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UK PM May set to meet opposition leader Corbyn on Wednesday: minister

British PM May holds news conference after all-day cabinet meeting in London
British Prime Minister Theresa May gives a news conference after a cabinet meeting following yesterday's alternative Brexit options vote, outside Downing Street, London, Britain April 2, 2019. Jack Taylor/Pool via REUTERS

April 3, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to meet the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday to begin talks on how to break the Brexit deadlock, junior Brexit minister Robin Walker said .

Asked by Sky News if May would meet Corbyn, Walker replied: “That’s my understanding.”

“What we need to engage with here is whether there’s an agreed way forward on which they can both deliver on their manifesto promises,” he said.

(Reporting by James Davey and Elizabeth O’Leary; Editing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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Italy cuts GDP growth forecasts, hikes deficit and debt

FILE PHOTO: People buy fruit and vegetables in a street market in Rome
FILE PHOTO: People buy fruit and vegetables in a street market in Rome, Italy, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi

April 9, 2019

By Giuseppe Fonte and Gavin Jones

ROME (Reuters) – Italy on Tuesday cut its growth forecasts for this year and next while hiking the budget deficit and public debt, underscoring the economic woes faced by the populist ruling coalition.

Gross domestic product in the euro zone’s third largest economy will increase just 0.2 percent this year, the government said, cutting a projection of 1.0 percent it made in December.

The slowdown in growth hurts public finances, and the Treasury raised this year’s budget deficit target to 2.4 percent of GDP from a 2.04 percent goal fixed in December after a drawn-out tussle with the European Commission.

The new deficit target is the same as the one the Commission rejected last autumn as being too high and breaking EU rules.

Italy, whose public debt is proportionally the highest in the euro zone after Greece, is struggling to hold its finances in check while keeping costly promises made by the right-wing League and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

Successive Italian governments have promised and failed to get the debt on a downward path since the 2008 financial crisis, and the latest forecast sees it rising this year to a new post-war high of 132.6 percent of GDP.

Unusually, no news conference was held after the cabinet signed off on the Treasury’s Economic and Financial Document (DEF), which forms an early framework for the 2020 budget.

However, the leaders of both ruling parties issued statements renewing a commitment to cut taxes.

“We will push on, getting the country going again, stimulating growth and helping families that really need it, without trumpeting false promises as has been done in the past,” said 5-Star chief Luigi Di Maio.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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New Zealand mosque shooting suspect ‘changed completely’ after traveling to Europe, other countries, family says

The Australian man suspected of killing 50 people at two New Zealand mosques on Friday “changed completely” after he traveled to countries in Europe and other parts of the world following his father’s death in 2010, his family said.

The 28-year-old suspect, who Fox News is not naming, appeared in court Saturday on a murder charge, although the judge said “it is reasonable to assume that there will be others.” The suspect’s grandmother, Marie Fitzgerald, 81, told Australia’s 9News on Saturday that she saw her grandson about a year ago and didn’t spot any red flags, even though investigators believe he had been plotting the massacre for two years.

The mosque shooting suspect, charged for murder in relation to the mosque attacks, is seen in the dock during his appearance in the Christchurch District Court, New Zealand.

The mosque shooting suspect, charged for murder in relation to the mosque attacks, is seen in the dock during his appearance in the Christchurch District Court, New Zealand. (Reuters)

“He was just his normal self you know,” Fitzgerald told 9News. “We all chatted and had a meal together to celebrate that occasion and now everyone is devastated.”

‘XENA’ STAR LUCY LAWLESS, A NEW ZEALAND NATIVE, SINGS TRIBUTE TO MOSQUE SHOOTING VICTIMS

Fitzgerald said the 28-year-old’s father died from cancer in 2010 and the death took a toll on him. The accused gunman, who grew up in New South Wales, Australia, then began traveling to countries in Europe and other parts of the world and returned a changed man, his grandmother said.

“It’s only since he traveled overseas I think that this boy has changed completely,” Fitzgerald said.

The family said they are cooperating with investigators and said they are “shattered” for those who were killed.

Marie Fitzgerald, the suspect's grandmother, and Terry Fitzgerald, the suspect's uncle, spoke out after the New Zealand mass shooting.

Marie Fitzgerald, the suspect's grandmother, and Terry Fitzgerald, the suspect's uncle, spoke out after the New Zealand mass shooting. (CHANNEL 9 via AP)

“We are so sorry for the families for the dead and the injured. I can’t think nothing else -- just shattered is the word," the suspect’s uncle Terry Fitzgerald said.

Tracey Gray, who previously hired the suspect as a personal trainer at Big River Squash and Fitness Center in Grafton, also told 9News the suspected gunman quit his job at the gym by early 2012 to travel the world.

“He was professional, he was punctual, reliable... as normal as one person to the next. He never showed any extremes or extremist views or any crazy behavior,” Gray recalled of her former employee.

Gray said the 28-year-old “had no specific destination.”

NEW ZEALAND MOSQUE MURDERS REMIND ME OF MASSACRE AT PITTSBURGH SYNAGOGUE I ATTENDED

Friends of a missing man grieve outside a refuge center in Christchurch.

Friends of a missing man grieve outside a refuge center in Christchurch. (AP)

"It was my understanding he was open to see the world, to see as many places as possible. He just wanted to experience different experiences,” she said.

The suspect wrote in his 74-page manifesto that he paid for his travels using money from bitcoin investments and described himself as a white supremacist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.

NEW ZEALAND MASSACRE SUSPECT MADE STOPS IN NORTH KOREA, PAKISTAN DURING GLOBAL TRAVELS, REPORTS SAY

Authorities said the suspect traveled to the Balkans in the past three years and toured historic sites while studying battles between Christians and the Ottoman empire. He visited Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia, in late 2016, Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov told Reuters. He made a trip to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary last November.

In 2017, he traveled to France, Spain and Portugal, Reuters reported.

Mourners place flowers as they pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sunday, March 17, 2019, where one of the two mass shootings occurred.

Mourners place flowers as they pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sunday, March 17, 2019, where one of the two mass shootings occurred. (AP)

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Elaterid Zachariah said the mosque shooting suspect had a “very serious knowledge of the Balkan history in details I would say even few people in the Balkans know.”

The suspect also visited Turkey twice in 2016 — on March 17-20 and from Sept. 13 to Oct. 25, State broadcaster TRT said. On his Facebook page that has since been taken down, the suspect also visited Pakistan last year.

While the details of  the suspect's travels are sketchy, authorities in those countries said they are investigating his movements and any contacts he might have had with local people.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Officials raised the death toll of the mosque massacres to 50 on Sunday as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a small number of bodies would be released to families.

Friday’s attack was New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News World

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Kellyanne Conway to Democrats: ‘Are you going to talk for the rest of 2019 into 2020 about impeachment or infrastructure?’

Counselor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway criticized House Democrats' latest impeachment push, blasted Hillary Clinton for her recent Trump comments and weighed in on former Vice President Joe Biden’s expected announcement that he's running for president.

Conway spoke on "America's Newsroom" Wednesday shortly before President Trump and first lady Melania Trump headed to Atlanta to continue their efforts to combat the nation's opioid crisis. Both headlined the 2019 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit on Wednesday.

Responding to congressional Democrats issuing subpoenas for administration officials, Conway said the president made it “very clear that there’s really no reason to comply with all these requests when we have the Mueller investigation.”

TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT 'ALL' SUBPOENAS AGAISNT ADMINISTRATION, CALLS DEMAND FOR MCGAHN TESTIMONY 'RIDICULOUS'

The subpoenas were issued after a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released last week, which Democrats argue provides evidence to the contrary of Attorney General William Barr's summary that the investigation found no evidence that President Trump obstructed justice.

“I believe too many people are invested in this investigation and they had a conclusion in search of evidence and they're disappointed in Director Mueller, harassing he and his wife after leaving Easter services, who really wanted a different result,” said Conway on Wednesday.

“But that's not the way our justice system works and that’s not the way prosecutions and investigations work. This was very simply when you prosecute and you investigate you either refer for indictment or you decline to refer for indictment. The rest, frankly, is a little bit gratuitous for some who are still looking and searching for a way to get the president.”

When asked if the president is willing to use executive privilege in this situation Conway answered, “possibly,” adding, “I think the Democrats have a decision to make. Are you going to talk for the rest of 2019 into 2020 about impeachment or infrastructure? About drug pricing or dragging down a president? About healthcare or Donald Trump? Trump, Trump, Trump at all times.”

She added, “They have to be honest with the people of this country whom they also represent as to whether they are serious about having bipartisan action to try to solve the problems of this nation.”

GIULIANI KNOCKS CLINTON'S TRUMP INDICTMENT CLAIMS, SAYS OLD DOJ POLICY OF 'YOU CANNOT INDICT A CLINTON' WILL CHANGE

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said, “I think there is enough there that any other person who had engaged in those acts would certainly have been indicted,” referring to the Mueller report.

In response, Conway said, “What she said apart from being irrelevant and partisan, is just wrong. That anybody else would have been indicted? The Mueller report, Mueller did not indict the president.”

“There was enormous pressure on the Mueller investigation and investigators to do what she failed to do, which is deny Donald Trump the presidency. And this woman has always blamed everybody but her, the pathetic candidate and poor campaign that she ran and was,” said Conway.

She added, “And she’s got some experience on impeachment because her husband actually was impeached by the House of Representatives. He was impeached because he lied under oath On August 17, 1998 to investigators.”

BIDEN'S 2020 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH PUSHED TO THURSDAY: SOURCES

When asked what President Trump thinks about a potential contest against Joe Biden, Conway answered, “Bring it on, bring them all on.”

Biden is expected to announce his 2020 candidacy on Thursday.

“I think Biden's timing actually benefits him because the Democrats seem really desperate to find an alternative to Bernie Sanders, who is the clear announced frontrunner right now in the polling and on the ground. Bernie Sanders has a lot in common with Donald Trump, which is he doesn't really care what his party thinks about his candidacy at this point in the primaries.”

She added, “The only difference between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is Bernie Sanders' ideas are terrible for America and Donald Trump is a much better candidate.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Conway said she thinks Biden will be seen as an alternative to Bernie Sanders but added, “he’s got a lot of people in his way.”

“Old, white, male career politicians like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden is not exactly what the Democratic Party had in mind for 2020 when they’re running all these different folks who are talking about identity politics and what makes them different,” Conway said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Futures indicate slightly higher open for Wall Street

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, as investors assessed warnings from major central banks about a global slowdown.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March meeting on Wednesday showed that it was likely to leave interest rates unchanged this year given risks to the U.S. economy from the slowdown and uncertainty over trade policies and financial conditions.

The European Central Bank also maintained its loose policy stance, raising the prospect of more support being pumped into the struggling euro zone economy.

Concerns about trade and financial conditions have pushed central banks to take a dovish stance, broadly supporting appetite for risk assets.

Investors are hoping that a trade deal with China and a better-than-feared quarterly earnings season will help Wall Street extend its strong start to the year.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that trade talks continued to make progress and both sides have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement they reach, including establishing new “enforcement offices”.

At 7:12 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 47 points, or 0.18%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.16% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 9 points, or 0.12%.

Profit forecasts for the first quarter have dropped steadily in the last six months, with S&P 500 earnings now seen falling 2.5%, which would mark the first year-on-year contraction since 2016, according to Refinitiv data.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc shares tumbled 9.7% after the home furnishing retailer forecast weak current-quarter profit.

Tesla Inc shares fell 3.5% after the Nikkei reported the electric carmaker and Panasonic Corp were rethinking plans to expand the capacity of Gigafactory 1. Panasonic said it was studying further investments.

United States Steel Corp was down 3.2% after Bank of America Merrill downgraded the stock to “underperform”.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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California woman arrested after video appears to show her encourage daughter to fight another girl

A California woman was arrested Tuesday after a video appeared to show her encouraging her daughter to fight another teenage girl, officials said.

Barbara Cypress, 40, was arrested by the Turlock Police Department at her home. On Friday, a video captured her appearing to hold a teenage girl so her daughter could punch the teen at Columbia Park in Turlock.

“Hit her,” the woman in the video was heard saying. “It’s after school. It’s after school.”

USC FIRES ATHLETICS ADMINISTRATOR, WATER POLO COACH AMID COLLEGE ADMISSIONS BRIBE SCANDAL

The alleged victim’s mother, Irina Lizarraga Acuna, said the fight began on the school bus before it escalated at the park. The two girls go to Turlock Junior High School, Acuna told FOX40.

Acuna shared the video of the fight to her Facebook page.

"In the video, you can see that the teenager doesn't even want to hit my daughter. She's being forced by her mom to hit her," Acuna told FOX40. "You know, I'm not even mad, I can't be mad at the teenager. I'm mad at the mom. How could you force your daughter to hit someone else?"

SMUGGLER USES GIRLS AS DISTRACTION TO HELP 10 PEOPLE ILLEGALLY CROSS US-MEXICO BORDER, OFFICIALS SAY

Acuna said she will be pressing charges against the woman. The Turlock Unified School District said they would be investigating the incident.

Cypress faces “a felony false imprisonment charge and two misdemeanor charges of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” the Turlock Police Department stated.

The girl who hit the victim was “cited and released” the Modesto Bee reported.

Source: Fox News National

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Inmate pleads guilty in stabbing attack on prison guard

A man already convicted in three slayings and serving a life sentence has pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder and other charges in an attack on an Ohio prison guard.

Casey Pigge (pij) has been sentenced to 32 more years in prison.

Pigge pleaded guilty Wednesday in Scioto County in the Feb. 20, 2018, attack on Matthew Mathias. Authorities said Pigge and a co-defendant attacked the officer at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville as he was escorting them to the prison infirmary.

Prosecutors say Mathias was stabbed 32 times with knives made of metal from the inmates' beds.

The Chillicothe (chihl-ih-KAHTH'-ee) Gazette reports Pigge appeared to show no remorse Wednesday, saying "it is what it is."

Prison officials say Pigge and his co-defendant are both on hunger strikes, alleging overly harsh treatment by guards.

___

Information from: Chillicothe Gazette, http://www.chillicothegazette.com

Source: Fox News National

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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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