Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.

Chinese startup launches third methane rocket

Summary: A Chinese space startup called Landscape has successfully deposited a trio of satellites in orbit using a methane-liquid oxygen, or methalox-fueled rocket—the third time it’s attempted such a launch, the second time it’s done so successfully, and the first time it’s then deployed satellites in orbit.

Context: This is notable because these Zhugue-2 rockets are meant to eventually be reusable up to 20-times apiece, which could grant China’s space program some of the economic benefits the rest of the world currently enjoys due to SpaceX’s renewable offerings; it’s also notable because of that methalox fueling setup, which could allow the company to transition to a full-flow staged-combustion-cycle engine by 2028, which in turn could allow it to launch rockets that are of-a-kind with SpaceX’s currently in-testing Starship, which some analysts expect to revolutionize the space-launch industry because of how much mass it will allow the company to haul into space with each launch.

—SpaceNews

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Guatemala prosecutors threaten to annul victory of President-Elect Arevalo

Summary: The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala has announced that President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo’s recent victory is “unalterable” following suggestions by public prosecutors that they were considering annulling the election’s results.

Context: The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States has called the prosecutor’s statements about annulling the vote an attempted coup d'é·tat, and these prosecutors have previously been accused of self-serving, undemocratic actions by internal and external agencies, governments, and watchdog groups; the prosecutors said that Arevalo improperly gathered signatures for his campaign and mishandled campaign funds, and should thus be stripped of his political immunity so he can face legal justice, and that then snowballed into the prospect of doing away with the results of the vote entirely; there was a fair bit of public backlash against this threat, and the aforementioned Supreme Electoral Tribunal has said the President-Elect will step into office as planned, but there’s enough history of corruption by public officials in the country that this has raised both hackles and concerns in Guatemala and throughout the region.

—Al Jazeera

State Department approves sale of tank ammunition to Israel in a deal that bypasses Congress

Summary: The US government announced, over the weekend, that it has approved an emergency sale of not-quite 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million to Israel.

Context: This approach allowed the Biden administration to bypass Congress and speed up the sale and delivery of this ammunition, which in turn bypasses some of the tricky questions being raised in Congress about potential humanitarian strings that might be attached to any additional support provided to Israel as it continues its invasion of the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants, creating a severe humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in the region as a consequence.

—The Associated Press

The folks behind the Paramount+ and AppleTV+ streaming services are reportedly discussing the possibility of offering a bundled, discounted service—though even if the bundle happens, their paired offerings would still be pretty meager (in terms of quantity, at least) compared to rival streaming options (many of which are available at the same or similar price-points).

—Chartr

>482,000

Number of Afghans living in Pakistan who have been returned to Afghanistan following a two-month crackdown on foreigners living in the country illegally, according to Pakistani officials.

The Pakistani government has said it’s not targeting Afghans specifically with this roundup, but the vast majority of foreigners living in Pakistan are from Afghanistan, and the vast majority of people who have been expelled are the same.

—The Associated Press

Trust Click

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