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Grieving New Zealand looks for lessons from Christchurch attack

People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 18, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – After days of intense grieving for New Zealand’s worst-ever mass shooting, attention began to turn to how the country’s gun laws need to change and what warning signs might have been missed ahead of a gunman’s attack on two mosques that killed 50 people.

Bodies of the victims of Friday’s attacks in Christchurch were being washed and prepared for burial in a Muslim ritual process, with teams of volunteers flown in from overseas to assist with the heavy workload.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her Cabinet had made in-principle decisions on changes to gun laws which she would announce next Monday, saying now was the time to act on tightening access to firearms.

Simon Bridges, leader of the opposition National Party, said he wanted to get details of the changes to see if there could be bipartisan support in Parliament. The National Party draws support from rural areas, where gun ownership is higher than in urban areas.

“We know that change is required. I’m willing to look at anything that is going to enhance our safety – that’s our position,” Bridges told TVNZ.

In addition to the 50 killed, dozens were wounded at the two mosques in the South Island city during Friday prayers.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist who was living in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island, was charged with murder on Saturday. Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5, where police said he was likely to face more charges.

Andrew Little, the minister who oversees New Zealand’s intelligence agencies, said monitoring of online activity had been stepped up in the wake of the Christchurch attacks.

“There are people who have been online making statements who have been interviewed by the police; that will continue. There is a level of intervention, there is a heightened level of monitoring,” Little said on TVNZ on Monday night.

Ardern said there would be an inquiry into what government agencies “knew, or could or should have known” about the alleged gunman and whether the attack could be prevented.

“We have to know whether there have been failings, whether there have been gaps,” Little said on TVNZ. “We have to leave no stone unturned to not only deal with the perpetrator and ensure the criminal justice system gets to deal with him, but to understand how this could have happened in this country.”

More than 250 New Zealand police staff are working on the inquiry in the attacks, with staff from the U.S. FBI and Australia’s Federal Police working with local investigators.

In the wake of the deadly attack, other incidents were drawing scrutiny. A gun club in the northern town of Kaitaia burned down early on Tuesday morning, and police were treating the blaze as suspicious. A bomb hoax that closed Dunedin Airport on Sunday night and caused some flights to be diverted was under investigation, police said.

A black laptop bag was thought to have been bought onto the airfield by someone climbing over fences around the Dunedin airport. Police found a note written by the person who left the “hoax device,” which was dealt with by defense force experts.

“The insensitive nature of this act in light of recent events cannot be overstated,” police said in a statement.

(Writing by John Mair; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Community College board backs instructor over visa

A beloved chemistry teacher from India just took his first giant step toward staying in the United States.

Blue Mountain Community College chemistry instructor Chandra Kunapareddy got the answer he sought at the last of three special BMCC Board of Education meetings.

Community college board of education meetings aren't usually riveting, high-suspense affairs. However, the trio of standing-room-only special board meetings in the last week featured both angst and passion.

Kunapareddy, 36, faced the expiration in 2020 of his H-1B visa, a document that allows U.S. employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require intellectual or technical expertise. The chemistry instructor grew up in a village in southern India, born into a caste of farm workers. None of his family except him has gone past middle school.

In 2017, when Kunapareddy started his job, the college officially notified him that the visa assistance was a one-time deal. On April 17 at the first meeting, the instructor asked for a change in course. He said he loved his job, his student evaluations were stellar and he hoped to raise his children here.

Would the college consider helping him renew the visa and start the green card process?

Board members listened as a string of faculty and students took the microphone to praise Kunapareddy as a personable, qualified instructor with the gift of making the sometimes dry subject of chemistry come alive.

More than one person got emotional as they spoke.

At the second meeting on April 18, board members wrestled with the pros and cons as they decided how to vote.

Jane Hill and Kim Puzey favored helping Kunapareddy, while Chair Chris Brown, Heidi Van Kirk and Anthony Turner worried about overturning the 2017 decision and fretted about an additional financial obligation during tight budget times. Bob Savage straddled the middle line.

The board considered four options ranging from not renewing at all to renewing and helping Kunapareddy navigate the green card process.

The price tag for BMCC is somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 and is the same for Kunapareddy. Puzey initially suggested that the faculty consider raising funds necessary to pay the college's portion, making any financial objection moot. He offered to throw in $1,000 of his own money.

Vice President of Administrative Services Tammy Parker, who researched the process, quickly quashed the notion as an employer must pay its half of the fees without outside funds according to law.

Mired in complexities, the board opted to push off the decision again until board member Don Rice returned from abroad.

At the third meeting, the boardroom again filled up, this time with members of the public joining in.

Former state veterinarian Andrew Clark stepped to the microphone. Clark, who said he had taken 13 terms of chemistry en route to his veterinary degree, called a good chemistry teacher "a treasure to be nurtured."

Van Kirk, who originally voted against assisting Kunapareddy, moved to start the green card process immediately and renew the visa.

She, Kunapareddy, Rice, Parker, Vice President of Instruction John Field and Science Department Chair Philip Schmitz had met the day before as a work group to discuss the way forward and Van Kirk had modified her position.

Hill seconded Van Kirk's motion.

Puzey verbalized his support. Though the school would enter uncharted territory, it is a path worth traveling, he said.

"I just want to keep this incredible person on our faculty," Puzey said.

The vote was six-to-one, with Brown voting no.

The whole thing could backfire for Kunapareddy. His position must be advertised again to make sure there are no American applicants more qualified to fill his job. If another applicant beats out Kunapareddy, he could be headed back to India.

That gives him pause as he realizes the selection committee determines his future, but he focused on the big step forward.

"I'm really thankful. Lots of gratitude," Kunapareddy said.

"I'm willing to pay it back with my teaching."

Source: Fox News National

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Athletics: Diamond League to cut meetings, disciplines by 2020

Athletics - IAAF Diamond League Final
FILE PHOTO: Athletics - IAAF Diamond League Final - King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium - August 31, 2018 Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech and Fancy Cherono in action during the women's 3000m steeplechase REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

March 11, 2019

By Gene Cherry

(Reuters) – Athletics’ Diamond League circuit will have a trimmer look and fewer meetings beginning in 2020 as the one-day competitions aim for a more consistent, fast moving format, the IAAF said on Monday.

Meetings will be reduced from 14 to 12 competitions plus a final under concepts approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council in Doha.

The number of disciplines will also be cut from 32 to 24 with 12 each for men and women and the longest event will be 3,000 meters.

There will also be a new focus on out-of-stadium/city center field events where fans can be closer to the action and meetings will be limited to one per week.

“This elite circuit of quality events (will) attract the best athletes which in turn gives our fans a compelling reason to tune in and follow their stars over the next decade and beyond,” IAAF president Sebastian Coe said in a statement.

There was no indication which meeting would be dropped or what disciplines would be eliminated.

An end of the season examination this year will assess the quality of each meeting with the aim of focusing on the best 12 meetings plus a final with all 24 disciplines, the IAAF said.

The Diamond League, which will celebrate its 10th season beginning in May, currently features nine races for men and women, including the 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m, and seven field events – high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw.

Not all events are held at each meeting.

The circuit, the IAAF’s top competition outside the Olympics and world championships, at present has two end-of-season finals, with Zurich hosting one-half of the disciplines and Brussels the other.

“The market very much told us at the moment the current two finals should be replaced by one thrilling night of athletics,” IAAF chief executive Jon Ridgeon, who co-chaired a year-long review of the circuit, told a news conference.

Qualification and entry standards for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics also were approved by the IAAF Council at its weekend meeting.

Athletes will be able to qualify for the next Olympics either by meeting entry standards or by virtue of their position in the new IAAF world rankings.

The Council also agreed to change race walking distances for senior competitions from 20 and 50km to two of the following – 10, 20, 30 or 35km – after 2022 while maintaining four medal disciplines with two for men and two for women.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Source: OANN

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Italy’s Salvini says he is under investigation for ‘kidnapping’ migrants after refusing entry

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said this week that he is under investigation for allegedly “kidnapping” migrants when the Italian government refused to allow an NGO ship of rescued migrants to dock.

Salvini, who serves as a deputy prime minister in the coalition between his nationalist party, League, and the radical 5-Star Movement, said on Twitter on Monday that he was under investigation, but was defiant in his position.

ITALY SEES MIGRANT NUMBERS PLUMMET AFTER NATIONALIST POLICIES TAKE HOLD

“I do not change my mind! “ he tweeted “For the good or the Italians, with me the ports are and remain CLOSED!”

The investigation centers on a decision in January not to allow the Sea Watch vessel, carrying 47 migrants, to dock in Italy, according to La Repubblica. The rescue boat was one of a number of vessels that rescues migrants coming from Libya, and brings them to Italian shores.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, and fellow Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio are also facing charges for the refusal to allow migrants to leave the boat, according to The Guardian.

Italian Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister, Luigi Di Maio, gestures while attending a press conference during his visit to the Salone del Mobile Furniture Fair, near Milan, Italy, Friday, April 11, 2019.

Italian Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister, Luigi Di Maio, gestures while attending a press conference during his visit to the Salone del Mobile Furniture Fair, near Milan, Italy, Friday, April 11, 2019. (Daniel Dal Zennaro/ANSA via AP)

ITALY REFUSES TO ACCEPT MIGRANTS ON NGO RESCUE BOAT, SAYS IT SHOULD GO TO FRANCE INSTEAD

At the time, Di Maio invited the boat to travel to Marseille, France instead. It was eventually allowed to dock, but only after an agreement was reached by which the migrants could be distributed to other countries -- including France.

Salvini’s League shot from near obscurity to the top of the polls last year, and has stayed there since the 2018 election, in part by promising to end the practice and to cut down on the number of migrants entering the country from Libya.

Salvini's approach has produced results: official numbers showed that in January 2018, 3,176 migrants landed on the Italian coast via boats. But in January 2019 that number was just 155.

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But Salvini has faced continued opposition from the courts. He had previously been facing charges of kidnapping over his refusal to allow a boat of 177 migrants to land in Italy last year. However, Senate lawmakers blocked the case from proceeding.

The legal challenges have not stopped Salvini from going forward with his agenda. Last week, he announced a right-wing alliance with other nationalist leaders ahead of the European Parliament elections in May.

Source: Fox News World

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Robert Mueller's Russia investigation by the numbers

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign concluded with the final report submitted to the Justice Department this past Friday. In a letter released Sunday, Attorney General William Barr publicly revealed the "principal conclusions" and more about the under-wraps investigation.

Just months after President Trump was inaugurated into office, Mueller was appointed to the special counsel's office on May, 17 2017. In total, it lasted close to two years — 675 days, or one year, 10 months and six days, to be exact.

READ THE MUELLER REPORT FINDINGS

The intent of the investigation was to determine whether Trump and his campaign illegally worked with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. The special counsel's office determined that it "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia."

The president on Sunday responded to Mueller's report in two different ways. Speaking to reporters, Trump called the investigation "an illegal takedown that failed."

He also tweeted: "No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!" It was Trump's 78th tweet regarding the probe, excluding retweets.

In total, 19 attorneys worked with the special counsel's office at some point during the nearly two-year-long probe, which, between May 2017 and September 2018, spent $25.2 million. Of that, $12.3 million was direct spending, while $12.9 million was spent on "indirect" component expenses for the Justice Department.

The special counsel's office has said that the indirect expenses don't amount to additional taxpayer expenditures since those resources — especially personnel, such as employees of the FBI or other agencies — would have been devoted to other cases had there been no special-counsel investigation.

During the investigation, at least 42 people were interviewed by Mueller or his team or testified before a grand jury, and 34 people -- in addition to 3 companies -- either have been indicted or have pleaded guilty in connection to the probe.

Of the 34, 6 were former advisers or associates of Trump, while 2 were not considered Trump advisers or associates. Additionally, 26 Russians have been charged.

Mueller's office worked with a team of "approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff" during the investigation.

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Ultimately, the special counsel's office "issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses," according to Barr's letter.

On Friday evening, Mueller submitted his report to Barr, marking the end of the politically explosive probe and the beginning of a new battle over its contents and implications.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Time’s up CEO resigns after sexual assault allegations against her son: report

Lisa Borders, the CEO of Time’s Up, resigned from her post last week after following sexual assault allegations against her son, the gender equality group announced Thursday.

Borders initially cited “family concerns that require my singular focus” when she resigned.

"TIME'S UP unequivocally supports all survivors of sexual harassment and abuse," the organization said in a statement. “On Friday, Lisa Borders informed members of TIME’S UP leadership that sexual assault allegations had been made against her son in a private forum. Within 24 hours, Lisa made the decision to resign as President and CEO of TIME’S UP and we agreed that it was the right decision for all parties involved.”

ANTI-HARASSMENT GROUP 'TIME'S UP' LAUNCHED BY HOLLYWOOD INSIDERS TO SUPPORT VICTIMS

The organization was founded by female celebrities in response to the #MeToo movement. The group focuses on gender parity and workplace safety for women. Borders did not respond to a Los Angeles Times request for comment.

Her departure comes after a woman alleged in a post on a private Facebook group that her son, Garry “Dijon” Bowden Jr., had been sexually inappropriate with her during a healing massage session. Celia Gellert, 31, told the Times she felt violated when Bowden allegedly kissed her neck, touched her genitalia and rubbed his clothed genitalia against her. She went public with her experience on Facebook “because I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” she said.

Bowden’s attorney Alan Jackson denied the allegations against his client.

IDRIS ELBA SAYS #METOO MOVEMENT IS 'ONLY DIFFICULT IF YOU'RE A MAN WITH SOMETHING TO HIDE'

“My client vehemently denies that any inappropriate or nonconsensual touching occurred at any time,” Jackson told the paper.

Borders was hired by Time’s Up in October with much fanfare. She previously served as the president of the WNBA and vice president at Coca-Cola.

Source: Fox News National

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Nicaragua releases 50 prisoners in hopes talks can resume

People cheers protesters, who were arrested for participating in protests against Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega's government, after being released from La Modelo Prison in Managua
People cheers protesters, who were arrested for participating in protests against Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega's government, after being released from La Modelo Prison in Managua, Nicaragua March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

March 15, 2019

MANAGUA (Reuters) – The Nicaraguan government on Friday released a second group of prisoners following demands by the opposition for more detainees to be freed before political dialogue to broker a way out of a national crisis continues.

The interior ministry said 50 people – which the opposition considers political prisoners – had been released, joining 100 others let out on Feb. 27, the day talks between the government and its opponents had restarted.

Talks broke down when the opposition made continued dialogue conditional on the release of “all political prisoners.”

A committee representing relatives of the detainees said there are still more than 570 political prisoners in custody.

The latest to be freed left a penitentiary on the outskirts of Managua and headed into the city. Dozens of residents came out to wave the Nicaraguan flag and greet the prisoners.

Nicaragua has been in a debilitating political crisis since President Daniel Ortega attempted to push through a social security reform last April, leading to massive protests. Ensuing chaos tipped the poor Central American nation into recession.

Ortega, a Cold War-era former Marxist guerilla leader elected in 2006, unleashed a crackdown on the protests. Some 320 people were killed and more than 600 imprisoned, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

(Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEED FOR CASH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATE COMPETITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

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

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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