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Saudi seals six private sector deals worth $3.5 billion, plans many more

Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh
FILE PHOTO - Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 12, 2017. Picture taken November 12, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

March 12, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has completed six public-private partnership deals in the past two months worth around $3.5 billion, and plans at least 23 more by 2022 despite some delays in its plan to engage the private sector, the head of its privatization body said.

The government’s aim to attract investment into everything from education to sports, a cornerstone of its effort to trim dependence on oil revenues, has been mired by some holdups and fallout from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“It’s better for the process to take a little bit longer to ensure it is done properly,” said Turki al-Hokail, CEO of the National Centre for Privatisation and Public-Private Partnership (NCP), which is overseeing the process, told Reuters after a visit to London to meet prospective investors.

“We are gearing up for a lot of transactions either in the process or in the pipeline and we want to make sure the process is done correctly,” he said. “The privatization program has so far awarded six projects in two months and is committed to its timetable and initiatives as per the delivery plan.”

The six projects just completed include four water projects, one in healthcare and one in transport. Under such public-private partnership arrangements, private investors build infrastructure and are paid to operate it for a period before it reverts to the state.

Twenty-three more such deals are planned for the water sector by 2022, among more than 40 public-private partnership deals and privatizations that are in the pipeline.

Khashoggi’s killing by Saudi agents in October tested Riyadh’s relations with Western allies.

Without commenting on the impact of Khashoggi’s death on foreign investment, Hokail said 50-70 percent of the companies involved in each of the six deals so far were foreign. Foreign banks had loaned 70-80 percent of the financing for each deal.

He did not identify the foreign or domestic investors in the deals or provide a breakdown of their stakes. Companies from France, Spain, China, Japan, the United States, Scandinavia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were among those involved.

Riyadh previously set a goal of aiming to generate 35 billion to 40 billion riyals ($9.3 billion to $10.0 billion) of non-oil state revenues from its privatization program by 2020. Some of that money would come from asset sales, while the rest would come from public-private partnerships.

But that drive has had some false-starts. The most high-profile was the shelving of proposals to float shares in oil giant Aramco, although officials said the sale would happen by early 2021.

Still, plans to sell flour mills, one of the first big privatizations, are moving ahead.

The request for proposals should be launched in several months, with companies from the United States, India, the Netherlands, Spain and other European countries among the more than 10 consortia that have pre-qualified, he said.

A significant plank in laying out how partnerships between the government and the private sector will work is the public sector participation law, which was expected to be approved during the second half of 2019, he said.

($1 = 3.7502 riyals)

(Reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: OANN

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France’s main pilot union threatens week-long strike in May

FILE PHOTO: Baggage trolleys are seen at the arrivals area at the Nice Cote d'Azur international airport in Nice
FILE PHOTO: Bagagge trolleys are seen at the arrivals area at the Nice Cote d'Azur international airport in Nice, September 27, 2014.REUTERS/Patrice Masante/File Photo

April 18, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s main pilot union, the SNPL has warned the government it will call a strike from May 6 to May 11, which could affect all airlines operating in France, if a new law threatens to diminish its powers of representation.

The union fears that a transport law being discussed in parliament could group them with other larger trade unions in the sector in negotiations with legislators or employers, drowning out their voice particularly on issues that concern pilots, La Tribune newspaper reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said the union has sent a nationwide strike notice to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne and Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud.

The strike could affect all airlines operating in France including Air France, Aigle Azur, Corsair, XL Airways, Easy Jet and Vueling.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Trafigura ships more Asian gasoline to Americas on new tanker

Trafigura logo is pictured in the company entrance in Geneva
Trafigura logo is pictured in the company entrance in Geneva, Switzerland March 11, 2012. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

March 28, 2019

By Seng Li Peng and Jane Chung

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Commodity trader Trafigura is shipping this month a second newly built crude tanker with Asian gasoline onboard to South America amid strong demand in the West, four industry sources who closely monitor petrol trade flows said on Thursday.

Although it is not uncommon for traders to use a brand new crude tanker of 150,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) to ship clean fuels such as diesel, it is rare to use them for gasoline because of the sheer size.

“South America likely needs gasoline more than gasoil now. The recent fire in Texas would have prompted its buyers including South America to seek gasoline supply options outside of the U.S. Gulf Coast,” said a veteran oil products trader.

Ship tracking data from Refinitiv shows the ‘Marlin Seoul’ vessel is en route to Balboa in Panama from South Korea.

The Suezmax was delivered only this month and was built in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd.

The ship is owned by Trafigura and is carrying more than 900,000 barrels of gasoline, one of the four sources said.

Marlin Seoul is expected to arrive in Balboa on April 21, while its Marlin Swan, which sailed off earlier from South Korea, is likely to reach Balboa around April 9, data from Refinitiv ship tracking shows.

Trafigura declined to comment on the fixtures.

Gasoline fundamentals have been strong across regions of Asia and Europe, especially in the United States with a string of refinery outages sharply reducing inventories in the Atlantic basin.

The Houston Ship Channel connecting Houston to the Gulf of Mexico was earlier affected by chemical spills, which led to Lyondell Basell Industries and Royal Dutch Shell curbing production this week.

But Lyondell Basell Industries is now preparing to raise production.

In Asia, gasoline crack hit more than a five-month high on March 22 at $7.68 a barrel before easing to $7.53 a barrel on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Seng Li Peng; Additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Source: OANN

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China will open further to foreign investment: premier assures global executives

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

March 26, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang reaffirmed Beijing’s pledge to further open up to foreign investment as he met with global business executives, and sought to assure them that the rights of foreign firms would be protected.

China is committed to providing foreign investors and companies with a more open and transparent business environment, along with guarantees of intellectual property rights protection and no forced technology transfers, Li told the executives the sidelines of the China Development Forum.

Top executives from Daimler, IBM, BMW, Pfizer, Rio Tinto met with Li at the close of the three-day forum, according to a statement on the government’s website late on Monday.

The premier also answered questions on U.S.-China trade relations, but the statement did not elaborate.

The U.S. trade team say they are in the final stages of negotiating what would be the biggest economic policy agreement with China in decades.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin head to Beijing this week to try to accelerate talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, while Liu is set to travel to Washington for another round of negotiations in early April.

The United States says China engages in systematic intellectual property theft, forces foreign firms to give up trade secrets for market access, and spends huge sums subsidizing its own industry.

China’s industry minister said on Monday that the government will reduce direct intervention in the country’s vast industrial sector, seeking to ease concerns about its industrial policy.

But China has not given up on a long-term plan to build up its higher-value manufacturing prowess.

“China encourages the development of new technologies and industries to create space for innovation and development,” Li told the global executives.

China will not allow innovation to be “killed” just as it emerges, Li said.

The premier also sought to assure the executives that China will be able to withstand pressure on its economy.

China will keep the economy growing within a reasonable range, he said.

The government is targeting economic growth of 6-6.5 percent this year. Growth cooled to 6.6 percent in 2018, a 28-year low.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: OANN

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RNC chair: 'Alarming' that no 2020 Democrat candidates came to AIPAC

The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, said Thursday the absence of Democratic presidential candidates at The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC’s) annual policy conference earlier this week shows the party is “anti-Israel.”

“One of the things that is so crazy is Nancy Pelosi is now the moderate in the Democrat party. The San Francisco liberal is now the most reasonable member in her caucus,” McDaniel said on Fox & Friends.

At AIPAC, Speaker of the House Pelosi, D-Calif, said Israel has bipartisan support, looking to distance the Democratic Party from any suggestion it was anti-Semitic after freshman lawmaker Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., publicly criticized Israel and its leadership.

PELOSI, IN VEILED SWIPE AT OMAR, SAYS ANTI-SEMITISM IS 'UN-AMERICAN'

“Support for Israel remains ironclad and bipartisan,” Pelosi said when addressing the pro-Israel lobbying group’s annual policy conference in Washington. “Assistance to Israel is vital because if you care about America’s security, you must care about Israel’s security.”

Pelosi stressed that no one should be allowed to make Israel “a wedge issue,” adding “to be anti-Semitic is to be anti-American.”

Pelosi’s remarks undercut Omar, a Somali-American and one of two Muslim women in Congress, who has encountered a wave of backlash over repeated anti-Semitic comments.

TOP 2020 DEMOCRATS SNUB AIPAC CONFERENCE WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPLANATION, MARKING FAR-LEFT SHIFT ON ISRAEL

Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and others did not attend AIPAC’s annual policy conference, a move that coincided with a moneyed progressive advocacy group’s call to boycott the event.

MoveOn.org, a group that spent around $3.5 million in the 2018 midterm elections, called on the 2020 Democratic candidates to skip the conference, even though in the past all presidential candidates viewed the AIPAC gathering as a crucial campaign stop.

“It is very alarming to see that the 2020 Democrats, none of those presidential candidates showed up to AIPAC,” McDaniel said Thursday. “AIPAC is bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan, it doesn’t prefer one party or the other. They won’t even show up. The Democrat party is now anti-Israel.”

“It is very alarming to see that the 2020 Democrats, none of those presidential candidates showed up to AIPAC. AIPAC is bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan, it doesn’t prefer one party or the other. They won’t even show up. The Democrat party is now anti-Israel.”

— Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee

“The president has shown that he is a president that stands with Israel every step of the way,” McDaniel continued. She brought up several examples including the signing of the order this week recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

“Here’s the concern. If you allow this anti-Israel, anti-Semitism to seep into your party, (if) you don’t pounce it out the second that it comes in, this is dangerous for our country,” said McDaniel. “The Democrat Party is now saying 'this can coexist peacefully in our party.'”

Josh Orton, an aide to Sanders, told media outlets that the leading candidate among the Democrats did not attend because “he’s concerned about the platform AIPAC is providing for leaders who have expressed bigotry and oppose a two-state solution” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Other candidates provided no explanation for their decisions not to attend the conference. Gillibrand and Harris, however, did meet with constituents representing AIPAC on Capitol Hill. Harris even posted on Twitter a picture of herself standing with AIPAC leaders.

The tweet said she met with California AIPAC leaders to “to discuss the need for a strong U.S.-Israel alliance, the right of Israel to defend itself, and my commitment to combat anti-Semitism in our country and around the world.”

The tweet resulted in some negative comments on the social media platform.

McDaniel also spoke out about President Trump pivoting to health care on Fox & Friends Thursday.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BACKS TOTAL OVERTURN OF OBAMACARE, WILL SUPPORT STATES CHALLENGING THE LAW

The Trump administration on Monday told a federal appeals court that the whole Affordable Care Act must be abolished, reviving the battle to repeal and replace it with something else and setting a path for a clash between President Trump and 2020 Democratic candidates embracing a “Medicare for All” system.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Capitol Hill Wednesday, “The president wants to go back to repeal and replace again. Make our day. The Republicans here in the Senate tried over and over and over again to deal with repeal and replace, they couldn’t because they have no replacement.”

“I think the president’s watching Democrats say to the American people ‘Medicare for all, Medicare for all’ what it really is, is a government takeover of your health care,” McDaniel said on Fox & Friends in response. “The president is saying there are things we do need to do to lower health care costs. We know ObamaCare is broken, the Democrat solution is a government takeover. The president is saying ‘let’s reduce the price of prescription drugs, let’s make sure we restore the doctor-patient relationship.’ These are the things that the American people want, that’s going to lower the cost of health care and he’s focused on that.”

Justice Department attorneys filed a letter with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans asking it to effectively strike down the ACA in its entirety, agreeing with the landmark ruling made by a federal judge in Texas last year.

The latest effort to completely invalidate the law may prove Congressional Democrats right, after they warned during the midterm election last year that Republicans are trying to repeal the law, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, while Republicans denied such plans.

McDaniel called the president a “bold leader” and said he recognizes that the American people are currently concerned about health care. “Deductibles are still high, insurance prices are still high,” she said.

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“The president absolutely will make sure that we have pre-existing condition coverage,” McDaniel continued. “Democrats know it’s broken, too, that’s why they are saying ‘Medicare for all.’ That is not the solution.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Tennis: Raonic overwhelms Kecmanovic to reach semis

Tennis: BNP Paribas Open-Day 11
Mar 14, 2019; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Milos Raonic (CAN) during his quarterfinal match against Miomir Kecmanovic (not pictured) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

March 15, 2019

(Reuters) – Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic fired down 13 aces to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 6-4 on Thursday and reach the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals in Indian Wells for a second consecutive year.

Serbian teenager Kecmanovic was unable to convert any of his three break-point opportunities against a ruthless Raonic, who unleashed a torrent of punishing groundstrokes on a sunny and breezy day in the California desert.

Raonic’s serving accuracy was not as precise as it has been in other matches, with only 55 percent of his first deliveries finding the target.

But when he was able to get one in play it was too much for the tournament lucky loser, with Raonic winning 88 percent of those points.

“In a few key moments my serve really helped me out,” Raonic told reporters.

“I just tried to play consistent, be aggressive when I had the first chance.”

Next up for Raonic is either Gael Monfils or Dominic Thiem, who play their quarter-final later on Thursday.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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“Founders Did Not Want A King” – Democrats Vote Unanimously To Overturn Trump Border Emergency Plan

Less than two weeks after President Trump declared a national emergency to fund his border wall, House Democrats have voted unanimously to block Trump’s declaration, marking an unprecedented congressional challenge to a president’s authority to invoke emergency powers.

13 Republicans joined with Democrats to admonish Trump’s move — well short of the number Democrats would need to overturn the president’s promised veto.

As The Hill reports, the vote marks the first time Congress has taken formal action to block a presidential emergency declaration since the power was created in the National Emergencies Act of 1976.

Democrats hinged their opposition on the basic principles of constitutional law, arguing that Trump’s unilateral move marks a clear-cut violation of the separation of powers and the unique authority of Congress to dictate where federal dollars are spent.

“If it were truly an emergency we’d all be there with the president,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said several hours before Tuesday’s vote, during a conference of the American Legion in Washington.

“Our founders had great vision. They did not want a king.”

As a reminder, here’s a list of all the national emergencies…

  1. Nov 14, 1979: Blocking Iranian Government Property (EO12170)
  2. Nov 14, 1994: Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (EO 12938)
  3. Jan 23, 1995: Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process (EO 12947)
  4. Mar 15, 1995: Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to the Development of Iranian Petroleum Resources (EO 12957)
  5. Oct 21, 1995: Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics Traffickers (EO 12978)
  6. Mar 1, 1996: Declaration of a National Emergency and Invocation of Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels (Proc. 6867)
  7. Nov 3, 1997: Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Sudan (EO 13067)
  8. Jun 26, 2001: Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans (EO 13219)
  9. Aug 17, 2001: Continuation of Export Control Regulations (EO 13222)
  10. Sep 14, 2001: Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks (Proc. 7463)
  11. Sep 23, 2001: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism (EO 13224)
  12. Mar 6, 2003: Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe (EO 13288)
  13. May 22, 2003: Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest (EO 13303)
  14. May 11, 2004: Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria (EO 13338)
  15. Jun 16, 2006: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus (EO 13405)
  16. Oct 27, 2006: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EO 13413)
  17. 17. Aug 1, 2007: Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon or Its Democratic Processes and Institutions (EO 13441)
  18. Jun 26, 2008: Continuing Certain Restrictions With Respect to North Korea & North Korean Nationals (EO 13466)
  19. Apr 12, 2010: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia (EO 13536)
  20. Feb 25, 2011: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya (EO 13566)
  21. Jul 24, 2011: Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations (EO13581)
  22. May 16, 2012: Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen (EO 13611)
  23. Mar 6, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine (EO 13660)
  24. Apr 3, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South Sudan (EO 13664)
  25. May 12, 2014: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Central African Republic (EO 13667)
  26. Mar 8, 2015: Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela (EO 13692)
  27. Apr 1, 2015: Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities (EO 13694)
  28. Nov 22, 2015: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Burundi (EO 13712)
  29. Dec 20, 2017: Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption (EO13818)
  30. Sep 12, 2018: Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election (EO 13848)
  31. Nov 27, 2018: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua (EO 13851)

…and since the National Emergencies Act went into effect in the mid-1970s, a total of 58 have been declared, most of which were in regard to foreign issues (like the War in Iraq).


Jussie Smollett has been charged with a crime after his false report went viral. Erich “Mancow” Muller joins Alex to discuss the real victims of this crime including himself as a Trump supporter living in Chicago.

NE

“People will say, ‘Well, there have been a lot of emergency designations.’ That’s right,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

“This is the only one — the only one — that has been used to get around a Congress’s refusal to appropriate money for a particular objective.”

The Hill points out that passage in the upper chamber is not guaranteed, but appears increasingly likely. Three GOP senators — Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Tom Tillis (N.C.) — are already on record in support of the disapproval resolution, and a handful of others are leaning that way.

The president, for his part, has vowed in no uncertain terms to veto the resolution if it travels that far. Neither chamber is expected to have enough support to win a two-thirds vote to override the promised veto.

“They’re not going to be able to reverse this emergency declaration. But it does show that they’re in denial that there’s a crisis at the border,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told The Hill ahead of the vote.

“Pelosi goes to the border and waves a Mexican flag saying there’s no crisis the same week that an illegal alien goes to Napa right in her own backyard and attacks a cop,” he continued.

“I mean it’s it’s happening every day. There’s a real crisis and the president is taking steps to keep our country safe.”

No matter, what, Trump already called the endgame – “we’ll see you in the Supreme Court.”

Source: InfoWars

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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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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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