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U.S. top court rejects ex-congressman’s appeal in spending scandal

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Republican lawmakers Lummis and Schock arrive at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Republican lawmakers Cynthia Lummis (in red) and Aaron Schock (wearing a garland) arrive at the Gandhi Ashram in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad March 28, 2013. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

February 19, 2019

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid by Republican former congressman Aaron Schock, who resigned in 2015 amid questions about spending on his lavish “Downton Abbey”-inspired Washington office, to escape charges accusing him of defauding the government while a member of the House of Representatives.

The justices declined to hear Schock’s appeal of a lower court’s refusal to throw out an indictment against the 37-year-old former lawmaker from Illinois after he argued the charges violated U.S. constitutional protections for members of Congress.

Schock is scheduled to go on trial in June on charges including wire fraud, theft of government funds and filing false federal income tax returns.

Schock, elected to the House in 2008 at age 27, drew attention by posting photos on social media of his travels around the world. He was featured shirtless on the cover of Men’s Health magazine in 2011, touted as “America’s Fittest Congressman!”

His expenditures came under scrutiny after a Washington Post report about lavish decorations in his Capitol Hill office based on the popular PBS period melodrama “Downton Abbey.” He resigned in 2015.

A grand jury issued a 24-count indictment in 2016 accusing him of defrauding the federal government and campaign committees. Two counts were later dismissed by a judge in Springfield, Illinois.

According to the indictment, Schock enriched himself by submitting false reimbursement claims worth tens of thousands of dollars related to travel, camera equipment, furniture and decorations, and other purchases.

The indictment noted that Schock’s office redecoration included the purchase of a $5,000 chandelier and that decorating expenses are reimbursable only if they are of “nominal value.”

Schock sought to get the indictment dismissed, arguing that prosecutors exceeded their authority in charging him and citing the Constitution’s protections for lawmakers’ independence that allow Congress to make its own rules and bars prosecution for conduct in the legislative role.

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Schock’s arguments in May 2018. That court found that the charges did not relate to “speeches, debates, or any other part of the legislative process” and that protections relating to the Constitution’s separation of powers among the three branches of the U.S. government did not offer “a personal immunity from prosecution or trial.”

Schock urged the high court to take the case, suggesting that the threat to the separation of powers was significant. He also said the House’s reimbursement rules were ambiguous.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: OANN

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EU suspends Slovak tax on retail food sector pending outcome of in-depth investigation

FILE PHOTO: European Union and Slovakian flags are seen outside the Bratislava Castle (Hrad) ahead of an upcoming European Union summit in Bratislava
FILE PHOTO: European Union and Slovakian flags are seen outside the Bratislava Castle (Hrad) ahead of an upcoming European Union summit- the first one since Britain voted to quit- in Bratislava, Slovakia, September 15, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

April 2, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Tuesday it suspended a Slovak tax on the food retail sector pending the results of an in-depth investigation into whether certain exemptions from the tax gave some retailers a selective advantage over their competitors.

The tax, which applies to food retailers that operate in Slovakia, entered into force on 1 January 2019 and the first payment would have been due by the end of April 2019.

“The Commission … issued an injunction, requiring Slovakia to suspend the application of the measure until the Commission has concluded its assessment under EU State aid rules,” the EU executive said in a statement.

Under the tax, food retailers would pay a quarterly tax amounting to 2.5 percent of their total turnover, but they would be fully or partially exempted if they fulfill one of several conditions on size, geographic scope of operation in Slovakia and/or type of activities.

Retailers in trading alliances or franchises would not pay the tax, even though their combined turnover is comparable to that of the largest retailers.

The Commission said the construction of the tax meant it would be paid only by seven food retailers, six of which were foreign-owned, and the only Slovak-owned retailer subject to the tax would have a significant part of its turnover exempted.

“The Commission does not question Slovakia’s right to introduce a tax applicable to the food retail sector. At the same time, the tax system should respect EU law, including State aid rules, and should not unduly favor a particular type of companies, for example, companies operating in a smaller number of districts or members of trading alliances,” it said.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)

Source: OANN

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Oil dips from four-month highs, but OPEC cuts, sanctions support

FILE PHOTO: Drilling rigs in the Cromarty Firth near Invergordon, Scotland
FILE PHOTO: Drilling rigs are parked up in the Cromarty Firth near Invergordon, Scotland, Britain January 27, 2015. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

March 21, 2019

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil eased away from 2019 highs reached earlier in the session on Thursday, but markets remain relatively tight amid supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and U.S. government sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.12 per barrel at 0712 GMT on Thursday, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent from their last settlement. WTI reached its highest level since Nov. 12 earlier in the day, at $60.33 per barrel.

International Brent crude oil futures were at $68.52 a barrel, close to their last settlement after hitting $68.69 a barrel earlier in the session, the highest since Nov. 13.

Crude prices have been pushed up by almost a third since the start of 2019 by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as by sanctions enacted against Iran and Venezuela by the United States.

OPEC’s crude oil output has slumped from a mid-2018 peak of 32.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to 30.7 million bpd in February.

(For a graphic on ‘OPEC oil production’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FiS2y3)

The U.S. sanctions are also disrupting supply.

“Venezuelan exports to the U.S. have finally dried up, after the sanctions were placed on them by the U.S. administration earlier this year,” ANZ bank said on Thursday.

Iranian oil exports have also slumped. The United States aims to cut Iran’s crude exports by about 20 percent to below 1 million bpd from May by requiring importing countries to reduce purchases to avoid U.S. sanctions.

The OPEC cuts and sanctions have also tightened supply within the United States.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week fell by nearly 10 million barrels, the most since July, boosted by strong export and refining demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.[EIA/S]

Stockpiles fell 9.6 million barrels, to 439.5 million barrels, their lowest since January.

Part of the drawdown is due to surging U.S. exports, which stood at a four-week average of 3 million bpd, double the amount this time a year ago, according to the EIA.

The rising exports come amid steep growth in U.S. crude oil production, which returned to its record of 12.1 million bpd last week, making America the world’s biggest producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

(For a graphic on ‘U.S. crude oil production & exports’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2ULQiTd)

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE and Colin Packham in SYDNEY; Editing by Tom Hogue and Richard Pullin)

Source: OANN

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Armed groups planned attack on Colombia’s Duque: attorney general

Colombia's President Ivan Duque attends the Prosur summit of South American leaders at La Moneda palace in Santiago
FILE PHOTO - Colombia's President Ivan Duque attends the Prosur summit of South American leaders at La Moneda palace in Santiago, Chile, March 22, 2019. Marcelo Segura/Courtesy of Chilean Presidency/Handout via REUTERS

April 9, 2019

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Armed groups had planned an attack on Colombian President Ivan Duque when he meets on Tuesday with leaders of indigenous communities, the country’s attorney general said.

Duque is set to meet with the leaders following the negotiated end to a 27-day blockade by indigenous groups that caused food and gasoline shortages in some cities in Colombia’s southwest.

The government reached a deal on Saturday to invest more than $250 million in indigenous communities and end the protest, which is referred to as a “minga” in Colombia.

“We have trustworthy information that on the occasion of his meeting with the leaders of the Cauca minga, some organized armed groups which have infiltrated this social and indigenous movement wanted to carry on a terrorist act that could have affected the security of the president,” Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez told journalists late on Monday.

“We are corroborating all of the evidence in a criminal investigation,” Martinez said. “The information that we have obtained is about a high-precision weapon.”

He did not elaborate on the suspected plot or if the conspirators had been apprehended.

Duque’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but local media reported that the president would go ahead with the meeting.

The government has said the protests were being infiltrated by members of the ELN rebel group and former members of the FARC guerrillas who did not demobilize under a 2016 peace deal.

Indigenous communities blocked a section of the Pan-American highway in Cauca province to demand the government comply with previously agreed social investment.

A police officer and an indigenous protester were killed during the blockade, while eight other people in the area died in an explosion that security sources said was caused by bomb-making materials.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Right-wing opposition sweeps to power in Canada’s oil region, sets up fight with Trudeau

Supporters react to polling results at the UCP election night headquarters in Calgary
Supporters react to polling results at the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial election night headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Canada April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 17, 2019

By Nia Williams

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – A right-of-center party that champions the energy industry swept to power in Canada’s main oil-producing province of Alberta on Tuesday, setting up a fight with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over climate change just months ahead of a federal election.

Television networks predicted the United Conservative Party of Jason Kenney had as expected easily defeated the left-leaning New Democratic Party government of Rachel Notley amid frustration over the economy and a beleaguered energy industry.

In an often belligerent campaign, Kenney promised to stand up for Albertans against Trudeau and other politicians he said were taking the province and its oil and gas for granted.

Notley’s government introduced a carbon tax to help cut emissions of greenhouse gases, a measure Kenney promised to scrap. Trudeau says he will impose a price on carbon on any province without a plan to fight climate change.

Kenney, a 50-year-old former federal Cabinet minister, vowed to take more decisive action on jobs and the economy. Both Kenney and Notley blame Trudeau for a lack of progress on new oil export pipelines.

The NDP ended decades of conservative rule in Alberta when it swept to power in the 2015 election, but inherited an economy hammered by a global crude price crash.

(Writing by Nia Williams and David Ljunggren; Editing by Steve Scherer and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Washington wolf census finds more packs, breeding pairs

The number of gray wolves in Washington state kept growing last year and for the first time the state documented a pack living west of the Cascade Range, wildlife officials said Thursday.

The state has a minimum of 126 wolves in 27 packs with 15 successful breeding pairs, defined as male and female adults that have raised at least two pups that survived through the end of the year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife found in its annual wolf census.

A year ago, there were 122 wolves in 22 packs with 14 breeding pairs.

The pack west of the Cascade Range, in Skagit County, consists of a single male wolf, captured in 2016 and released with a radio collar, that has been traveling with a female wolf through the winter. Biologists named the pack Diobsud Creek.

"We're pleased to see our state's wolf population continue to grow and begin to expand to the west side of the Cascades," agency Director Kelly Susewind said. "We will continue to work with the public to chart the future management of this important native species."

Wolves were nearly wiped out in Washington by the 1930s but started returning to the state from surrounding areas early in this century. The animals have preyed on livestock, causing conflicts with ranchers.

The census numbers are compiled from state, tribal, and federal wildlife specialists based on aerial surveys, remote cameras, wolf tracks and signals from radio-collared wolves. The count leads to estimates of the minimum numbers of wolves, because it is not possible to count every animal.

Most of the packs live in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties in the northeast corner of the state. But the census showed increasing numbers in Washington's southeast corner and its north-central region.

The upturn in new packs and breeding pairs sets the stage for more growth this year, said Donny Martorello, policy lead for the agency.

"Packs and breeding pairs are the building blocks of population growth," Martorello said.

Since 1980, gray wolves have been listed as endangered throughout Washington. They are classified as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act In the western two-thirds of the state.

The agency recorded 12 wolf deaths last year. Six were legally killed by tribal hunters; four were killed by the wildlife agency in response to repeated wolf-caused livestock deaths; and two deaths apparently caused by humans remained under investigation at year's end.

The census reinforces the profile of wolves as a highly resilient, adaptable species with members that are well-suited to Washington's landscape, said Ben Maletzke, the agency's statewide wolf specialist.

Their numbers have increased by an average of 28% a year since 2008, he said.

"Wolves routinely face threats to their survival — from humans, other animals, and nature itself," he said. "But despite each year's ups and downs, the population in Washington has grown steadily and probably will keep increasing by expanding their range."

Maletzke said five of the 27 packs in Washington last year were involved in at least one livestock death.

Wolves killed at least 11 cattle and one sheep, and injured another 19 cattle and two sheep. The agency processed five livestock damage claims totaling $7,536 to compensate producers for direct wolf-caused livestock losses.

Source: Fox News National

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Hamlin believes he can improve on hot start

NASCAR: Food City 500-Practice
Apr 5, 2019; Bristol, TN, USA; Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) during practice for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

April 5, 2019

Denny Hamlin has won twice in seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season and is second in the standings heading into Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Despite a stellar a start to the season, Hamlin prefers not to rejoice over what his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota team has accomplished. Hamlin prefers to look ahead, adamant that he and his team can — and will — be even better as the season progresses.

Hamlin’s belief is supported by the fact that while he has two wins — the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway — he and his No. 11 team have actually been quite mistake-prone.

The team has been penalized four times in the past three races for rules infractions on pit road — two for Hamlin speeding, and two for the pit crew having an uncontrolled tire. Last week, Hamlin had to twice rally back from penalties to win at Texas.

Nonetheless, Hamlin’s two wins are tied for most in the series and he has finished in the top 10 in every race but one. He trails JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who has also won twice this season, by a mere eight points in the standings.

“I’m confident that if we can still have those kind of results with those kind of shortfalls, that we’re a team that can battle back, and once we do have clean races, we’re going to have dominant races,” Hamlin said. .”.. I just feel like we’re definitely going to be better a few months from now than what we are now.”

Cleaning up penalties isn’t the only reason why Hamlin says the No. 11 team will be better in the future. Hamlin is in his first season working with crew chief Chris Gabehart, a first-year crew chief in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Based off the results, Hamlin and Gabehart have clicked well enough that Hamlin is off to the best start of his 14-year career. But that all-important chemistry between driver and crew chief, so often the difference from a team being very good and being excellent, is still developing, Hamlin said.

He credits Gabehart for helping him evolve as a driver by bringing a different approach than what he’s accustomed to, coinciding with NASCAR implementing a new aerodynamic rules package this season that has required further adjustments.

Ultimately, Hamlin wants to replicate the kind of relationship that Busch has with his crew chief, Adam Stevens. That will take time, although it is not lost on Hamlin that Busch and Stevens won the 2015 Cup championship in their first season together.

“I just feel confident in that, and knowing that certainly with a little bit more execution and more learning with me and Chris we’ve continued to get better and better every race track we’ve gone to,” Hamlin said. “We’re really learning each other more and more.

“I feel like we’re not even close to the level of relationship that like Kyle and Adam are at; that’s where obviously you want to go with it. We’re miles apart from them as far as that aspect, but we’re not miles apart as far as how we’re running right now.”

–By Jordan Bianchi, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

Source: OANN

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Joe Biden’s brain surgeon said his former patient is “totally in the clear” as speculation over the candidate’s health — with Biden possibly becoming the oldest president in U.S. history — is likely to become a campaign issue.

The former vice president, who had been perceived by many as the strongest potential contender for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, formally announced his candidacy Thursday.

But Biden’s age – 76 – is expected to become a source of attacks from a younger generation of Democrats not because of obvious generational differences, but possibly for actual health concerns if Biden gets into office.

WHY THE MEDIA ARE CONVINCED JOE BIDEN WILL IMPLODE

Biden himself agreed last year that “it’s totally legitimate” for people to ask questions about his health if he decides to run for president, given his medical history — which has included brain surgery in 1988.

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality,” Biden told “CBS This Morning.” “Can I still run up the steps of Air Force Two? Am I still in good shape? Am I – do I have all my faculties? Am I energetic? I think it’s totally legitimate people ask those questions.”

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality. …  I think it’s totally legitimate [that] people ask those questions.”

— Joe Biden

But Dr. Neal Kassell, the neurosurgeon who operated on Biden for an aneurysm three decades ago, told the Washington Examiner that Biden appears to be “totally in the clear” — and even joked that the operation made Biden “better than how he was.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it,” Kassell said. “That’s more than I can say about all the other candidates or the incumbents.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it.”

— Dr. Neal Kassell

BIDEN’S CLAIM HE DIDN’T WANT OBAMA TO ENDORSE TRIGGERS MOCKERY

At the same time, however, Biden hasn’t been forthcoming about his health at least since 2008 when he released his medical records as a vice presidential candidate. The disclosure that time revealed some fairly minor issues such as an irregular heartbeat in addition to detailing previous operations, including removing a benign polyp during a colonoscopy in 1996, the outlet reported.

It remains unclear if Biden had more aneurysms. Some medical experts say that people who have had an aneurysm can have another one.

An aneurysm, or a weakening of an artery wall, can lead to a rupture and internal bleeding, potentially placing a patient’s life in jeopardy.

Biden won’t be the only Democrat grappling with old age. Sen. Bernie Sanders, another 2020 frontrunner, is currently 77 years old and agreed with Biden last year that their ages will be an issue in the race.

“It’s part of a discussion, but it has to be part of an overall view of what somebody is and what somebody has accomplished,” Sanders told Politico.

“Look, you’ve got people who are 50 years of age who are not well, right? You’ve got people who are 90 years of age who are going to work every day, doing excellent work. And obviously, age is a factor. But it depends on the overall health and wellbeing of the individual.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Sanders released his medical records in 2016, with a Senate physician saying in a letter that the senator was “in overall very good health.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

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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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At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

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