>>5298814 lb
jmo but perhaps we all were in many way's. not that old here but looking at things with a new lens tends to make you see what you should have. drinking kool-aid was easier to do pre-inet and on many of these topics over the last year it has certainly grounded my belief system. have anons/boss/POTUS to thank for that.
things observed and 'filed' came back in a new light.
otto es kaput
SpaceX, Boeing design risks threaten new delays for U.S. space program
SEATTLE (Reuters) - NASA has warned SpaceX and Boeing Co of design and safety concerns for their competing astronaut launch systems, according to industry sources and a new government report, threatening the U.S. bid to revive its human spaceflight program later this year.
NASA is paying SpaceX $2.6 billion and Boeing $4.2 billion to build rocket and capsule launch systems to return astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil for the first time since America's Space Shuttle program went dark in 2011.
Just ahead of the first scheduled un-manned test flight slated for March 2 under NASA's multibillion-dollar Commercial Crew Program, NASA's safety advisory panel cited four "key risk items" in its 2018 annual report earlier this month.
For Boeing, they include the capsule's structural vulnerability when the heat shield is deployed. For SpaceX, the report mentioned the redesign of a SpaceX rocket canister following a 2016 explosion and its "load and go" process of fueling the rocket with the crew already inside the capsule. "Parachute performance" remained an issue for both companies.
"There are serious challenges to the current launch schedules for both SpaceX and Boeing," the report said.
Two people with direct knowledge of the program told Reuters that the space agency's concerns go beyond the four items listed, and include a risk ledger that as of early February contained 30 to 35 lingering technical concerns each for SpaceX and Boeing. Reuters could not verify what all of the nearly three dozen items are. But the sources familiar with the matter said the companies must address "most" of those concerns before flying astronauts and, eventually, tourists to space.
https://www.marketscreener.com/BOEING-COMPANY-THE-4816/news/Exclusive-SpaceX-Boeing-design-risks-threaten-new-delays-for-U-S-space-program-28041919/?countview=0
UBS to appeal after fined 4.5 billion euros in French tax fraud case
PARIS (Reuters) - A French court found Swiss bank UBS AG guilty of illegally soliciting clients and laundering the proceeds of tax evasion, ordering it to pay 4.5 billion euros ($5.1 billion) in penalties.
Shares in the Swiss bank fell as much as 3.2 percent after the ruling on Wednesday. UBS, which has denied any wrongdoing, said it would launch an appeal.
"The court can only conclude that (UBS) consistently put its own financial interests over the sovereign rights of the French state," the court's president Christine Mee said in her ruling.
"Hence, the crimes are exceptionally serious," she added.
The case shows how French courts are taking a hard line on financial misconduct in general, and tax fraud in particular.
The trial will be scrutinized by European bankers who have come under pressure from regulators to tighten compliance with money laundering rules since the financial crisis.
"This is a clear signal to all financial intermediaries: you will be punished severely if you don't behave," said banking law professor Thierry Bonneau from Paris Pantheon Assas University.
"They will have to be excessively prudent on all these questions of tax fraud."
The penalties, which exceed the bank's net profit last year, included a 3.7 billion euro fine and additional damages of 800 million euros to the French state. UBS last month reported a 2018 net profit of $4.9 billion.
"This decision is incomprehensible, we will appeal," UBS general counsel Markus Diethelm told reporters outside the courtroom. "We have seen no facts and no evidence."
An appeal could see the case drag on for years and the bank will not have to pay anything until all appeals are heard.
The combined penalties are a record for France and more than double the $2.46 billion the bank has set aside to cover potential losses from litigation and regulatory requirements.
The bank may have to increase its provisions in the coming weeks, Citi said in a note to investors and its plan to buy back as much as $1 billion worth of shares this year is at risk, it added.
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/UBS-to-appeal-after-fined-4-5-billion-euros-in-French-tax-fraud-case–28037163/?countview=0