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Three more women accuse Biden of improper contact, say his video wasn’t enough

Just hours after former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on video to promise he'd be "more mindful" about others' personal space, three more women have gone public claiming he touched them inappropriately -- and all three said Biden's video didn't go far enough.

In an article published late Wednesday in The Washington Post, Vail Kohnert-Yount charged that when she was an intern in the White House in 2013, Biden approached her to introduce herself.

“He then put his hand on the back of my head and pressed his forehead to my forehead while he talked to me," Kohnert-Yount told The Post. "I was so shocked that it was hard to focus on what he was saying. I remember he told me I was a ‘pretty girl.'"

Although Kohnert-Yount said she did not consider Biden's behavior to be "sexual assault or harassment,” she added that "it was the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Biden -- who is widely expected to enter the 2020 presidential race soon -- responded to a series of other misconduct allegations leveled against him by promising to “be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”

BIDEN IS 'READY TO KILL BERNIE,' AMID ALLEGATIONS SANDERS TEAM MAY BE LEAKING ALLEGATIONS TO SABOTAGE HIM

Biden also acknowledged the allegations in a tweeted video.

“Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying," Biden tweeted. "Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it."

Responding to Biden's comments, Kohnert-Yount told The Post: “I appreciate his attempt to do better in the future, but to me this is not mainly about whether Joe Biden has adequate respect for personal space. It’s about women deserving equal respect in the workplace.”

A second woman, Sofie Karasek, told The Post that Biden acted inappropriately when he placed his forehead against hers following the Oscars ceremony in 2016. Karasek had appeared on-stage with 51 other people who said they had experienced sexual assault. A photograph of the incident is widely available online.

In his comments Monday, Karasek said Biden “still didn’t take ownership in the way that he needs to.”

Biden "emphasized that he wants to connect with people and, of course, that’s important," Karasek said. "But again, all of our interactions and friendships are a two-way street. . . . Too often it doesn’t matter how the woman feels about it or they just assume that they’re fine with it."

Finally, Ally Coll said Biden squeezed her "for a beat too long" while she was a staffer organizing a reception for Democrats in 2008. She now runs the Purple Campaign, a nonprofit devoted to combating sexual harassment.

On its website, the Purple Campaign stated: "Courageous women have broken the silence by sharing their experiences with sexual harassment in the workplace, exposing a systemic problem that exists across every industry. Now we must work together to create lasting change."

Vice President Joe Biden with customers at a diner in Seaman, Ohio, in September 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Vice President Joe Biden with customers at a diner in Seaman, Ohio, in September 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The page continued: "The Purple Campaign’s mission is to end workplace sexual harassment by implementing stronger corporate policies, establishing better laws and empowering people to create lasting change within their own workplaces and communities."

Coll told The Post that while Biden's behavior didn't concern her at first, over time she came to realize it was inappropriate.

She told The Post that Biden's video illustrated "a continued lack of understanding about why these stories are being told and their relevance in the #MeToo era.”

FILE - In this March 13, 2017, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden, right, embraces University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis during an event to formally launch the Biden Institute, a research and policy center focused on domestic issues at the University of Delaware, in Newark, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

FILE - In this March 13, 2017, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden, right, embraces University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis during an event to formally launch the Biden Institute, a research and policy center focused on domestic issues at the University of Delaware, in Newark, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Other allegations against Biden surfaced Tuesday from two women who spoke to The New York Times. One of the claims dated from 2012, while the other encounter was said to have taken place a few years later.

In the 2012 incident, writer D.J. Hill said Biden put his hand on her shoulder, then dropped it down her back in a way that made her "very uncomfortable" while Hill and her husband posed for pictures with him at a fundraiser in Minneapolis. Hill said her husband noticed the movement and made a joke about it.

In the second incident, former college student Caitlyn Caruso told the paper that Biden "rested his hand on her thigh — even as she squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort — and hugged her 'just a little bit too long' at an event on sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas," as the paper reported. Caruso, now 22, said she was 19 at the time and had just recounted her own story of sexual assault.

On Monday, Amy Lappos, a former aide to Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., told the Hartford Courant that Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses in 2009. Late last week, former Nevada politician Lucy Flores -- who campaigned for Bernie Sanders and served on the board of an activist group aligned with Sanders -- wrote that Biden had grabbed her shoulders, smelled her hair and kissed her on the back of her head at a campaign event in 2014.

FILE - In this May 22, 2013 file photo, Newly commissioned officer Erin Talbot, left, poses for a photograph with Vice President Joe Biden during commencement for the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - In this May 22, 2013 file photo, Newly commissioned officer Erin Talbot, left, poses for a photograph with Vice President Joe Biden during commencement for the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

A former Sanders staffer told Fox News on Wednesday that Flores is a "racist" and a "fraud."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In his Twitter video, Biden discussed the "gestures of support and encouragement" that he said he's made to both men and women which "have made them uncomfortable."

"In my career, I’ve always tried to make a human connection," Biden said. "That’s my responsibility, I think. I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulders and say ‘you can do this.’ And whether they’re women, men, young, old, it’s the way I’ve always been. It’s the way I’ve tried to show I care about them and I’m listening."

Fox News' Elizabeth Zwirz contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Italian government defuses row over rail link, halts tenders

FILE PHOTO: The entrance of the tunnel of a high-speed train line, known as TAV (Treno Alta Velocita) is seen in Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte
FILE PHOTO: The entrance of the tunnel of a high-speed train line, known as TAV (Treno Alta Velocita) is seen in Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte, France, November 13, 2018. Picture taken November 13, 2018. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo

March 9, 2019

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s prime minister halted on Saturday the launch of tenders for a high-speed rail link to France, defusing a dispute within the ruling coalition over the project that had threatened to bring down the government.

The multibillion-euro TAV project (Treno Alta Velocita) is backed by Matteo Salvini’s League party but strongly opposed by its coalition partner, 5-Star Movement, which argues that Italy’s share of the funding would be better spent upgrading existing roads and bridges.

Tensions between the two sides had escalated ahead of a Monday deadline for the company overseeing the project, TELT, to launch tenders to carry out works on it.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a post on Facebook he had asked TELT to halt the tenders because his government had committed to “totally re-discussing” the project.

Conte published a response from TELT, which said it would only launch the tenders for the French portion of the rail link on Monday in order to avoid losing European Union funding.

Conte said that Italy would hold discussions with France and the EU in light of a recent cost-benefit analysis commissioned by the Italian government, which found the TAV was a waste of public money.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is leader of the 5-Star Movement, said earlier in a Facebook post that the dispute was “being resolved positively.”

“Let’s talk about something else and carry on,” he wrote.

The TAV is a joint venture between the Italian and French states to link the cities of Turin and Lyon with a 58-km (36-mile) tunnel through the Alps on which work has already begun.

The EU has pledged to fund up to 40 percent of the costs of the TAV, Italy up to 35 percent and France up to 25 percent.

Italy’s transport minister, a 5-Star official, puts the total price tag at more than 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion).

His French counterpart, Elisabeth Borne, said on Friday the European Commission had let it be known it was willing to increase its share to 50 percent, leaving France and Italy to finance 25 percent each.

A European Union official had told Reuters the project could lose up to 300 million euros of EU funds if the tenders were not launched by the end of March.

The long-running dispute suddenly escalated late on Thursday and raised the risk of a government collapse, with Di Maio accusing Salvini of acting irresponsibly by insisting the train link should go ahead.

Salvini reiterated on Friday that the League would “never” vote in parliament to block the project, as 5-Star wants.

But on Saturday he sought to quell fears that the government could fall over the rail link.

“Italy needs a government … There won’t be a crisis,” he said in an interview with news channel Sky TG24.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Elvira Pollina; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Helen Popper)

Source: OANN

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Arizona medical worker admits to sexually assaulting sedated woman, police say

An Arizona medical worker admitted he sexually assaulted a sedated female patient at a pain treatment center, police said.

Xavier Perez, 38, was arrested Wednesday following a monthslong investigation into the June 2018 incident at Integrated Pain Consultants in Scottsdale, FOX10 reported.

A 48-year-old woman told police she was getting back pain treatment and was under sedation when she believed she was sexually assaulted by a medical worker in the recovery room. She said she was beginning to regain consciousness when she realized “something wasn’t right.”

NURSE ACCUSED OF IMPREGNATING INCAPACITATED WOMAN AT ARIZONA FACILITY FIGHTING STD TESTS

"She realized that something wasn't right, that she was being sexually assaulted. Obviously, when you're coming out of sedation you're foggy so we were trying to put that together but she just knew something wasn't right," Scottsdale police officer Kevin Watts told AZFamily.com. "It is concerning and it is alarming because it is a position of trust. When you're sedated and coming out of sedation, you're obviously in a vulnerable spot and you trust those who are taking care of you."

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Police linked Perez to the crime through DNA evidence, police said. Perez allegedly admitted to the crime and insisted it was a one-time incident, but authorities said they fear there may be more victims.

Source: Fox News National

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House Democrat, Treasury Chief Bicker over Trump Tax Returns

A top House Democrat on Saturday ratcheted up his demand for access to President Donald Trump's tax returns, telling the IRS that the law clearly gives Congress a right to them. The government's failure to respond by an April 23 deadline could send the dispute into federal court.

Trump's treasury chief, who oversees the IRS, cited "complicated legal issues" and bemoaned "an arbitrary deadline" set by Congress, while saying he would answer in that time frame.

A new letter by Rep. Richard Neal, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, comes after the Trump administration asked for more time to consider his initial request last week. Neal had requested six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns. 

Neal, D-Mass., argues that a 1920-era law saying the IRS "shall furnish" any tax return requested by Congress "is unambiguous and raises no complicated legal issues" and that the Treasury Department's objections lack merit.

The letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig is the latest exchange in a tug of war over Trump's returns, which would give lawmakers far greater insight into the president's business dealings and potential conflicts of interest as it exercises its oversight role.

Asked about the letter Saturday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would respond to within the new deadline set by Neal but he did not promise to produce Trump's tax returns by that time. Mnuchin is the Cabinet secretary that oversees the IRS.

Mnuchin took issue with Neal's characterization of the dispute as a straightforward issue in light of the law governing the matter.

"These are complicated legal issues and I think it is more important to the American taxpayers that we get this right than we hit an arbitrary deadline," Mnuchin told reporters. "I would just emphasize this is a decision that has enormous precedence in terms of potentially weaponizing the IRS."

Mnuchin said that Treasury Department lawyers have been working "diligently" to research the issues involved and have been in contact with Justice Department attorneys. But he said he has not personally discussed the issue with Attorney General William Barr.

Mnuchin said he thought Neal was just picking arbitrary deadline and he refused to speculate how the administration would proceed if the issue goes to court.

Trump declined to provide his tax information as a candidate in 2016 and as president, something party nominees have traditionally done in the name of the transparency. By withholding his tax returns, Trump has not followed the standard followed by presidents since Richard Nixon started the practice in 1969.

During the campaign, Trump said he wanted to release his returns but said because he was under a routine audit, "I can't." Being under audit is no legal bar to anyone releasing his or her returns. And after the November midterm elections, Trump claimed at a news conference that the filings were too complex for people to understand.

Asked repeatedly at a House hearing Tuesday whether any regulation prohibited a taxpayer from disclosing returns when under audit, Rettig responded "no."

The issue appears sure to end up in federal court. With an eye to a legal challenge, Neal told Rettig that he has two weeks to respond — by 5 p.m. on April 23. If Rettig fails to do so, Neal said he will interpret as denying the request, which could pave the way for a court battle. Neal also could seek the returns through a subpoena.

Mnuchin had told Neal this past week that he needs more time to consider the unprecedented demand for Trump's returns and needs to consult with the Justice Department about it.

At congressional hearings, Mnuchin accused lawmakers of seeking Trump's returns for political reasons. But he also acknowledged his "statutory responsibilities" and that he respects congressional oversight. Some Treasury-watchers observe that Mnuchin's decision to consult with the Justice Department could suggest that Treasury lawyers believe Neal has a legal right to Trump's returns.

Neal said Saturday that the administration has no right "to question or second guess" his motivations.

Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, has said Democrats will "never" see the returns, "nor should they," and "they know it." Mulvaney has tried to frame the issue of the president's taxes as old news, saying it was "already litigated during the election" and the American people "elected him anyway."

William Consovoy, whose firm was retained by Trump to represent him on the matter, has written the Treasury's general counsel and said the congressional request "would set a dangerous precedent" if granted and that the IRS cannot legally divulge the information.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Dershowitz: Mueller 'hedged,' should have said 'unequivocally' no obstruction

Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said Monday on “Fox & Friends” that while Robert Mueller got most things right in his report on possible collusion between the president and Russia, he ultimately “hedged” and left the report open for political debate.

“Two cheers for Mueller… He was right about collusion or conspiracy and he was right in the end about obstruction, not bringing any charges. But he was wrong not to say unequivocally ‘look we looked at the evidence and there is no case for obstruction,’” Dershowitz said.

“There is no case for obstruction. You can’t obstruct justice if you engage in your constitutionally authorized acts.  Firing, pardoning, helping the Justice Department make decisions. That should have been the end of the inquiry."

WATCH FOX NEWS' LIVE COVERAGE AFTER THE RELEASE OF AG BARR'S LETTER OF 'PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS' FROM MUELLER'S RUSSIA PROBE

Attorney General William Barr released "principal conclusions" of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's completed Russia probe in a four-page letter sent Sunday to Capitol Hill lawmakers.

The letter stated that Mueller did not establish evidence that President Trump's team or any associates of the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 election -- "despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign."

Dershowitz added that Mueller's conclusive report ultimately mirrored former FBI director James Comey’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying he would not indict her but condemning her actions.

“Now what we have is a Comey situation, like with Hillary Clinton.  Comey said ‘on the one hand I’m not going to indict Clinton, on the other hand what she did was terrible.’ So, Democrats got something out of it. Republicans got something out of it,” Dershowitz said.

“Same thing is true here, the Republicans are saying vindication, the Democrats are saying this is an invitation to more investigations.”

'THIS IS A GRAND SLAM:' TRUMP TEAM 'CONFIDENT' NO COLLUSION IN MUELLER REPORT

Dershowitz added, “That’s not what prosecutors are supposed to do, they’re supposed to decide up and down, indict or not indict and then shut up. That’s it. Move on.”

The attorney also spoke out against critics who have maligned him over his analysis of the Trump investigation. Dershowitz, who describes himself as a liberal Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton, defended himself saying “I call them as I see them.”

“What they want is to distort the facts and the law to come out against Trump,” Dershowitz said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Women greatly outnumbered by men in political power

New statistics say that when it comes to political power, women are totally outnumbered by men, accounting for less than 7 percent of the world's leaders and only 24 percent of the lawmakers.

U.N. General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa told delegates to the Commission on the Status of Women on Tuesday that there has been a "serious regression" in the political power of women around the world in recent years.

And the executive director of UN Women said women must be "changemakers" because national and global institutions are "made for men and by men." Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka cited political violence and abuse on social media, and said that "we also have pushback right now, which contributes to the slowing down of women wanting to contest for office."

Source: Fox News World

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U.S. judge issues injunction against Trump asylum policy

FILE PHOTO: Neilsen and McAleenan listen to Trump at border security tour in California
FILE PHOTO: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and commissioner for Customs and Border Patrol Kevin McAleenan listen to U.S. President Donald Trump speak during a visit to a section of border wall in Calexico California, U.S., April 5, 2019. Picture taken April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday issued an injunction halting the Trump administration’s policy of sending some asylum seekers back across the southern border to wait out their cases in Mexico.

The ruling is slated to take effect on Friday, according to the order by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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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