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U.S. immigration agency to slash overseas presence

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Cissna speaks during a press briefing in Washington
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna speaks about the Bangladeshi suspect in Monday’s attempted suicide bombing in New York during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

March 12, 2019

By Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. immigration agency plans to significantly reduce its presence abroad, according to an internal e-mail seen by Reuters and current and former U.S. officials, in an effort to shift resources to domestic offices that took some career officials by surprise.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, currently operates 23 offices overseas, scattered across Latin America, Europe and Asia, according to the agency’s website.

The move comes as the Trump administration has worked in the past two years to limit both legal and illegal immigration with cuts to the U.S. refugee program and USCIS stepping up vetting of visa applications.

The USCIS offices carry out a number of services, including helping Americans who want to bring relatives to the United States, processing refugee applications, enabling overseas citizenship applications and assisting U.S. citizens who want to adopt foreign children, the website says. USCIS officers abroad also look for fraud in visa applications and provide technical immigration advice to other U.S. government officials.

On Monday, senior USCIS officials told employees within the agency’s Refugee Asylum and International Operations division that the agency had decided to close its overseas posts, one current and one former official said. The closures will happen over the next year and some of the offices’ tasks likely will be shifted to the State Department, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

USCIS Director Francis Cissna sent a message on Tuesday to all agency employees saying the agency is preparing for discussions that would lead to shifting much of its international workload to its U.S. offices for domestic processing, as well as to U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

“Change can be difficult and can cause consternation,” Cissna wrote, but he said that the agency was committed to implementing “as smooth a transition as possible.”

In places where USCIS does not have overseas posts, the State Department already carries out some of its duties, such as replacing green cards for American permanent residents who have lost theirs.

“As we have internally shared, USCIS is in preliminary discussions to consider shifting its international USCIS office workloads to USCIS domestic offices in the United States and, where practicable, to U.S. embassies and consulates abroad,” agency spokeswoman Jessica Collins said in an e-mail to Reuters.

“The goal of any such shift would be to maximize USCIS resources that could then be reallocated, in part, to backlog reduction efforts,” she said.

The agency would work closely with the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security “to ensure no interruption in the provision of immigration services to affected applicants and petitioners,” Collins said.

One of the responsibilities of the overseas offices is to help process refugee applications. But the Trump administration’s reduction of refugee admissions has reduced that part of the offices’ workload.

The administration also has put in place new barriers for asylum seekers, barring citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States, and pushing new rules that would make it harder for low-income people to become permanent American residents.

USCIS has in the past decided to close individual offices based on demand for its services. The agency previously announced that its Moscow field office will permanently close at the end of March, citing a “significant decrease in workload.”

But the closure of all overseas USCIS offices represent a shift in the agency’s operations and came as a surprise to some employees.

Leon Rodriguez, the former USCIS director during the Obama administration, said the shift may have been aimed at cutting costs.

“Symbolically it is retreating from an international presence,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the message we have been sending.”

However, he said, “There is nothing that will go undone. There are certain things that will now be able to do in the U.S. and other things that will now be delegated out the consulates.”

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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Texas Tech stymies Michigan to return to Elite 8

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-West Regional-Michigan vs Texas Tech
March 28, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Jarrett Culver (23) scores a basket and draws a foul against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half in the semifinals of the west regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

March 29, 2019

Sophomore Jarrett Culver scored 22 points while Texas Tech smothered Michigan in a historic defensive effort as the Red Raiders won 63-44 in an NCAA Tournament West Region semifinal on Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Third-seeded Texas Tech (29-6) harassed second-seeded Michigan into 32.7 percent shooting, including a 1-for-19 effort from 3-point range. Walk-on CJ Baird hit a shot from behind the arc with 22 seconds left to prevent Michigan from going without a trey for the first time since 2013.

Michigan set a program record for fewest points in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game (16) and total points. Both previous marks dated to the Wolverines’ first NCAA Tournament game, in 1948 against Holy Cross.

“We were fortunate tonight,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “Michigan didn’t shoot the ball well. But you have to give our guys credit.

“I love the way we were sharing the ball, getting assists, and we had nice balance. Several guys stepped up and made shots.”

Texas Tech, which reached the first Elite Eight in its history last season, will play top-seeded Gonzaga on Saturday in the regional final.

Davide Moretti contributed 15 points for Texas Tech, which got 10 from Matt Mooney. Tariq Owens had seven points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis led Michigan (30-7) with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his third double-double. Charles Matthews scored 12 points but committed a game-high five turnovers.

The Wolverines, who entered with the nation’s lowest turnover rate (8.9 per game), committed 10 by early in the second half and finished with 14.

“We wanted to have a low-turnover game, so that was good,” Beard said. “I thought we guarded. We had so much respect for Michigan. I thought our guys defended at a high level today.”

The matchup of two of the top defensive teams in the country started as expected, but the Red Raiders got hot while the Wolverines did not. Michigan’s 44 points were the lowest ever for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“I feel like we stayed true to ourselves,” Culver said. “We played the defense we’ve been playing all year. Their shots weren’t going in, and we had urgency to stay true to our defense.”

“They get their hands on a lot of things to cause those turnovers,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “They’re quick, they’re good, they’re long, they’re veteran. It showed. And they’re well-coached as well.”

Texas Tech led 24-16 at halftime and then started to fly in the second half.

Owens soared to flush an alley-oop pass from Moretti, who then drained a 3-pointer after a steal for a 34-18 lead with 16:56 to go. Owens dunked again a minute later as Texas Tech doubled-up Michigan’s point total.

Michigan trailed by at least 20 points for most of the final 10 minutes.

Midway through the first half, the teams had combined to make 5 of 26 shots, and the game was tied at 6.

The Red Raiders found their offense, making eight of their final 13 shots of the half, including a bit of luck from Mooney, who beat the shot clock with a turnaround 3-pointer that banked in for an 18-12 lead.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Kamala Harris carves distinct early-state path in her 2020 White House bid

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Harris launches her campaign for U.S. president at a rally in Oakland
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Kamala Harris launches her campaign for president of the United States at a rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in her hometown of Oakland, California, U.S., January 27, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo

April 12, 2019

By Amanda Becker

IOWA CITY, Iowa (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Kamala Harris held just one public event this week during her third trip to Iowa since joining the contest for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, a town hall at the University of Iowa where she talked about her plan to raise teacher pay.

Harris, formerly California’s top prosecutor, spent most of her two-day visit at private gatherings aimed at securing early support from specific constituencies – women, state lawmakers and educators.

Iowa hosts the first presidential nominating contest in February 2020, and Harris’ early strategy in the farming state is considerably different than the traditional barnstorm politicking by some of her Democratic competitors.

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, for example, went to 23 events across 10 counties on his second trip to Iowa. U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey attended 14 events in 11 counties during two visits, with a third scheduled next week.

Harris’ campaign thinks its targeted approach will allow her to build momentum in Iowa, while freeing up resources to invest more heavily in the path they see as crucial to her winning the Democratic nomination: California and the U.S. South.

“Organizing looks very different right now than it will look a year or even six months from now,” said Miryam Lipper, Harris’ Iowa spokeswoman. “Right now we’re focused on introducing Kamala to Iowans and engaging with potential supporters in a smart way.”

Harris’ tactics carry some risk. Iowa voters play an outsized role in picking U.S. presidents, and many have come to expect frequent face time with White House hopefuls.

Harris aides say it is early in the race, and there could come a point when she crisscrosses Iowa’s 99 counties.

However, Iowa likely will award just 41 of about 3,800 delegates available to win the Democratic nomination. While the campaign aims to do well there, aides say they do not think a first-place finish is as critical for Harris as it might be for other candidates needing a break-out moment.

Early opinion polls show Harris in the top tier of more than 18 Democrats who have announced campaigns or are expected to. Harris, 54, supports a middle-class tax credit, Medicare for All government health insurance, the so-called Green New Deal proposal on climate change and the legalization of marijuana.

Joshua Putnam, a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington who specializes in political primaries, said a candidate in Harris’ position needs to meet expectations in Iowa and the subsequent New Hampshire primary to remain viable for the strategy to work.

“They likely do not need outright wins in either of the first two states, but that is not the only type of winning. One can win or lose relative to expectations as well,” Putnam said.

GRAPHIC-Who is running in 2020 – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ff62ZC

‘CAMP KAMALA’

Harris’ strategy was on display this week as she courted groups with the potential to influence their friends and neighbors.

She met with Democratic state legislators on Thursday ahead of their session ending in May, when they will leave Des Moines and return to their districts. She secured her first endorsement from a party activist in Iowa before a house party hosted by members of a group that encourages women to run for office.

Harris told the women the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate in 2020, was an “inflection point” in U.S. history. 

“This is a moment in time that is requiring each of us as individuals and collectively to look in the mirror and ask a question … who are we?” Harris said at the gathering. “And part of the answer to that question is we are better than this. So this is a moment in time then that we must fight for the best of who we are.”

Next week, Harris’ campaign is hosting “Camp Kamala” to educate college students about Iowa’s complex caucus process and her candidacy before they fan out across the state and the rest of the country for their summer break.

While she is not ceding Iowa by any stretch, Harris’ delegate strategy begins in earnest in Nevada and South Carolina, which hold the third and fourth nominating contests.

Harris aides say they expect to do well in Nevada and believe it is important to have a strong showing or win in South Carolina, the first contest with a sizeable percentage of black voters. Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, would make history as the first black woman to gain the nomination.

Her performance on so-called “Super Tuesday” in early March, when at least a dozen states will award about 40 percent of the delegates, will be critical, her campaign acknowledged.

The southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia hold their nominating contests on Super Tuesday, as do delegate-rich Texas and California. Harris has already visited Texas, which will award more than 260 delegates, and California, where she has won statewide races three times, will award at least 475.

Her campaign aims to invest as heavily in these states as they can, aides said.

Jean Hessburg, the Iowa activist who endorsed Harris this week, said caucus goers understand “this is a marathon and not a sprint.” Candidates making dozens of stops across the state risk spreading themselves too thin, she added.

“By doing these targeted events, the idea would be it’s more memorable,” said Hessburg, who leads the Women’s Caucus for the Iowa Democratic Party.

(Reporting by Amanda Becker; additional reporting by Joseph Ax and Timothy Reid; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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Hamlin believes he can improve on hot start

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

April 5, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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Trump declares ‘Russia hoax’ dead, rips Democrats and FBI at Michigan rally as he eyes 2020 3.29.19 #MagaFirstNews with @PeterBoykin

Trump declares 'Russia hoax' dead, rips Democrats and FBI at Michigan rally as he eyes 2020 3.29.19 #MagaFirstNews with @PeterBoykin TRUMP VICTORY LAP: President Trump, fired-up in his first major rally since Special Counsel Robert Mueller cleared him of any collusion with Russia, ripped the FBI and Democrats and accused his political foes of trying to defraud the public with "ridiculous bulls--t" ... Declaring the "Russia hoax" dead, Trump predicted that the ... See More former Department of Justice and FBI officials who pushed the collusion theory and authorized secret surveillance warrants against members of his campaign would soon have "big problems." TRUMP CAN'T WAIT TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST AOC'S GREEN NEW DEAL: At his rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Thursday night, President Trump also took the time to mock the Democrats' Green New Deal in perhaps a preview of his 2020 re-election campaign ..."I'd rather not talk about it tonight, Trump told his audience, "because I don't want to talk them out of it too soon. Because I love campaigning against the Green New Deal. I want them to make that a big part of their platform."

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Abu Dhabi aims to lure start-ups with investment in new technology hub

FILE PHOTO: General view of Abu Dhabi
FILE PHOTO: General view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 3, 2019. Picture taken January 3, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

March 24, 2019

By Stanley Carvalho

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi will commit up to 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) to support technology start-ups, it said on Sunday, in a dedicated hub as part of efforts to diversify its economy.

The capital of the United Arab Emirates is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure to reduce its reliance on oil revenue.

Abu Dhabi derives about 50 percent of its real gross domestic product and about 90 percent of central government revenue from the hydrocarbon sector, according to ratings agency S&P.

The emirate launched a 50 billion dirham ($13.6 billion) stimulus fund, Ghadan 21, in September last year to accelerate economic growth. Ghadan means tomorrow in Arabic.

The new initiative, named Hub 71, is linked to Ghadan will also involve the launch of a 500 million dirham fund to invest in start-ups, said Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala Ventures, the technology arm of Mubadala Investment Co.

The goal is to have 100 companies over the next three to five years, Ajami said. “The market opportunities in this region are immense,” he added.

Mubadala, with assets of $225 billion and a big investor in tech companies, will act as the driver of the hub, located in the emirate’s financial district.

Softbank will be active in the hub and support the expansion of companies in which it has invested, Ajami said, adding that Mubadala is also aiming to attract Chinese and Indian companies, among others.

Mubadala which has committed $15 billion to the Softbank Vision Fund, plans to launch a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies.

Incentives mapped out by the government include housing, office space and health insurance as part of the 1 billion dirham commitment, Ajami said.

Abu Dhabi will also announce a new research and development initiative on Monday linked to the Ghadan 21 plan, according to an invitation sent to journalists.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by David Goodman)

Source: OANN

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Three more women accuse Biden; Democrats target Trump’s taxes #MAGAFirstNews with @PeterBoykin

Three more women accuse Biden; Democrats target Trump's taxes #MAGAFirstNews with @PeterBoykin For more visit https://www.spreaker.com/user/peterboykin THREE MORE WOMEN ACCUSE BIDEN, SAY VIDEO ISN'T ENOUGH: If Joe Biden thought a video addressing the allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women would squash the scandal and enable him to focus on possibly launching his 2020 presidential campaign, he was mistaken ... Hours after he appeared on video to promise he'd be ... See More "more mindful" about others' personal space, three more women went public Wednesday to claim that the former vice president had touched them inappropriately. All three said Biden's video didn't go far enough. A previous Biden accuser, writer D.J. Hill, told Fox News' Shannon Bream on "Fox News @ Night" that she went public with her claim because she was inspired by other women who have come forward and the “cultural shift” that’s been “long overdue.”  A total of seven women have now accused Biden of inappropriate conduct. SHOWDOWN OVER TRUMP'S TAXES BREWING: A key Democrat who heads the powerful House Ways and Means Committee has formally requested the IRS provide six years of President Trump's personal and business tax returns and the president has responded, "Is that all? Usually it's 10" ... The request Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., who heads the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, is the first such demand for a sitting president's tax information in 45 years. The move sets up a virtually certain legal showdown with the White House as Trump has refused the request, saying he is under audit. AOC reminds Trump in tweet about tax return request: 'We didn't ask you' VIRGINIA LT. GOVERNOR RELEASES POLYGRAPH RESULTS: Embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax on Wednesday released the results of a polygraph test he said he took in response to two accusations of sexual misconduct by two separate women ...“Today, I am providing the full report of my polygraph examinations to the media so that all Virginians can read the report themselves,” he said in a news conference held in his office, WTKR-TV of Norfolk reported. Fairfax again denied the accusations, saying, “they are incredibly hurtful to me and my family and my reputation, which I have spent a lifetime building.” Fairfax's two accusers, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, both spoke out in national interviews with Gayle King that aired on "CBS This Morning" earlier this week. STACEY ABRAMS STILL NOT CONCEDING DEFEAT: Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams questioned the legitimacy of her 2018 loss during an event in New York City on Wednesday, saying she refuses to concede the race to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, while accusing the GOP of stealing the election ... "Despite the final tally and the inauguration [of Gov. Brian Kemp] and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have a very affirmative statement to make: We won," she told the crowd at the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. She lost to Kemp by more than 54,000 votes, but has repeatedly refused to concede the outcome.

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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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