FORDISM 2.0

China's BYD to challenge Land Rover, Porsche with new EV brand Fang Cheng Bao offering SUVs, sports cars from US$54,800

South China Morning Post
Thu, August 17, 2023 

BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) builder, has launched a new premium brand that will pit the Chinese carmaker against the likes of Toyota's Prado, Land Rover and Porsche.

Wang Chuanfu, founder and chairman of Shenzhen-based BYD, told a press conference on Wednesday that the new Fang Cheng Bao brand will offer electric off-road-capable sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and sports cars, aiming not only to meet drivers' transport needs but also cater to their need to display their status and individualism.

"We hope the brand will accelerate the transition of the EV industry, with more new-energy vehicles replacing internal-combustion-engine counterparts," he said. "Fang Cheng Bao will turn each individual customer's dream into a reality."

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Fang Cheng literally translates as formula in Chinese, and Bao means leopard.

BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu speaks to reporters at the launch ceremony of the carmaker's new brand Fang Cheng Bao on August 16, 2023. Photo: Handout alt=BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu speaks to reporters at the launch ceremony of the carmaker's new brand Fang Cheng Bao on August 16, 2023. Photo: Handout>

Vehicles under the brand will use BYD's new plug-in hybrid platform, known as DMO, which stands for "dual-mode off-road", and will be equipped with the DiSus-P intelligent body control system.

The carmaker, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, said the first production model, the Leopard 5 SUV, will debut at the Chengdu Motor Show, which starts on August 25. BYD did not say when the vehicle will go into production.

The SUV is expected to be priced between 400,000 yuan (US$54,809) and 600,000 yuan, according to analysts.

The Leopard 5 is now undergoing tests under different weather and traffic conditions, while the company is also developing several other models targeting wealthy Chinese customers, BYD said.

In the off-road SUV segment, which is dominated by petrol-powered vehicles, only Great Wall Motor's Tank 500 has a plug-in hybrid version.

"BYD's drive to move up the value chain continues because Fang Cheng Bao vehicles will be much more expensive than its blockbuster products that are priced below 200,000 yuan," said Eric Han, a ­senior ­manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. "It appears to be very ambitious in expanding its production line."

BYD has historically been better known for cheaper electric cars priced below 200,000 yuan, about 30 per cent below premium models from Tesla and Chinese competitors such as Nio and Xpeng.

The carmaker, which dethroned Tesla as the world's largest EV maker last year, already builds and sells vehicles under the Dynasty and Ocean series, as well as the Denza and Yangwang brands.

In late June, BYD said it would begin delivering its Yangwang U8, a luxury car priced at 1.1 million yuan, in September. The U8's appearance evokes comparisons with Range Rover. It can accelerate to 100km/h from a standstill in 3.6 seconds, and its four wheel-side motors can rotate the vehicle in a so-called tank turn and even allow it to crab-walk sideways.

BYD launched two Denza-branded models in just one month between July and August, exuding its confidence about climbing up the value chain.

Shenzhen Denza New Energy Automotive, which is 90 per cent owned by BYD, began taking orders for its plug-in hybrid N8 model early this month. The car, expected to take on Li Auto's L8, the bestselling premium EV by a Chinese carmaker, ranges from 319,800 yuan to 326,800 yuan.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

After stellar debut, Vietnamese EV maker VinFast's shares drop for second day

Medha Singh
Thu, August 17, 2023


(Reuters) -Shares of Vietnamese electric automaker VinFast tumbled for a second straight session on Thursday, giving up some of the gains from a meteoric surge in its Wall Street debut that saw it eclipse the market values of Ford and General Motors.

VinFast's shares dropped nearly 34%, bringing the stock's total decline to 46% in the past two sessions.

With 99% of the company controlled by founder Pham Nhat Vuong, the stock's tiny float is susceptible to more volatility.

Just $44 million worth of VinFast's shares were traded on Thursday, compared to turnover of $27 billion in Tesla, which fell 2.8%.

Meanwhile, the cash-burning company's lofty valuation could be at risk as it looks to raise more capital over the next 18 months. It faces an ambitious annual goal set by Vuong to sell 50,000 EVs, more than twice the sales notched up so far this year.

"VinFast may well represent a new successful competitor in the EV space (but) unlike Tesla's entry years ago, the space is now crowded with offerings from several manufacturers," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey.

VinFast hit an eye-popping valuation of $85 billion on its first day of trading on Tuesday. That was more than three times the valuation at which it merged with a blank-check company Black Spade Acquisition, making it Asia Pacific's biggest M&A deal this year.

Followings deep losses in the past two days, VinFast's stock market value is now about $46 billion, compared to General Motors' value of $45 billion and Ford Motor's $47 billion value.

The automaker has also struggled to retain senior executives and offer share-based compensation at a time when it is looking to shift to a new "hybrid model" for sales, bringing in distributors and dealers for overseas markets.

Shares of other EV firms including Lucid and Fisker that listed through blank-check deals have also fallen since their debut.

"The initial strong debut seems trading driven – lots of buyers chasing a limited float – and it will be difficult for the stock to maintain this valuation, particularly once more shares become available," Meckler said.

After VinFast said on Tuesday it wants to sell its cars through dealers, in addition to its direct-to-consumer approach, several U.S. dealers contacted by Reuters said they were open to the idea.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Sriraj Kalluvila, Alexandra Hudson and Andy Sullivan)

Vietnam Tycoon Loses $18 Billion After EV Maker’s Shares Sink

Anders Melin
Fri, August 18, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- VinFast Auto Ltd.’s wild debut as a publicly traded company brought its founder along for the ride.

The Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker’s shares closed at $15.40 Friday, ending a roller-coaster week that saw the stock spike 255% to $37.06 on Tuesday, its first day of trading on the Nasdaq after merging with a blank-check company. That was followed by three days of declines.

Chairman and founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who controls all but a few shares of the company, saw his net worth tumble roughly 52% to $21.2 billion over the same three-day stretch, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Still, Vuong isn’t hurting. Because Bloomberg’s index hadn’t accounted for his stake in VinFast until the company completed its SPAC merger this week, he remains significantly richer than before the listing.

On paper, he gained almost $40 billion in the first trading day — one of the biggest wealth jumps ever recorded by the index.

Big share-price swings were to be expected. Vuong controls 99% of VinFast’s stock, mostly through his business conglomerate, Vingroup JSC. That leaves a small fraction for other investors to trade, meaning that even relatively small transactions can have a big impact on the price.

VinFast’s market capitalization peaked on Tuesday at $85 billion, when it was briefly ahead of General Motors Co. despite being on pace to make fewer sales this year than GM does in a week. It ended the week around $36 billion, still ahead of EV competitors like Rivian Automotive Inc., Nio Inc. and Lucid Group Inc.

--With assistance from Tom Maloney.

Iran reporter defiant after latest jail release

AFP
Thu, August 17, 2023 

Nazila Maroufian interviewed the father of Mahsa Amini (Alex MITA)

An Iranian journalist said Thursday she had no regrets over posting a picture of herself without a headscarf in defiance of Iran's dress laws, sharing a similar image following her latest release from jail.

Nazila Maroufian last year interviewed the father of the young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini whose death in police custody sparked months of protests.

She walked out of Tehran's Evin prison on Sunday after more than a month behind bars, posting on social media a picture of herself without a headscarf and the slogan "Don't accept slavery, you deserve the best!".

She was promptly detained again and moved outside of Tehran to Qarchak women's prison, where conditions have  been criticised repeatedly by human rights groups.

But Maroufian, whose age is given by Persian media outside Iran as 23, was then released from Qarchak on Wednesday, she posted on social media.

"Do you regret the photo you posted when you were released? Do you admit you made a mistake?" she asked herself in a rhetorical question in the post.

"No; I didn't do anything wrong," she added in reply, posting a similar image of herself bareheaded in a white shirt with her right arm stretched up in a 'V' for victory sign.

Last October, Maroufian published an interview on the Mostaghel Online news site with Amjad Amini, the father of Mahsa Amini whose death in custody last September after she allegedly violated the dress rules sparked months of protests.

In the interview, Amjad Amini accused authorities of lying about the circumstances of his daughter's death.

Iranian authorities have indicated she died because of a health problem, but the family and activists have said she suffered a blow to the head while in custody.

Maroufian, a Tehran-based journalist from Amini's hometown of Saqez in Kurdistan province, was first arrested in November.

She was later released but in January said she had been sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years, on charges of propaganda against the system and spreading false news.

Her rapid return to prison after posting defiant images on her release recalled the case of labour activist Sepideh Gholian.

In March, Gholian was rearrested hours after she walked free from jail bare-headed and chanting slogans against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Gholian, one of the most prominent female activists detained in Iran, remains in prison.

sjw/kir

Iran Is About to Make Its Hijab Laws Even Stricter

Armani Syed
Thu, August 17, 2023 



A woman, sans-head covering, at the Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran on Jan. 28. Defiant resistance to Iran's mandatory hijab law has spread across the country after nationwide protests that erupted last year. Credit - Arash Khamooshi—The New York Times/Redux

Almost a full year after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s so-called “morality police” galvanized mass protests, Iranian MPs are pushing for even more stringent punishments to deter women from violating its enforced modesty laws.

The Hijab and Chastity Bill—a draft law consisting of 70 articles—would intensify punishments for those seen flouting a dress code that became the flash point for the most widespread challenge to the Islamic Republic in four decades. The bill calls for increased fines and jail time, as well as the use of artificial intelligence to identify violators, according to CNN. These measures build on previous efforts to crack down on strict dress codes and identify unveiled women, including the addition of cameras in public places in April.

A straw poll taken Sunday saw 175 members of Iran’s parliament vote in favor of the move, while 49 voted against it, the BBC reported. If Iran's Guardian Council, a separate, unelected body in Iran’s elaborate theocratic system, approves the bill, it would go forward on a pilot basis for between three and five years. MPs could then progress these measures into permanent law.
More From TIME

Hijab—a headscarf conservative clerics say should be worn so snugly no hair is shown in public—became compulsory in Iran after the 1979 revolution, along with “modest” dress that cloaks the female body. By enforcing what many Muslim women said should be a matter of choice, the rule became a political symbol of the regime, showing that it is in control. But since last year’s protests broke out, more and more women have been moving about in public with their hair uncovered as an act of resistance.

Experts tell TIME that the new bill attempts to use financial coercion to deter women from collective activism. “This new bill has only one meaning: gender apartheid is legal in Iran and now they are backing legal ways to treat women like second class citizens,” Masih Alinejad, an exiled Iran journalist and human rights activist, tells TIME.

Read More: Iranian Dissident Masih Alinejad Won't Be Silenced

As passage of the bill approaches, here’s what to know.

What does the proposed bill entail?

Under Article 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, hijab is enforced under the vague guidance that anyone who “violates any religious taboo in public” is punishable with imprisonment or fines. Women forgoing the hijab or deemed to be wearing it improperly could land a fine of between 50,000 to 500,000 Iranian rials ($1.18 to $11.82), or between 10 days and two months imprisonment.

The new bill is much more specific in its approach and classifies improper hijab as its own crime—punishable by a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years as well as a significantly larger fine of up to 360 million Iranian rials ($8,508), according to figures reported by CNN. Also proposed in the draft law is harsher penalties for businesses, celebrities, and public figures who are seen to be encouraging or allowing the rules to be broken.

“The bill is probably one of the most concrete and tangible legislative efforts to signal the path that authorities are considering to take with regards to enforcement of compulsory hijab laws after the [protest] movements,” Tara Sepehri Far, a researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, tells TIME.

She called the bill a form of “economic repression” that will disproportionately affect people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who can no longer justify the steep price tag behind their activism. “Can you afford to pay a fine? Can you afford not earning money at your cafe for 10 days? Can you afford to not pay your rent for two months? All of those are very deliberate measures to break the resistance,” Sepehri Far says.

Read More: The Protests in Iran Have Shaken the Islamic Republic to Its Core

Why have leaders used Article 85 to push the bill through?

Article 85 of Iran’s constitution allows its parliament to pass a law without public debate. Sepehri Far notes that the article is intended for laws that require expert opinions at the committee level. But the government is increasingly using Article 85 to circumvent parliamentary procedure, including last year's The Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill, which rights groups say legitimized internet shutdowns and online censorship. In the case of the hijab bill, Article 85 allows hardliners to deal behind closed doors with an issue that has embarrassed the regime on the global stage, resulting in tens of thousands of arrests, and more than 500 deaths.

According to the BBC, at least one MP, Gholamreza Nouri-Qezeljeh, voiced his concerns about the bill, noting that it focuses too heavily on "criminalizing and punishing" women in breach of hijab laws.

Experts and activists echo this sentiment, saying the government is being calculated in its secrecy because it does not believe it has enough public support to push the bill through conventionally. “The reason for keeping it under wraps is fear of the public's, especially women's, reaction. The government is afraid of any kind of response and tries to achieve its goals at the least cost, but the issue is that their calculations often turn out wrong,” Alinejad says.

What message is the government sending to dissidents?

Women defying modesty laws, human rights defenders representing these individuals, and the journalists reporting on the movement have all been targeted and punished. Three actresses—Azadeh Samadi, Leila Bolukat, and Afsaneh Bayega—who chose to remove their hijab were diagnosed as mentally ill for choosing to forgo the hijab, and ordered to undergo enforced psychological treatments.

Sepehri Far says that the bill is the regime’s way of communicating that it will not back down, and to show onlookers, global and domestic, that they remain in control. “People have taken a step forward and at least created this alternative reality, and they're paying a huge price for it.”

She adds that the demonstrations shows people were willing to take enormous personal risk, and that may change if this bill passes.

But Alinejad remains hopeful that the people of Iran have nothing to lose. “The truth is, the paths of the government and the people have diverged, and each is going its own way,” she says.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.

Scorsese backs petition against Iran director's jailing

AFP
Thu, August 17, 2023 

US director Martin Scorsese reposted a campaign launched by his daughter after news of prominent Iranian movie director Saeed Roustaee's prison sentence emerged 

(LOIC VENANCE)

Martin Scorsese has backed a petition against the jailing of prominent Iranian movie director Saeed Roustaee for screening a film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director of "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas," reposted a campaign launched by his daughter Francesca this week after news of Roustaee's prison sentence emerged.

"Please sign this petition to bring justice to Saeed," Scorsese wrote on Instagram.

Roustaee, 34, was sentenced to six months' prison for the screening of his film "Leila's Brothers" at the Cannes festival last year, Iranian media reported Tuesday.

The film, which recounts the economic struggles of a family in Tehran, is banned in Iran.

Roustaee and the movie's producer, Javad Noruzbegi, were found guilty of "contributing to propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system," Iranian reformist daily Etemad said.

The sentence includes a ban on working for five years.

The filmmakers will only serve about nine days in prison, while the remainder "will be suspended over five years," according to Etemad, which added the verdict can be appealed.

In her petition Francesca Scorsese, an actor and director, wrote: "We now have less than 20 DAYS to help garner enough attention to appeal his sentence."

She urged supporters to sign so that Roustaee "can continue to be a force of good in the world."

The petition was two-thirds of the way to reaching its 15,000-signature target Thursday.

"Leila's Brothers" movie won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award at Cannes last year.

Official Iranian media has said the film "broke the rules by being entered at international film festivals without authorization," and the director refused to "correct" it as requested by the culture ministry.

Cannes festival organizers this week denounced "a serious violation of free speech for Iranian artists, filmmakers, producers and technicians."

Iran has long had a thriving cinema scene, with figures like Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi scooping awards around the world.

Roustaee has gained international renown since the 2019 release of his film "Just 6.5", an uncompromising look at Iran's drug problem and the brutal, and fruitless, police response.

amz/hg/tjj

Ford preparing white-collar workers to fill parts orders if UAW strikes

Breck Dumas
Thu, August 17, 2023 

Ford is readying plans for its white-collar salaried employees to step in and keep parts flowing in the instance that its blue-collar union workers walk off the job next month amid threats that the United Auto Workers are preparing to strike at Detroit's Big Three automakers.

The Detroit Free Press first reported that Ford is holding meetings with salaried workers like engineers to coordinate and prepare them for filling in at warehouses and operating forklifts to assure dealerships and customers that they are still able to obtain vehicle parts if operations shut down.

Ford is preparing its salaried employees to work in warehouses to keep parts flowing to dealerships if UAW workers strike next month.


The outlet obtained a recording of a Ford manager explaining the plans to salaried employees, along with internal company documents providing details.

"We are working hard to reach a new deal. But, like we do for any scenario where customer service could be interrupted, we need to plan for the possibility of a UAW strike," the manager says in the audio. "Our customers and dealers are counting on us to ship parts so we can keep Ford vehicles on the road."

UNITED AUTO WORKERS' CONTRACT TALKS WITH DETROIT AUTOMAKERS HEAT UP AS STRIKE THREAT LOOMS

The unnamed manager explained, "The continued operation of our Ford customer service depots will make the difference between first responders being able to respond to emergencies or not, utility trucks being able to respond to power outages or not, customers making it to work or not, and customers accessing health care or not. This is our core purpose for the company, giving people the freedom to move. That’s why we are preparing to supply dealer part orders in the event of a strike."

Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch confirmed the preparations to FOX Business and said in a statement, "We have a responsibility to our customers and dealers to ship the parts that keep Ford vehicles on the road – especially to keep first responders and other essential services running."

THE ROCK AND FORD CEO JIM FARLEY HANG OUT

Enoch added, "Like we would for any scenario where customer service could be interrupted, Ford is planning for the possibility of a work stoppage. Safety and customer service are top priorities for us."

The UAW has repeatedly threatened that its 150,000 members at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler owner Stellantis are prepared to strike if new deals are not reached in ongoing contract negotiations by the Sept. 14 deadline. The labor union said votes on strike authorization will take place next week.

Ford employs more hourly UAW members than any other automaker, and it said in a statement last week that the company looks "forward to working with the UAW on creative solutions" during the negotiations. But as the UAW noted last week, the clock is ticking on the talks.

U$A SLOW WALKING
Azerbaijan military assistance waiver delayed as review drags on

Eric Bazail-Eimil and Gabriel Gavin
Wed, August 16, 2023

The Biden administration appears to be slow-walking the renewal of a long-standing military assistance program to Azerbaijan amid growing warnings of ethnic cleansing in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Every year since 2002, the White House has issued a waiver to provide aid to Azerbaijan despite its campaign against Nagorno-Karabakh. That waiver has previously been completed before the summer, but this year it is still pending halfway through August.

Officials have offered no explanation for the delay. However, it coincides with increasing concern within the international community that Azerbaijan is responsible for a worsening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has hardened its stance against the ethnic Armenian population there in recent months, blocking the entry of commercial and humanitarian vehicles and shutting off the region’s access to gas and electricity. The U.N. Security Council will consider an appeal from Armenia to respond to the worsening situation Wednesday.

The delay in issuing the authorization — called the Section 907 waiver — also comes as the Biden administration pursues a long-elusive peace agreement between the two countries, one that experts say could be close. Ending assistance to Azerbaijan could rule out Baku’s participation in future negotiations.

These competing political pressures are creating a delicate landscape in the South Caucasus for the Biden administration, which is caught in a struggle between its values and the pragmatic realities of geopolitics.

“Going ahead with the 907 waiver at this particular moment would create a political firestorm for Biden,” said Matthew Bryza, a former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan and Bush administration official. “But killing the 907 waiver at this delicate diplomatic juncture would seriously risk derailing a peace treaty that is closer than it has ever been.”

Spokespeople for the State Department and the National Security Council confirmed that the military assistance waiver remains under review but denied that the current state of peace talks or recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh were affecting the timeline for renewing it.

“U.S. policy on Azerbaijan has not changed,” a State Department spokesperson said, adding “The United States values its strategic partnership with Azerbaijan.” The spokesperson was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic issue.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been controlled by its ethnic Armenian population since a war that followed the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijan launched an offensive to retake swathes of territory. A Moscow-brokered ceasefire paused the fighting, yet Russian peacekeepers deployed to the region have failed to maintain the status quo.

In December, Azerbaijan took control of the Lachin Corridor — the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world — and prevented humanitarian supplies including food and fuel from getting through.

The Armenian government has called it an effort to carry out “ethnic cleansing” in the region, while the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, last week issued a report arguing that ethnic cleansing is already underway in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In an interview, Moreno Ocampo argued that if the international community fails to act, it will be "complicit in genocide."

The U.S. and EU-brokered peace talks, meanwhile, have stalled in recent months as Azerbaijan has refused to hold mediated dialogues with leaders from Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian community.

Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act of 1992 bars the United States from offering assistance to Azerbaijan unless Baku takes “demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The White House first issued the assistance waiver in 2002 when Azerbaijan allowed the Bush administration to use the country’s territory as a land bridge to get troops into Afghanistan. That opened the door for wide-ranging military and security partnerships between the two countries.

Azerbaijan, a major producer of natural gas that shares a maritime and land border with Iran, has also proved to be a useful partner for the U.S. in the Middle East as a counterweight to Tehran.

Azerbaijan receives significant military and financial support from Washington. Amid growing tensions with neighboring Iran in 2018, the Trump administration stepped up funding for the country’s border guards, providing $100 million worth of equipment and other assistance, making the South Caucasus nation one of the main beneficiaries of American tax dollars in the region. During the 2020 war, more than a dozen Democrats including then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez of New Jersey, wrote to the State Department urging that support be suspended.

Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said that efforts to restrict military support for Azerbaijan were being orchestrated by "representatives of Congress who actually represent the Armenian lobby and aren't thinking about their own national interest." Such actions, he added, could be "detrimental" to the efforts of the U.S. and its allies in trying to secure a lasting peace.

The Armenian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

Armenian diaspora groups want the U.S. to halt military assistance to Azerbaijan. They argue U.S. attempts to influence Azerbaijan via Section 907 have fallen short.

Gev Iskajyan, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Artsakh, which lobbies for Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, explained that the U.S. has previously used the waiver in order to get concessions from Azerbaijan, only to relent and grant the waiver before Baku makes any changes.

“They dangle the waiver in front of [Azerbaijan], but at the last minute it’s always given,” Iskajyan said. “That strategy hasn’t been working.”

“There is a growing awareness on Capitol Hill that U.S. military support for Azerbaijan is enabling Aliyev to commit war crimes and human rights abuses against Armenians,” said Tim Jemal, president of the Global ARM advocacy group, which has been meeting with D.C. politicians as part of a push for sanctions. “There must be consequences for Azerbaijan’s bad behavior.”

A number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill want to see the waiver eliminated. “There is no justifiable reason to continue this waiver,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus said in a statement Monday, noting that Azerbaijan has used military equipment obtained from the U.S. against the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We have to be tougher with Aliyev if we want a peace deal,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). “What we’ve done so far hasn’t done anything to help a peace agreement, so getting tougher is more likely to achieve a good end.”

Eric Bazail-Eimil reported from Washington. Gabriel Gavin reported from Yerevan, Armenia.

SPACE WAR

Buying £4.4bn Nasa supplier will let us track hypersonic missiles from space, says BAE

Howard Mustoe
Thu, 17 August 2023 

BAE has purchased Ball Aerospace, a Nasa supplier that makes satellite instruments used on the James Webb Space Telescope - HANDOUT/NASA/AFP via Getty Images

BAE Systems has agreed to buy Nasa supplier Ball Aerospace for $5.6bn (£4.4bn), as the defence giant ventures further into space warfare.

The blockbuster acquisition, the largest in BAE’s history, will grant it technology that can track armies and weapons from space, in a move towards stopping hypersonic missiles that move five times faster than sound.

Ball Aerospace, which has 5,200 employees, sells hi-tech equipment to Nasa and the Pentagon, as well as working on the Hubble and James Webb telescopes.


It forms part of America’s booming space sector, which is now worth more than $200bn.

Charles Woodburn, chief executive of BAE, said he sees space as “becoming an increasingly important domain of future warfare”.

“It has been one of the areas that has seen the largest growth in defence budgets, and particularly in the US, which has the largest defence budget in the world,” he added.

BAE Systems chief Charles Woodburn hailed the ‘strong growth prospects and a close fit’ the Ball Aerospace deal provided - Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

BAE is one of several companies considering its response to the changing missile capabilities of Russia and China, both of which have tested hypersonics in recent years.

Typical rockets fly at about Mach 3, while hypersonics travel at a minimum of Mach 5, about 3,800mph which is five times the speed of sound.

Ships are thought to be particularly vulnerable to attack, especially if they face a number of the weapons at once – posing a major threat to the aircraft carriers that the West uses to project power across the world.

The deal for Ball will also improve BAE’s standing in the US, which is the firm’s biggest market and accounts for 44pc of its revenues.

This is followed by the UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

BAE, which makes the UK’s Typhoon fighter jets and all of its attack and nuclear submarines, has seen orders soar in the last year following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Tom Arseneault, president of BAE’s US business said technology that can track hypersonic weapons is now “moving into the space domain”.

He said 85pc of Ball’s revenues comes from its defence divisions.

However, in the US, Ball’s parent group is better known for its aluminium drinks cans and cups. It started off as a maker of kits for home bottling of jams, pickles and other preserves.

Analysts at Jefferies said the deal was a “good fit, although slightly expensive” as BAE will pay 14 times the firm’s earnings.

Earlier this month, BAE said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and funding for the UK’s new fleet of nuclear submarines had boosted sales.

Revenues jumped 11pc to £12bn for the first six months of the year, with further increases forecast.

In May, BAE was awarded a £1.8bn contract to build 246 CV90 armoured vehicles for the Czech Republic.

The vehicle is a big seller for BAE and has been bought by Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Sweden has agreed to donate 51 of them to Ukraine.

Sales also came from Poland, which purchased anti-aircraft missiles from MBDA, the European missile maker in which BAE has a stake.

Mr Woodburn has also discussed setting up weapons production inside Ukraine during talks with the country’s Volodymyr Zelensky, in a further sign of Britain’s role in arming Ukrainian forces.

The BAE chief said on Thursday that the Ball deal is a “unique opportunity to add a high quality, fast-growing, technology-focused business”.

“It’s rare that a business of this quality, scale and complementary capabilities, with strong growth prospects and a close fit to our strategy, becomes available,” he added

BAE buys US defence giant Ball Aerospace for £4.4bn

August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Thu, 17 August 2023 

UK defence contractor BAE Systems has said it has signed a multi-billion dollar deal to buy a company which supplies parts to the James Webb telescope and the US’s fighter jets.

BAE said it would buy Ball Aerospace from the Ball Corporation for 5.6 billion dollars (£4.4 billion), gaining it more than 5,200 new employees and a Colorado headquarters. More than 60% of those employees have security clearances in the US.

“The proposed acquisition of Ball Aerospace is a unique opportunity to add a high-quality, fast-growing, technology-focused business with significant capabilities to our core business that is performing strongly and well positioned for sustained growth,” said BAE chief executive Charles Woodburn.

Ball Aerospace has become a leader in space telescopes (Luke Watkinson/BAE/PA)


“It’s rare that a business of this quality, scale and complementary capabilities, with strong growth prospects and a close fit to our strategy, becomes available.”

It marks the end of the nearly 70-year journey for Ball Corporation and Ball Aerospace.

The latter was set up after the Second World War to find new revenues for the Ball business, which was worried that it could lose relevance as refrigeration ate into the need for the food canning market which it traditionally occupied.

Ball Aerospace went on to be involved in the space race, built components for the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. It also supplies parts for the US’s cutting-edge F-35 fighter jet, which is also in service in the UK.

We’re excited to announce the proposed acquisition of @BallAerospace, a leading space and defence technology company.

Find out more 👉 https://t.co/z6FIbyCLE5

— BAE Systems (@BAESystemsplc) August 17, 2023

Ball Corporation chief executive Daniel Fisher said: “Since 1956, generations of dedicated Ball Aerospace colleagues have transformed a business of humble beginnings into a thriving enterprise offering innovative capabilities in a world that needs rapid, scalable technology solutions.

“In recent years, the business has positioned itself to have an even greater contribution to customers’ missions and delivered fourfold growth and record levels of combined contracted and won-not-booked backlog.

“The complementary cultural fit of Ball Aerospace and BAE Systems and their combined position as a pure play aerospace and technologies company will leverage Ball’s recent investments in talent and facilities located across the country and centred in Boulder, Broomfield and Westminster, Colorado, to provide a multi-dimensional platform for vital national defence, intelligence, and science hardware, software and space-based assets.”

 

Image: Hubble captures cosmic cluster

by NASA

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling.

The massive cluster Abell 3322 is featured in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, in which the galaxy 2MASX J05101744-4519179 basks in the center. This distant galaxy cluster is a cosmic leviathan that is highly luminous at X-ray wavelengths. Observing galaxy clusters like Abell 3322 can advance our understanding of the evolution and interactions of dark and luminous matter in galaxy clusters, and also reveals powerful gravitational 'telescopes' that magnify distant objects through gravitational lensing. Knowing the location of these lenses can enable future observations with both Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxy cluster is located in the constellation Pictor, around 2.6 billion light-years from Earth.

Two of Hubble's instruments joined forces to create this image: Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Both are third-generation instruments that offer superb image quality and high sensitivity to astronomers studying a range of scientific questions. Both instruments provide images of wide areas of the night sky, but view slightly different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. WFC3 spans the spectrum from the ultraviolet through to visible light and the near-infrared. In contrast to the wide panchromatic coverage of WFC3, ACS was optimized for visible-light observations

Provided by NASA 

Image: Hubble gets galactic déjà vu

 Russia reports 'abnormal situation' at Luna-25 spacecraft

Sky News
Sat, 19 August 2023 



Russia has reported an "abnormal situation" at its moon-bound spacecraft which launched earlier this month.

Luna-25 is an unmanned robot lander and the country's first mission to the lunar surface in almost 50 years.

It's targeting a historic touchdown at the moon's south pole on Monday, but appears to have run into unspecified trouble while preparing for a pre-landing orbit.

Russia's space agency, Roskosmos, said its specialists were analysing the situation.

No further details have been provided.

It comes a week after the craft's data-collecting equipment was switched on following its launch from Russia's Vostochny cosmodrome in the country's far eastern Amur region.

The size of a small car, it blasted off on a Soyuz rocket and entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday. It's since sent back photos of the Zeeman crater, the third deepest in the lunar surface's southern hemisphere.

Russia hopes when Luna-25 lands, it will spend a year collecting samples of rock and dust to get a sense of whether the moon could support a permanent base for humans.

Historic trip to find water ice

The region where it's aiming to land is known for its rough terrain, but is also thought to hold pockets of water ice.

If it does, it could be used for fuel, oxygen, and drinking water, potentially allowing for longer human trips.

Russia is racing against India to make the ambitious landing, with its rival having launched its own lunar lander Chandrayaan-3 last month.

Space agencies including NASA have detected frozen water in the moon's south pole craters before, but no country has ever actually ventured into the region.

A previous attempt by India crashed near where Chandrayaan-3 hopes to land on Wednesday.

Indian lunar lander splits from propulsion module in key step

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

India's latest space mission completed a key step in the country's second attempt at a lunar landing, with its Moon module separating from its propulsion section on Thursday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, had "successfully separated" from the propulsion module six days ahead of a planned landing slated for August 23.

"Thanks for the ride, mate!" ISRO said in a post on the social media platform X.

ISRO said the propulsion module now "continues its journey in the current orbit for months/years" as part of efforts to study exoplanets, or planets outside Earth's solar system.

Instruments onboard will "perform spectroscopic study of the Earth's atmosphere and measure the variations in polarization from the clouds on Earth—to accumulate signatures of Exoplanets that would qualify for our habitability!"

The world's most populous nation has a comparatively low-budget aerospace program, but is rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global space powers.

Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface.

If the rest of the current mission goes to plan, the lander will safely touch down near the Moon's little-explored south pole between August 23 and 24.

India's last attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago when ground control lost contact moments before landing.

Developed by ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module named Vikram, which means "valour" in Sanskrit, and a rover named Pragyan, Sanskrit for "wisdom".

The mission comes with a price tag of $74.6 million—far lower than those of other countries, and a testament to India's frugal space engineering.

The rover has a mission life of one lunar day, or 14 Earth days.

ISRO chief S. Somanath has said his engineers carefully studied data from the last failed mission and tried their best to fix the glitches.

India's space program has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.

© 2023 AFP  Indian lunar landing mission enters moon's orbi

 

NASA's Psyche mission to a metal world may reveal the mysteries of Earth's interior

by Jim Bell, The Conversation

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

French novelist Jules Verne delighted 19th-century readers with the tantalizing notion that a journey to the center of the Earth was actually plausible.

Since then, scientists have long acknowledged that Verne's literary journey was only science fiction. The extreme temperatures of the Earth's interior—around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,537 Celsius) at the core—and the accompanying crushing pressure, which is millions of times more than at the surface, prevent people from venturing down very far.

Still, there are a few things known about the Earth's interior. For example, geophysicists discovered that the core consists of a solid sphere of iron and nickel that comprises 20% of the Earth's radius, surrounded by a shell of molten iron and nickel that spans an additional 15% of Earth's radius.

That, and the rest of our knowledge about our world's interior, was learned indirectly—either by studying Earth's magnetic field or the way earthquake waves bounce off different layers below the Earth's surface.

But indirect discovery has its limitations. How can scientists find out more about our planet's deep interior?

Planetary scientists like me think the best way to learn about inner Earth is in outer space. NASA's robotic mission to a metal world is scheduled for liftoff on Oct. 5, 2023. That mission, the spacecraft traveling there, and the world it will explore all have the same name—Psyche. And for six years now, I've been part of NASA's Psyche team.

Credit: The Conversation

About the asteroid Psyche

Asteroids are small worlds, with some the size of small cities and others as large as small countries. They are the leftover building blocks from our solar system's early and violent period, a time of planetary formation.

Although most are rocky, icy or a combination of both, perhaps 20% of asteroids are worlds made of metal, and similar in composition to the Earth's core. So it's tempting to imagine that these metallic asteroids are pieces of the cores of once-existing planets, ripped apart by ancient cosmic collisions with each other. Maybe, by studying these pieces, scientists could find out directly what a planetary core is like.

Psyche is the largest-known of the metallic asteroids. Discovered in 1852, Psyche has the width of Massachusetts, a squashed spherical shape reminiscent of a pincushion, and an orbit between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. An amateur astronomer can see Psyche with a backyard telescope, but it appears only as a pinpoint of light.

About the Psyche mission

In early 2017, NASA approved the US$1 billion mission to Psyche. To do its work, there's no need for the uncrewed spacecraft to land—instead, it will orbit the asteroid repeatedly and methodically, starting from 435 miles (700 kilometers) out and then going down to 46 miles (75 km) from the surface, and perhaps even lower.

An artist’s rendition of Psyche, a spectacular metallic world.

Once it arrives in August 2029, the probe will spend 26 months mapping the asteroid's geology, topography and gravity; it will search for evidence of a magnetic field; and it will compare the asteroid's composition with what scientists know, or think we know, about Earth's core.

The central questions are these: Is Psyche really an exposed planetary core? Is the asteroid one big bedrock boulder, a rubble pile of smaller boulders, or something else entirely? Are there clues that the previous outer layers of this small world—the crust and mantle—were violently stripped away long ago? And maybe the most critical question: Can what we learn about Psyche be extrapolated to solve some of the mysteries about the Earth's core?

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, undergoing final tests in a clean room at a facility near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

About the spacecraft Psyche

The probe's body is about the same size and mass as a large SUV. Solar panels, stretching a bit wider than a tennis court, power the cameras, spectrometers and other systems.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will take Psyche off the Earth. The rest of the way, Psyche will rely on ion propulsion—the gentle pressure of ionized xenon gas jetting out of a nozzle provides a continuous, reliable and low-cost way to propel spacecraft out into the solar system.

The journey, a slow spiral of 2.5 billion miles (4 billion km) that includes a gravity-assist flyby past Mars, will take nearly six years. Throughout the cruise, the Psyche team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and here at Arizona State University in Tempe, will stay in regular contact with the spacecraft. Our team will send and receive data using NASA's Deep Space Network of giant radio antennas.

Even if we learn that Psyche is not an ancient planetary core, we're bound to significantly add to our body of knowledge about the solar system and the way planets form. After all, Psyche is still unlike any world humans have ever visited. Maybe we can't yet journey to the center of the Earth, but robotic avatars to places like Psyche can help unlock the mysteries hidden deep inside the planets—including our own.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Huge solar arrays permanently installed on NASA's Psyche spacecraft

NASA's New Horizons will investigate Uranus from the rear 

 (Neptune, too). Here's how you can help

Keith Cooper
Wed, August 16, 2023 at 1:30 PM MDT·4 min read

Rendering of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which visited Pluto in 2015, is embarking on an observing campaign of the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune – and scientists need your help.

Although New Horizons is now far beyond both Uranus and Neptune, throughout September it will be turning its Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) back to look at both planets from a vantage point more than 5 billion miles from Earth. In doing so, it will be seeing these worlds from the opposite direction to how we see them from Earth.

To ensure wide coverage of the two planets from a variety of angles, New Horizons will be joined in this endeavor not only by the Hubble Space Telescope, but also by amateur astronomers all over the world who are being asked to contribute observations throughout the month.


Of all the planets in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune are the least understood. They've only been visited once before, by Voyager 2 in 1986 and 1989 respectively, and their sheer distances mean they can't be seen in great detail from Earth. So, there's still lots to learn about them, which is the incentive behind New Horizons' observing program.

Related: New Horizons: Exploring Pluto and Beyond

New Horizons' primary science objective for these observations is to learn more about how the atmospheres of the two worlds absorb and emit heat energy as well as how thermal energy is transported from the planets' presumably rocky cores toward their outer atmospheres. Uranus, in particular, is odd in this regard because it appears to have hardly any heat flowing from its interior into space. Neptune, despite being a similar planet at first glance, radiates over two and a half times more energy into space than Uranus does.

There are several possible explanations for why hardly any heat seeps out of Uranus. One is that an impact may have knocked Uranus onto its side billions of years ago, causing the planet's core to lose all its heat at once. Another explanation is that some kind of layer deep within Uranus' atmosphere blocks heat from escaping.

New Horizons' observations intend to get us closer to an answer.

"By combining the information New Horizons collects in space with data from telescopes on Earth, we can supplement and even strengthen our models to uncover the mysteries swirling in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune," Alan Stern, New Horizons' principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. "Even from amateur astronomer telescopes as small as 16 inches, these complementary observations can be extremely important."

No spacecraft has visited Uranus since the Voyager 2 mission's 1986 flyby.

Telescopes with apertures of 16 inches are technically considered quite large for amateur astronomers. With a telescope of this size, observers will be able to image and track activity in the atmospheres of both planets. This activity is driven by the flow of thermal energy, both from inside the planet and from the sun, and comes in the form of huge, swirling storms that appear as bright spots in the atmosphere.

The upcoming coverage from New Horizons, the Hubble Space Telescope and hundreds of amateur astronomers worldwide is planned to be the most complete survey of Uranus and Neptune ever completed.

Given the placement of Uranus and Neptune in our sky during September, New Horizons' observing campaign also comes at just the right time for amateur astronomers.

Neptune is at opposition on Sept. 19, with Uranus following two months later on Nov. 13. Opposition occurs when a planet is directly opposite the sun as seen from Earth, which means the planet is invariably at its best and brightest.

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Neptune will appear to reside in the constellation of Aquarius during September, shining at magnitude +7.8. It'll be modestly high in the southern sky for northern hemisphere observers, sitting just two degrees south of the celestial equator. Uranus is expected to be brighter at magnitude +5.7 and much better placed in the constellation of Aries.

Although resolving atmospheric details through the eyepiece will require telescopes with larger apertures, you can also pick out both planets with 10x50 binoculars and resolve them as tiny disks through an 8-inch telescope. So even if you can't contribute to NASA's atmospheric monitoring endeavor, you can still join in and observe the planets from your backyard, or better yet, local dark site.

Observers are encouraged to post their images with supporting info to social media using the hashtag #NHIceGiants, where the New Horizons team will collate them all and select the best for inclusion in the study.