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Key dates in life of Japanese Emperor Akihito

FILE PHOTO : Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) chats with Japanese Emperor Akihito before entering the State Banquet Hall at Buckingham Palace
FILE PHOTO : Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) chats with Japanese Emperor Akihito before entering the State Banquet Hall at Buckingham Palace May 26, 1998. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

April 25, 2019

By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) – Emperor Akihito, 85, will step down on April 30, the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in nearly two centuries. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will inherit the throne the next day.

Below are some key dates in Akihito’s life.

– Aug. 15, 1945 – Akihito, 11, evacuated from Tokyo to the mountains, hears his father, Emperor Hirohito, announce on radio Japan’s surrender ending World War Two. In November he returns to Tokyo, vast swathes of which had been devastated by U.S. firebombing.

– Nov. 10, 1952 – Akihito is formally invested as crown prince in a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

– June, 1953 – As crown prince, Akihito attends coronation of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.

– August 1957 – Crown Prince Akihito meets Michiko Shoda, daughter of an industrialist, at a tennis tournament in the mountain resort of Karuizawa.

– April 10, 1959 – Wedding of Akihito and Michiko Shoda, the first commoner to marry an heir to the Japanese throne.

– July 17, 1975 – Akihito and Michiko visit Okinawa, site of fierce fighting in final months of World War Two. A fire bomb is hurled at them as they lay flowers at a memorial but the royal couple are unharmed.

– Jan. 7, 1989 – Death of Akihito’s father, Emperor Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa), in whose name Japanese soldiers fought in World War Two. Akihito becomes emperor.

– Nov. 12, 1990 – Akihito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne in the first enthronement ceremony to be shown on television.

– May 24, 1990 – Akihito expresses “deepest regret” for the suffering of the Korean people caused by Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula and the war.

– Oct. 23, 1992 – Akihito is Japan’s first modern monarch to visit China. Right-wing groups at home oppose the trip, while Chinese activists demand an apology. The emperor expresses “deep sorrow” for the suffering Japan inflicted on the Chinese people.

– April 23, 1993 – Akihito visits Okinawa again, becoming the first Japanese monarch to visit the southern island.

– Jan. 31, 1995 – Akihito and Michiko visit western city of Kobe following a huge earthquake. In a break with conservative tradition, they kneel to speak with survivors.

– May 26, 1998 – Akihito visits Britain, speaks at a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth despite protests from former British prisoners of war.

– Jan. 27, 2005 – Akihito and Michiko visit wartime battlesite in the U.S. territory of Saipan to pray for peace and console war dead of all nations, one of several such trips outside Japan.

– March 16, 2011 – Akihito makes unprecedented televised address urging the public to help each other after the March 11 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

– Aug. 15, 2015 – On the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War Two, Akihito expressed “deep remorse” over the war, a nuanced departure from his annual script. Liberals and moderate conservatives see it as a subtle rebuke to conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his less apologetic stance.

– Aug. 8, 2016 – In rare video address, Akihito says he worries that age will make it difficult to fully carry out his duties, remarks seen as suggesting that he wanted to abdicate.

– Feb. 24, 2019 – Akihito marks 30 years on the throne with a call for Japan to open up and forge sincere ties with the world.

(Reporting and writing by Linda Sieg; editing by Malcolm Foster and Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Kentucky woman arrested after allegedly faking cancer diagnosis, raising $10G in donations: report

A woman in Northern Kentucky is facing felony charges after she allegedly faked a cancer diagnosis and ultimately swindled thousands of dollars from coworkers and other sympathizers in donations.

Jessica Marie Krecskay, 25, was arrested on Feb. 14 on felony theft charges, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in jail.

OHIO NURSE WHO LIED ABOUT TERMINAL CANCER DIAGNOSIS GETS PRISON TIME

Between 2013 and 2017, Krecskay reportedly amassed roughly $10,000 in donations from coworkers and others after telling them she had ovarian cancer that had spread throughout her body, Fox 19 reported.

A former coworker told the news station that some of Krecskay’s colleagues would clean her house or give their vacation time to her when they believed she was ill.

“The other girls at work would clean her house for her, take her out to eat all the time," Jessica Lunsford said, adding the 25-year-old also shaved her head as a way to sell her story. "Gave their own sick time and vacation time hours to go towards her.”

Rob Sanders, the attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit in Kenton County, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that police began investigating Krecskay after people called expressing concerns her cancer story was not true.

"Publicity from another fake cancer case prompted those same people to report their suspicions about this defendant to police," Sanders said, referring to when a Northern Kentucky University student in 2017 also allegedly faked a cancer diagnosis for money.

MASSACHUSETTS GIRL'S FLU-RELATED DEATH DEVASTATES DAD 

"Anytime someone uses a false claim of such a dreaded disease for fraudulent purposes, it evokes understandably angry and emotional responses from the many people who actually battle cancer or love someone battling cancer," Sanders added.

Krecskay was released from jail on $2,500 bond. Her arraignment in Kenton County Circuit Court is slated for March 4.

Source: Fox News National

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Zimbabwe’s new currency unmoved as transactions stay restricted

Zimbabweans queue outside a bank in Harare
Zimbabweans queue outside a bank in Harare, Zimbabwe, February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

February 26, 2019

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s new currency was stuck around 2.5 to the U.S dollar on Tuesday as tight restrictions on trading and exchanging it remained in place despite a central bank pledge to let the RTGS dollar trade freely.

Zimbabwe abandoned a discredited 1:1 dollar peg for its dollar-surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars last week, merging them into a lower-value transitional currency called the RTGS dollar in an effort to ease chronic cash shortages.

Economists welcomed the move but have urged the government let the RTGS fluctuate as it has promised.

On Tuesday, banks were only selling U.S. dollars to corporate clients and individuals with invoices or receipts for imports deemed a priority such as fuel and medicines.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the market should determine the RTGS exchange rate, but that the government wanted to avoid excessive volatility.

Tellers at two banks in downtown Harare said they could help clients make purchases from overseas at a rate of 2.5625 RTGS to the U.S. dollar, the rate that other banks offered on Monday.

Banks were not yet selling U.S. dollars to individuals in cash, and neither was a bureau de change at the Road Port bus station.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) hasn’t given us any U.S. dollars in cash yet,” a teller at a CABS bank branch said.

The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that Botswana had offered to lend Zimbabwe $600 million to support its diamond industry and private firms.

A currency dealer said the RBZ had authorized banks to buy and sell foreign currency 2.5 percent either side of the rate of 2.5 RTGS at which the central bank has sold U.S. dollars to banks in recent days.

Exchange rates on the black market for the bond note – which many ordinary Zimbabweans still use in shops – were at 3.6 to the U.S. dollar, unchanged from Monday, informal currency traders said.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning and MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: OANN

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Pediatrician to be sentenced for assaulting 31 children

A former Pennsylvania pediatrician is scheduled for sentencing Monday in the sexual assault of 31 children, most of them patients, in a case that state medical regulators failed to act on nearly two decades ago.

Dr. Johnnie Barto of Johnstown will be sentenced on dozens of counts, including aggravated indecent assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors say he spent decades abusing boys and girls in the exam room at his pediatric practice in western Pennsylvania and at local hospitals, with his victims typically ranging in age from 8 to 12. One was an infant.

Barto pleaded guilty in December to some counts and no contest to others. He's been jailed pending sentencing. His lawyer, David Weaver, has said Barto opted to enter pleas so "the healing could begin for his family, his victims and for himself."

Authorities had a chance to stop Barto in 2000, when he appeared before the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine on administrative charges that he molested two young girls in the 1990s. But regulators threw out the case and allowed him to keep practicing medicine, saying the allegations were "incongruous to his reputation." At the time, the prominent pediatrician had a lot of support in the community.

Barto, now 71, went on to molest at least a dozen more young patients before his arrest in January 2018, according to the state attorney general's office.

The medical board's 7-2 decision to let him off the hook in 2000 sparked outrage from victims and at least one former board member. Vivian Lowenstein, who had voted to strip Barto of his license, told The Associated Press last year that she was "sick about it" and that the case was as an example of how Pennsylvania's physician-regulators typically looked out for their own.

The Pennsylvania Department of State, which provides legal and administrative support to the board and prosecutes administrative cases of doctor misconduct, said last year that "the Board of Medicine takes allegations of sexual misconduct by professional licensees very seriously."

Regulators have not commented on the board's 2000 decision.

Source: Fox News National

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Report: Russian Hackers Accessed Florida County’s Computers in ’16

Hackers from Russia were able to gain access to at least one county's election computer network in Florida ahead of the 2016 election, it was revealed Thursday.

As the Miami Herald pointed out, special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the election included a portion about how hackers from the GRU, the foreign military intelligence agency in Russia, used a spear phishing email to get into one county. The report did not name which county, and the FBI would not reveal the name of the county when the Florida Department of State asked about it.

"We understand the FBI believes that this operation enabled the GRU to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government," the Mueller report reads. Mueller's team of prosecutors and FBI agents "did not independently verify that belief."

Florida's Department of State told the Herald in a statement it is confident in its assessment the 2016 election was not compromised.

"The Department maintains that the 2016 elections in Florida were not hacked," spokesperson Sarah Revell said. "The Florida Voter Registration System was and remains secure, and official results or vote tallies were not changed."

The Mueller report was released Thursday, with many redacted parts to hide classified and privileged information. President Donald Trump was exonerated from conspiring with the Russians to win the 2016 election, but the report outlined several instances where Russia meddled in it.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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U.S. Bayer Roundup cancer trial goes to jury after closing arguments

FILE PHOTO: File photo of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller atomizers displayed for sale at a garden shop at Bonneuil-Sur-Marne near Paris
FILE PHOTO: Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller atomizers are displayed for sale at a garden shop at Bonneuil-Sur-Marne near Paris, France, June 16, 2015. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

March 12, 2019

By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A trial in which a California man alleged his use of Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused his cancer went to a federal U.S. jury after lawyers for both sides delivered their closing arguments on Tuesday.

The closely-watched case brought by plaintiff Edward Hardeman is only the second of some 11,200 Roundup lawsuits to go to trial in the United States. Another California man was awarded $289 million in August after a state court jury in August found Roundup caused his cancer, sending Bayer shares plunging.

Hardeman’s case has proceeded differently from the earlier trial, with an initial phase exclusively focused on scientific facts while omitting evidence of alleged corporate misconduct by company representatives.

Following the first phase, the six jurors in San Francisco federal court were asked by U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria to decide whether Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing Hardeman’s cancer.

If the jury finds Roundup to have caused Hardeman’s cancer, the trial will proceed into a second stage, where his lawyers can present evidence allegedly showing the company’s efforts to influence scientists, regulators and the public about the safety of its products.

Hardeman’s lawyer, Aimee Wagstaff, during her closing arguments on Tuesday said Hardeman had “extreme” exposure to Roundup, spraying the chemical more than 300 times over 26 years.

“The dose makes the poison. The more you use, the higher the risk,” Wagstaff said. She urged jurors to consider all studies, including of rodents and cells, which she said showed an elevated cancer risk.

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto for $63 billion, denies allegations that Roundup, or glyphosate, cause cancer. It says decades of studies and regulatory evaluations, primarily of real-world human exposure data, have shown the weed killer to be safe for human use regardless of exposure levels.

Wagstaff criticized the epidemiological studies as flawed.

Brian Stekloff, a lawyer for Bayer, in his closing statement said the cause of Hardeman’s cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma generally, was not known.

“No one can tell you the cause,” Stekloff said, adding that Hardeman had some risk factors, such as old age and a history of hepatitis.

Chhabria decided in January to split Hardeman’s case into two phases. He called evidence of alleged corporate misconduct “a distraction” from the scientific question of whether glyphosate causes cancer.

Hardeman’s trial is a test case for some 760 cases nationwide consolidated before Chhabria in federal court.

Evidence of corporate misconduct was seen as playing a key role in the earlier state court case. The verdict in that case was later reduced to $78 million and is on appeal.

Plaintiff lawyers called Chhabria’s decision to exclude similar evidence from the first phase of Hardeman’s case “unfair,” saying their scientific evidence was inextricably linked to Monsanto’s alleged attempts to manipulate, misrepresent and intimidate scientists.

(Reporting by Jim Christie in San Francisco; additonal reporting and writing by Tina Bellon; editing by Anthony Lin and Bill Berkrot)

Source: OANN

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Senate votes to block Trump’s border emergency declaration, in bipartisan rebuke teeing up likely veto

Several Senate Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues on Thursday in voting to block President Trump’s border emergency declaration -- a move expected to prompt the president's first-ever veto.

The measure passed 59-41 as roughly a dozen Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the resolution, despite White House efforts to keep the GOP united on the issue of border security. Those GOP members who backed the resolution cited concerns about the expansion of presidential powers.

PELOSI WORKS TO DERAIL BID TO SPARE TRUMP FROM BORDER EMERGENCY REBUFF

“I’m going to be voting in favor of the resolution of disapproval,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters ahead of the vote. “This is a constitutional question, it’s a question of the balance of power that is core to our constitution.”

“This is not about the president or border security, in fact I support border security, I support a barrier,” he said.

Other Republicans who voted to oppose the declaration included Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., however, had said he would oppose the declaration but reversed course on the Senate floor, saying that he was "sympathetic" to Trump's push to deal with the crisis at the border.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., before the vote, said he "takes his hat off" to Republicans voting with Democrats, while accusing Trump of "going around Congress" with the declaration.

"This is a momentous day," he said, declaring that the balance of power was shifting back toward Congress.

However, Trump is all but certain to answer the resolution with his first presidential veto. The measure heads next to his desk, having previously passed the House.

Trump originally issued the emergency declaration last month after Congress granted only a fraction of the $5.7 billion he requested for a wall on the southern border. Declaring a national emergency allows Trump to steer an extra $3.6 billion to the wall.

The run-up to the resolution vote was marked by last-minute efforts to avoid an intra-party confrontation, but those efforts fell through. Vice President Pence, meanwhile, urged Republicans to support the national emergency declaration in an interview on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning.

“A vote against the president's national emergency declaration is a vote to deny the humanitarian and security crisis that's happening at our southern border. So we're urging every member of the Senate set politics aside to recognize that we have a crisis,” he told "Fox & Friends’" Pete Hegseth.

The House and Senate would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a presidential veto -- which they almost certainly will not be able to muster.

Trump shrugged off the impending vote when asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office earlier Friday.

“I don’t know what the vote will be, it doesn’t matter, I’ll probably have to veto,” he said.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah on Tuesday had introduced a bill that would automatically end future emergency declarations after 30 days, a move that might have allowed Republicans to vote against Thursday's resolution.

But after Trump said he opposed Lee’s legislation, Lee said he would back the measure to rebuke Trump on the border emergency. On the Senate floor, he said while he backs Trump's policies on immigration, he could not support the emergency declaration and that Congress needed to take back its powers.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump tweeted ahead of the vote that if Congress wanted to amend the law governing emergency declarations in the future, “I will support those efforts” suggesting another last-minute push to keep Republicans on board.

Trump, shortly before the vote, said on Thursday that “a vote for today’s resolution by Republican senators is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, crime and the Open Border Democrats.”

Fox News’ Lukas Mikelionis, Kelly Phares and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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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