In an unprecedented display of cosmic littering, a wayward rocket body will crash into the far side of the moon on Friday marking the first time that a piece of space junk has accidentally struck the lunar surface. The spent rocket booster, believed to be part of the Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 mission which swung around the moon in 2014, is predicted to slam into the Hertzsprung crater at 12.25pm GMT, though the precise time and location are unclear. Travelling at more than 5,500mph (2.5km per second), the tumbling 4 tonne…
Month: March 2022
Russia head for court to overturn ban on athletes at Winter Paralympics
Russia is launching a last-ditch court appeal after its athletes were banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics on the eve of competition after a U-turn by the International Paralympic Committee. The IPC had announced on Thursday that it was reversing its shock decision 24 hours earlier to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals following intense international pressure, but will now see its decision challenged in the court of arbitration for sport. The Russian sports minister, Oleg Matytsin, confirmed an appeal to let its athletes compete – which…
Strong Stance on China and Peng Shuai Helps Land WTA a New Title Sponsor
The WTA has been an outlier in its approach to China. The ATP, which operates the men’s tennis tour, has not suspended its Chinese tournaments, and other professional leagues, including the N.B.A., have been reticent to confront Chinese authorities directly. Peng has reappeared in recent weeks and given some controlled interviews, claiming that she deleted the social media post herself and that she had been misunderstood and had not made sexual assault allegations. But the WTA, still lacking direct contact with Peng, has maintained its position. “We’ve been watching very…
China’s Two Sessions 2022: what to expect
Thousands of members of China’s political elite converge in Beijing each year for the “two sessions”, the country’s biggest annual political meetings and a rare window into the central government’s priorities and plans. This series looks at some of the major topics on this year’s agenda. South China Morning Post
Gold Ingots From 18th-Century Shipwreck Returned to France
The seas were high and the fog was thick in December 1746 when the Prince de Conty, a French frigate returning home from China with tea, ceramics and roughly 100 gold ingots, foundered in the Atlantic, just 10 miles from shore. Its bounty sank beneath the waves and laid untouched for 228 years until 1974, when treasure hunters located the wreck and illegally scavenged its remains. On Wednesday, five of the gold ingots, embossed with Chinese characters and valued at $231,000, were returned to the French Embassy in Washington, ending…
China told Russia not to invade Ukraine during Winter Olympics, report says
Senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the New York Times reported, quoting Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a western intelligence report. The New York Times said the intelligence report indicated senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia’s plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before Moscow launched the operation last week. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that China had made the request but…
‘A new culture’: discovery in China reveals ochre processing in east Asia up to 41,000 years ago
A 40,000-year-old archaeological site in northern China has unearthed the earliest evidence of ochre processing in east Asia, researchers say. The site was discovered at Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin, in the northern Chinese province of Hebei. Ochre pieces and tools found in the area suggest that the clay earth pigment was processed there, via grinding and pounding, to produce powders of different colours and grain sizes. Near lumps of ochre, archaeologists unearthed a hammer stone as well as a flat limestone slab that showed signs of battering. In a…
Only 6% of G20 pandemic recovery spending ‘green’, analysis finds
Only about 6% of pandemic recovery spending has been “green”, an analysis of the $14tn that G20 countries have poured into economic stimulus. Additionally, about 3% of the record amounts governments around the world have spent to rescue the global economy from the Covid-19 pandemic has been spent on activities that will increase carbon emissions, such as subsidies to coal, and will do little to reduce greenhouse gases or shift the world to a low-carbon footing. The analysis of the G20 fiscal stimulus spending, published on Wednesday in the journal…
China Cannot Condone Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine
Advertisement On the phone call between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmyro Kuleba on March 1, Wang expressed his profound regrets on the current conflict and paid particular attention to the civilian casualties. He also stated that China would be willing to facilitate negotiations between both sides for a ceasefire. At the United Nations General Assembly Emergency Special Session one day before, Chinese Ambassador to the U.N. Zhang Jun suggested that the rapidly unfolding situation in Ukraine was something China “does not wish to see and…
Space junk on collision course with the moon likely a Chinese rocket – experts
The moon is about to get walloped by 3 tons of space junk, a punch that will carve out a crater that could fit several semi-tractor-trailers. The leftover rocket will smash into the far side of the moon at 5,800mph (9,300km/h) on Friday, away from telescopes’ prying eyes. It may take weeks, even months, to confirm the impact through satellite images. It’s been tumbling haphazardly through space, experts believe, since China launched it nearly a decade ago. But Chinese officials are dubious it’s theirs. No matter whose it is, scientists…