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NPR Admits Illegal Immigrants Are Spreading Disease

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Source: InfoWars

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“Breathtakingly Terrible Idea”: Top Dem Wants to Tax Unrealized Capital Gains

As if Alexandra Ocasio-Jones infuriating Amazon was not enough for Long Island City, and New Yorkers in general, when the world’s biggest online retailer scuttled plans to build its New York-based HQ2 as a result of socialist blowback against arguably the world’s most successful (whether one loves or hates him) capitalist, Democrats appear intent on doubling down, and infuriating not just Jeff Bezos, but virtually all Americans who save money and invest their capital.

The reason: according to the WSJ, the top Democrat on the Senate’s tax-writing committee has proposed taxing unrealized gains in investment assets every year at the same rates as other income, offering not only an idea that would transform how the U.S. taxes the wealthiest people, but a solid reason for those same people to get the hell out of America.

The proposal from Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is the latest berserker plan from Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates for boosting taxes on the wealthy to address economic inequality and provide funding for their policy agenda. And while this specific proposal has little chance of becoming law soon – or, one hopes, ever – such ideas could quickly gain momentum if the party succeeds in next year’s elections.

What is especially insane is that this proposal is effectively the polar opposite of that other bananas proposal putched by AOC and various other Democrats, namely MMT, or money printing, because why bother taxing anyone, rich, poor or otherwise, if you can just print all the money you need. We are confident we won’t get a satisfactory answer, ever.

Going back to Wyden’s suggestions, capital gains would be taxed annually based on how much assets have gained in value. Now, luckily, gains are taxed only when assets are sold and at a top rate of 23.8% instead of 37% for ordinary income. As for the reasons why sane individuals only tax booked gains, this is mostly three-fold: so that there is actual funds that can be taxed (and avoid liquidation of other assets just to pay one’s tax bill), so that the government doesn’t end up owing Net Operating Losses on unbooked losses, oh and because it’s impossible as the government would somehow have to keep track of the value of every single asset at every single moment.

“It would be a huge change,” said Lily Batchelder, a tax-policy aide to President Obama, in what is the understatement of the day. “It would be a really big shift in our income-tax system.”


Paul Joseph Watson exposes the obvious hypocrisy from the left.

While Wyden’s tax differs from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax and Bernie Sanders’ higher estate tax. Like those plans, however, Mr. Wyden’s concept would present “logistical challenges” as the WSJ puts it sarcastically.

He would need to figure out how to value complex assets, handle declines in value, deal with people without enough cash to pay the tax and address illiquid investments such as closely held businesses and real estate.

A simpler way of putting it is that the government would effectively have to somehow value every single asset at every single moment. Good luck with that. A similar proposal from Eric Toder of the Urban Institute and Alan Viard of the American Enterprise Institute would generate an estimated $125 billion in 2025 alone, according to their 2016 paper. That plan was focused on publicly traded assets and applied a different rule to closely held businesses.

The proposal announced Tuesday “eliminates serious loopholes that allow some to pay a lower rate than wage earners, to delay their taxes indefinitely, and in some cases, to avoid paying tax at all,” Mr. Wyden said in a statement.

Republicans, in contrast, have fought to lower capital-gains taxes. Sen. Pat Toomey said capital gains get preferential rates now for several reasons, including to mitigate inflation. Under Wyden’s proposal, he said, someone could pay taxes on an investment one year as it rises, even if the investment later fails.

The good news, is that Toomey said the plan would go nowhere as long as Republicans control one part of the government.

“That,” he said, “is a breathtakingly terrible idea.”

It actually is, and yet for those who are puzzled by how on earth this would actually look in the real world, consider someone who bought $1 million of stock in 2002 that is now worth $10 million and doesn’t pay dividends. Under current law, the investor would have paid no income taxes on that $9 million gain and would pay none if the stock is left to an heir.

(Photo by Phil Roeder, Flickr)

Under Wyden’s plan, she would have paid taxes on the $9 million gain in chunks each year as the value of the stock grew. That could be trickier if, instead of publicly traded stock, the asset were an operating business that was harder to value each year; yet somehow the Democrat senator thinks that it’s easy as apple pie to value, well, anything.

There is at least some semblance of rationality: capital losses could still be deducted from gains, as they are under current law. Asset owners also wouldn’t pay additional taxes when they eventually sold an investment, because they would have already paid annually. There would be exemptions for the sales of primary residences and retirement accounts like 401(k)s, Wyden’s office said.

Ultimately, one can only hope that this plan that may have well emerged from the deepest recesses of Soviet Siberia never sees the light of day as the only stock that would be generating capita gains – whether booked or not – would be that of the airline that is taking America’s taxpayers on one way rides to any other place in the world.

Joking aside, the last time Democrats proposed an idiotic fiscal plan, i.e. AOC’s Green New Deal, none of them voted for it. We wonder if McConnell put Wyden’s proposal up for a vote, if any of them would have the guts to put their name to an actual vote this time.


Alex discusses how the left’s cult-like mentality is being revealed.

Source: InfoWars

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U.S. housing outlook stuck in a lull as economy dulls: Reuters poll

Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland
FILE PHOTO: Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland, Oregon, in this file photo taken March 20, 2014. REUTERS/Steve Dipaola/Files

February 26, 2019

By Hari Kishan

BENGALURU (Reuters) – U.S. house prices are forecast to rise this year at the slowest pace in more than half a decade, as a dearth of single-family homes and higher mortgage rates restrain activity in an already-expensive market, a Reuters poll of housing analysts found.

The latest Reuters survey of nearly 40 housing analysts and economists polled Feb. 13-25 suggests a turn in Federal Reserve rate guidance – where rates look set to remain on hold indefinitely – has given no boost to the outlook.

That implies the housing market will make no major positive contribution to extending an economic expansion that is already nearly the longest on record since World War Two, and if anything, is more likely to be a drag.

According to the poll, average U.S. property prices in the United States will rise 4 percent this year, slowing to rises of around 3 percent in the following two years. That is broadly unchanged from a poll taken in November 2018.

“We have had 10 years of home prices rising faster than income growth and because of that, it has hit affordability, homes have become unaffordable,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

“I think we have reached a point where home prices can no longer shoot up high. So, you’re going to see a more moderate pace of growth.”

When analysts were asked what was most likely to reverse this trend and boost demand for housing, a majority, 15 of 25, chose no further Fed rate hikes from a list of options.

The remaining one-third of analysts had a range of views, including increased spending on infrastructure and more tax cuts.

After the Fed dramatically altered its policy outlook late last year, 30-year mortgage rates have declined from a 7-1/2 year high in 2018 and are not expected to average above 5.0 percent over the next three years.

The Fed reiterated the message in minutes from its January meeting, published last week, saying it would be ‘patient’ before hiking interest rates again.

But the abrupt change in outlook on interest rates hasn’t necessarily translated into a better outlook for housing.

“It’s not going to make a huge difference, because even if rates fall back that’s just reflecting that the economy is slowing down,” said Matthew Pointon, property economist at Capital Economics.

AFFORDABILITY PROBLEMS

After slumping by over a third during the last recession some 10 years ago, home values have recovered all of those losses.

In its near decade-long expansion, the U.S. economy, has generated decent demand for housing but lately, home builders haven’t built enough homes, especially affordable single-family ones.

“Overall the builders are building more, but what is needed is moderately priced homes – medium-price and slightly below is where we have housing shortages. So, the lack of inventory is holding back some of the buying possibility at the lower end,” added NAR’s Yun.

Indeed, nearly 85 percent of 26 housing analysts who answered an extra question expected housing turnover this year to either stay the same or fall. Only four said it would rise.

When asked to rate affordability where 1 is the cheapest and 10 the most expensive, the median response was 7, where it has remained since 2018.

Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, are forecast to average around 5.3 million annualized units for the rest of the year. That is well below the 7 million at the peak of the last housing market boom in 2005.

Recent data suggest the housing market is not likely to strengthen any time soon. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of U.S. home prices in 20 metropolitan areas shows average prices have declined on a monthly basis for eight months in a row.

“The U.S. housing market has been cooling for the better part of a year in response to higher interest rates, and in some cases diminished affordability because of the previous run-up in prices,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

“We will get a near-term boost in sales because of the recent decline in mortgage rates, but I think the longer-term trend is towards stability in the U.S. housing market given the slowing economy.”

(Polling by Sujith Pai and Tushar Goenka; Editing by Ross Finley and Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

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Smartphone shipments to China hit six-year low in February: market data

Mobile phones are seen on display at an electronics market in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: Mobile phones are seen on display at an electronics market in Shanghai, China, June 24, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song

March 13, 2019

By Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Smartphone shipments to China in February fell to their lowest in six years, market data indicated, as consumers continued to put off handset purchases amid a slowing economy.

Shipments to the world’s biggest smartphone market totaled 14.5 million units, down 19.9 percent from a year ago, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-affiliated research institute.

That is the lowest since February 2013, when shipments to the China totaled 20.7 million.

Overall consumer purchases typically slow during February as the Chinese spend much of the month with family celebrating the Lunar New Year. But shipments this year fell more than usual as a slowing economy, exacerbated by a Sino-U.S. trade war, hurt demand for gadgets across the board.

Apple cited slowing iPhone sales in China when it took the rare step of cutting its sales forecast earlier this year. The firm then teamed up with China’s Ant Financial and local banks to offer interest-free iPhone financing in its first such move in the country as it looked to boost waning sales.

Several third-party retailers have also offered iPhones at discounted prices.

With smartphone sales expected to stay weak, companies like Chinese market leader Huawei Technologies have aimed to launch more expensive models to corner higher margins.

In 2018, Huawei’s market share of China’s $500-$800 device segment rose to 26.6 percent from 8.8 percent, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple’s share fell to 54.6 percent from 81.2 percent as it launched devices cracking the $1,000 price point, while others released competitive devices for less.

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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Media not ready to give up collusion narrative despite what Mueller report may say: conservative columnist

The mainstream media isn’t ready to give up the Russia collusion narrative even if the looming release of Robert Mueller’s report won’t contain anything damaging to President Trump.

That's according to Gary Abernathy, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, who penned an piece titled “Admit it: Fox News has been right all along.”

The piece, published Monday, argued that while liberal networks seemingly got the Russia story wrong, they are unlikely to give up even when the report is published on Thursday.

“I have been critical of president trump. There are a lot of issues that the Democrats and those who don't like Trump can go after him on in 2020. And rightfully so. Legitimate political questions,” Abernathy said on "Fox & Friends."

“But, Russian collusion, that's done. I'm interested to see the Mueller report tomorrow. That's going to be interesting reading. But we know the bottom line conclusion.”

— Gary Abernathy, contributing columnist for The Washington Post

TRUMP MAINTAINS 'NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION,' SAYS IT'S TIME TO 'INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS' IN RUSSIA PROBE

“But, Russian collusion, that's done. I'm interested to see the Mueller report tomorrow. That's going to be interesting reading. But we know the bottom line conclusion,” he said, noting that Attorney General William Barr announced that there was no collusion.

Abernathy said he was prompted to write the column after the media flipped on the credibility of Barr after his summary of the Mueller report was released.

“Ever since he did the summary on the Mueller report, you see people accusing him of being Donald Trump’s toady and now all of the sudden the 68-year-old career professional has become a political animal trying to protect the president,” he said.

“Frankly the facts don't back that up. That's ridiculous. I said all along when the report comes out you will not see any daylight between Barr, Rosenstein or Mueller on what the conclusions are.”

“Frankly the facts don't back that up. That's ridiculous. I said all along when the report comes out you will not see any daylight between Barr, Rosenstein or Mueller on what the conclusions are.”

— Gary Abernathy, contributing columnist for The Washington Post

DEMS WON’T TAKE NO COLLUSION FOR AN ANSWER, SEEK MUELLER EVIDENCE AND MORE

Abernathy concluded that the mainstream media networks aren’t ready to give up on covering the Russia collusion angle as they heavily invested in it since Trump’s election.

“They have invested a lot of time in the Russian collusion narrative and just not ready to give it up,” the columnist said. “Again, if there was something here, that would be understandable.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I'm anxious to seat the Mueller report because I think a lot of people who think it's going to – they are going to find something there to call a bombshell revelation, I really expect the Mueller report to even go further in explaining point by point why all these little meetings and all these little, you know, dots that didn't connect, you know, why they didn't connect,” he added.

“I think the Mueller report will do a really good service to explain why that -- and, you know, why they didn't conclude collusion happened.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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St. Louis man accused of killing wife after release on bail

A St. Louis man jailed for domestic violence was freed after a nonprofit group posted his $5,000 bail. Authorities say he then went to his wife's home and beat her to death.

Samuel Lee Scott was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, 54-year-old Marcia Johnson. Scott is jailed on $1 million bond.

Scott was charged April 5 for allegedly striking Johnson in the face in January. On April 9, the St. Louis Bail Project posted Scott's bail and he was released. The project bails out people who are jailed awaiting trial and can't afford their own bail.

Later that night, a friend took Johnson to a hospital after finding her badly injured. Johnson died Sunday.

Scott does not have a listed attorney.

Source: Fox News National

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Trump campaign not taking Bill Weld challenge seriously

President Trump's 2020 campaign made it clear on Tuesday that it wasn't worried about a primary challenge by the former governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld.

When CBS News asked how seriously the campaign was taking Weld's candidacy, the Trump campaign's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said, "Not seriously at all."

McEnany pointed to both the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican voters' support for the president. "The voters have sent a pretty clear message — they stand with the president. The RNC has reflected that," she said.

After Weld announced his candidacy on Monday, the RNC painted the challenge — along with any others that might arise — as fruitless. "The RNC and the Republican Party are firmly behind the president. Any effort to challenge the president's nomination is bound to go absolutely nowhere," the party said.

According to early polling from Monmouth University, Weld faces dismal prospects for his 2020 bid — only 10 percent of Republican voters say they could possibly support him.

TRUMP ALREADY AMASSING HUGE WAR CHEST FOR 2020 — CHALLENGERS BEWARE

Weld's announcement also came amid figures showing that within the first three months of 2019, Trump had already filled his campaign coffers to the tune of more than $30 million.

McEnany discounted the possibility that Weld would get to debate Trump on TV, saying that the 2020 campaign wasn't even entertaining the idea. "We're focused on the Democrats," she told CBS News.

After two U.S. senators blasted the president's conduct, speculation emerged that those critics -- Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Mitt Romney, R-Mass. -- might challenge him in 2020. Both eventually denied planning to do so.

Intraparty tension seemed to reach a fever pitch in January when Romney's niece, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, blasted her uncle in response to his criticisms of Trump's character. Led by McDaniel, the Republican Party also unanimously approved a resolution earlier this year that offered the president "undivided support" before the 2020 presidential election.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Like Romney, Weld attacked Trump's conduct while in office with a video that harped on, among other things, his comments surrounding the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Va., that led to one person's death.

Although Weld acknowledged he had a slim chance of besting Trump, he saw a reason for hope in the 2000 and 2008 candidacies of Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz. “John McCain made that work here twice. Not once but twice. He was the underdog both times,” Weld said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEED FOR CASH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATE COMPETITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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