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Consumer Reports yanks recommendation for Tesla’s Model 3, citing reliability

A red 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicle is seen on the assembly line at General Motors Orion Assembly in Lake Orion, Michigan,
A red 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicle is seen on the assembly line at General Motors Orion Assembly in Lake Orion, Michigan, U.S., March 19, 2018. Photo taken March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

February 21, 2019

By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) – Consumer Reports on Thursday pulled a recommendation for Tesla Inc’s Model 3, citing reliability problems, and the influential U.S. magazine turned up the pressure on other automakers to include crash-avoiding automatic braking as standard equipment.

The magazine’s decision to withdraw its endorsement for the Tesla Model 3 less than nine months after recommending the electric sedan highlighted questions about quality that Tesla has faced since the vehicle’s difficult launch. Tesla shares fell 3.4 percent to $292.19 in afternoon trading Thursday on the Nasdaq.

Low scores for the Model 3 hurt the brand’s overall standing, knocking it down 11 spots to No. 19 out of 33 brands in Consumer Reports’ 2019 annual rankings.

Millions of prospective auto buyers consult the magazine’s rankings, which are based on road testing, reliability, safety and owner satisfaction scores.

Despite reliability problems, Model 3 owners said they love their vehicles, said Jake Fisher, the magazine’s senior director of automotive testing.

“We have already made significant improvements to correct any issues that Model 3 customers may have experienced that are referenced in this (Consumer Reports) report,” a Tesla representative said in an email, “and our return policy allows any customer who is unhappy with their car to return it for a full refund.”

Earlier this month, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said during a call with investors that the company is focusing on improving customer service and quality.

Consumer Reports’ refusal to endorse cars that lack technology that automatically applies brakes disqualified a wide swath of popular brands and models, including General Motors Co’s Chevrolet.

“We’ve been pushing for this feature for a long time because it’s very good at preventing crashes,” Fisher said in a phone interview. “We have telegraphed for some time that this was coming.”

A growing number of new vehicle models now include automatic emergency braking, often called AEB, as standard, including Subaru Corp’s Ascent, Consumer Reports’ 2019 top pick for the midsize SUV category.

Subaru was ranked as Consumer Reports’ top car brand, followed by Hyundai Motor Co’s luxury Genesis then Volkswagen AG units Porsche and Audi in third and fourth place, respectively. Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand ranked fifth.

GM, which constantly stresses it is aiming for “zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion,” did not respond to a request for comment.

This year’s top picks included several wins for Toyota Motor Corp, including for its full-size Avalon hybrid electric sedan and the Toyota Prius hybrid. Subaru won for its compact Forester SUV and its midsize Ascent SUV.

GM’s Chevrolet brand was ranked 23rd, while the Cadillac brand ranked 26th and GMC 27th.

Ford Motor Co’s Ford brand ranked 20th and its Lincoln brand 8th, but its best-selling F-150 pickup truck was named best pickup.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Chrysler brand ranked 22nd, with its Dodge brand 25th and Jeep brand in 29th place.

The automaker’s Fiat unit finished last among 33 brands rated.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; editing by Bernadette Baum and Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: EU urges Libyan rival forces to start talking

The Latest on the situation in Libya (all times local):

5:00 p.m.

The European Union's foreign policy chief has called on all sides in the escalating Libyan military conflict to stop fighting and start talking.

Federica Mogherini said Monday that European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg were united in their call for a truce.

Mogherini says all sides in the recent surge in fighting should "go back to the negotiating table under the auspices of the U.N. and make sure that the Libyan people get what they really want, which is peace and stability for their country."

The U.N. says that fighting over Libya's capital that erupted last week has already displaced 2,800 people. The death toll has risen to 49, including civilians.

Libya is a departure point for many refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

___

4:45 p.m.

The only functional airport in the Libyan capital has announced it was hit by an airstrike amid clashes between rival armed groups for control of Tripoli. No casualties were reported.

The official Facebook page of the Mitiga airport said a fighter jet attacked the facility on Monday. There were no other details.

A video circulated online shows a fighter jet firing and allegedly targeting the airport. The facility, located 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of the city center, originally functioned as a military base.

The fighting for Tripoli erupted last week when the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, began an offensive against the capital, clashing with rival militias that support the U.N.-backed government.

___

2:50 p.m.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Libya says 2,800 people have been displaced by fighting between rival militias over the capital, Tripoli.

Maria do Valle Ribeiro said Monday that clashes have prevented emergency services from reaching casualties and civilians, and have damaged electricity lines.

She warned that the increased violence is worsening the situation for migrants held in Tripoli's detention centers.

Fighting was underway Monday at the international airport, some 24 kilometers (15 miles) from central Tripoli.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, began an offensive against the capital last week.

Rival militias that support the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli have vowed to recapture all the areas recently seized by Hifter's forces.

The two sides reported that at least 41 people, including civilians, had been killed since Thursday.

Source: Fox News World

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Canada court orders fresh look into Trudeau visit to Aga Khan’s island

FILE PHOTO: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a Liberal Party caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
FILE PHOTO: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a Liberal Party caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo

April 16, 2019

OTTAWA (Reuters) – A federal judge has ordered Canada’s lobbying commissioner to reconsider a probe into whether the Aga Khan broke the rules by inviting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family to vacation on his private island at a time when his foundation was registered to lobby Trudeau’s office.

Canada’s previous lobbying commissioner declined to investigate a public complaint about the matter in 2017, saying that since the Aga Khan was not paid by his foundation, his offer of a luxury Caribbean vacation could not be seen as lobbying.

The Canadian prime minister was separately found to have broken ethics rules by accepting the vacation, though he did not face any penalties.

Trudeau has said that the Aga Khan is a close family friend.

Democracy Watch, a democracy reform advocacy group, challenged former Commission of Lobbying Karen Shepherd’s decision.

In a recently released ruling, Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson agreed that Shepherd’s scope was too narrow, quashing her decision not to probe the issue further. But he declined to order Canada’s new lobbying commissioner, Nancy Bélanger, to launch a formal investigation, instead returning the matter to her for reconsideration.

A renewed probe could revive a scandal that haunted Trudeau for months, with opposition politicians calling the luxury trip inappropriate and painting the prime minister as an out-of-touch elite.

When asked about the matter by reporters on Tuesday, Trudeau said: “We trust in the processes in place and respect the work that the court and the lobbying commissioner will do.”

Trudeau has said he has known the Aga Khan, Prince Shah Karim Al Husseini, since childhood. He and his family visited the billionaire philanthropist’s private island in the Bahamas in late 2016 and early 2017.

The ruling comes just months ahead of a federal election in Canada and as Trudeau is embroiled in another scandal over alleged interference in a corporate corruption case.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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Bahrain's Gulf Air says it is delaying, cancelling flights

The Bahrain-based long-haul carrier Gulf Air is acknowledging it is cancelling and delaying flights without explaining why.

Local media reported flight delays and cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday at the airline's main hub of Bahrain International Airport in Manama.

The airline, owned by the government of the island kingdom home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, said in a statement Wednesday that it is "working round the clock to stabilize the operation bringing back our schedule stability."

Gulf Air officials and government officials did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about what's causing the disruptions. Local Bahrain media suggested the airline faced a pilot shortage.

Source: Fox News World

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Volvo’s Polestar joins electric car race with rival to Tesla 3

Thomas Ingenlath, Chief Executive Officer of Polestar speaks during a launch event in Shanghai
Thomas Ingenlath, Chief Executive Officer of Polestar speaks during a launch event in Shanghai, China October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Adam Jourdan

February 27, 2019

By Esha Vaish

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Volvo Cars’ luxury performance brand Polestar unveiled online its first fully electric sedan on Wednesday, with a price and driving range to rival Tesla’s mass market Model 3.

The Polestar 2 will cost about 59,900 euros ($68,100) for its launch edition and can be driven for around 275 miles before it needs recharging – broadly in line with the Model 3’s current price in Europe of 58,800 euros and 260 miles range.

The Model 3 and Polestar 2 are cheaper than most of the electric models launched by traditional premium carmakers so far, as Tesla and Polestar bet mass market customers are on the verge of adopting battery technology. Both have also promised even lower prices later on.

Polestar’s launch comes as Tesla is trying to ramp up Model 3 sales in Europe and China, where recent government subsidies and programs are boosting the take up of electric vehicles. A cut in subsidies in the United States, in contrast, in dampening demand in the Californian start-up’s home market.

Tesla was dealt a setback this month after influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports withdrew its endorsement for the Model 3, citing reliability problems. Analysts say Polestar has strong engineering as it is built on the Volvo platform.

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told Reuters he hoped to sell “north of” 50,000 Polestar 2s in the 2-3 years after deliveries start from the first half of 2020, but said how much production capacity the company sets up would depend on market conditions.

“If the market develops fine, I don’t think the production volume will be the limitation. It depends much more on how the car resonates with the market, how the market develops and how the tariffs develops,” he said.

Carmakers including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are beginning deliveries of premium electric cars unveiled over the past year as they try to muscle in on a market that Tesla has dominated so far.

Securing the electric market has become increasingly important as demand for traditional combustion engine vehicles slows in China and Europe, partly due to tariffs stemming from Washington’s trade war with Beijing.

Although electric carmakers have also been affected, with Tesla having adjusted Model 3 prices in China after tariffs, Ingenlath said he expected electric sales to be supported by government subsidies and as the market grows from a low base.

Electric vehicle sales forecasts support this view.

Polestar 2 is the first of five fully electric vehicles that Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely, has promised.

The car will be available for online order initially in China, the United States and Canada as well as six European launch markets, and Ingenlath said he expected the three continents to each account for roughly a third of sales.

Volvo, which owns half of Polestar with the rest held by its parent Geely, said earlier this year it was talking to investors about raising funds to support Polestar’s electrification costs. Ingenlath said it was too early to give an update on how that was progressing.

(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Stockholm; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Explainer: Can Democrats get hold of the full Mueller report?

The Muller Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election is pictured in New York
The Mueller Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election is pictured in New York, New York, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

April 23, 2019

By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) – Congressional Democrats have taken legal action to obtain the full Russia report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, without redactions, as well as other evidence he uncovered in his 22-month investigation but there are obstacles in their way.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr must decide by May 1 whether to comply with a subpoena from Democrats and hand over the whole Mueller report into Russia’s role in the 2016 election, most of which was released last week.

In his report, Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russians to influence the election. The report also provided extensive details on Trump’s efforts to thwart Mueller’s investigation but the special counsel stopped short of charging the president with the crime of obstruction of justice.

Below is an explanation of the legal hurdles Democrats must clear in their subpoena effort, important judicial precedents and Barr’s rationale for keeping parts of the report confidential.

WHY DID BARR NOT RELEASE THE WHOLE REPORT?

Barr, who under federal regulations oversaw Mueller’s work, blacked out sections to hide certain details.

One category of redactions was information obtained through grand jury proceedings.

Grand juries are groups of citizens who decide whether to authorize criminal indictments or demands for evidence sought by prosecutors. Grand jury proceedings are highly secretive to avoid revealing the subjects of the investigation, and also to protect the privacy of anyone examined but not charged with a crime.

Federal laws generally require government lawyers like Barr to keep secret information obtained from grand jury proceedings, with few exceptions.

The other redactions fell into three categories: details that could expose and jeopardize U.S. intelligence gathering methods and sources; information about active law enforcement matters; and potentially damaging information about peripheral players who were not charged.

WHAT HAPPENS IF BARR IGNORES THE SUBPOENA?

A subpoena is a legally enforceable demand for information, meaning Congress has the power to force compliance.

Legal experts said that, if Barr refuses, the first step for the U.S. House of Representatives to force compliance would be a vote to hold him “in contempt.”

Legal experts said that Democrats would then likely file a civil lawsuit and ask a judge to order Barr to comply.

A similar subpoena fight unfolded during the presidency of Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. In 2012, the House, then controlled by Republicans, subpoenaed internal Justice Department documents related to a failed federal law enforcement operation to track illegal gun sales, dubbed “Fast and Furious.”

Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, refused to comply, citing a doctrine called executive privilege. The House voted to hold him in contempt, marking the first time in U.S. history that Congress took such action against a sitting member of a president’s Cabinet.

The court fight dragged on for years. In 2016, a judge rejected Holder’s executive privilege claim. That ruling eventually led to an far-reaching settlement in March 2018, after Obama and Holder left office, that called for the release of files and emails.

Because court fights can last for months or even years, it is likely congressional Democrats and the Justice Department would arrive at some sort of compromise.

Barr proposed allowing a select group of lawmakers to view a less-redacted version of Mueller’s report, but Democrats rejected that approach.

HOW ELSE COULD THE DEMOCRATS OBTAIN THE REPORT?

Congress could ask the judge who oversaw Mueller’s grand jury, Beryl Howell, to release certain transcripts and other information.

U.S. courts have said that judges have inherent authority to release grand jury materials when doing so is in the public interest.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Alistair Bell)

Source: OANN

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Childhood Disease “Outbreaks” Include Vaccinated, Unvaccinated Children – Report

Measles Outbreaks: How a Witch Hunt Against Parents of Unvaccinated Children Was Unleashed

We are witness to an orchestrated frenzy that has been revved-up by vaccine stakeholders – i.e., those who have a direct or indirect financial stake in vaccines– through the corporate / academic institutions that employ them. Their unified objective is to achieve maximum utilization of vaccines, and total compliance with vaccination schedules set by the government in collaboration with vaccine manufacturers.

Contrary to the barrage of “fake news” promulgated by government public health officials and the media to influence public opinion, the fact is, most childhood infectious disease “outbreaks” include both vaccinated and unvaccinated children. What’s more, when the infection has been tested, vaccine strain has often been identified as the cause of infection.

In 2015, a “measles outbreak” in California’s Disney Land garnered nationwide front page publicity and dire warnings by public health officials and vaccine “authorities”. They generated high public anxiety. This fear mongering led to the demonization of unvaccinated children, who were perceived as the spreaders of disease.

Never disclosed to the public, but known to CDC officials is the following evidence that has finally been published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (2017):

“During the measles outbreak in California in 2015, a large number of suspected cases occurred in recent vaccinees. Of the 194 measles virus sequences obtained in the United States in 2015, 73 were identified as vaccine sequences (R. J. McNall, unpublished data).”

Rebecca J. McNall, a co-author of the published report, is a CDC official in the Division of Viral Diseases, who had the data proving that the measles outbreak was in part caused by the vaccine. It is evidence of the vaccine’s failure to provide immunity.

But this crucial information has been concealed, and continues to be withheld from the public.  After all, how many have read the belated disclosure in the Journal of Microbiology?


Alex Jones exposes the globalist agenda to use government agencies to cover up their crimes against the population.

Current Mumps Outbreak Following Vaccination

The Texas Tribune headline announced: Nearly 200 People In Texas Detention Facilities Have Contracted Mumps, March 1 2019. Since October, 186 children and adults contracted mumps at migrant detention facilities across Texas, according to a state health agency. These include immigrants and employees.

Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services, said in an email that patients range in age from 13-66 and that “there has been no reported transmission to the community.” She added that the state doesn’t know the vaccination status of detained migrant adults or the children who entered the U.S. with them but that “all unaccompanied minors are vaccinated when they are detained.”

The Texas cases are not unique! Numerous similar outbreaks of mumps in have occurred in vaccinated children in New York, and in the U.S. Territory of Guam in 2009.

So, the mumps outbreak at Texas detention centers occurred following children’s MMR vaccination!  Does anyone fail to see the connection between vaccination and an infectious disease outbreak?

CDC Pink Book acknowledges:

“From 1985 through 1988, 42% of cases occurred in persons who were vaccinated on or after their first birthday. During these years, 68% of cases in school-aged children (5–19 years) occurred among those who had been appropriately vaccinated. The occurrence of measles among previously vaccinated children (i.e., vaccine failure) led to a recommendation for a second dose in this age group.

During the 1989 -1991 measles resurgence, incidence rates for infants were more than twice as high as those in any other age group. The mothers of many infants who developed measles were young, and their measles immunity was most often due to vaccination rather than infection with wild virus. As a result, a smaller amount of antibody was transferred across the placenta to the fetus, compared with antibody transfer from mothers who had higher antibody titers resulting from wild-virus infection. The lower quantity of antibody [in the vaccine] resulted in immunity that waned more rapidly, making infants susceptible at a younger age than in the past.”

CDC further acknowledges that: despite relatively high vaccination rates, small measles outbreaks continue to occur. Since 2008, most of these outbreaks were imported or linked to importation from other countries. In 2011, CDC reported 220 measles cases – “62% were in persons not vaccinated.” That means that 41% of measles cases in the U.S. were in vaccinated persons.

The CDC Pink Book further acknowledges that: “Some studies indicate that secondary vaccine failure (waning immunity) may occur after successful vaccination.” Evidence of MMR vaccine-induced infection undermines the protective rationale for its indiscriminate, mass use, much less, mandating its use against parents’ objections.

The empirical evidence is based on reality; the evidence cannot be wiped out by the faith-based “safe and effective” chant.

Empirical evidence refutes the faked epidemiological vaccine studies that are only draped with the mantle of “science.”

(Photo by flickr, niaid)

200 measles cases in the U.S. do not justify the current media frenzy; this frenzy is fomented by collaborating vaccine stakeholders with financial conflicts of interest who should be held accountable for subjecting an unknown number of children to defective vaccines – some of which were the cause of infectious disease outbreaks.

Two congressional hearings called for enforcement of mandatory childhood vaccination, citing the current measles outbreaks. The committees invited only vaccine promoters who endorsed mandatory vaccination of children, but not of adults.

February 27th hearing, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

Dr. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases declared: “Risks from vaccines are almost non-measurable…” In an earlier interview with Frontline, Dr. Fauci is on record stating:

“We know historically that it’s much more difficult to get adults vaccinated for a variety of sociological and other reasons, whereas when you have the children, you can get it out of the way …”

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC declared:

“I do believe that parents’ concerns about vaccines leads to under-vaccination, and most of the cases that we’re seeing are in unvaccinated communities. Outbreaks of measles occur when measles gets into these communities of unvaccinated people. The only way to protect against measles is to get vaccinated.”

March 5th hearing, Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) committee:  John G. Boyle, CEO of the Immune Deficiency Foundation (whose core benefactors are bio-pharma corporations) upped the decibel, declaring:

“The current decline in vaccine usage is literally bringing back plagues of the past.”

Senator Rand Paul, a HELP Committee member, was the only member of the committee who voiced some reservations about the stampede toward depriving U.S. citizens of their human right to choose what’s in the best interest of their children!

Why is the public health armamentarium aimed at eliminating “unvaccinated” children rather than on preventing a true catastrophic epidemic of neurodevelopmental injuries in children?

The focus of concern and public anger should be directed at the failure of the public health establishment to methodically investigate the contributing cause[s] of the genuine, empirically documented childhood epidemic – the relentless, ever-increasing rise in the number of neurologically injured children has climbed to 1 in 36 in the U.S. The numbers of those affected is now in the millions.

The viewpoints expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Infowars.


Owen Benjamin explains who really controls science.

Source: InfoWars

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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.”

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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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