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

Ocasio-Cortez on Mike Lee: ‘If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at Sen. Mike Lee on Tuesday following his earlier criticisms of the Green New Deal.

The New York Democrat, the Green New Deal’s main sponsor in the House, tweeted in response to a screenshot of the Republican Utah lawmaker while he spoke on the Senate floor.

“Like many other women + working people, I occasionally suffer from impostor syndrome: those small moments, especially on hard days, where you wonder if the haters are right,” she wrote. “But then they do things like this to clear it right up.”

“If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything,” she continued.

RAND PAUL: DEMOCRATS HAVE TO DEFEND GREEN NEW DEAL, IT SHOWS ‘LUNACY’ OF THE LEFT

The tweet she responded to showed a photo of Lee smiling as he stood beside a large poster of several babies. It also quoted some of his remarks before yielding his time.

"The solution to climate change is not this unserious resolution that we’re considering this week in the Senate,” Lee said. “But rather the serious business of human flourishing. The solution to so many of our problems, at all times and in all places is to fall in love, get married and have some kids."

Throughout his remarks, Lee called out the Green New Deal as being “ridiculous” and showcased pictures of dinosaurs and cartoon characters, in addition to babies. He said he was treating the plan “with the seriousness it deserves.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Green New Deal struggled in the Senate on Tuesday, as it failed to reach the necessary 60 votes to start debate on the non-binding resolution.

No senator voted to begin debate on the legislation, while 57 lawmakers voted against breaking the filibuster. 42 Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voted "present."

Fox News’ Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Socialism, Capital, and Venezuela’s Oil

Amidst the current social and political turmoil in Venezuela, a discussion over what could drive a foreign military intervention in the country has been making headlines lately.

To my surprise, Venezuela’s oil reserves ( the largest in the world ) are among the top reasons people believe the US Government would be after. However, the current shape of the oil industry and the way the market is behaving suggest otherwise.

No matter how large, Venezuela’s oil reserves are economically unattractive, at least under the current state of both the industry and the South American nation.

Fortunately, we live no longer in the 70’s or 80’s, where oil was used as a pretext (a rather immoral one) for sending troops to oil-rich countries in the Middle East. In 2019, conversely, OPEC has lost geopolitical power , thus has less influence on the market; oil prices are somewhat stable, and the shale-oil producers in the US have managed to lower their breakeven, which has made them stronger global challengers.

Any sensible investor would bet their money where it likely yields profit. Moreover, in Venezuela, existing capital has fled the country, and new investments are unlikely to land on a place with no rule of law and where people struggle to get food and other basic goods.

But even if the decision came down to either adding a rig on a Texan field or starting an oil exploration project in Venezuela, it would be much wiser to improve the efficiency of what’s currently being produced —and working well— rather than going for the long shot amid blindness.

To assess the relative economic importance of each option, we must think like investors. Let’s start with the basics: BP provides a clear and simple disclaimer for the definition of “oil reserves”, it reads:

“Nobody knows or can know how much oil exists under the earth’s surface or how much it will be possible to produce in the future”.

The above confirms a maxim of business: risk and uncertainty. Now, to understand the extend of both in our exercise, have in mind that some oil reserves are buried under virgin, unexploited fields, which in turn will demand a massive investment. You’d have to start from scratch. In the same way, consider this additional challenge: drilling for oil is one thing, but securing a place for all those barrels in the refining market is another. Think 2019, not 1980.

Now let’s compare the historical production of both nations. From 2007 to 2017 (note that Venezuela’s socialist regime started in 1998), oil production in Venezuela plunged. Daily production declined about one million barrels if we compare 2017’s output to that from 2007. Conversely, OPEC’s oil production increased in four million barrels along the same period.

When the so-called owner of the largest proven oil reserves of the planet is unable to keep up with oil demand, that should raise a red flag.

Oil output brings us to look at the efficiency of each party. While Venezuela’s state-owned oil company has been struggling to meet production objectives , failing to honor contractual commitments with buyers, the shale-oil producers in the US have managed to re-design their business strategies and business models, and succeeded in adapting to the new “lower-for-longer” trade prices.

Given these facts, where would you invest? What scenario is more attractive —or less risky for that matter—: Venezuela with the largest oil reserves, or the United States, the largest oil producer? Well, it all comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. On one side there are indeed 300B barrels of oil underground , but even if only a fraction of that was extracted, an investor would have to incur huge costs and bear risks that go beyond the industry-related ones. On the American side, in contrast, you have much fewer reserves to exploit, but there’s already existing working capital, technology, know-how and even the option of dealing directly with the owner of the land (mineral rights play a decisive role).

In short, American producers are exploiting their reserves while Venezuela’s reserves are idle and buried. It’s a no-brainer.

It’s also important to note that the socialist regime in Venezuela disregards the fact that capital needs to be renewed. Instead, they believe that printing money will keep the nation afloat. This is one of the original mistakes of a central planner. Paper money itself does not attract investors.

Fiat money is not capital.

To better understand the role of capital, let me use a hypothetical situation to explain it. Imagine that a certain amount of oil has been found in Mars. For the sake of the example, assume that you have been chosen to decide what to send on the very first cargo ship to the Red Planet. The goal is to ensure that oil is extracted in the most efficient way. Be aware that the room inside the ship is limited. What would you rather send? Hundreds of suitcases full of the currency of your choice, or drills with their bits, computers with top-notch software, pumps, a kit for setting up an internet connection and as much knowledge as possible (books, manuals, drawings, etc.)?

No matter how much oil there is underground. If capital is absent, “proven reserves” are nothing more than a number on a chart. As Mises pointed out: “ In a socialist economy there are capital goods, but no capital “.

One can hardly think of a single legitimate reason to use tax dollars for invading a nation. Though among the silliest, “the-largest-oil-reserves-in-the-planet” argument is on top of the list.



It’s clear the “Jussie Smollett hoax” benefits the globalists’ false flag agenda. Alex calls in from the road to expose those that actually want to divide America.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Hardline Iranian cleric consolidates leadership position

FILE PHOTO: Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi gestures as he casts his vote during the presidential election in Tehran
FILE PHOTO: Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi gestures as he casts his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2017. TIMA via REUTERS

March 12, 2019

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

LONDON (Reuters) – Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi has swiftly emerged as one of Iran’s most powerful figures and a contender to succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Last week, he was named chief of the judiciary and on Tuesday he was elected deputy chief of the 88-member Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for choosing the supreme leader.

As head of the judiciary, a post to which he was appointed by Khamenei, Raisi holds significant power in a country that has long used its powerful legal system to crack down on political dissent.

In that post he replaced Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, another potential candidate for the supreme leader post. Larijani also ran for the position of deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts but failed, suggesting his hopes of leading Iran could be fading.

Larijani is accused by rights groups of condoning widespread violations of the rights of political detainees.

“Larijani’s work as the head of judiciary was not acceptable,” Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told Reuters.

“But to replace him with Raisi, who had a role in the past in extrajudicial execution and massacre of political prisoners, will taint the judiciary even more … It is replacing bad with worse.”

As deputy prosecutor in Tehran in 1988, Raisi helped oversee the execution of political prisoners.

Larijani has said his country’s judiciary is one of the fairest in the world, while Iran says its legal system is independent and not influenced by political interests.

AUDIO TAPE

Raisi ran in presidential elections in 2017, criticizing pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani for signing a deal with the United States and other powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions.

In a fiery election speech, Rouhani accused Raisi of being a pawn of the security services and said Iranians would not vote for “those who have only known how to execute and jail people”.

Raisi’s failure in the elections was widely attributed to a then 28-year-old audio tape which surfaced in 2016 and purportedly highlighted his role in the executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

In the recording, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the deputy supreme leader at the time, said the executions included “pregnant women and 15-year-old girls” and were the “biggest crimes committed by the Islamic Republic”.

Montazeri’s son was arrested and sentenced to jail for release of the tape. Raisi prosecuted the case.

Raisi said last year that the trials of political prisoners were fair, and he should be rewarded for eliminating the armed opposition in the early years of the revolution.

“It’s my honor that I fought against hypocrisy,” Raisi said, using a term Iranian officials use when referring to the main opposition groups of the 1980s.

In a report in 2018, Amnesty International said the lowest estimates put the number executed at around 5,000.

“The real number could be higher, especially because little is still known about the names and details of those who were rearrested in 1988 and extrajudicially executed in secret soon after arrest.”

Raisi’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

AMBITIOUS CLERIC

Although Raisi failed in the 2017 elections, he has remained outspoken, expressing his conservative views on the economy and foreign policy.

Echoing the views of Khamenei, Raisi has said Iran should be self-sufficient in production of essential goods, so it can resist against Western sanctions on its missile program and regional military presence.

“Raisi is in Khamenei’s circle of trust. He has been one of Khamenei’s students and his thoughts are very close to the Supreme Leader’s,” former lawmaker Jamileh Kadivar told Reuters.

Raisi was not well known until 2016 when Khamenei appointed him the custodian of Astan Qods Razavi, a multi-billion dollar religious conglomerate that owns mines, textile factories, a pharmaceutical plant and even major oil and gas firms.

Although some believe Raisi lacks the charisma to replace Khamenei, he shares his deep distrust of the West, limiting U.S. chances of pressuring Tehran to change its domestic and foreign policies if he becomes supreme leader.

RISE TO POWER

Raisi was born into a religious family in Mashhad, Iran’s second biggest city and home to some of its most sacred sites. He lost his father at the age of five, but followed his footsteps to become a cleric.

As a young student at a religious seminary in the holy city of Qom, he took part in protests against the Western-backed Shah.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution, Raisi’s contacts with top religious leaders in Qom made him a trusted figure in the judiciary. He was deputy head of the judiciary for ten years before being appointed prosecutor-general in 2014.

Last June, Raisi said “internal threats to the Islamic Republic are more dangerous than external threats”, a clear signal that he would not tolerate dissent.

Yet Raisi, a father of two, has in the past surprised many by his unconventional initiatives.

Although his father-in-law, a hardline cleric, banned concerts in Mashhad, Raisi met an Iranian rapper during his election campaign and said music can be used to promote religious ideas.

He is also one of the few senior clerics who has publicly spoken about his wife, a university professor, saying women should be encouraged to work and help society move forward.

Larijani’s appointment as the head of the judiciary in 2009 coincided with an uprising in Iran when millions of people came to the streets to protest against the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the biggest unrest in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

Hundreds of protesters, activists, journalists and opposition figures were arrested and put on mass trials shown on state television.

Raisi, then deputy head of the judiciary, defended the execution of a dozen protesters in 2009, saying they were linked to “anti-revolutionary” and “terrorist” groups.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Babak Dehghanpisheh and Giles Elgood)

Source: OANN

0 0

California visitors land helicopter in poppy 'super bloom,' officials say

California’s famous poppy fields attracted some chaos from the skies this week, officials said, as two visitors landed their helicopter in the middle of a rare super bloom.

Officials with the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve said in a statement that a helicopter flying over the reserve on Monday landed on the east side of it -- a direct violation of state regulations.

The unidentified pilot and his passenger exited the aircraft, but after a park ranger attempted to contact them, they climbed back into the aircraft and took off.

OFFICIALS SHUT DOWN ACCESS TO CALIFORNIA'S WALKER CANYON AMID ‘POPPY APOCALYPSE’

State law prohibits anyone from flying over or landing into any state park unless authorized by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

“We never thought it would be explicitly necessary to state that it is illegal to land a helicopter in the middle of the fields and begin hiking off-trail in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve,” an official said on Facebook, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Hordes of people have rushed to Southern California to see the poppy fields in super bloom -- a rare sight that occurs about once a decade.

Just last week, officials were forced to close access to Walker Canyon after the crowd of people became too overwhelming, posing a potential threat to the flowers.

About 150,000 people rushed into a city of just about 60,000 residents.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve posted tips to tourists on social media to help preserve the flowers -- hashtag #DontDoomTheBloom.

Officers were also handing out tickets to people who trampled the flowers after illegally entering the park.

Fox News' Kathleen Joyce contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News National

0 0

NCAA roundup: No. 1 Duke barely holds off UCF

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Duke vs UCF
Mar 24, 2019; Columbia, SC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward RJ Barrett (5) drives in while UCF Knights center Tacko Fall (24) defends during the second half in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

March 25, 2019

RJ Barrett scored off a rebound with 12 seconds remaining, and Duke made a final defensive stand to pull out a 77-76 victory against Central Florida in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region second round Sunday in Columbia, S.C.

Central Florida’s BJ Taylor missed a runner in the final seconds, and a tip-in attempt by Aubrey Dawkins barely rolled off, allowing top-seeded Duke to advance. Duke (31-5) will meet Virginia Tech on Friday night in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C.

Taylor made two free throws with 45.2 seconds to play for a 76-73 lead for ninth-seeded UCF (24-9).

After Zion Williamson missed a 3-pointer, Javin DeLaurier grabbed the offensive rebound. Williamson drove for a layup and was fouled with 14.4 seconds left, with UCF 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall fouling out on the play. Williamson missed a chance for a three-point play by leaving the free throw short, but Barrett rebounded and laid it in to put Duke ahead.

EAST REGION

No. 4 Virginia Tech 67, No. 12 Liberty 58

Post player Kerry Blackshear Jr. scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Hokies over the Flames in San Jose, Calif.

Blackshear’s work inside helped offset the early hot shooting of the Flames (29-7), who went cold in the second half, going almost seven minutes without a basket until Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz’s 3-pointer brought Liberty within 59-54 with 2:24 left.

Virginia Tech (26-8) set a school record for victories.

SOUTH REGION

No. 2 Tennessee 83, No. 10 Iowa 77

Junior power forward Grant Williams scored six of his 19 points in overtime as the Volunteers blew a 25-point lead before posting a victory over Iowa at Columbus, Ohio.

Senior guard Admiral Schofield also scored 19 points for the Volunteers (31-5). Junior guard Lamonte Turner scored 15 points and junior point guard Jordan Bone added 14 for Tennessee, which never trailed.

Junior guard Jordan Bohannon scored 18 points and junior guard Isaiah Moss added 16 for the 10th-seeded Hawkeyes (23-12). Sophomore forward Luka Garza tallied 13 points and junior power forward Tyler Cook and freshman guard Joe Wieskamp added 11 apiece for Iowa, which shot 39 percent from the field and went 7 of 21 from 3-point range.

No. 1 Virginia 63, No. 9 Oklahoma 51

The Cavaliers advanced to their third Sweet 16 in six seasons with a win over the Sooners at Columbia, S.C.

Mamadi Diakite got the start for the Cavaliers (31-3) and provided a spark with a game-high 14 points and nine rebounds. Despite a 2-for-15 shooting performance from junior Kyle Guy, the Cavaliers got 12 points from Ty Jerome and 10 from De’Andre Hunter to make up for the lack of scoring.

Oklahoma (20-14) shot just 37 percent and was led by Christian James, who scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds in his final game with the Sooners.

MIDWEST REGION

No. 1 North Carolina 81, No. 9 Washington 59

Luke Maye poured in 20 points as the Tar Heels defeated the Huskies in Columbus, Ohio.

The Tar Heels (29-6) were in control for most of the game, with freshmen Nassir Little’s 20 points and Coby White’s 17 points also providing a lift. North Carolina will face fifth-seeded Auburn in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Kansas City, Mo.

Jaylen Nowell scored 12 points, while Noah Dickerson and Nahziah Carter each posted 10 points for Washington (27-9), which was hurt by 4-for-10 shooting on free throws.

WEST REGION

No. 3 Texas Tech 78, No. 6 Buffalo 58

Sophomore guard Jarrett Culver recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Raiders crushed the Bulls at Tulsa, Okla.

Senior center Norense Odiase added 14 points and a career-best 15 rebounds for Texas Tech (28-6), which will face second-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16 in Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday. Senior guard Matt Mooney and sophomore guard Davide Moretti had 11 points apiece and senior forward Tariq Owens had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Red Raiders.

Senior forward Nick Perkins registered 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Buffalo (32-4), which scored its fewest points of the season. Senior guard CJ Massinburg added 14 points and junior guard Davonta Jordan had 13.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Merkel protege: We should delay Brexit if that helps avoid disorderly exit

FILE PHOTO: German CDU to host conference on migration, integration and security
FILE PHOTO: Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer speaks at her party's conference on migration, integration and security topics in Berlin, Germany, February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

March 15, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – The leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) said on Friday that the European Union should agree to a delay of Britain’s departure from the bloc if it would prevent the exit from being disorderly.

“If a delay could help prevent a disorderly Brexit, in the case that there is no movement in London to remain in the EU, then this opportunity should be used,” CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer – a protege of Merkel – told German broadcaster RTL.

“But I think it’s also necessary for Britain to clearly say what should be discussed and negotiated during this period.”

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Paul Carrel)

Source: OANN

0 0

Beto O’Rourke boasts of having 'Republican' mom — despite her frequent votes for Democrats

.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke touted his "Republican" mother during a campaign event in Iowa last week, despite her voting in Democratic primaries since 2000, according to media reports.

The 46-year-old former Texas congressman has been touring Iowa after recently announcing his White House bid. While trying to appeal to voters in the early primary state, O’Rourke spoke of how his mother, Melissa O’Rourke, is a lifelong Republican who crossed party lines during his failed U.S. Senate bid last year.

"This campaign that we ran in Texas produced something far greater and more powerful than the sum of people or parts involved. Folks crossed party lines, and I know that personally because my mom, a Republican, voted for us in that election," O'Rourke told voters in Fort Madison on Thursday, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

BETO O'ROURKE PITCHES DRASTIC OVERHAUL OF SUPREME COURT

But a closer look at Melissa O’Rourke’s voting history shows she has mostly voted in Texas Democratic primaries since 2000 and has donated money to candidates from both major parties.

O’Rourke in the past has acknowledged his mother’s politics were not as red as he describes during campaign events.

"I introduce my mom sometimes, and I kid her a little bit, like ‘My mom's a lifelong Republican, but we got her to vote for us in this race.' One day, she came up to me, and she said, ‘You know, that's just not right: I would describe myself as an independent now, not a Republican,” O'Rourke told BuzzFeed News in an August profile. “Definitely not a Democrat.' I don't know what the size of that universe is, but anecdotally we're meeting a lot of people who have described themselves that way.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Melissa O'Rourke told CNN that she mostly voted Democratic in regional elections because of the party’s dominance in El Paso, the area her son represented when he served in the House of Representatives. She said she moved away from the Republican Party because of opposition to President Trump, the Free Beacon reported.

CNN noted that she voted in 15 of the last 17 primaries on the Democratic side.

But Chris Evans, communications director for O’Rourke’s Senate campaign, noted that, “Melissa has — with the exception of 2016 — always voted Republican for president.”

Beto O'Rourke also recently offered an apology for joking about "sometimes" helping his wife raise the couple's children.

Source: Fox News Politics

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

BONN (Reuters) – Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s $63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

Several large investors said they will not support aspirin investor Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its annual general meeting.

Bayer’s management, led by chief executive Werner Baumann, could see an embarrassing plunge in approval ratings, down from 97 percent at last year’s AGM, which was held shortly before the Monsanto takeover closed in June.

A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. Although it has no bearing on management’s liability, it is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.

“Due to the continued negative development at Bayer, high legal risks and a massive share price slump, we refuse to ratify the management board and supervisory board’s actions during the business year,” Janne Werning, representing Germany’s Union Investment, a top-20 shareholder, said in prepared remarks.

About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) have been wiped off Bayer’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found the pesticide and drugs group liable because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

Bayer suffered a similar defeat last month and more than 13,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

Deutsche Bank’s asset managing arm DWS said shareholders should have been consulted before the takeover, which was agreed in 2016 and closed in June last year.

“You are pointing out that the lawsuits have not been lost yet. We and our customers, however, have already lost something – money and trust,” Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at DWS, said in prepared remarks for the AGM.

He said DWS would abstain from the shareholder vote of confidence in the executive and non-executive boards.

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that Bayer’s largest shareholder, BlackRock, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions.

Asset management firm Deka, among Bayer’s largest German investors, has also said it would cast a no vote.

Baumann said Bayer’s true value was not reflected in the current share price.

“There’s no way to make this look good. The lawsuits and the first verdicts weigh heavily on our company and it’s a concern for many people,” he said, adding it was the right decision to buy Monsanto and that Bayer was vigorously defending itself.

This month, shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommended investors not to give the executive board their seal of approval.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Sudan’s military, which ousted President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year rule, says it intends to keep the upper hand during the country’s transitional period to civilian rule.

The announcement is expected to raise tensions with the protesters, who demand immediate handover of power.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the protests, said Friday the crowds will stay in the streets until all their demands are met.

Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, the spokesman for the military council, said late Thursday that the military will “maintain sovereign powers” while the Cabinet would be in the hands of civilians.

The protesters insist the country should be led by a “civilian sovereign” council with “limited military representation” during the transitional period.

The army toppled and arrested al-Bashir on April 11.

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist