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Belarus to move forward with construction of apartments at site of Nazi-era mass grave

Officials at a southwestern city in Belarus are forging ahead with plans to build a luxury apartment building complex despite finding a Nazi-era mass grave containing nearly 2,000 remains at the construction site.

The mass grave was discovered by construction workers in the city of Brest more than two months ago and since then, specially trained soldiers have unearthed the remains of hundreds of Jews, killed when the city was occupied by Nazi Germany.

It’s the site of the old Jewish ghetto in the city.

The bodies are tangled with the remains of shreds of cloth and the soles of shoes.

“You see the results of this horrible war and of a genocide,” the commander of the search battalion, Major Pavel Galetsky, told DW. “History speaks for itself here.”

Soldiers from a special "search battalion" of Belarus Defence Ministry collect the remains of about 730 prisoners of a former Jewish ghetto, discovered in a mass grave at a construction site in the center of Brest, Belarus February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko - RC1F95AFA340

Soldiers from a special "search battalion" of Belarus Defence Ministry collect the remains of about 730 prisoners of a former Jewish ghetto, discovered in a mass grave at a construction site in the center of Brest, Belarus February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko - RC1F95AFA340

One of the remains found was that of a female holding the skeleton of a baby, as if she’s been cradling it, the BBC reported.

Before World War II, almost half of the more than 50,000 population of Brest were Jews. Up to 5,000 men were executed shortly after the Nazis invaded in June 1941.

The rest was crammed into a ghetto only several blocks large surrounded by barbed wire.

HUNDREDS OF CHILLING ITEMS DISCOVERED AT NAZI MASSACRE SITES

In October 1942, an order from Nazi Germany came to wipe them out, the BBC reported.

Thousands were herded on to freight trains and were driven more than 60 miles to a forest and shot at the edge of a vast pit.

The city register kept by the Germans showed that on Oct. 15, 1942, there were 17,893 Jews in Brest, according to the BBC. The next day, that figure was scratched out.

"That's how we know when the ghetto was liquidated," community leader Efim Basin.

Only a handful of Jews in Brest survived the mass executions, DW reported.

A soldier from a special "search battalion" of Belarus Defence Ministry takes part in the exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of about 730 prisoners of a former Jewish ghetto, discovered at a construction site in the center of Brest, Belarus February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko - RC1569C86700

A soldier from a special "search battalion" of Belarus Defence Ministry takes part in the exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of about 730 prisoners of a former Jewish ghetto, discovered at a construction site in the center of Brest, Belarus February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko - RC1569C86700

Near the site of the old ghetto, a small marble stone is dedicated to the 34,000 Jews killed in around Brest during World War II.

For several weeks after the remains were discovered, it was unclear what would happen with the construction of the building complex, according to DW.

It seems that the planned apartment complex – a lucrative project for the city – will continue as planned.

Some, including the city’s head of the cultural department, believe that the city does not need another memorial, but it does need better apartments.

"There should be a place where people can live well, a nice corner of the city of Brest," Alla Kondak said.

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City authorities and the construction have said that the actual foundation of the building would not touch the spot where the remains were found. Instead, the mass grave would be underneath a landscaped courtyard.

Kondak also pointed out that many of the buildings in the city are built on graves.

“When the buildings around here were built they also found bones,” Kondak said.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump Admin Defies EU Threats, Allows Cuba-Related Claims

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The Trump administration is defying explicit legal threats the European Union privately issued last week to top U.S. officials by moving forward with its plans to ratchet up pressure on Cuba by allowing U.S. nationals to file legal claims against foreign companies that do business there.

The bold move by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in conjunction with the White House is a stark example of the escalating economic tensions between the U.S. and Europe that are already playing out on Iran sanctions policy and President Trump’s decision to tear up the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal.

In a sternly worded April 10 letter from top European Commission trade officials to Pompeo, obtained by RealClearPolitics, the EC threatened to launch a World Trade Organization lawsuit against the United States if it moved forward with plans to end a waiver, known as Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

The Helms-Burton Act, also known as the Libertad Act, groups together all of the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba and has been in effect since 1996.

Ending the Helms-Burton waiver would allow U.S. citizens to sue individuals and companies – including European citizens and businesses -- in U.S. courts for commercial use of property they once owned but that was seized by the Cuban government after 1959.

“Recent decisions taken by the U.S. in relation to Title III – namely to depart from the regular six-month extension and to have it partially activated – are raising serious concerns across the EU,” wrote Federica Mogherini, the European Commission’s vice president, and Cecilia Malmstrom, a member of its trade commission, in the letter obtained by RCP.

“The EU considers that the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures … is contrary to international law. Any decision to further activate it would have an important impact on legitimate EU (and US) economic operators.”

If the U.S. moves forward with its plans, the EU officials threatened to “use all means at its disposal, including in cooperation with other international partners, to protect its interests,” they wrote, pointedly noting that “the EU is considering a possible launch of the WTO case.”

The officials also noted that any claimant U.S. company or citizens would be subjected to counterclaims and liability for damages in EU courts.

Mogherini and Malmstrom sent copies of the letter to National Security Adviser John Bolton and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it was rejecting those concerns and moving forward with its plans to allow U.S. citizens and companies who had their property seized by the Castros to sue those entities that have been using the confiscated property. Many of those entities are foreign companies such as hotels and shipping businesses.

The decision is a victory for hardliners who have been pressing the administration to take a tougher stance on Cuba policy. It comes amid a new administration effort to curb oil shipments between Cuba and Venezuela.

“For 22+ years, Title III of the Libertad Act was suspended in the hope the Cuban regime would transition to democracy,” Pompeo tweeted Wednesday morning, “but the @realDonaldTrump Administration recognizes reality – dictators see appeasement as weakness. President Obama’s attempt to moderate the regime didn’t work.”

Florida senators, both Republicans, issued strong statements supporting the move.

“By allowing US citizens to sue #CastroRegime for property stolen from them in #Cuba @realDonaldTrump is ending almost 6 decades of injustice,” Rubio tweeted. “It also punished regime for its criminal support of #MaduroRegime & honors veterans of Brigade2506 on this 58th anniversary of #BayofPigs.”

Europe has been on edge over U.S. Cuba policy in recent months after Pompeo shorted the length of the Title III waiver in March and allowed court cases to move forward in the U.S. against a number of Cuban companies with military ownership.

After Pompeo’s latest announcement, the European Union and Canada on Wednesday said they planned to take the matter up at the WTO. The EU is Cuba’s No. 2 trade partner and its largest foreign investor.

In a joint statement, Mogherini, Malmstrom and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the U.S. decision would have “an important impact on legitimate EU and Canadian economic operators in Cuba.”

“We are determined to work together to protect the interests of our companies in the context of the WTO,” they said, adding that the U.S. action “can only  lead to an unnecessary spiral of legal actions.”

While Wednesday’s response from the EU and Canada fell short of a formal launch of a WTO case, it signaled the widening diplomatic rift between Europe and the U.S.

But the threats aren’t just a dramatic legal bluff. The EU launched a case against the U.S. in the WTO in 1996 after Helms-Burton passed, but they withdrew it after President Bill Clinton decide to resolve the matter by issuing a waiver, which presidents have extended every six months until the beginning of this year.

The current administration’s action is the most far-reaching of any U.S. president against Cuba over the last three decades. It’s part of the administration’s decision to elevate Latin America as a national security priority. Bolton delivered a speech last year at Miami’s Freedom Tower to a group of Cuban and Venezuelan exiles, calling the leftist governments of their homelands along with Nicaragua the “troika of tyranny in this hemisphere.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla called the activation of Title III “an attack against international law and the sovereignty of #Cuba & third States.”

“Aggressive escalation of #US against #Cuba will fail. As in Giron (Bay of Pigs), we shall overcome,” he added.

Cuba has been struggling to boost its ailing economy by attracting foreign investments, and the action by the Trump administration could further hamper those efforts if the commercial enterprises involve confiscated property.

Jason Poblete, a Washington-area attorney who represents several claimants to confiscated Cuban property, said Europe has become too cozy with Havana because of its financial ties to the communist island nation.

“I wonder if the EU’s foreign minister and top trade official wrote a similar letter to [Rodriguez Parrilla] urging Cuba to consider negotiations to settle this matter once and for all?” Poblete told RCP. “My sense is they did not.”

“As with the Iran deal, Europe has demonstrated they are not interested in solutions,” he said. “America needs to look out for American interests first for a change.”

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' White House/national political correspondent.

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Source: InfoWars

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Notre Dame Cathedral bees survive devastating fire: ‘Our Lady’s bees are still alive’

Hundreds of thousands of bees that lived on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris have survived the devastating fire that erupted earlier this week, French beekeepers confirmed.

The approximately 180,000 bees were apparently intoxicated by the smoke of the flames, Notre Dame beekeeper Nicolas Geant told The Associated Press Friday.

“It's a big day. I am so relieved,” he said. “I saw satellite photos that showed the three hives didn't burn.”

NOTRE DAME FIRE LIKELY CAUSED BY ELECTRICAL SHORT-CIRCUIT, INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE

“Instead of killing them, the CO2 (from smoke) makes them drunk, puts them to sleep,” he explained.

Beeopic, a Paris-based urban beekeeping company, posted about the surviving bees on its Instagram page Thursday.

“Our bees at Notre Dame Cathedral are still alive,” the post said in French. “Confirmation from the site managers!! Our Lady’s bees are still alive!”

The day before, the company had posted a satellite picture of the hives that were still intact on the sacristy roof but said the fate of the bees was unknown at the time.

The three beehives were installed in 2013 on the roof of the sacristy at the south end of the cathedral. The sacristy, which is made of stone, sits lower than the cathedral’s main roof — made of wood — which burned and collapsed along with the spire during the fire on Monday.

Even though smoke is harmless to bees — and is often used by beekeepers to sedate the colony to access their hives — excessive heat can kill them by melting the wax that protects the hives. European bees, unlike some other species, stay with their colony in times of danger.

NOTRE DAME WORSHIPERS COULD PRAY IN ‘EPHEMERAL CATHEDRAL’ MADE OF WOOD; SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW SCOPE OF DAMAGE

“When bees sense fire, they gorge themselves on honey and stay to protect their queen, who doesn't move,” Geant explained.

“I saw how big the flames were, so I immediately thought it was going to kill the bees. Even though they were 30 meters [nearly 100 feet] lower than the top roof, the wax in the hives melts at 63 degrees Celsius [145.4 Fahrenheit],” he added.

However, when Notre Dame officials got to the roof, they found the bees buzzing in and out of their hives.

“I wouldn't call it a miracle, but I'm very, very happy,” Geant said.

The hives, which produce about 165 pounds of honey every year, were added to the sacristy as part of a Paris-wide initiative to boost declining bee numbers. Hives were also introduced above Paris’ gilded Opera.

Investigators in Paris said Thursday they believe an electrical short-circuit is most likely the cause behind the massive fire at the cathedral, though an investigation is ongoing.

Fox News’ Barnini Chakraborty and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Plant protein startups vie to tap China’s hungry market

FILE PHOTO: Journalists taste test the plant-based hamburgers during a media tour of Impossible Foods labs and processing plant in Redwood City, California
FILE PHOTO: Journalists taste test the plant-based hamburgers during a media tour of Impossible Foods labs and processing plant in Redwood City, California, U.S. October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo

March 20, 2019

By Vincent Chow

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Start-ups specializing in alternative protein, from eggless eggs to pea-stuffed burgers and cell-grown fish products, are piling into the Chinese territory of Hong Kong to tap the mainland’s booming multi-billion dollar food market.

At a time when traditional meat farmers have seen profits hurt by the U.S.-China trade war and the spread of swine fever, companies such as Impossible Foods, JUST and Beyond Meat are luring affluent Asian consumers with products they say are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than conventional meat.

The global meat substitutes market was estimated at $4.6 billion last year and is predicted to reach $6.4 billion by 2023, according to research firm Markets and Markets. Asia is the fastest growing region.

Backed by some of the world’s top billionaires including Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, philanthropist Bill Gates and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, plant protein firms are expanding into China for the first time this year.

San Francisco-based JUST, valued at $1 billion and which counts venture capitalist Peter Thiel as one of its backers, is planning to launch its mung bean faux egg product in six Chinese cities starting next month.

“China is the most important market to JUST globally,” said Cyrus Pan, JUST’s China general manager.

JUST has inked deals with Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com to distribute its egg product starting in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen, before expanding to other cities.

The company says the use of mung bean as its key ingredient is important for food security and appeals to the Chinese market given its tradition as a dietary staple.

China has a history of food safety scandals from melamine-tainted eggs, smuggled frozen meat years beyond its expiry date and recycled “gutter oil” to crops tainted with heavy metals.

Nick Cooney, managing partner of Lever VC, a U.S.-Asian venture capital fund focused on alternative protein startups, said firms like his are eyeing joint ventures, exports and product technology licensing opportunities in China.

“Chinese consumers seem to be more open to novel foods than those in nearly any other country,” he said.

Beyond Meat, which makes burgers and sausages from pea protein, has seen sales in Hong Kong increase 300 percent last year, said David Yeung, Beyond Meat’s distributor in the special administrative region.

Backed by Tyson, the world’s largest meat processor, Beyond Meat filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq last November and plans to start distributing in the mainland in the second half of this year.

Rival Impossible Foods, which makes burgers out of soy, has said plant-based meat will eliminate the need for animals in the food chain and make the global food system sustainable.

The group has received around $450 million in funding since 2011 with investments from Lee Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures and Google Ventures.

Since launching in five restaurants in Hong Kong last April, the group’s products are now in over 100 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau.

Impossible plans to open in mainland China within the next two years. ASIAN TASTES

Hong Kong-based Avant Meats, which uses cell technology to replicate fish and seafood products, is developing a cell-based fish maw prototype due for launch in the third quarter of this year, its chief executive Carrie Chan told Reuters.

Fish maw, or swim bladders, are popular in Asian soups and stews and are used to add collagen to food.

Right Treat, another Hong Kong company headed by Yeung, is replicating Asia’s favorite meat – pork – using mushrooms, peas and rice for use in dumplings and meatballs.

The company has seen its sales of its Omnipork triple since launching in Hong Kong in April 2018. It has since expanded to Singapore, Macau and Taiwan, and plans to sell in mainland China this year.

“If we want to change the world, we must find ways to shift Asian diet and consumption, which means we must find ways to reduce Asia’s dependence on pork and other meat products,” said Yeung, who also runs Green Monday, a startup tackling global food insecurity and climate change.

Omnipork is available at more than 40 stores and will be stocked in major Hong Kong supermarket chains by the end of March, Yeung says.

Advocates say meat substitutes are healthier and also use less water, produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions and use less land than producing the same amount of meat.

Consumers, however, must be willing to pay a premium.

Omnipork retails for HK$43 ($5.48) for 230g (8 ounces) versus HK$37 for the same amount of minced pork.

Impossible’s burger at HK$88 is more than double the price of a Shake Shack burger in Hong Kong.

Yet the explosion of alternative protein products across Hong Kong has given consumers such as executive recruiter Shazz Sabnani, greater variety.

“Before I had to rely more on vegetables and tofu-based products, whereas now I’ve introduced more of these fake meats to my diet.”

Still, not everyone is convinced about the fake meat trend.

Tseung So, a retired 70-year-old said the spaghetti bolognaise made with omnipork at Green Monday’s “Kind Kitchen” in Hong Kong, was not as tasty as real meat.

“Why would we eat this when we can eat the same dish but with normal pork? I don’t think this will make meat eaters eat less meat but they will probably become more popular with real vegetarians.”

($1 = 7.8496 Hong Kong dollars)

(Writing by Farah Master; Additional reporting by Forina Fu; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Source: OANN

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Giant troll statue in Norway theme park burns to ground

Northern Norway police say a theme park's giant troll statue, claimed to be the largest in the world, has burnt to the ground.

Police said at the time of Thurday's fire, the park was closed and no one was inside the nearly 18-meter (59.4-feet) tall attraction made mainly of Styrofoam.

Wary of the smoke, officials protectively evacuated the area near the troll theme park, which sits on the Senja peninsula, some 68 kilometers (42 miles) south of Tromsoe.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Trolls are human-like creatures from Scandinavian folklore who live in mountains and caves.

Source: Fox News World

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Rep. Nadler 'Encouraged' by Docs Received in Trump Probe

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., says he is encouraged by the tens of thousands of documents his committee has received from many of the 81 individuals and entities as part of his sweeping investigation of President Donald Trump, his associates and members of his administration.

"I am encouraged by the responses we have received since sending these initial letters two weeks ago," Nadler said in a statement posted to his press site. "It is my hope that we will receive cooperation from the remainder of the list, and will be working to find an appropriate accommodation with any individual who may be reluctant to cooperate with our investigation."

Nadler announced the broad investigation in early March and said it would cover "three main areas," including public corruption, obstruction of justice, and abuses of power by the president, his associates, and members of his administration. The committee sent letters to 81 people and entities – including the Justice Department, White House, senior campaign officials, Trump Organization officials, and Trump's sons.

Evidence gathered in the probe would be the basis of a possible impeachment proceeding, though Nadler has said it is too soon to discuss impeachment.

Source: NewsMax America

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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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