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Reporter's Notebook: Mueller probe findings trigger a different kind of March Madness on Capitol Hill

Iowa had upset Cincinnati. Oregon was tipping off against Wisconsin. And everyone had just learned that the basketball team at the University of California-Irvine is known as the Anteaters.

However, few inside the Beltway could exhaust time on March Madness and travails of the hardwood.

It was “news o’clock” in Washington.

Of course word was going to come, just before 5 p.m. on a Friday, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had completed his investigation and delivered his report to Attorney General William Barr.

It went down this way because things like this always go down this way in Washington.

Last week, there was conjecture that the report may come out Tuesday. Even Wednesday.

Really? Wednesday? Did anyone truly think the Mueller probe would end in the middle of the “First Four” play-in games in Dayton? North Carolina Central versus North Dakota State? Doubtful.

Friday afternoon?

Perfecto.

That’s just the way Washington rolls.

Dinner plans delayed. Date nights fractured. Reporters already in the bar sipping cocktails, rushing back to the office. Weekend excursions to Virginia wineries postponed.

Everyone would be on the clock this weekend in Washington.

There were few if any lawmakers rushing about the Capitol at 7 p.m. Friday. The House and Senate had been in recess for over a week. But, reporters were all on the air from the Russell Rotunda, hammering away at their computers in the media galleries and walking through the Senate subway station.

All they knew for sure on Friday was that the report was in Barr’s possession, the attorney general would soon produce a memo to brief lawmakers on the findings (that would come Sunday, during the Washington/North Carolina tilt), and Mueller wouldn’t indict anyone else in connection with his probe.

That wasn’t much of a narrative to go on. But perhaps Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said it best, channeling Winston Churchill: “It’s the end of the beginning. But it’s not the beginning of the end.”

That didn’t stop lawmakers in both parties from firing a fusillade of news releases to reporters on Friday and Saturday. They speculated on Mueller’s conclusions and contoured the story to their own benefit.

On Saturday, Democrats hailed the fact that Mueller’s inquest produced more than 30 indictments. They pointed to the convictions of President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and onetime confidante Michael Cohen.

“The reports that there will be no new indictments confirm what we’ve known all along: there was never any collusion with Russia,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., on Friday night. “The only collusion was between Democrats and many in the media who peddled this lie because they continue to refuse to accept the results of the 2016 election.”

Mueller launched his investigation in Ma, 2017. Many Republicans complained along the way about the length of his inquiry. Presidential loyalists claimed the investigation dragged on too long.

For context, the Watergate investigation lasted four years. The Iran-Contra probe consumed six-and-a-half years. The examination of the land deal in Arkansas known as “Whitewater,” involving President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, transmogrified into the Monica Lewinsky investigation. It absorbed seven years.

The House of Representatives voted 420-0 (with four Republicans voting “present”) on a non-binding resolution earlier this month to urge Mueller and Barr to publicize the report. It’s unclear if that will happen – although some lawmakers have suggested they subpoena the document.

Things played out much differently when then-Independent Counsel Ken Starr investigated President Clinton. That’s because Starr’s probe was fundamentally different than the charge for Mueller. Starr operated under a different statute as an “independent counsel.” The old law, now expired, granted Starr greater latitude. That’s how the probe started in 1994. It was a look at Whitewater and the curious death of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster – initially under Independent Counsel Robert Fiske – before morphing into the president’s involvement with Lewinsky.

Because of the law, Starr reported only to a three-judge panel in Washington – outside the realm of the Justice Department. Starr delivered his report to Congress in the late summer of 1998. The House of Representatives voted a few days later to publicize the report.

Following the publication of the Starr Report, some lawmakers claimed the statute was too broad and granted independent counsels too much leeway. Congress didn’t renew the independent counsel statute. It wrote a new one for “special counsels” in 1999. Special counsels would now be under the aegis of the Justice Department.

There would be more oversight for special counsels under the DOJ umbrella. But, questions would emerge about the “independence” of such special counsels, ultimately reporting to the attorney general.

TRUMP TEAM CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIA PROBE ORIGIN

House Democrats convened a conference call with rank-and-file members Saturday afternoon. Six House Democratic committee chairs were the keynote speakers on the call. They told Democrats that just because Mueller’s investigation was over didn’t mean that everything’s wrapped up.

Some sources with whom Fox News spoke downplayed the idea that the call was an effort to placate Democrats who want to go for the jugular with the administration. However, other sources indicated that Democrats were trying to rein in colleagues and get them behind their probes.

One prevailing issue on the call was whether the DOJ decided that a sitting president couldn’t be indicted. In other words, perhaps Mueller wasn’t willing to prosecute or lacked enough information to prosecute the president, so what could Congress do? Democratic chairs made the point they could go further if the facts take them there.

Democrats told Fox News they never mentioned impeachment on the call.

By the time Buffalo played Texas Tech on Sunday afternoon, Democrats already were suggesting the possibility of a whitewash, pinning the blame on Barr.

“Attorney General Barr’s letter raises as many questions as it answers,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a joint statement. “Given Mr. Barr’s public record of bias against the Special Counsel’s inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report.”

Many Democrats will now demand that Barr and Mueller testify before Congress to see if there is any daylight between them. Barr wrote in his letter that he'd drawn conclusions with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein without consulting Mueller. The missive represented Barr and Rosenstein’s interpretations of what Mueller authored. Therefore, lawmakers will want to see if Barr or Rosenstein leaped to conclusions of their own or if the letter was consistent with Mueller’s findings.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and other committee chairs have been pushing for documents from the administration. They will want to cull through the information to see if they reach a similar conclusion as Mueller, Barr or Rosenstein did. They will want to decide for themselves if the findings are justified.

Democrats must be careful politically if they forge ahead with deeper inquiries. They risk overplaying their hand if they question what Mueller found and Barr’s summation. Democrats won control of the House, not because of success in districts represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. They flipped the House because of wins by moderate Democrats representing battleground districts in Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Maine, and Iowa. Pushing too hard against the president could threaten the capacity for Democrats to hold these seats.

By the same token, Democrats could find it advantageous to hammer on the president. If that’s the case, they would be lifting a page from the GOP playbook. House Republicans assembled a Select Committee to probe the U.S. response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. In a 2015 interview on Fox News, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., then the House majority leader, suggested that Republicans commissioned the Benghazi Committee to weaken Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate. Democrats could use investigations to raise doubts about President Trump and his administration as 2020 approaches.

Finally, Republicans in Congress don’t have a rich agenda for the year. They've spent much of their time criticizing how Democrats dealt with the remarks of liberal Democratic freshmen. Congressional Republicans likely will modify their message to denounce Democrats for still pursuing Trump, despite the Mueller report and the Barr memo.

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Congress rolls back into town Monday after a week-long recess. The University of Central Florida nearly upset Duke.

We’ll see what news is on tap next weekend for the Sweet Sixteen.

Source: Fox News Politics

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3 veterans die of suicide over 5 days at VA facilities in 2 states

Three U.S. military veterans took their lives within 5 days of each other at VA facilities in 2 states earlier this month, prompting a call for action by lawmakers.

The first death was reported on April 5, when the body of 29-year-old Gary Pressley was discovered inside a vehicle in the parking lot of Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia.

Pressley had a gunshot wound in his chest and was pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m., Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

SUICIDE RATES UP AMONG YOUNGER VETERANS, VA SAYS

Pressley's family said he was medically discharged in 2012 after a bad car accident and struggling with mental health care, according to the newspaper.

His mother, Machelle Wilson, told WMAZ-TV that Pressley's sister called the VA to tell them her brother was threatening suicide from their parking lot just moments before he killed himself

"He told his girlfriend he was going to do it in the parking lot, so they could find his body, so somebody can pay attention to what's happening, so other vets do not have to go through this," she told the television station.

The following day in Decatur, Ga., 68-year-old Olen Hancock of Alpharetta killed himself outside the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Hancock had been seen pacing the lobby of the building before going outside and shooting himself, WSB-TV reported.

Officials did not disclose what branch of the military that Hancock served, but Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, called the deaths "unacceptable and devastating."

"While we have taken a number of steps to address and prevent veteran suicide, this weekend’s tragic deaths clearly indicate that we must do better,"  Isakson said in a statement.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMED AT LOWERING VETERANS' SUICIDE RATE

The third suicide was reported April 9 in Austin, Texas when an unidentified veteran shot himself in front of hundreds of people in a waiting room a VA Clinic. The incident happened shortly after noon, and prompted the building to be shut down, KXAN reported.

"All of a sudden, over the intercom, they have this statement about everyone must clear the building including staff, so it was a little surprising," Ken Walker told the television station.

Currently, about 20 veterans die by suicide every day -- a rate 1.5 times higher than those who have not served in the military.  In February, the Washington Post reported that 19 suicides were reported on VA campuses from October 2017 to November 2018, 7 of them in parking lots.

Richard Stone, executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, told Stars and Stripes there have been more than 260 suicide attempts on VA property, 240 of which were interrupted and prevented.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs, said Wednesday the deaths were part of a "national crisis" and that a full committee hearing is scheduled for later this month to discuss the issue.

"Every new instance of veteran suicide showcases a barrier to access, but with three incidents on VA property in just five days, and six this year alone, it’s critical we do more to stop this epidemic," Takano said in a statement. "All Americans have a role to play in reducing veteran suicide, and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is going to make this issue a top priority."

There are resources available to veterans considering hurting themselves. To talk to someone, veterans in crisis are urged to contact the VA crisis line at 1-800-273-8255. You can also text 838-255 for help and also talk in a confidential online chat session.

Source: Fox News National

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Missing Florida woman’s blood found on sock, boots belonging to her accused killer: documents

DNA analysis found a missing Florida woman’s blood on a sock and boots belonging to her accused killer, according to reports citing newly released documents.

Kimberly Kessler, 49, faces an upcoming murder trial in the high-profile case of 34-year-old Joleen Cummings who disappeared nearly a year ago and whose body has not been recovered.

The sock and boots were retrieved from a storage unit rented by Kessler, WJXX-TV reported Friday, citing the release of hundreds of pages of law enforcement notes written as part of the murder probe. A judge ordered the release.

The notes say the boots look similar to boots Kessler was seen wearing in video from a gas station on the day Cummings disappeared.

MISSING FLORIDA HAIRSTYLIST FEARED DEAD; COWORKER NAMED AS SUSPECT IN DISAPPEARANCE

“(Florida Department of Law Enforcement) analyzed the boots and found Cummings' DNA on the bloodstain on the boots,” police wrote in the documents, the station reported.

The investigators also wrote that “a sock was also seized from the storage unit. FDLE analyzed the sock and found Cummings' DNA on the blood stain.”

Kessler’s DNA was also found on the sock, police said in the notes.

MISSING MOM CASE LEADS FBI TO GEORGIA LANDFILL

The documents also show Kessler used 25 different names and lived in 35 cities, Fox 30 Jacksonville reported.

Cummings was reported missing when she didn’t show up to pick up her three children on Mother’s Day.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

She worked at a hair salon in Fernandina Beach that also employed Kessler.

Source: Fox News National

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Deputy: Suspect in girl's slaying faked help during search

An Alabama sheriff's investigator says a man pretended to help search for the 11-year-old girl he's accused of strangling.

Al.com reports a judge ruled Monday that prosecutors have probable cause in the capital murder case against 33-year-old Christopher Wayne Madison, who's accused of killing Amberly Alexis Barnett. The Georgia child had been staying with her aunt, a neighbor of Madison's.

The DeKalb County investigator testified Monday that Madison said he searched the woods near his home and couldn't find her. But that's where investigators found her dead, with a blue rope around her neck, on March 2.

Madison's girlfriend says the rope had been in the home, where investigators found a clamp and bolt in the floor used in "bondage" activity, blood spatters and more rope wrapped around Madison's knife.

___

Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews

Source: Fox News National

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Park ranger furloughed during shutdown wins lottery

A park ranger furloughed during the partial federal government shutdown has claimed a $29.5 million lottery jackpot.

The New Jersey Lottery on Wednesday announced Judith Smith had purchased the winning Dec. 17 Pick-6 ticket days before the shutdown closed the Fort Wadsworth recreation area in Staten Island, New York.

The Bayonne, New Jersey, resident and her two children put the ticket in a safe place while seeking legal and financial advice before claiming the jackpot.

The Pick-6 jackpot is the state's largest since May 2004.

The government shutdown ended last month.

Source: Fox News National

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Children testify as parents face prison in abuse case

Some of the children of a California couple convicted of torturing them for years spoke in a packed courtroom Friday for their parents' sentencing, marking the first time they've been heard from publicly since being freed from their filthy home.

The children have the right to address the court to say how they've been impacted by the abuse by their parents, David and Louise Turpin, who are expected to be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison as part of a plea agreement. None of the children were being publicly identified.

One of the Turpins' adult children walked into court already in tears just after the hearing began, holding hands with a prosecutor.

A daughter said, "Life may have been bad but it made me strong. I fought to become the person that I am. I saw my dad change my mom. They almost changed me, but I realized what was happening. ... I'm a fighter, I'm strong and I'm shooting through life like a rocket."

Some of the other children said they still love their parents. One asked for a lighter sentence because "they believed everything they did was to protect us."

Judge Bernard Schwartz said the children were not allowed to be filmed or photographed by assembled members of the media in the court.

The Turpins pleaded guilty in February to torture and other abuse that was uncovered when their 17-year-old daughter jumped out a window and called 911. Authorities say the abuse and neglect was so severe it stunted their children's growth, led to muscle wasting and left two girls unable to bear children.

Most of the 13 children — who ranged in age from 2 to 29 — were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months.

The desperate cry for help from the 17-year-old came after a lifetime of living in such isolation, the girl didn't know her address, the month of the year or what the word "medication" meant.

But she knew enough to punch the digits 9-1-1 into a barely workable cellphone and then began describing years of horrific abuse to a police dispatcher.

Before the 17-year-old escaped from the home in a middle-class section of the city of Perris, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, the Turpins had lived largely out of view.

David Turpin, 57, had been an engineer for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin, 50, was listed as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing.

Their home was neatly kept and neighbors rarely saw the kids outside the home.

When deputies arrived, they were shocked by what they discovered. A 22-year-old son was chained to a bed and two girls had just been set free from their shackles. The house was covered in filth and the stench of human waste was overwhelming.

Deputies testified that the children said they were only allowed to shower once a year. They were mainly kept in their rooms except for meals, which had been reduced from three to one per day, a combination of lunch and dinner. The 17-year-old complained that she could no longer stomach peanut butter sandwiches — they made her gag.

The Turpin offspring weren't allowed to play like normal children. Other than an occasional family trip to Las Vegas or Disneyland, they rarely left the home. They slept during the day and were active a few hours at night.

Although the couple filed paperwork with the state to homeschool their children, learning was limited. The oldest daughter only completed third grade.

"We don't really do school. I haven't finished first grade," the 17-year-old said, according to Deputy Manuel Campos.

The children said they were beaten, caged and shackled to beds if they didn't obey their parents.

Investigators found that the toddler had not been abused, but all of the children were hospitalized after they were discovered.

The seven adult children were living together and attending school in February when their parents pleaded guilty. Attorney Jack Osborn, who represents them, declined to comment on them Thursday.

It's not clear if any children will attend the sentencing, but they will be offered a chance to speak or can offer written statements to be read in court.

Defense attorneys would not say if their clients will address the court.

The couple pleaded guilty to 14 criminal charges. Prosecutors said the deal would likely keep them in prison for the rest of their lives and spare the children from testifying.

"The defendants ruined lives, so I think it's just and fair that the sentence be equivalent to first-degree murder," District Attorney Mike Hestrin said at the time of the plea.

Source: Fox News National

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Rick Perry Draws Ire For $3.7 Billion Nuclear Energy Bailout

Jason Hopkins | Energy Investigator

A free market energy group is criticizing Energy Secretary Rick Perry after he announced nearly $4 billion in loan guarantees for a beleaguered nuclear construction project.

“We oppose federal loan guarantees for any energy source, period,” said Thomas Pyle, the president of the American Energy Alliance (AEA), in a Friday statement. “Nuclear power is an important part of our nation’s energy mix, but the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of providing loans for any energy source. Instead, it should stay out of energy markets and work to remove government subsidies and mandates to allow all energy sources to compete on a level playing field.”

The AEA’s statement comes after Perry visited Waynesboro, Georgia, on Friday and announced $3.7 billion in additional federal loans for the primary owners of a nuclear power project that has been beset with delays and cost overruns.

The Department of Energy is guaranteeing up to $1.67 billion in loans for Georgia Power, up to $1.6 billion for Oglethorpe Power, and up to $414.7 million for the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power). The three utilities are co-owners of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant.

The loans are to help Vogtle’s construction of its two latest nuclear reactors: Units 3 and 4. The two units, which are the only nuclear reactors under construction in the entire country, were originally planned to be completed by 2017, but have been plagued with construction delays and ballooning costs. Unit 3 will not be ready to be loaded with fuel until 2020, and Unit 4 won’t go online until 2021.

Construction of the two units are expected to cost a total of $27 billion, and the announcement by Perry on Friday marks a total of $12 billion in federal loan guarantees to help keep the project afloat.

Vogtle’s struggles have been emblematic of the country’s nuclear industry.

The U.S. nuclear fleet is suffering under an unfriendly market. Competing against cheap natural gas and subsidy-backed renewables, numerous nuclear plants have been rendered unprofitable. Six nuclear plants closed in just the past six years. The horizon does not look much better for nuclear proponents, with nine other plants expected to shut down by 2025.

The Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 site, being constructed by primary contactor Westinghouse, is seen near Waynesboro

The Vogtle Unit 3, being constructed by primary contactor Westinghouse, a business unit of Toshiba, near Waynesboro, Georgia, U.S. is seen in an aerial photo taken March 2017. Georgia Power/Handout via REUTERS

However, the Trump administration, along with a growing number of climate activists, is raising concerns over the plight of the nuclear industry, realizing that the closure of these plants means the end of a major source of zero-carbon energy. Unlike solar or wind, nuclear can generate large amounts of electricity — and unlike fossil fuels, it can do so while releasing no carbon emissions. (RELATED: Why Are Record Amounts Of Cash Being Dumped Into Georgia’s Utility Commissioner Race?)

“The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the Administration’s direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry,” Perry said Friday, calling the two reactors the “real” Green New Deal. “A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security.”

However, free market and consumer groups have continued to criticize the federal government’s assistance of Vogtle, with the AEA calling for the Trump administration to stay out of energy markets entirely.

The Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation in time for publication of this article.

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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Source: The Daily Caller

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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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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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Sudan’s military, which ousted President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year rule, says it intends to keep the upper hand during the country’s transitional period to civilian rule.

The announcement is expected to raise tensions with the protesters, who demand immediate handover of power.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the protests, said Friday the crowds will stay in the streets until all their demands are met.

Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, the spokesman for the military council, said late Thursday that the military will “maintain sovereign powers” while the Cabinet would be in the hands of civilians.

The protesters insist the country should be led by a “civilian sovereign” council with “limited military representation” during the transitional period.

The army toppled and arrested al-Bashir on April 11.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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