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

Woman killed by rock dropped from Central Texas overpass

A Central Texas woman has died after someone dropped a rock from a railroad overpass through the windshield of the car in which she was riding.

Temple police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect in the Saturday night incident on Interstate 35 that fatally injured Keila Ruby Flores. The 33-year-old Waco woman died Sunday morning at a Temple hospital.

Police say the 33-year-old Waco woman was in the front passenger seat of the car driven by boyfriend Christopher Rodriguez. Rodriguez told police that they were returning to Waco from Austin with Flores' three children in the back seat when a rock the size of a football smashed through the windshield.

No one else in the car was injured.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Israel, Hamas trade blows as Gaza tensions simmer

Palestinian policemen loyal to Hamas stand guard at the site of a Hamas-run insurance office after it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City
Palestinian policemen loyal to Hamas stand guard at the site of a Hamas-run insurance office after it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

March 26, 2019

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Gaza militants fired rockets into southern Israel and Israeli aircraft carried out strikes in the Hamas-ruled territory overnight Tuesday, though the level of violence appeared to abate after Palestinians said a ceasefire had been reached.

After a day of intense cross-border fighting, Palestinian officials said Egypt had mediated a truce late on Monday. The respite didn’t last long, however.

Rocket sirens continued sounding in Israeli towns near the border, sending residents running for shelter. The military, which amassed extra troops and tanks along the border, said it struck a Hamas compound and outposts in response.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The latest round of violence began early Monday when seven Israelis were wounded near Tel Aviv when a house was destroyed by a rocket attack. Hours later Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory strikes, wounding five Palestinians.

Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules Gaza, and smaller Palestinian factions put out a late-night statement that Egypt had mediated a ceasefire. Israeli officials did not comment on whether a truce had been reached.

Israel remained on high alert, with schools near the border kept closed and residents instructed to stay near bomb shelters.

The military said in a statement it remained “prepared for various scenarios.”

The escalation came just two weeks before an election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political life after a decade in power, campaigning on a tough line against Palestinian militants.

Beset by corruption scandals, he faces a strong challenge from a centrist coalition led by a top general.

Netanyahu cut short a visit to the United States, saying he would fly home right after meeting President Donald Trump.

“Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this,” Netanyahu said. “And as we speak… Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression.”

Trump told reporters with Netanyahu at his side that Israel has the “absolute right” to defend itself.

Dozens of explosions had rocked the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza on Monday and ambulance sirens echoed in the mostly empty streets. In one neighborhood, people rushed to buy bread in anticipation of a long escalation. The office of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was one of the initial targets hit, although he was likely to have been evacuated in advance.

Gaza militants fired barrages of rockets into Israel late into the night. Some were shot down by Israeli defenses and others landed in empty areas.

Israel has waged three wars on Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli air strikes in retaliation for rockets from Gaza are a frequent occurrence, but Israel’s swift mobilization of extra troops to the border area was unusual.

The two sides have managed to avert all-out war for five years, most recently with the help of Egyptian mediation after a major escalation in November last year.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ran Tzabari and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

0 0

Cyprus to EU: Speed up granting name protection for halloumi

Cyprus is urging the European Union to speed up the process granting full name protection to halloumi cheese, the east Mediterranean island nation's top culinary export.

Cyprus government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told The Associated Press on Wednesday that authorities are pressing the European Commission to speed things up. An application, filed in 2015 amid talks to reunify ethnically split Cyprus, would limit use of the name in EU countries to halloumi made only on both sides of the divide. But Cyprus peace talks collapsed in 2017.

Cyprus recently lost the halloumi trademark in the U.K. due to what officials said was an administrative foul-up.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

In letters, Whitey Bulger fondly recalled old days, Alcatraz

Locked up for life after 16 years on the run, murderous Boston gang boss James "Whitey" Bulger couldn't stand how much the world around him had changed.

Prison was nothing like his days at Alcatraz, with its "great view" and clear-cut rules, Bulger said. And the former Irish Catholic stronghold of South Boston he once terrorized was now filled with "rich college kids living in expensive condos."

"World has changed ... everything different, even the neighborhood," Bulger wrote to a friend he met in the lockup in newly public letters.

The letters, which are being auctioned Sunday, provide a glimpse into the once powerful and feared gangster's mundane life behind bars before he was beaten to death by fellow inmates last year. Bulger wrote about the little excitements of prison life — "tonight we had an ice cream cone!" — and his treatment by other inmates.

"Almost every time I'm going anywhere, guys ask "hey old timer, want a push" ... or just grab handles and start pushing," Bulger wrote in a letter postmarked in February 2015. "One advantage is we can go in the front of chow line if in wheelchair."

Authorities have said two Massachusetts mobsters are under investigation for 89-year-old Bulger's killing, but no one has been charged. His death hours after he was transferred to a troubled West Virginia prison has raised questions about why the known "snitch" was placed in the general population instead of more protective housing.

Bulger ratted on the New England mob to the FBI, authorities said, though he insisted throughout his trial that he wasn't an informant but was actually paying the FBI for the scoop on his enemies.

The auction house got the letters from a man who says he became friends with Bulger when the geriatric gangster was briefly held at a federal lockup in Brooklyn after being convicted in 2013 of participating in 11 murders, among other crimes.

That man, Timothy Glass, said he took Bulger under his wing, and they bonded over their criminal pasts. Glass recalled how Bulger would sign autographs for inmates who asked but had a tendency to give a "death stare" to guys he didn't like.

"I was like, 'this guy is a stone-cold killer at like 80 years old.' It was wild," Glass, 55, told The Associated Press.

Glass was locked up on robbery and other charges when he met Bulger after spending more than a decade in New York state prison for separate crimes, he said. Inmates weren't allowed to write to one another, so after Bulger was transferred to a different prison, Bulger would send the letters to a friend on the outside, who would get them to Glass, he said.

In the letters, Bulger complained about the cost of books ("$32 for the book!"), the cold weather ("All the liberals like VP Gore made a fortune with his scaring people with talk of 'planet warming''') and the media, which he called "part of and parcel of the corruption instead of society 'watchdogs.'"

He grumbled about his trial, slammed prosecutors for deals they made with his former friends and promised his appeal would "create quite a stir." He also bemoaned what he saw as the unfair treatment of his longtime girlfriend Catherine Grieg, who was sentenced to eight years for helping Bulger avoid capture.

"I played a rough game and accepted the rough treatment. But feel Catherine was treated too harshly," Bulger wrote.

He talked longingly about his time at "The Rock" — Alcatraz — where the rules were "plain and understood" and inmates were allowed at Christmastime to buy chocolate, which they would share with prisoners who weren't supposed to have candy.

"Here, 'they,' the 'inmates,' would sell you chocolate! Back then no one ever looked to make a profit on another convict," he wrote. "I look back at those years and place with nostalgia. It's all gone."

Tucked into some of the letters were pictures of Bulger as a young man or Alcatraz. On the back of one of the photo — a mugshot taken in 1965, the year Bulger was released from prison and returned to South Boston — he scribbled: "the good old days."

With another letter, Bulger included a holiday card that he apparently made in 2015 with the message in gold script: "Wishing you peace & cheer in the New Year." Next to the cheery greeting is Bulger's Alcatraz mugshot, his eyes piercing blue eyes narrowed and brows furrowed.

___

Follow Alanna Durkin Richer at http://www.twitter.com/aedurkinricher

Source: Fox News National

0 0

MLB roundup: Dodgers hit eight homers in historic win

MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers
Mar 28, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson (31) follows through on a swing for a two-run home run during the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

March 29, 2019

An Opening Day without Clayton Kershaw worked out just fine for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who crushed eight home runs and received six strong innings from fill-in starter Hyun-Jin Ryu in a 12-5 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez each hit two home runs as the Dodgers set a major league record for homers in a season opener and matched the club’s mark for any game. Los Angeles hit three home runs in the fourth inning and three more in the seventh.

Arizona starter Zack Greinke (0-1) took the brunt of the damage, giving up four home runs in 3 2/3 innings. He yielded seven runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Christian Walker hit a home run for the Diamondbacks and drove in two runs.

Greinke, the former Dodgers co-ace, has now given up 14 home runs in 34 innings at Dodger Stadium since joining the Diamondbacks before the start of the 2016 season.

Padres 2, Giants 0

Left-hander Eric Lauer and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout and left fielder Wil Myers drove in both San Diego runs with a 456-foot homer and a single in a win over visiting San Francisco and Madison Bumgarner.

The win ended a run of four straight season-opening losses and put the Padres above .500 for the first time since June 9, 2015, when they were 30-29. Third baseman Manny Machado, signed to a 10-year, $300 million contract in the offseason, went hitless in three at-bats for the Padres.

The game also marked the major league debut of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who at 20 years and 85 days, is the youngest Padres player to start on Opening Day and the youngest major leaguer to debut on Opening Day since Adrian Beltre in 1999. Tatis was 2-for-3 in his debut, including a bunt single.

Rockies 6, Marlins 3

David Dahl went 3-for-4 and Trevor Story homered as visiting Colorado opened the season with a win at Miami.

Left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-0), who went 17-7 last season and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young race, earned the win in his first Opening Day start. He allowed just two hits, one walk and one run in seven innings, striking out five.

Dahl’s hit bounced off pitcher Jose Urena’s left leg in the second inning, but the Marlins pitcher (0-1) stayed in the game and allowed nine hits and six runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

New York right-hander Jacob deGrom pitched six scoreless innings and Robinson Cano had a solo homer in the first inning and an RBI single in the eighth in a win over Washington in the season opener before a sellout crowd of 42,263 in Washington, D.C.

The reigning Cy Young winner, deGrom (1-0) was lifted after allowing five hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts. He threw 93 pitches, 59 for strikes.

The Nationals’ Max Scherzer (0-1) was lifted with two outs in the eighth in favor of Justin Miller, who came on with a runner on first and gave up a single to Mets rookie Pete Alonso, who got his first big-league hit. Scherzer gave up two runs on two hits with 12 strikeouts.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 4

Christian Yelich belted a three-run homer and Lorenzo Cain made a leaping catch for the final out as host Milwaukee defeated St. Louis in their season opener.

Mike Moustakas launched a solo homer and starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (1-0) did the same to highlight his two-hit performance. Chacin overcame surrendering back-to-back homers by Kolten Wong and Harrison Bader in the second to toss 5 1/3 strong innings. Wong also homered to lead off the seventh, joining Albert Pujols as the lone Cardinals players to record a multi-homer performance on Opening Day.

Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth on 11 pitches and fanned Dexter Fowler in the ninth before Jose Martinez’s towering shot to center field was caught as Cain extended his glove over the wall. Hader notched his first save.

Reds 5, Pirates 3

Derek Dietrich’s pinch-hit three-run homer in his first at-bat with Cincinnati helped open the season with a win over visiting Pittsburgh.

Reds starter Luis Castillo, leaning heavily on an effective changeup, pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and two hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts. Zach Duke (1-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning.

Pittsburgh starter Jameson Taillon (0-1) lasted six-plus innings. He allowed four runs and six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.

Phillies 10, Braves 4

Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam, Maikel Franco homered and had three RBIs and host Philadelphia cruised to a win over Atlanta.

Andrew McCutchen opened the scoring with a solo home run for the Phillies. Prized free agent Bryce Harper, who signed a 13-year, $330 million contract, went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola (1-0) allowed two hits and one run in six innings. He had some control issues as he struck out eight and walked five. Braves starter Julio Teheran (0-1) lasted five innings and gave up four hits and three runs while striking out seven before being lifted.

Mariners 12, Red Sox 4

Tim Beckham hit two of Seattle’s five home runs in a home victory over visiting Boston.

Boston allowed the most runs ever by a defending World Series champion in its season opener, according to ESPN, as Edwin Encarnacion, Ryon Healy and Domingo Santana also homered for Seattle, which improved to 3-0 after sweeping a two-game series against Oakland in Tokyo last week.

Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (2-0) got the win despite allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and issued one walk. Red Sox lefty Chris Sale (0-1) yielded seven runs on six hits in three innings. The seven runs matched the most Sale has allowed since joining Boston in a December 2016 trade from the Chicago White Sox.

Astros 5, Rays 1

Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings, George Springer hit a three-run homer and visiting Houston opened the season with a win against Tampa Bay.

Michael Brantley and Jose Altuve each had two hits including a home run for the defending American League West champion Astros.

Verlander, the 2018 American League Cy Young Award runner-up, outpitched defending Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. In his 11th Opening Day start, Verlander (1-0) allowed a run on three hits with nine strikeouts and a walk over 102 pitches. Snell (0-1) lasted six innings, allowing five runs on six hits — three of them home runs.

Tigers 2, Blue Jays 0

Christin Stewart hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning, Jordan Zimmermann allowed only a single in seven superb innings and visiting Detroit defeated Toronto.

Niko Goodrum led off the 10th with a double against Toronto reliever Daniel Hudson (0-1), the first extra-base hit of the game. Stewart followed with a home run on an 0-2 pitch, the fourth hit by the Tigers and only the sixth hit combined by both teams.

Victor Alcantara (1-0) allowed only a one-out single to Brandon Drury in the bottom of the ninth, his only inning.

Yankees 7, Orioles 2

Luke Voit hit a three-run homer and tied a career high with four RBIs while Masahiro Tanaka pitched effectively into the sixth inning as New York recorded a victory in its season opener over visiting Baltimore.

After homering 14 times in 132 at-bats last summer following a trade from St. Louis, Voit homered on the fifth pitch he saw from Andrew Cashner (0-1). Voit hit New York’s first homer of the season when he lifted a 3-1 slider 428 feet to straightaway center field on to the netting above Monument Park.

Tanaka (1-0) came into the game 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in three Opening Day starts but encountered few difficulties, allowing two runs (one earned) and six hits. He struck out five, walked none and threw 56 of 83 pitches for strikes.

Royals 5, White Sox 3

Brad Keller made sure his selection as the Opening Day starter was rewarded, as he helped host Kansas City defeat Chicago. The start of the game was delayed by an hour and 46 minutes because of rain.

Keller (1-0) was almost untouchable. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and walking just one and striking out five.

Carlos Rodon (0-1) was nearly as good as Keller before he appeared to run out of gas in the sixth. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on just three hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Twins 2, Indians 0

Right-hander Jose Berrios allowed two hits over 7 2/3 innings and Marwin Gonzalez had a two-run double as Minnesota presented Rocco Baldelli a victory in Minneapolis over defending American League Central-champion Cleveland in his major league managerial debut.

Berrios, making his first career Opening Day start, walked one and struck out 10. The 10 strikeouts were an Opening Day record for the Twins.

Corey Kluber, tying the franchise record set by Stan Coveleski (1917-21) with his fifth consecutive Opening Day start for the Indians, no-hit the Twins for 5 1/3 innings before giving up a line double to Byron Buxton that one-hopped the fence in left. Buxton went to third on long fly out by Max Kepler but was stranded when Jorge Polanco popped to third.

A’s 4, Angels 0

Right-hander Mike Fiers allowed just one hit in six shutout innings and was supported by a two-home run attack as Oakland celebrated its Opening Day on U.S. soil with a victory over visiting Los Angeles.

Fiers (1-1), who was roughed up for five runs in three innings when the A’s opened with a 9-7 loss to Seattle in Japan last week, took a no-hitter one out into the fifth inning before Tommy La Stella crushed a double to center field.

Right-hander Trevor Cahill (0-1) took the loss, allowing all four Oakland runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one, facing the team that employed him last season.

Cubs 12, Rangers 4

Javier Baez hit two homers and drove in four runs to lead Chicago to a season-opening win against Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Baez became the first Cubs player with a multi-homer game in the season opener since Corey Patterson in 2003. David Bote, Jason Heyward and Albert Almora Jr. also had two hits each, and Kris Bryant drove in two of his three runs with an eighth-inning homer for Chicago.

Cubs left-hander Jon Lester (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs and four hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Texas left-hander Mike Minor (0-1) pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Texas woman arrested, charged with capital murder after baby found dead in flower pot: report

A Texas woman was arrested after her newborn child was found buried in a flowerpot in a cemetery, officials said.

Jazmin Lopez, 18, identified herself as the mother of the baby, who was found by a caretaker at Perry Cemetery on March 11, Fox station KDFW reported.

FLASHBACK: TEXAS WOMAN, 18, SAYS SHE'S THE MOTHER OF BABY WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND IN CEMETERY FLOWERPOT

The caretaker "emptied what he knew to be an out of place flowerpot and discovered the body of a deceased infant beneath the pot's soil," the Carrollton Police Department previously revealed in a news release.

Authorities said the baby "was a girl, 34 weeks to full term, and weighed just under six pounds."

Jazmin Lopez, 18, was reportedly arrested after she identified herself as the mother of a baby who was found dead in a flowerpot in March. 

Jazmin Lopez, 18, was reportedly arrested after she identified herself as the mother of a baby who was found dead in a flowerpot in March.  (Denton County Sheriff’s Office)

Lopez allegedly first told investigators that she gave birth to the baby, who was not breathing or moving, while at home alone, the news station reported, citing an arrest warrant affidavit.

Police said that after they found a photo of a seemingly alive baby on her phone, the woman allegedly changed her story, claiming she gave birth in the bathroom with family members home.

“Jazmin demonstrated that she took her shirt off and wrapped the baby up. Jazmin said the baby was moving and gasping for air," the affidavit reportedly stated. "Jazmin said she knew the baby was about to cry so she covered her mouth."

FLORIDA MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER FOR THROWING HIS DAUGHTER OFF BRIDGE

Lopez told authorities she "took the shirt and covered the baby’s face and then held the baby against her body for one to two minutes," before allegedly putting the body in a basket of blankets.

When her friend arrived, she said she put the baby in a backpack and went to buy a flower pot. Lopez allegedly claimed she put the body in the flower pot, then placed dirt and flowers on top.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Investigators reportedly don't believe Lopez's claim that she covered the baby to keep her quiet, considering she had allegedly conducted a search history about abortion.

Lopez was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with capital murder. As of Wednesday, she was reportedly being held at the Dallas County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Saudi Aramco adds Goldman Sachs as bookrunner for planned bond: sources

FILE PHOTO: An Aramco oil tank is seen at the Production facility at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield in the Empty Quarter
FILE PHOTO: An Aramco oil tank is seen at the Production facility at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield in the Empty Quarter, Saudi Arabia May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo

February 27, 2019

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco has added U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs as a bookrunner for a planned bond which it will use to help finance its acquisition of a stake in Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The bank flew out a team of senior executives including partner Dina Powell, a veteran of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, to pitch for the deal, the sources said.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to queries for immediate comment. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Saeed Azhar, additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: OANN

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