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Google vice president and general manager Phil Harrison speaks during a Google keynote address announcing a new video gaming streaming service named Stadia that attempts to capitalize on the company’s cloud technology and global network of data centers, at the Gaming Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
March 21, 2019
By Paresh Dave
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A Google executive offered new details on Wednesday about the company’s upcoming video game streaming service, telling Reuters that game makers may use competing cloud providers and must avoid some inappropriate content.
Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, unveiled Stadia on Tuesday, saying the service launching this year would make playing high-quality video games in an internet browser as easy as watching a movie on its YouTube service.
The game would operate on Google’s servers, receiving commands from a user’s controller and sending video streams to their screen. Player settings, leaderboards, matchmaking tools and other data related to the game would “not necessarily” have to reside on Google’s servers, Phil Harrison, a Google vice president, said in an interview.
Hosting the data elsewhere, however, could lead to slower loading times or less crisp streaming quality, he said.
“Obviously, we would want and incentivize the publisher to bring as much of their backend as possible” to Google servers, he said. “But Stadia can reach out to other public and private cloud services.”
The approach could limit Google’s revenue from Stadia. It has declined to comment on the business model for the new service, but attracting new customers to Google’s paid cloud computing program is one of Stadia’s aims.
If a game publisher was using Amazon for some tools, “the first thing I would do is introduce you to the Google Cloud team,” Harrison said.
In addition, Stadia will require games to follow content guidelines that build upon the system of Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-regulatory body, he said.
“We absolutely will not have A-O content,” Harrison said, referring to the ESRB’s moniker for the rare designation of a game as adult-only because of intense violence, pornography or real-money gambling.
He said Stadia’s guidelines would not be public.
Asked about growing public concerns about game addiction, Harrison said Stadia would empower parents with controls on “what you play, when you play and who you play with.”
Google views Stadia as connecting its various efforts in gaming, including selling them on its mobile app store, Harrison said. But game streaming, he said, is an opportunity to tackle among the most complex technical challenges around and potentially apply breakthroughs to other industries.
“We think we can grow a very significant games market vertical,” he said. “And by getting this right we can advance the state of the art of computing.”
(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Source: OANN
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro arrives during ceremonies to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery during his visit to Washington in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
March 20, 2019
BRASILIA (Reuters) – The government of Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has seen its popularity plummet since he took office in January, with just a third of those asked approving of its performance, according to a poll published on Wednesday.
Despite easily winning October’s election, Bolsonaro’s government has the worst approval rating of any administration at this early stage since Brazil returned to democracy three decades ago.
Pollster Ibope said 34 percent of those surveyed found the Bolsonaro government doing a “great/good” job, compared to 49 percent in mid-January. The government’s “bad/terrible” rating rose 13 percentage points to 24 percent, Ibope said.
Bolsonaro spent the week cosying up to U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, without receiving much in return, sparking frustration among trade officials.
Back home, criticism of Bolsonaro is growing just as he has put before Congress his fiscally crucial but highly unpopular plan to reform the pension system. Most economists agree the system must be overhauled to shore up public finances and foster growth.
Brazil’s Congress is typically not particularly responsive to public opinion, but if the pension reforms were to spark street protests, the pressure on lawmakers to balk at the bill could have an impact.
Those surveyed who said they trusted Bolsonaro in the role dropped 13 percentage points from January to 49 percent. Those who say they have no trust in him jumped 13 points to 44 percent.
Bolsonaro’s strongest approval ratings are among higher income Brazilians, while the lowest ratings were registered in large cities, and in the poorer Northeast region, Ibope said.
Evangelical Christians were the social group that most trust in Bolsonaro, the poll showed.
Ibope surveyed 2,002 people between March 16-19 across Brazil. The poll’s margin of error is 2 percentage points.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; editing by Brad Brooks and Rosalba O’Brien)
Source: OANN
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has steadied at 45 percent among registered voters in the U.S., according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released Wednesday.
The survey, conducted March 18-19, showed the same approval rating as a poll taken March 5-6 and Feb. 17-18.
Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Poll, told Hill.TV it seems as though no news, good or bad, could sway voters’ minds.
"I guess if the Mueller report came out and it said 'we absolutely found nothing, anywhere that was negative,' I'm not sure that would even do a whole lot," Miringoff said, referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
"We're in a polarized era that didn't start with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, we've been going that way since the early 90s," he added. "There's very few people on the fence and when it comes to Donald Trump, there's even fewer."
Fifty-five percent disapprove of the job the president is doing, with younger voters giving Trump his lowest marks (61 percent disapprove, and 39 percent approve).
Republicans gave the president an 82 percent approval rating, while 83 percent of Democrats said they disapproved of the job he’s doing.
Source: NewsMax Politics
Polls are showing that Sen. Bernie Sanders' popularity is dropping among all voters over the past few months, even after he was able to hold onto most of the popularity he enjoyed during his 2016 presidential race through the end of last year.
According to a new CNN poll, Sanders' favorable rating is at 46 percent among registered voters, compared to an unfavorable rating of 45 percent, reports CNN.
Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University poll from late in December gave the Vermont Independent senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate a net favorability rating of plus two points, and an average of recent polls puts his net favorability at minus one point.
When Sanders' presidential bid ended in 2016, he had a 59 percent favorable rating, compared to a 36 percent unfavorable rating among voters in a CNN poll in June 2016.
Even in December 2018, a CNN poll gave the senator a plus 13 net favorability rating, and a Gallup poll in September put him at plus 15.
Sanders' net favorability, though, is at about the same place as the numerous others who have declared their candidacy for the 2020 nomination, even though he does enjoy more name recognition than many of the other contenders.
He also may need to show that he is electable against President Donald Trump. According to the newest CNN poll, 30 percent of Democratic voters think their party has a better chance of winning with him as the nominee, but 59 percent think a different candidate would be more likely to win.
Source: NewsMax Politics
FILE PHOTO – Russian navy sailors walk past an installation resembling the state emblem of the Soviet Union as they attend a celebratory event, organised by members of the motorcycling club “Night Wolves” and marking the fifth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, in Sevastopol, Crimea March 16, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak
March 18, 2019
By Anastasia Lyrchikova
SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin inaugurated two new power stations in Crimea on Monday after flying into the Black Sea peninsula to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the region from Ukraine.
The power stations, in the cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol, were partially launched last year, but Monday’s inauguration marked the moment they began working at full capacity.
The same facilities were at the center of an international scandal after German engineering company Siemens said its power turbines had been installed at them without its knowledge and in violation of European Union sanctions. Russia denied that.
Putin, who has poured billions of Russian taxpayer dollars into Crimea since Moscow seized control of it in 2014, attended the launch of the Sevastopol power station. He oversaw the launch of the Simferopol facility by video conference.
Earlier on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said the ceremony would show that Crimea was able to meet all of its own energy needs for the first time. Before annexation, Ukraine supplied 80 percent of the peninsula’s electricity needs.
Ukraine says it wants Crimea, which most countries still recognize as Ukrainian territory, back.
Russia says the matter is closed forever and that a 2014 referendum held after Russian forces secured the peninsula, showed Crimeans want to part of Russia.
Putin is due to speak at a celebratory music concert later on Monday and to hold talks with local people and businesses about what Russia has achieved in Crimea in the last five years and where it has fallen short.
Russia has spent heavily to try to integrate Crimea and reduce its dependence on Ukraine, including building a giant bridge to link the peninsula to southern Russia. But Western sanctions designed to punish Moscow for its annexation have helped isolate the peninsula, pushing up prices and slowing its development.
Putin’s approval rating soared on the back of Russia’s Crimean annexation, which stirred national pride in many Russians. But despite remaining high at over 60 percent, his rating has since declined due to public unease over falling wages, rising prices and unpopular pension reforms.
Russian enthusiasm for the annexation also appears to have cooled with an opinion poll from the FOM pollster this month showing that 39 percent of Russians believe it brought more good than harm, down from 67 percent in 2014.
(Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Tom Balmforth)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Locals and visitors are seen shopping in downtown Manama, Bahrain, February 26, 2019. Picture taken February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
March 18, 2019
By Davide Barbuscia and Lisa Barrington
MANAMA (Reuters) – As the weekend kicks off in Bahrain, Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti cars jam the capital’s roads and hotel lobbies fill with visitors looking for bars, restaurants and other night-time entertainment.
A new sales tax introduced this year means government coffers will gain with every glass of wine sold and shisha pipe smoked, but that’s still not enough to plug a large gap in the island kingdom’s finances and wean it off aid from richer neighbors.
Saudi Arabia, along with Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, came to the rescue of Bahrain last year when a prolonged period of lower oil prices pushed its public debt to nearly 93 percent of annual economic output.
Their $10 billion bailout pledge, along with Bahrain’s inclusion in JPMorgan’s emerging market indexes, have transformed its bonds from a busted bet to a boon for investors.
The price of Bahrain’s 2028 dollar bonds has risen by a third from a record low last June when the country looked in danger of default. But that upward trajectory could go into reverse if Manama does not tackle its spending overruns.
With an overall deficit last year equivalent to 11.7 percent of annual economic output, according to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bahrain would need to introduce a raft of new taxes and spending cuts to eliminate its budget deficit by 2022, a target set as part of its bailout.
But the country’s Sunni Muslim royal rulers are wary of austerity measures roiling sectarian tensions among their Shi’ite majority populace and of taxes, fees and spending cuts dampening growth.
Instead, the government has set its sights on trying to grow the local economy to boost revenues and balance the books.
Investments in the fintech sector, a major oil and gas find and the development of Bahrain as a hub for foreign companies wanting to tap into the larger Saudi Arabian market are all initiatives touted by the government as future sources of revenue.
But they are not seen as sufficient to close the gap by 2022. The IMF said this month that it expects the economy to grow around 1.8 percent this year, the same pace as last year, and said additional reform efforts were needed.
“We still think there will be deficits at the end of the period,” said Trevor Cullinan, sovereign credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s, which like the other main rating agencies has a junk rating on Bahrain’s debt.
Bahrain’s ministry of finance and national economy said the country’s fiscal program was on track to deliver a balanced budget in 2022.
“This is a comprehensive and credible plan which, through a combination of spending reductions and revenue measures, is already delivering significant progress,” the ministry said in a statement
OIL AND GAS
A recovering oil price, along with new excise taxes and cuts in subsidies for water and power consumption have helped shrink Bahrain’s deficit from a record 18.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015.
As part of the bailout from its Gulf allies, Bahrain agreed to introduce a 5 percent value added tax (VAT), as well as further subsidy cuts and a voluntary retirement plan for state workers.
But the government has ruled out taxing income or company profits, partly to continue attracting business to a region where such taxes are non-existent.
Bahrain’s government is also wary of the population’s long history of political protest. Most recently, it quashed an uprising in 2011 with the help of Saudi Arabia, which fears unrest in its smaller neighbor would encourage dissent among its own population and Shi’ite minority.
The plunge in the oil price has forced all Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, to re-think generous welfare programs and push economic diversification harder.
Bahrain, which does not have the vast oil wealth of its neighbors, discovered a large oil and gas field off its west coast last year and is in talks with U.S. oil companies about developing it.
The discovery could be an important source of revenue but its benefits are unlikely to materialize soon as converting the estimates to reserves is a costly and lengthy process.
“It takes a minimum of four to five years, so if you’re going to get any revenue it’s not going to be immediate, so you still have to face the adjustment to a large fiscal deficit and a large budget deficit,” said Nasser Saidi, a Dubai-based economist.
FINTECH BET
In the meantime, Bahrain has been trying to market itself as a financial technology hub for the Middle East and North Africa. Last year, it inaugurated Bahrain FinTech Bay, a state-backed platform, offering technology companies office space, networking events and a mobile app for collaborations.
FinTech Bay’s chief executive, Khalid Saad, said the initiative would be a “great contributor” to Bahrain, but said it was too early to quantify that contribution.
Saad said the hub had so far attracted 36 firms — 60 percent of them international — to work on technologies such as digital currency and blockchain-based payments.
S&P has not factored in any contribution from the fintech initiative in its estimates for Bahraini economic growth.
“How much more are you going to get from fintech? Are you going to add 1 or 2 percent of GDP? I don’t think so, it’s not a big employment generator,” said Saidi.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s biggest cloud computing provider, is opening a regional data center in Bahrain later this year. The company has declined to say how many people it will employ but Zubin Chagpar, the head of public sector for Amazon Web Services in the Middle East said the government’s willingness to focus on digital transformation was a key factor in Amazon’s decision to locate there.
“Bahrain is very particular in saying they want to leverage technology to redefine our economy,” Chagpar said.
Leveraging its proximity to Saudi Arabia has been part of Bahrain’s economic toolkit since a bridge connecting it to Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where oil giant Aramco is headquartered, was opened in 1986.
Some 1.1 million people entered Bahrain via the bridge in January, many attracted by the country’s more relaxed rules on drinking and socializing. Unlike Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait, where alcohol is prohibited, alcoholic drinks are sold in Bahrain. Some international companies, which want to sell into the Saudi market, also base themselves in Bahrain, where the operating costs are cheaper. U.S. manufacturer Mueller Industries and Mondelez, the world’s No 2 confectioner, have recently expanded their presence in Bahrain.
But Bahrain’s prime position as a “stepping stone” to Saudi Arabia could wane given the fast pace of change in the conservative country as it moves to relax social restrictions and build entertainment and tourism industries. It is also developing its own manufacturing sector.
“It used to make sense four or five years ago, it doesn’t make sense now that Saudi Arabia has opened up,” said Saidi.
(Editing by Carmel Crimmins)
Source: OANN
The federal government may look into “collusion” between Democrats and the major corporate news networks over their “one-sided coverage,” President Trump warned.
“It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side.’ Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows……” he tweeted Sunday.
It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of “the other side.” Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
“Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this? There must be Collusion with the Democrats and, of course, Russia! Such one sided media coverage, most of it Fake News. Hard to believe I won and am winning. Approval Rating 52%, 93% with Republicans. Sorry! #MAGA”
….Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this? There must be Collusion with the Democrats and, of course, Russia! Such one sided media coverage, most of it Fake News. Hard to believe I won and am winning. Approval Rating 52%, 93% with Republicans. Sorry! #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
Though “Saturday Night Live” is a parody show, it frequently and disproportionately mocks Trump and conservatives with mean-spirited jokes and elevates Democrat talking points.
Nevertheless, it highlights the larger problem of mainstream media cheerleading Democrats and demonizing Trump at every opportunity.
Trump likely mentioned the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in reference to the fairness doctrine, a discontinued regulation requiring news outlets to give equal coverage to both sides of a political issue.
Trump spoke out against online censorship after Big Tech banned Alex Jones in a coordinated social media purge last August.
“I won’t mention names but when they take certain people off of Twitter or Facebook and they’re making that decision, that is really a dangerous thing because that could be you tomorrow,” Trump told Reuters.
Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
Source: InfoWars
Tesla Inc’s Model Y electric sports utility vehicle is pictured in this undated handout photo released on March 14, 2019. Tesla Motors/Handout via Reuters
March 15, 2019
(Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc fell nearly 5 percent on Friday, as investors wondered if its unveiling of an electric sports utility vehicle would add to pressure on cash flow, while analysts worried the carmaker was not addressing slowing demand for other models.
Tesla, which introduced a cheap $35,000 version of its Model 3 sedan last month and is struggling to convince backers its business model works, on Thursday launched the “Model Y” compact SUV – built on the same platform as the Model 3.
“It seems to be another distraction tactic presenting a new model and (to) divert from the problems with the other cars, the production and the profitability,” NORD/LB analyst Frank Schwope said.
None of the 30 analysts who cover Tesla cut their price targets or recommendations for its shares, but the slightly bleak response to the new launch underlines the ambivalence of some on Wall Street to the company after months of legal wrangling and social media outbursts by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.
Some Wall Street analysts had raised concerns that demand for the higher-priced Model 3 was slowing down in the United States, especially after a reduction in the federal tax credit this year.
“We believe that Tesla’s original business model for the production and profitability of the ‘affordable’ $35,000 version of the Model 3 is proving to be very difficult to achieve,” ratings firm Moody’s wrote in a research note.
The launch of the Model Y also reignited worries that Tesla would need to raise cash sooner than later.
Two Tesla analysts, both known as Tesla bulls – Gene Munster from Loup Ventures and Ivan Fienseth from Tigress Financial Partners – said the company would likely need to raise money later this year.
Cowen & Co’s Jeffrey Osborne, who has an “underperform” rating on the stock, also agreed.
“We believe the event was more of a capital raising effort and branding exercise,” Osborne said in a client note. “We do not see the new Model Y igniting elevated demand or enthusiasm for the Tesla brand.”
Tesla said it would debut a long-range Model Y next year with a range of 300 miles (482 km), priced at $47,000, as well as a standard version, priced at $39,000, in 2021.
Tesla has been cutting jobs and closing stores in a bid to make profits and expects a loss in the first quarter.
Shares of the company were down at $276.06 in afternoon trading.
(Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Arun Koyyur)
Source: OANN
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is becoming more well-known nationwide but she still carries a negative favorable rating, according to the results of a new poll.
Key figures in the Gallup survey released Friday:
- 41 percent of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Ocasio-Cortez, up from 26 percent last September before the 29-year-old was elected to Congress.
- 31 percent have a favorable view of her, an increase of seven percentage points since September.
- 50 percent said in September they had never heard of her, but the number has dropped in the new poll to 29 percent.
- Among Republicans, Ocasio-Cortez — a self-described socialist — has a net favorable rating of -68 percent. Democrats hold a 41 percent favorable rating of her.
Ocasio-Cortez has ruffled feathers in both of the major political parties for her talk on gun control, the environment, and even her role on forcing Amazon to abandon its planned office in New York City.
Source: NewsMax Politics
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
March 15, 2019
By Amy Caren Daniel
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday as investors welcomed positive signs regarding trade talks between the United States and China and after UK lawmakers voted to delay a potentially chaotic exit from the European Union.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by telephone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, with the two sides making further substantive progress on trade talks, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, the prospect of trade talks taking longer than expected capped gains on Wall Street in the previous session and resulted in the S&P and Nasdaq ending slightly lower and breaking their 3-day winning streak this week.
Chipmakers, which get a large portion of their revenue from China, rose in premarket trading — Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp gained around 1 percent each.
The mood was also lifted after British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to seek a delay in Britain’s exit from the European Union, setting the stage for Prime Minister Theresa May to renew efforts to get her divorce deal approved by parliament next week.
The S&P 500 has risen 2.4 percent so far this week, its biggest weekly gain in one month, largely helped by a host of economic data which supported the Federal Reserve’s patient stance on future interest rate hikes.
A dovish Fed and hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal getting underway has helped put the benchmark S&P just 4.4 percent away from its record closing high hit in September.
Volatility may rise during Friday’s session on account of “quadruple witching,” as investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to expiration.
At 6:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 98 points, or 0.38 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 10 points, or 0.36 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 40.25 points, or 0.56 percent.
Among stocks, Amazon.com Inc rose 1.4 percent after brokerage KeyBanc upgraded the rating of the online retail giant’s shares to “overweight”.
Oracle Corp fell 3.5 percent after the business software maker forecast current-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.
Facebook Inc dropped 1.7 percent after its Chief Product Officer Chris Cox exited the social media giant.
On the economic front, a Federal Reserve report at 9:15 a.m. ET is expected to show industrial production rose 0.4 percent in February, after falling 0.6 percent in the prior month.
The Labor Department is expected to say job openings declined to 7.31 million in January, compared to 7.33 million in December. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.
(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
Source: OANN
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