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Explainer: Betting on the past? Europe decides on connected car standards

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess address a news conference in Berlin
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Volkswagen in Berlin, Germany February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

April 18, 2019

By Douglas Busvine

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Commission’s push to implement a Wi-Fi standard for connected cars has won the support of lawmakers in a victory for Germany’s Volkswagen, although competitor BMW and other backers of a rival technology still hope to overturn the decision.

Advocates of the alternative C-V2X standard – which stands for Cellular Vehicle to Everything – say their technology is already viable and will only improve as next-generation 5G mobile networks are rolled out.

The apparently dry debate over acronyms has divided the car and telecoms industries and will influence which continent ends up dominating automated driving technologies that promise to be safer than people behind the wheel.

There are around 25,000 annual road fatalities in the EU and another 135,000 serious injuries. The Commission wants to halve both by 2030 as part of a long-term ‘Vision Zero’ goal to virtually eliminate them by 2050.

China, the world’s biggest car market, is already pressing ahead with C-V2X, which is designed to work with 5G but is incompatible with Wi-Fi. Ford will deploy C-V2X there in 2021 and has committed to install it in all its new cars and trucks in the United States from 2022.

The European Council, the intergovernmental part of the EU’s decision-making process, is due to take a decision by mid-May.

Here’s an explainer of what’s at stake and how the process is likely to play out:

WHAT IS THE COMMISSION PROPOSING AND WHO BACKS IT?

The European Commission has proposed a legal act to regulate so-called ‘Cooperative-Intelligent Transport Systems’ (C-ITS). This backs the ITS-G5 Wi-Fi standard that has already been adopted by much of the auto industry and is already certified.

The most prominent supporter of ITS-G5 is Volkswagen, which says it will start fitting the Wi-Fi technology to vehicles this year.

VW argues that viable C-V2X technology is years away, while Commission researchers could not find any commercially available C-V2X gear to test, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Also backing ITS-G5 are Renault, Toyota, VW truck units MAN and Scania, chip maker NXP, road-toll company Kapsch and technical standards umbrella group VdTueV.

WHY DO OTHER AUTO MAKERS AND TELECOMS PREFER 5G?

Supporters of C-V2X have grown rapidly in number since eight companies – Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ericsson ERICb.ST>, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm – founded an alliance in 2016.

The group, the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), now counts more than 100 members who argue that C-V2X is better than Wi-Fi in terms of security, reliability, range and reaction time.

5G advocates object to a review process foreseen by the Commission that would allow other technologies to be admitted later to C-ITS, once certified. They say such interoperability is impossible because Wi-Fi and cellular radio technologies are incompatible.

“It’s like putting a DVD into a VHS player and trying to make it work,” Mats Granryd, head of the GSMA telecoms industry group, wrote in a letter to EU lawmakers this week.

WHICH IS THE BETTER TECHNOLOGY?

Participants in the debate agree that C-V2X running on 5G networks will be the better technology – even Volkswagen is a member of the 5GAA – but they differ on when it will be ready for prime time.

C-V2X could, for example, help a connected car spot a person on foot carrying a smartphone before the driver does, making it possible for automated systems to hit the brakes and alert the pedestrian to the danger – a potential lifesaver.

Wi-Fi is cheaper, because 5G operators would charge for data. On the other hand, regulated mobile networks would likely be safer, says independent technology analyst Richard Windsor: “Would you trust your vehicle to be driven by a home router?” he asked.

Other markets led by China are meanwhile pressing ahead with C-V2X, potentially burdening European auto makers with the expense of developing and installing different systems in cars for the home market and for export.

WHO’S LIKELY TO PREVAIL IN THE END?

European lawmakers passed the Commission’s legal act by a narrow majority on Wednesday and the matter now goes before the European Council.

Here, opponents of the Commission’s proposal would need the backing of a so-called qualified majority of the EU’s 28 member states – 16 countries representing 65 percent of its population – to block it.

That will be a tall order, but 5G backers are hoping that a skeptical opinion expressed by the Commission’s own legal advisory team will bolster their case, say sources. A Council working party meets again on May 3 and May 10 to review that advice.

The government of EU heavyweight Germany says it has taken note of those reservations and has yet to make up its mind. A decision in the Council is due by May 13, although the review period may be extended.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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A shredded book, a passport: What 157 victims left behind

What little was left was heartbreaking: A battered passport. A shredded book. Business cards in many languages.

Searchers in white gloves and canvas shoes picked their way through the scattered remains of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 for a second day on Monday, gingerly lifting from the scorched earth the pieces of 157 lives.

The tattered book, its pages singed, appeared to be about macroeconomics, its passages highlighted by a careful reader in yellow and pink.

There was even a plaintively ringing mobile phone, picked up by a stranger and silenced.

The dead came from 35 countries. As their identities slowly emerged from shocked families, governments and employers, a common strand became clear.

The flight that set off Sunday morning from Ethiopia's capital, faltered and plowed into the earth six minutes later was full of people unafraid to take on the world and its problems — and explore it, too.

The plane held 32 people from neighboring Kenya, including a law student and a football official, a toll that left the country numb. Ethiopia lost 18 lives.

Others came from afar, to work or play: A satirist. A former ambassador. Tourists. An accountant.

But the number of humanitarian workers was shockingly high.

There were doctors. A child protection worker. Advocates. Environmental activists.

They carried high ideals obscured by mundane, bureaucratic names: Briefing papers. Capacity-building initiatives.

Addis Ababa and the plane's destination, Nairobi, are popular hubs for aid workers addressing some of the world's most pressing crises: Somalia. South Sudan. Climate change. Hunger.

"Life-changing work," one world leader, Irish premier Leo Varadkar, said in grief.

Leaders of the United Nations, the U.N. refugee agency and the World Food Program said colleagues had perished. The U.N. migration agency estimated that 19 workers with the U.N. and affiliated organizations were among the dead. A spokesman at U.N. headquarters could not confirm it.

The U.N. flag flew at half-staff on Monday, and Ethiopia marked a day of mourning for all.

Save the Children. The Norwegian Refugee Agency. The Red Cross of Norway. The International Committee for the Development of Peoples. The African Diaspora Youth Forum in Europe.

All mourned their colleagues.

A steady wind blew on Monday as more remains were found, flashes of humanity among the gritty pieces of hull and wheel.

Beyond the yellow tape around the crash site, huddled figures wrapped in blankets watched in silence.

___

Anna reported from Johannesburg.

___

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

Source: Fox News World

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Mosque shooting erodes New Zealand reputation for safety, tolerance

An injured person is loaded into an ambulance following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
An injured person is loaded into an ambulance following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. REUTERS/SNPA/Martin Hunter

March 15, 2019

(Reuters) – A deadly mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand during Friday prayers has horrified residents of the South Pacific nation known for its low levels of gun violence and a reputation for tolerance and safety.

Forty nine people were killed and more than 20 seriously wounded in the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said.

Video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted online live as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to one mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside.

“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding it marked one of New Zealand’s darkest days.

“Many of those who would have been affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand. They may even be refugees here. They have chosen to make New Zealand their home and it is their home,” she said.

Online discussion site 8chan, known for a wide range of content including hate speech, carried an anonymous post that linked to the gunman’s online live footage of the attack on one of the two mosques and a “manifesto” denouncing immigration.

The manifesto said New Zealand was not originally chosen for the attack, but was identified as a “target rich of an environment as anywhere else in the West”.

An attack in New Zealand would show “that nowhere in the world was safe, the invaders were in all of our lands, even in the remotest areas of the world and that there was nowhere left to go that was safe and free from mass immigration,” the manifesto read.

Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the manifesto.

Paul Buchanan, a former intelligence and defense policy analyst now with consultancy 36th Parallel Assessments, said the threat from neo-Nazi groups in New Zealand was well-known.

“Christchurch has a very active white supremacist community, a community that has attacked refugees and people of color on multiple occasions over the last 20 years,” he told Radio New Zealand.

“It shows we don’t live in a benign environment in this day and age, we’ve been infected with the virus of extremism. The thing is it came from white supremacists, not from the Islamic community that was the target today.”

Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand’s population, a 2013 census showed, with more than three-quarters born overseas.

A 2011 study by Victoria University of Wellington found migrants from some Muslim majority countries were viewed less favorably than migrants from Britain and elsewhere.

Media discourse suggested many New Zealanders may be uncertain about, if not unreceptive to, Muslim immigrants, the study said.

In the wake of the attack, there was an outpouring of sympathy and disbelief.

“I’m just heartbroken. In fact I’m sitting here crying,” Muslim Association of Marlborough chairman Zayd Blissett told the Stuff website. “This is New Zealand. This can’t happen here.”

New Zealand has experienced several mass shootings in recent decades, including when a lone gunman killed 13 people in the small South Island town of Aramoana in 1990 following a dispute with neighbors.

The gunman was shot and killed by police, and gun licensing laws were strengthened to include tight restrictions on military style semi-automatic firearms.

According to gun control advocacy group GunPolicy.org, hosted by the University of Sydney, New Zealand’s population of almost 5 million has around 1.2 million guns in private hands.

In the decade to 2013, the most recent figures, gun homicides in the country ranged from three to 12 deaths per year.

Ardern said New Zealand was a not a target because it was a safe harbor for those who hate, condoned racism, or because it was an enclave for extremism.

“We were chosen for the very fact we are none of these things, because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it,” she told reporters. “And those values, I assure, will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.”

(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in SYDNEY; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: OANN

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20,000 attend New Zealand vigil to remember Christchurch mosque victims, survivor says he forgives gunman

A crowd of 20,000 people attended a national memorial service in New Zealand Friday to remember the victims of the Christchurch terror attack.

During the service, the names of the 50 people, who were massacred after a heavily-armed Australian gunman attacked two Mosques earlier this month, were read out loud as the crowd stood in silence.

WWII VETERAN, 95, TAKES FOUR BUSES TO MARCH AFTER NEW ZEALAND MOSQUE SHOOTINGS

In this photo supplied by the New Zealand government, Mosque shooting survivor Farid Ahmed addresses the national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosques terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 29, 2019.

In this photo supplied by the New Zealand government, Mosque shooting survivor Farid Ahmed addresses the national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosques terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, March 29, 2019. (Mark Tantrum/New Zealand Government via AP)

A man who survived the terror attack – but lost his wife – told the crowd that he forgives the terrorist who committed the atrocity.

“I don’t want to have a heart that is boiling like a volcano,” Farid Ahmed said. “A volcano has anger, fury, rage. It doesn’t have peace. It has hatred. It burns itself within, and also it burns the surroundings. I don’t want to have a heart like this.”

“I don’t want to have a heart that is boiling like a volcano. A volcano has anger, fury, rage. It doesn’t have peace. It has hatred. It burns itself within, and also it burns the surroundings. I don’t want to have a heart like this.”

— Farid Ahmed, survivor of the terror attack

Ahmed said that while he disagrees with the gunman’s actions, his faith teaches him to see everyone as a brother, including the gunman.

The Friday service was the third memorial held since the massacre. The gunman, who Fox News is not naming, has been charged with murder in the attacks.

NEW ZEALAND MOSQUE SHOOTING SUSPECT SENT LARGE DONATION TO AUSTRIAN FAR-RIGHT LEADER, SPARKING ANTI-TERROR PROBE

In this Friday, March 29, 2019, file photo, women react as the New Zealand national anthem is sung during a national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosque terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In this Friday, March 29, 2019, file photo, women react as the New Zealand national anthem is sung during a national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosque terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

Foreign officials and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the memorial service. Morrison said it was “a thing of absolute beauty.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meanwhile called for an end of extremism in the world, invoking the stories of impacted by the attacks.

“They were stories of bravery. They were stories of those who were born here, grew up here, or who had made New Zealand their home. Who had sought refuge, or sought a better life for themselves or their families,” she said. “These stories, they now form part of our collective memories. They will remain with us forever. They are us.”

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“Our challenge now is to make the very best of us a daily reality,” she continued. “We are not immune to the viruses of hate, of fear, of other. We have never been.

“But we can be the nation that discovers the cure. And so to each of us as we go from here, we have work to do.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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California woman bitten by shark in Hawaii after knocked from kayak

A woman from California visiting Hawaii was bitten by a shark on Tuesday after being knocked from her kayak as her husband watched from a standup paddleboard nearby.

The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. in Anaehoomalu Bay near Waikoloa on Hawaii island as Kimberly Bishop and her husband, Kim, were out on the water.

"The water was really clear so I could see in front of me," Bishop told KHON. "There was nothing in front of me. We could see all the way down."

But her morning on the water quickly turned into anything but peaceful when something bumped her kayak.

"Something came from behind knocked over the kayak and bit my leg," Bishop told KHON.

LARGE TIGER SHARK CIRCLES, PULLS DOWN HUMAN BODY IN WATER OFF HAWAII ISLAND COAST, THWARTING RESCUE EFFORTS

Bishop then began to yell to her husband, who was about 100 feet away.

Shark warning signs have been posted on beaches near Waikoloa, Hawaii after a woman was bitten by a shark on Tuesday.

Shark warning signs have been posted on beaches near Waikoloa, Hawaii after a woman was bitten by a shark on Tuesday. (KHON)

"The first thing that I knew I heard her yell 'shark, shark' and I turned and she was in the water...I saw the fins in the water and I immediately paddled as fast as I could to get over to her," he told KHON.

Her husband was about to get the 65-year-old back into her kayak and yelled out to some nearby people on a canoe for help. Bishop was eventually brought back to shore, and airlifted to a hospital, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

NORTH CAROLINA GIRL FINDS MEGALODON SHARK TOOTH BURIED ON BEACH: 'IS THIS A DREAM?'

Officials from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources told KHON that Bishop may have been attacked by a 5-foot-long blacktip reef shark. The incident caused shark warning signs to be posted warning beachgoers to look out.

"The blacktip reef shark prefers shallow, inshore areas where it is less vulnerable to larger species of sharks in the open ocean," according to the Maui Ocean Center, which notes that "very few incidents" involving blacktip reef sharks have been reported.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Authorities are still investigating to determine what kind of shark bit Bishop. The couple, who live in California but have a home in Waikoloa, said the incident was frightening but not keeping them out of the water.

"Sharks live in the water," she told KHON. "It's their home and we understand that. I will go kayaking again."

Source: Fox News National

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Royals RHP Keller drops appeal of suspension

FILE PHOTO: MLB: Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays
FILE PHOTO: Apr 22, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA;Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller (56) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo

April 24, 2019

Kansas City Royals right-hander Brad Keller dropped his appeal of a five-game suspension and began serving the penalty on Tuesday.

Keller will be eligible for reinstatement on Monday, when he is scheduled to make his next start against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

Keller was suspended after he drilled Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson with a pitch to his backside in the fourth inning of a game last Wednesday.

Anderson had homered off Keller two innings earlier and vividly flipped his bat into the air before beginning to run around the bases. The beaning of Anderson led to both benches clearing.

Keller, who was fined an undisclosed amount, said he wants to move on with the situation.

“It’s over with and I didn’t want to wait around (any longer),” Keller told reporters before the Royals’ Tuesday road game against Tampa Bay. “I figured I would just drop it now and serve the suspension and move on.”

Keller started against the Rays on Monday and took the loss as Kansas City fell 6-3. He gave up season highs of five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The 23-year-old is 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA in six starts this season.

Anderson and Chicago manager Rick Renteria were suspended one game apiece for their parts in the incident.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Chicago PD Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Rahm Emanuel call Jussie Smollett charges being dropped 'whitewash of justice'

After charges were dropped against "Empire" star Jussie Smollett for allegedly staging his own hate crime, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are furious with the outcome, calling it a "whitewash of justice" that cost the city more than $10,000.

"Where is the accountability in the system? You cannot have because of a person's position one set of rules applies to them and another set of rules apply to everyone else," Emanuel fumed, relating the ruling to the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal that broke earlier this month.

"Our officers did hard work day in and day out, countless hours workign to unwind what actually happened that night. The city saw its reputation dragged through the mud ... It's not just the officers' work, but the work of the grand jury that made a decision based on only a sliver of the evidence [presented]," he continued. "Because of the judge's decision, none of that evidence will ever be made public."

"[This case] sends a clear message that if you're in a position of influence and power youll be treated one way and if youre not youll be treated another way," he said.

Johnson said, "Our job as police officers is to present them with the evdience ... If someone ever falsely accused me [of a crime], I would never hide behind a brokered deal and secrecy."

"I don't know what's unusual for the state's attorney but we found out about when you all did," he added.

"Prosecutors have their discretion of course, we still have to work with the state's attorneys office, we'll have conversations after this," he said. "At the end of the day it was Smollett who committed this hoax."

Earlier Tuesday, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office announced that all 16 felony counts against Smollett, 36, were dropped in a nolle pros and the record in the case was sealed. Smollett voluntarily forfeited his bond money and Smollett's attorney, Patricia Brown-Holmes, said the funds would likely go to the city of Chicago.

Brown-Holmes also admonished the Chicago P.D., saying they needed to "investigate claims" before presuming suspects' guilt and trying them in the press.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT'S ALLEGED HATE CRIME ATTACK: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Sources told CBS News that Johnson was not informed of the nolle pros ruling ahead of time.

Johnson told press in February of the case: "I'm left hanging my head and asking why: Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol...how can an individual who has been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city by making this false claim? Bogus police reports cause real harm."

Smollett has maintained his innocence and previously pleaded not guilty to all 16 counts against him.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT ALLEGED ATTACK HOAX 'WILL FOREVER DEFINE HIM,' CRISIS EXEC SAYS

Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Chicago Subway sandwich shop at around 2 a.m on Jan. 29. The actor, who is black and openly gay, said the masked men beat him, made derogatory comments and yelled "This is MAGA country" — an apparent reference to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again" — before fleeing.

STARS REACT TO JUSSIE SMOLLETT'S CHARGES BEING DROPPED

However, the masked men were brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo. The brothers were reportedly observed on surveillance cameras buying the rope that was around Smollett's neck after the attack. Johnson told press that the police pivoted their investigation away from a hate crime and to an allegedly false police report after the Osundairo brothers cooperated with authorities.

CHICAGO LEADERS SLAM JUSSIE SMOLLETT, DEMAND APOLOGIES FOR ALLEGED HOAX AND AFTERMATH

He later claimed on "Good Morning America" to have more evidence that hadn't yet been made public that Smollett staged the attack. Johnson told anchor Robin Roberts that he worked with "very closely" with the Osundairos' attorney to investigate the matter and that Smollett was initially treated as a victim, not a suspect, in the case.

"It's not the Chicago police saying [the attack was staged]," Johnson said at the time. "It's the evidence, the facts and the witnesses that are saying it."

CHICAGO TURNS ON JUSSIE SMOLLETT, SAYS ALLEGED HOAX HURTS REAL HATE CRIME VICTIMS

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who recused herself from Smollett's case, previously asked Johnson to let the FBI investigate Smollett's alleged attack after the former chief of staff to former first lady Michelle Obama allegedly informed Foxx that Smollett's family had concerns about the probe.

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham then alleged that Foxx had illegally interfered with their investigation into Smollett's alleged crime. Graham reportedly wrote to the Justice Department to investigate whether Foxx herself broke any laws related to the probe.

It was Foxx's office that charged Smollett with lying to police.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Smollett's attorneys previously blasted the Chicago P.D.'s conduct, telling Fox News they've "witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system. The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.”

Fox News' Tyler McCarthy and Sasha Savitsky contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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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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Well, Joe Biden didn’t exactly clear the field.

I don’t think it matters much that Biden waited until yesterday to become the 20th Democrat vying for the nomination, even though it exposed him to weeks of attacks while he seemed to be dithering on the sidelines.

A much greater warning sign, in my view, is the largely negative tone surrounding his debut. He is, after all, a former vice president, highly praised by Barack Obama, who has consistently led in the early primary polls, and beating President Trump in head-to-head matchups. Yet much of the press is acting like he’s an old codger and it’s just a matter of time before he keels over politically.

This is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that the vast majority of journalists and pundits know and like Joe Biden and his gregarious personality.

The reason is that Biden, after a half-century in politics, lacks excitement, and the press is magnetically attracted to novel and unorthodox types like Beto and Mayor Pete. You don’t see Biden on the cover of Vanity Fair, and a grind-it-out win by a conventional warrior doesn’t set journalistic hearts racing.

JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL BID: 3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT

For many in the media, Biden isn’t liberal enough, at least not for the post-Obama era. He doesn’t promise free college and free health care and has a history of working with Republicans, such as John McCain (whose daughter Meghan loves him, and Biden will hit “The View” today.)

What’s more, Biden’s campaign style — speak at rallies, rack up union endorsements — seems hopelessly old-fashioned when we measure popularity by Instagram followers. News outlets are predicting he’ll have trouble getting in the online fundraising game, leaving him reliant on big donors, which used to be standard practice.

And then there’s the age thing. Biden would be the oldest president to be inaugurated, at 78, and he looked a step slow in encounters with reporters yesterday and a few weeks ago.

But what if the journalists are in something of a Twitter bubble, and the actual Democratic Party is much more moderate? We saw that with the spate of allegations by women of unwanted touching, which dominated news coverage until polls showed that most Dem voters weren’t concerned. In that wider world, the Scranton guy’s connection to white, working-class voters could help him against Trump in the industrial Midwest.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

Biden denounced the president’s term as an “aberrant moment” in his launch video, saying four more years would damage the country’s character and “I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

But first, he’d have to win the nomination in the face of an unenthusiastic press corps.

A New York Times news story said Biden would be “marshaling his experience and global stature in a bid to lead a party increasingly defined by a younger generation that might be skeptical of his age and ideological moderation.”

The Washington Post quoted Democratic strategists as saying that Biden faces an “uphill battle” and “isn’t necessarily the heir apparent to Obama, despite being his No. 2 in the White House for eight years. They argue voters will judge Biden by the span of his decades-long career and are worried the veteran pol hasn’t yet found a winning formula for his own candidacy.”

The liberal Slate said the ex-veep’s rivals view him as a “paper tiger”:

“Biden is something more like a 2016 Jeb Bush: a weak establishment favorite whose time might be past … Biden’s biggest challenge in the primary will be a compromised past spanning nearly 50 years.”

“Compromised” suggests a history of scandal, yet what Slate means is political baggage, such as his backing of a Clinton-era crime bill unpopular with black voters today. Yet I think the rank and file isn’t as concerned about a vote back in 1994, or even the Anita Hill hearings, as the chattering classes.

BIDEN’S SENATE RECORD, ADVOCACY OF 1994 CRIME BILL WILL BE USED AGAINST HIM, EX-SANDERS STAFFER SAYS

One of the few left-leaning pundits to suggest the press is underestimating Biden is data guru Nate Silver at 538:

“Media coverage could nonetheless be a problem for Biden. Within the mainstream media, the story of Biden winning the nomination will be seen as boring and anticlimactic. That tends not to lead to favorable coverage. Meanwhile, some left-aligned media outlets may prefer candidates who are some combination of more leftist, more wonkish, more reflective of the party’s diversity, and more adept on social media.

“If Biden is framed as being out of touch with today’s Democratic Party and that narrative is repeated across a variety of outlets, it could begin to resonate with voters who don’t buy it initially. If he’s seen as a gaffe-prone candidate, then minor missteps on the campaign trail could be blown up into big fumbles.”

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Look, it’s entirely possible that Biden could stumble, get lapped in fundraising and just be outclassed by younger and savvier rivals. He was hardly a great candidate in 1987 and in 2008.

But if the former vice president finds his footing and the field narrows, the press will be forced to change its tune, and we’ll see a spate of stories about how Joe Biden has “grown.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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South Africa's 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston
South Africa’s 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston, South Africa, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

April 26, 2019

GERMISTON, South Africa (Reuters) – Olympic 400 meters champion Wayde van Niekerk has backed South African compatriot Caster Semenya in her battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which now appears to have taken a new twist.

Semenya, a double 800 meters Olympic gold medalist, is waiting for the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to halt the introduction of new regulations by governing body IAAF that would require her to take medicine to limit her natural levels of testosterone.

The IAAF wants female athletes with differences of sexual development who run in events from 400 meters to a mile, to reduce their blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/L for a period of six months before they can compete, saying they have an unfair advantage.

“She’s fighting for something beyond just track and field, she’s fighting for woman in sports, in society and I respect her for that,” Van Niekerk told reporters.

“I will support her and with the hard work and talent that she’s been putting into the sport. With what she believes in and what she’s dreaming for, I’ve got a lot of respect for her.

“I really hope and pray that everything just goes from strength to strength for her.”

Semenya has sprung a surprise at the on-going South African Athletics Championships though, ditching the 800 meters and instead competing over 1,500 and 5,000-metres – the latter one would not require her to medically lower her testosterone level.

She stormed to victory in the 5,000-metres final in a modest time of 16:05.97, but looked to have lots left in the tank as she passed the finish line.

Semenya beat fellow Olympian and defending national 5,000m champion Dominique Scott in Thursday’s final but the latter admitted she is unsure whether the 800m specialist could be a serious Olympic contender over the longer distance.

“Honestly‚ I have no idea‚” Scott said. “Before today I probably would have said no. It’s hard to compare a 5,000 at altitude to a 5,000 at sea level.

“But I think she’s an amazing runner and I don’t think there’s any limit or ceiling on what she can do.”

Van Niekerk, the 400m world record holder, had to abort his comeback from a knee injury, that had sidelined him for 18 months, following a combination of cold weather and a wet track.

“We are trying to take the correct decisions now early in the year so as not to put myself in any harm,” he said.

“It was a bit chilly this entire week prepping and coming through here as well it was quite cold and it caused bit of tightness in my leg. We decided to not risk it.

“My recovery is going well and I would like to be back in competition this year, but will only do so if I can deliver a good performance.

“I am a competitor and respect my opponents, so I need to be at my best when I return.”

(Reporting by Nick Said, additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

Source: OANN

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The suspected leader of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka died in the Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the attacks that killed at least 250 people, authorities said.

Police said Mohamed Zahran, leader of the National Towheed Jamaat militant group, had been killed in one of the bombings. The group’s second in command was also arrested, police said.

Zahran amassed an online following for his hate-filled sermons. Some were delivered before a banner depicting the Twin Towers.

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people. 

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people.  (YouTube)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that the attackers responsible for the bombings were supported by the Islamic State group. Around 140 people in Sri Lanka had connections to ISIS, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said.

“We will completely control this and create a free and peaceful environment for people to live,” he said.

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Investigators determined the attackers received military training from someone called “Army Mohideen.” They also received weapons training overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka, according to authorities.

A copper factory operator arrested in connection with the bombings helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices, police said. The bombings have led to increased security throughout the island nation as authorities warned of another attack.

Source: Fox News World

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