Madrid (AFP) Aug 30, 2024
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China in September, his office said Friday, as Beijing and the European Union are locked in a trade standoff over Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles.
Sanchez's office did not provide details for the visit, which will run between September 7 and 12, but he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials during his trip.
Beijing (AFP) Aug 30, 2024
Chinese housing developer Vanke announced significant first-half losses on Friday, as local real estate firms contend with an industry-wide crisis compounded by declining home sales in a sluggish economy.
Vanke was the second-largest developer in China last year in terms of sales, according to specialist firm CRIC.
The company reported net losses of 9.9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in
Beijing (AFP) Sept 3, 2024
US climate envoy John Podesta will visit China this week for talks with counterpart Liu Zhenmin, state media said Tuesday, ahead of the COP29 summit in Baku in November.
The two officials will "have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation," state broadcaster CCTV said.
They will also discuss "their respective domestic climate policy actions and the multilateral process on
Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 3, 2024
Asian markets retreated Tuesday as investors steel themselves for a high-stakes US jobs report at the end of the week while keeping tabs on China after fresh data stoked renewed worries over the world's number two economy.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting this month but close attention is being paid to Friday's non-farm payrolls (NFP) figures,
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have identified a viable pathway for creating wind turbine blades from bio-derived materials that can be chemically recycled. This innovation could prevent old blades from ending up in landfills, instead allowing their components to be reused.
The study, published in the journal 'Science', details the
Beijing (AFP) Sept 1, 2024
China has vowed to beef up its vast Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, promising "high-quality cooperation" ahead of a summit with African leaders in Beijing starting on Wednesday.
Africa is already a key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region, with Chinese companies signing contracts there worth more than $700 billion between 2013 and 2023, according to Beijing's commerce minist
Doha (AFP) Sept 1, 2024
A large new solar plant planned in Qatar will double the Gulf emirate's previously projected renewable energy capacity by 2030, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced on Sunday.
The photovoltaic farm, which will be built in the Dukhan area some 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital Doha, will increase the gas-rich state's solar production capacity to four gigawatts by the end
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 27, 2024
Sandia National Laboratories and Arizona State University (ASU) have joined forces to advance quantum technology by transforming large-scale optical systems into compact, integrated microsystems.
Nils Otterstrom, a physicist at Sandia specializing in integrated photonics, leads the effort to scale down optical systems to chip size, enhancing their performance and scalability for applicatio
Nairobi (AFP) Sept 2, 2024
A massive oil project in Uganda co-owned by French group TotalEnergies and China's CNOOC is mired in reports of sexual violence, forced evictions and environmental damage, climate activists said Monday.
The $10 billion investment includes drilling for oil in the Lake Albert area in northwestern Uganda and building a 1,443-kilometre (900-mile) heated pipeline to ship the crude to Tanzania's I
Oslo (AFP) Sept 2, 2024
Electric car sales in Norway took a 94-percent share of the market in August - a new world record - statistics showed Monday, as sales in the rest of Europe stagnate.
Boosted by the Tesla Model Y, which accounted for 18.8 percent of sales, and to a lesser extent Hyundai's Kona and Nissan's Leaf, electric vehicles made up 94.3 percent of new car registrations, the Norwegian Road Federation
Stanford CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
A lithium-ion battery's very first charge is more momentous than it sounds. It determines how well and how long the battery will work from then on - in particular, how many cycles of charging and discharging it can handle before deteriorating.
In a study published in Joule, researchers at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center report that giving batteries this first charge at unusually high curr
San Francisco (AFP) Sept 1, 2024
Generative AI tools will save companies lots of time and money, promises Vik Singh, a Microsoft vice president, even if the models must learn to admit when they just don't know what to do.
"Just to be really frank, the thing that's really missing today is that a model doesn't raise its hands and say 'Hey, I'm not sure, I need help,'" Singh told AFP in an interview.
Since last year, Micro
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have identified a doughnut-shaped structure deep within Earth's liquid core, offering new insights into the mechanisms behind our planet's magnetic field.
The newly discovered structure, located thousands of kilometers beneath the Earth's surface, is confined to low latitudes and aligns parallel to the equator. Despite its significa
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) marked its fifth anniversary on August 29 with a review of its achievements and strategic objectives for the future. Senior leaders gathered for a panel discussion during a special edition of the Mitchell Institute's Schriever Spacepower Series in Colorado Springs on August 28, reflecting on the command's progress since its inception in 2019.
Gen. Stephen Wh
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall concluded a week-long trip aimed at reinforcing international partnerships and supporting Airmen and Guardians aligned with NATO's goals in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility from Aug. 19 - 25, 2024.
During the visit, Kendall engaged with senior leaders in Belgium, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, and Poland, reaffirming th
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Orbit Communication Systems Ltd. (TASE: ORBI), a key global supplier of maritime and airborne SATCOM terminals, tracking ground station solutions, and mission-critical airborne audio management systems, has secured a $6 million contract with a major Asian integrator. The contract involves the supply of advanced satellite communication systems for new naval military platforms, with deliveries sch
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
The U.S. Space Force's (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to build the second of three planned Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) sites, marking a significant step in the ongoing efforts to bolster space domain awareness. The DARC system is an advanced radar technology designed to track and monitor objects in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), a critical
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2024
Space Systems Command (SSC) has reached a significant milestone with the successful delivery of the first mission payload for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) sensing in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (NGG). This achievement, announced on Aug. 30, 2024, was made possible through a collaborative effort with Lockheed Martin Space and Raytheon Technologies Corporation.
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Hughes Network Systems, in collaboration with Boost Mobile, both subsidiaries of EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS), recently demonstrated advanced multi-transport network management capabilities designed to enhance the U.S. Navy's operational resiliency. The successful demonstration, conducted earlier this year, focused on remote network orchestration, wide area network (WAN) resilience, and secure Radio
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
Teams from across ESA and industry have worked continuously over the past four months to overcome a glitch that prevented BepiColombo's thrusters from operating at full power. The ESA/JAXA mission is still on track, with a new trajectory that will take it just 165 km from Mercury's surface on Wednesday.
Taking BepiColombo closer to Mercury than it's ever been before, this flyby will reduce
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Galactic Energy, a private rocket manufacturer based in Beijing, successfully completed the third sea-based launch of its Ceres 1 carrier rocket on Thursday afternoon.
To date, China has conducted 12 sea-based launches, utilizing four different rocket types: Long March 11, Smart Dragon 3, Ceres 1, and Gravity 1.
"The company said in a news release that the rocket blasted off at 1:22
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
After a year of rigorous testing, ESA's Hera mission, designed for planetary defense, is set to leave Europe and make its way to its launch site in the USA. The spacecraft, along with its companion CubeSats and additional equipment, was transported from ESA's ESTEC Test Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, marking a significant milestone for the mission team.
Scheduled for lift-off this O
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Prospect package, which includes a drill and a miniaturized laboratory, will be heading to the Moon's South Pole as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. This mission aims to uncover volatile substances, including water ice, beneath the lunar surface.
NASA has chosen Intuitive Machines for a 2027 mission that will explore the Moon in
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Outpost Technologies Corporation (Outpost), a leader in multi-ton Earth return systems aimed at advancing the space economy, has been awarded a $33.2 million, four-year Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract by the Air Force Ventures program (AFWERX). This funding will support the development and testing of a scalable heat shield, payload bus, and paragliding system as part of the Joint P
Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
Twenty years ago the MESSENGER mission revolutionized our understanding of Mercury. We sat down with project head and former Carnegie Science director Sean Solomon to talk about how the mission came together and the groundbreaking work it enabled.
Q: As the Principal Investigator of the MESSENGER mission, what were your personal highlights or proudest moments throughout the mission's durat