Lebanon’s government stepped down on Monday night, less than a week after a massive explosion in Beirut killed more than 160 people and sparked days of violent protests.Prime Minister Hassan Diab addressed the nation, announcing his resignation and that of his government in the wake of the blast, which he called a “disaster beyond measure.”In an impassioned speech, Diab berated Lebanon’s ruling political elite for fostering what he called “an apparatus of corruption bigger than the state.””We have fought valiantly and with dignity,” he said, referring to members of his cabinet. “Between us and change is big powerful barrier.”
Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Russian government on Monday to reconsider its restrictions on US-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“Russian authorities continue to stifle independent information and free speech. Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are a vital source of information for Russians. We urge the Russian government to reconsider these new restrictions on free media,” Pompeo tweeted.
Back in 2017, Russia designated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America as “foreign agents.” after,
U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report in January that the television station RT America , which broadcasts on cable in the United States, is “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine” and that it contributed to the Kremlin’s campaign to interfere with last year’s presidential election in favor of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump.
After that report, the Department of Justice insisted that RT America comply with registration requirements under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Under the act, RT will be required to disclose financial information.
Hubble is an astronomical telescope, but there is now a new successor to it, James Webb Space Telescope. But the James Webb Telescope is not actually made of glass, but a precious metal beryllium. Beryllium is very important. In fact, this substance was discovered in ancient times. Pure beryllium is highly toxic and is recognized as a super cancer causing agent. But all the beryllium compounds in nature are non-toxic and beautiful. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine, the best of them is the famous cat’s eye stone. And with changes in light intensity, the cat’s eye line in the cat’s eye stone opens. In the early days, the scale of beryllium production was very small, until the situation improved after World War II. Global beryllium production in 2015 was only 349 tons, with the U.S. producing about 250 tons and China about 50 tons. Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union had about 40 tons. The mining countries are very sensitive to trade and are sale is generally not allowed. The U.S. allows only certain countries to import, resale to other countries is not allowed without U.S. consent. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan’s annual production of beryllium was between 170 and 190+tons, the second largest in the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, production dropped dramatically, exports mainly to China.
The density of Beryllium is similar to Magnesium and is almost two-thirds of aluminum. However, the strength of Beryllium and Tungsten is four times that of aluminum. The melting point is about 128 degrees Celsius. Beryllium bronze spring is the key material for China’s early torpedoes shooting depth control key components. Beryllium brushes in motors to drive the motor in high-speed electric torpedoes, this is currently the only ideal material. In addition, in the use of laser weapons, Beryllium has property for non-visible light reflectivity 50%, ultraviolet reflectivity 55%, infrared reflectivity of 98%. And with higher density than silicon carbide, it is considered to be the most ideal material for space laser systems. United States, Europe, Russia and other countries treat the processing technology as a state secret. They strictly prohibit the sale of its processing technology and finished products to China. China is constantly perfecting and improving the relevant technology , in order to catch up with the technology of these countries. Hubble is still the most accurate rotor gyroscope in the world. Beryllium is the key material of the electrostatic gyroscope. The electrostatic gyroscope is the highest precision inertial navigation equipment. China began researching it in the 1960s and only made a major breakthrough in 2005. Now China has successfully made electrostatic gyroscopes in China and uses them with an accuracy that reaches the international advanced level.
It is reported that China has recently discovered an extra-large beryllium deposit in Xinjiang, with a cumulative proven prospective reserve of 4,183 tons of beryllium ore, ranking first in the world. China is a vast country and possesses a large amount of natural resources. The 柴达木盆地 Chaidamu Basin is known as the Treasure Basin. It is home to 25 billion tons of pigments and more than 1.2 billion tons of oil resources. The natural gas resources are estimated to be 293.7 billion cubic meters. However, due to geological reasons, the oil and gas exploration here is also a world-class problem. To solve this challenge, in 2017, PetroChina set up a major project on key technologies in the Chaidamu Basin . Since then, more than 1,000 scientific and technical workers have spent 10 years and finally expanded the effective survey area of 12,000 square kilometers by 2017. Today it has guided the Qinghai oilfield to make five consecutive discoveries of over billion tons of oil. New proven oil and gas reserves of 460 million tons and gas production rose from 4.19 million tons to 7.38 million tons. The solution to this problem has also led to the securing of China’s gas resources. And recently it has been pointed out that China has dug up a huge amount of white gold, and it is a hundred times more expensive than oil. That is, Lithium, is currently known to be the lightest metal, but also a strategic resource, can be widely used in aerospace technology and other fields. It is the green energy metal that can change the world in the 21st century. China, the United States and Japan are Lithium consumption countries. In particular, China’s consumption of Lithium accounted for 47% of the world. Yet China has less than 30% of the lithium resources. Recently China’s Sichuan Aba Prefecture四川阿坝州可尔因矿集区 found a mega reserve of about 52 trillion tons of lithium. China’s lithium reserves is not to be underestimated. Japan, a large lithium consuming country is said to be able to provide extraction technology in exchange for China’s low-cost lithium ore. But China rejected it. Since the U.S. raised tariffs on May 6, Trump’s job is to rule the country thru Twitter, President Xi, however, went to Jiangxi on business the same day. The unsuspecting onlookers are a little anxious and wondered why? Today, the People’s Daily published an article on rare earths and everything became clear. The People’s Daily article even uses the word “weapon of mass destruction”, to describe China’s use of rare earths to counter the US. In fact, earlier yesterday, the NDRC responded by saying this. “Jiangxi is an important province in the central part of the country, and the region of Ganzhou赣州, where Gannan赣南 is located, is part of the former 原中央苏区, which made great sacrifices for the victory of the Chinese revolution. If anyone wants to use products made from rare earths imported from us, to suppress China’s development. I don’t think the people of Gannan and China will be happy.” To put it simply, rare earths are extremely valuable because of their scarcity and the difficulty of extracting and processing them. Not only precious, but critical. This is because rare earths are essential materials for countless highly sophisticated industries. The rare earth Rhenium is used as on the stealth plane that dominated the battlefield, is essential raw materials for night vision thermal imaging. It is also used in tanks and aircraft, electronic lasers, nuclear industry, and superconductors. It’s even used in iPhones, cameras, heads, light bulbs, TVs. There is no substitute. That’s why the U.S. said in Iraq that whoever controls the rare earths will control the battlefield.
So who has the rare earths? China is the world’s largest supplier of rare earths. So far, the U.S. relies entirely on imports for rare earths, and 80% is sourced from China. That’s why there is a saying on the internet that China has 3 cards up its sleeve and the trump card is rare earths. Is this really true? In fact, no one really knows, the so-called bottom card is never reviewed because the bottom card is the last bargaining chip. There’s no back up after you’ve used it. The cards in Trump’s hand have been showed. China’s bottom card is still in its hand. The most distressing thing about rare earth is that for 30 years before the 1990s, the world’s first power was originally the United States. 1949, the United States discovered the Mountain Pass Mine rare earth mine in California. For a long time, the world looked to the United States for rare earths, and the United States looked to the Mountain Pass Mine for rare earths. It was just after World War II, the U.S. economy took off, and color television sales entered thousands of homes. And color TV screens just can not do without rare earths. Molycorp, the owner of the Mountain Pass Mine made a lot of money as a result. The wilderness mine lay profitable 30 years ago until the 1980s but suddenly the US government blackmailed. The reason was a leaking 600,000 gallons of wastewater from the wastewater treatment pipe that evaporated in three days on the side of the highway, with radioactive material. Thorium and Radium. The lawsuit lasted until the late 1990s, when Molycorp paid a $1.4 million fine. Although the money was a small amount, the fine made Molycorp uncomfortable. America is not making good money anymore. Where the money was good, China. In the 1990s, when Bayan Obo Mining District 白云鄂博矿区 was in rare earth madness, China was cheaper than dirt, and to buy was to earn. Molycorp also decided to open the field to Bayan Obo . In 2002, after half a century of glory, only a green water was left in the huge pit of Mountain Pass Mine. Molycorp may be proud of his own business algorithm. But he didn’t realize, not even all of America, that more and more toxic companies would move from the world to China after that. A huge industrial chain will be formed. And while the U.S. lies back and enjoys the investment returns, it gives its rare earth industry to China. China traded the environmental cost for skilled technical research personnel. Thirty years ago, Bayan Obo was just a market for primary ores. Thirty years later, there is a whole industrial chain of rare earths here. In 2010, global rare earth prices skyrocketed due to the tense situation in the Diaoyu Islands. The two pillars of Japan’s economy, automotive electronics industry is completely inseparable from rare earths, and more than 90% of imports are from China. It turns out that 450,000 jobs on the other side of the world, in the European Union, were affected in terms of industrial output. Yes, everyone was in a cold sweat. When did Chinese rare earths become so evil? The U.S. government urgently investigated the global rare earth chain. The results of the investigation were a shocker. China produces 95% of the world’s rare-earth raw materials, 97% of its rare-earth oxides, and 90% of its rare-earth metal alloys. 75% such Neodymium magnet and 60% of mountain solitons. From the mining and separation of rare earths, to the refining and refining of the oxides to magnetic materials. The US has no place in the global supply chain. What’s that saying, when time abandon you, you don’t even say goodbye. In 2010, the Americans turned on the eight-year-old abandoned Mountain Pass Mine rare earth mine. The environmental pollution was still there. But the Americans couldn’t care less. Two years later, this property produced its first rare earths. An annual production of just 800 tons, compared to China’s 100,000 tons. The next year, Mountain Pass produced 4,000 tons. This is not an inspirational story, as it held up until 2015, when the owner of the rare earth mine finally went bankrupt. Everyone realized how hard it was to rebuild the US rare earth industry. In 2017 the Mountain Pass mine, which had been dormant for three years, was packaged for sale with an asking price of $20.5 million. This is a dirt cheap price, and if you sell a Beijing 2nd Ring apartment, you can afford to buy two rare earth mines.
One of the propective buyer is Chinese. The patriotic mine owner immediately flew to the White House to snitch to Trump. The White House’s heart was in its throat. The first reaction was to take back the rare earth mines. The state blocked the Chinese takeover plan. In the end Mountain Pass was owned by three companies, the Chinese owned only 10% of the shares. Trump is so nervous because he’s been ready for a trade war for a long time and rare earths are his big weakness. Mountain Pass is once again under construction. But alas. They have no other choice but to ship the ore to China for processing. It takes a complete industrial system to turn ore into metal, to make metal-processed magnet batteries and iPhones. In an interview with the New York Times, the executive of Lynas Corp , the largest producer of rare earths outside China , said. I think there are about 100 PhD’s in the technology industry that are working on applications within China and working on technology development. Do you know how many Ph.D.s there are outside of China? With the fingers of his right hand he made a zero. This game of US-China trade war is in full swing. The bottom card is not to be played, but rather to be deployed. China’s bottom card has not yet been played, and it doesn’t want to. The sword does not have to be unsheathed, and when it does it hurts. And how many cards are left in Trump’s hand?
8-20 China’s exports of rare earths have fallen sharply since the beginning of the year, dropping 69.1 percent in July compared with the same month a year earlier. In July, exports of rare earths were only 1,620 tons, compared to 5,243 tons a year earlier. The decrease in exports became evident after April. According to analysis, this was due to the global spread of the neo-crown epidemic, which led to a decline in foreign demand and disruptions in international logistics.
Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores and confronting police after officers shot a suspect in Englewood hours earlier. The mayhem marked the second time since late May that the city’s upscale shopping district has been targeted by looters amid unrest, reigniting the debate over policing as city leaders continued to point fingers and downtown again was shut down overnight heading to Tuesday. As businesses owners boarded up shops and braced for the possibility of additional looting, some cautioned against simplifying the situation or blaming any single issue. “It’s not just people looting,” said Patsy Mullins, whose Gold Coast store, Accessorize, was completely emptied. “Let’s dig to the root of the problem, let’s not look at the surface. … We need to get to the bottom of this. Otherwise, well, this problem will never be solved and it will continue again and again.”
In the future, the hard drive used in our computers may not be a semiconductor, or a group of E. coli bacteria, but from a silkworm cocoon.
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first natural bioprotein hard disk memory – silk hard disk: in addition to storing information, it can also contain things such as blood samples, DNA, vaccines, and even implanted in living organisms.
On August 10, Tao Hu陶虎, a researcher and doctoral supervisor at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of the 2020 Frontier Lab at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems, told Pharma News (www.thepaper.cn) that the silk hard drive can store both digital and vital information; its biocompatibility is good, and it can be implanted into living organisms, such as the human body, preserved for long periods of time or even permanently, like the nameplates worn by soldiers in movies, made into life-giving nameplates that can never be lost; and made into life-controlled time capsules that can degrade and disappear in a controlled manner according to settings. It is expected to save information in extreme conditions such as outer space.
Taohu said that for the silk hard drive is not afraid of strong magnetic fields and strong radiation. In the microwave oven 30 minutes after the high fire, the silk hard disk information is still “safe and sound”. Silk hard disk storage capacity has reached 64GB per square inch, equivalent to 0.5TB.
The Saiteng OASSIST ECMO system was developed by Jiangsu Saiteng Medical Technology Co 江苏赛腾医疗科技有限公司 in Suzhou Industrial Park. The pre-charge amount of the pump head of the system is smaller with more even flow field compared with other ECMO machines, media reports said.
This is also the only domestic ECMO system in China that has begun the registration process.
So far, the OASSIST ECMO system has finished several animal trials successfully.
The system marks an opportunity for China to break free from its long-term dependence on importing these life-saving machines.
156 male Tibetan antelopes in total in Mayi Snow Mountain玛依雪山 in Qiangtang Nature Reserve羌塘自然保护区, the ones with big body and long horns were adult male Tibetan antelopes, while the ones with smaller body and short horns were sub-adult male Tibetan antelopes that were born last year. They stood in the water, shaking their bodies and tails. This bathing behavior of the Tibetan antelope in the water actually cools down and removes parasites. In summer, there is a big temperature difference between day and night on the plateau, although the thick fur of the Tibetan antelope can keep the cold away at night, but at noon, it will be very hot, so the Tibetan antelope will soak in the water to cool down; in addition, there are more mosquitoes and parasites in summer, so the Tibetan antelope soak in the water can clean some parasites on the body surface.
Data show that in recent years, the pace of foreign investment in China’s A-share significantly accelerated, in which the largest amount of stock purchases, have achieved considerable gains. However, they bought more bonds than stocks.
Foreign investors increased their holdings of Chinese bonds for 20 consecutive months.
Data show that the amount of bonds investment increased sharply in July. The face value of bonds under custody of overseas institutions was 2,344 billion yuan that month, up 148 billion yuan from June, up 6.74 percent, which means that overseas institutional investors have increased their holdings of Chinese bonds for the 20th consecutive month. It is understood that this is the second time during the year that foreign investors have increased their positions in a big way, and it is the highest monthly record for foreign investors to increase their positions in Chinese bonds since September 2017.
In the second quarter of this year, foreign institutions increased their holdings of Chinese bonds by 238 billion yuan, of which the largest increase was in government bonds, at 148 billion yuan, and if we add the bonds issued by banks such as China Development bonds, Import and Export bank bonds, and Agricultural Development bonds, the amount of increase in interest rate bonds by foreign institutions in the second quarter reached 246 billion yuan; in addition, ordinary bonds and local government bonds increased by 710 million yuan and 80 million yuan. The remaining asset-backed securities, corporate bonds, government-backed agency bonds, secondary capital instruments and medium-sized bills were all reduced by overseas institutions.
In the A-share market, trading within the prescribed range of stocks listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange , known as “northbound funds”北向资金.
As of August 7, this year, 124 billion yuan of foreign funds have flowed into A-shares through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. By the end of June this year, northbound funds held 2145 A-share stocks , the total position market value of 1.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 412 billion yuan from the end of March this year . During the second quarter, the “northbound funds”, increased new holdings of 970 stocks. Among them, Guizhou Moutai, Midea Group, Wuliangye and Li Xun Precision, four stocks position market value growth of more than 10 billion.
“I don’t have any assets abroad. Isn’t it a waste of effort to impose sanctions? Of course, I could send $100 to Mr Trump for him to freeze,” said Luo Huining, director of the central government’s liaison office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), in a humorous response on Saturday to US’ sanctions imposed on 11 officials from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.
“Being on the US sanctions list shows that I have done what I should have done for the country and for Hong Kong,” said Luo, who is also the national security advisor to the HKSAR committee for safeguarding national security.
The liaison office on Saturday expressed opposition and strong condemnation to the sanctions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury on 11 individuals for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citizens of Hong Kong” on Friday.
Several officials in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and senior officials from the Chinese mainland are on the list. It includes Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Luo Huining, director of the Liaison Office, and Zheng Yanxiong, director of the central government’s office for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong.
In a statement released on Saturday, the liaison office said “we will never fear arrogance. If the US thinks that the so-called sanctions will force China to compromise and give up, then they have misunderstood the times, miscalculated and wasted their efforts.”
Since the promulgation of the national security law for Hong Kong, some US politicians interfered in China’s internal affairs. Now they have violated the basic norms of international law and resorted to imposing sanctions against Chinese officials under the ridiculous pretext of “limiting Hong Kong’s political freedom,” the statement said.
The liaison office said the sanctions show the US actually does not care about the rights and freedom of Hong Kong people, but the freedom of Hong Kong secessionists who endanger China’s national security and the freedom of gangsters and people who have harmed the interests of Hong Kong residents.
The unscrupulous intentions of US politicians to support the Hong Kong secessionists have been revealed, and their clowning actions are really ridiculous, the statement stressed.
The office solemnly called on US politicians to see the general trend clearly and soberly. “No matter how rough your interfere and extreme the pressure you exert, you will not be able to stop the trend of prosperity and development of modern China, nor will it be possible to shake the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” it said.
Officials in Hong Kong also responded their firm opposition to the US sanctions.
“It is my duty and honor to safeguard the security of the country and Hong Kong. Foreign sanctions against me mean nothing to me. I will continue to concentrate on my duty,” said Commissioner of Hong Kong Police Chris Tang Ping-keung in response to the US sanctions, according to Hong Kong media reports.
“The US has many laws to safeguard national security, but is highly critical of the security law for HK, fully reflecting its double standards and hypocrisy. Safeguarding national security is a matter of course, and attempts to intimidate through ‘sanctions’ will never succeed,” said Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu, state news broadcaster CCTV reported.
The HKSAR government’s Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Tsang Kwok-wai criticized the “sanctions” calling them a self-deception.
“They have no effect on me,” he said, noting that the US, claiming to be a democratic country that respects human rights, but blatantly digs into personal privacy, like a hooligan.
“We are not intimidated by them,” he said. “It only reinforces our belief that what we are doing is the right thing.”
The latest sanction introduced by the US government on Hong Kong will definitely hurt Hong Kong-US relations, said Edward Yau, HKSAR Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in an interview on Saturday morning.
“In the long run, it will inflict wounds on US’ interests in Hong Kong, too,” Yau said, calling the US sanction “unreasonable and barbarous.”
“My family and I are not afraid,” said Chan Kwok-ki, secretary general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR, stressing that the “sanctions” are a good opportunity for Hong Kong residents, especially those who still have illusions about the US, to see clearly the unjustifiable and insolence of the US government.
“I am very honored to have the opportunity to serve in this position. I will do my best to serve the interests of the country and Hong Kong,” Chan said.
The HKSAR government vehemently criticized the “sanctions,” slamming it of being shameless and despicable. The measure represents blatant and barbaric interference in China’s internal affairs, using HK as a pawn in its ploy to create troubles in China-US relationship, out of self-serving interests of some US politicians, a spokesperson from the HKSAR government said.
Speaking on behalf of her senior colleagues who are being targeted, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that “we are discharging an honorable duty to safeguard national security, protecting the life and interests of not only the 7.5 million Hong Kong people but also the 1.4 billion Mainlanders. We will not be intimidated.”
Observers from the Chinese mainland noted that the officials on the list should have prepared for the US’ move so it won’t have any impact on them.
The observers are also happy to note that Hong Kong officials have demonstrated a strong collective will and do not fear US’ sanctions. It shows that after experiencing the social turmoil that lasted over a year, Hong Kong officials are being more mature in their politics, they said.
