounts are denominated in rubles, with only a handful in U.S. dollars and euros.

“This would (them) allow to move the dollars between themselves bypassing a correspondent account,” the source at a foreign bank said, adding that in order for the back-up to work one bank in the chain would need to have a U.S. dollar correspondent account with a U.S. bank as there would still be a need to make external settlements, necessitating a bridge.

Correspondent accounts would complicate tracking currency transfers between the banks, making them harder for overseas authorities to spot, a former central bank official said.

Such an arrangement would represent a “temporary solution” which might last for three or four months and buy the banks time to find an alternative, while also reassuring customers.

And a spike in currency transactions by the banks which had not been sanctioned and were dealing with the foreign correspondent bank would likely arouse suspicions.

Other options include the central bank providing forex currency to a ‘clean bank’ which in turn would then distribute it to peers via correspondent accounts, sources said.

Alternatively a sanctioned bank could use correspondent accounts directly with the central bank although that would raise the risk of the central bank itself being hit with sanctions and therefore, is unlikely, the sources said.

(Additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva, Polina Nikolskaya, Anton Zverev, Tatiana Voronova, Andrey Ostroukh and Katya Golubkova; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith)

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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