A bill requiring the release of intelligence materials on potential links between the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan has been signed into law by US president Joe Biden. “We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19’s origins … including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Biden said in a statement. “In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible. “I share the Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as…
Day: March 20, 2023
Tracking the Chinese Balloon From Space
Methodology — Finding the Chinese Balloon in Satellite Images A satellite collects images of the Earth by taking pictures in different wavelengths of light and stitching them together. The satellite photographs the same location on the ground from slightly different vantage points as it moves at high speeds overhead. An object like the Chinese balloon, floating somewhere between the satellite and the ground, looks like it is hovering over different parts of the Earth in each image. This phenomenon, where an object looks like it is in different places depending…
China: Deadly 2022 Plane Crash Still Being Investigated
beijing — Experts are still investigating the cause of the crash of a China Eastern Airlines jetliner that killed 132 people one year ago, China’s government said Monday. The March 21, 2022, disaster was a rare failure for a Chinese airline industry that dramatically improved safety following deadly crashes in the 1990s. The Boeing 737-800 en route from Kunming in the southwest to Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, went into a nosedive from 8,800 meters (29,000 feet), appeared to recover and then slammed into a mountainside. Everyone aboard was killed. The…
Putin and Xi Celebrate Ties Unbroken by Russia’s War in Ukraine
Standing side by side in a show of partnership unshaken by Russia’s yearlong war in Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, began talks in Moscow on Monday with boasts of their close ties and only understated mention of the conflict itself. Though the war and the schisms it has exposed hung over the meeting, the public comments about it from Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin were muted, notwithstanding the cascading consequences of the past year, including Western sanctions on Russia, energy crises in Europe and…
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow, discuss Chinese peace plan for Ukraine
China is ready to continue playing a constructive role in order to find a political solution to the Ukraine war, Xi told Putin, according to the reports. “We believe that the more difficult it is, the more space must be left for peace; the more acute the contradictions, the more we cannot give up on dialogue efforts,” Xi said, according to Xinhua. Putin reportedly said that Russia appreciated China’s “consistent” and “balanced” position on major international issues, adding that Moscow was “open to peace talks and welcomes China’s constructive role…
UN: Tensions on Korean Peninsula Headed in ‘Wrong Direction’
united nations — A senior United Nations official warned Monday that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is heading in the “wrong direction” days after North Korea fired its second intermediate-range ballistic missile of the year, followed by a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday. “Tensions continue to increase, with no off-ramps in sight,” Miroslav Jenca, U.N. assistant secretary-general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told the Security Council. He noted that North Korea has “clearly stated its intention” to continue pursuing nuclear and ballistic weapons programs, which are a…
Laos imposes price controls to curb inflation, but merchants say they’re losing money
Laos has imposed price controls on 23 basic necessities such as pork, rice and natural gas to try to rein in inflation that has surged above 40 percent – controls authorities aim to enforce through fines or even jail time. But the price limits are making it hard for some merchants to make money. One pork trader in the capital, Vientiane, told Radio Free Asia that the mandated government price of 75,000 kip (U.S.$4.42) per kilogram isn’t enough. “For me, I must sell at 80,000 kip (U.S.$4.72) or 85,000 kip…
Vietnam seizes 7 tons of ivory tusks in latest wildlife trafficking case
Vietnamese customs authorities on Monday confiscated seven tons of ivory illegally shipped from Angola in what is believed to be the largest seizure of wildlife products in Vietnam in years, state media reported. The seizure took place after customs officers and local police found the elephant tusks in a 20-foot shipping container shipped en route to Vietnam via Singapore at Nam Hai Dinh Vu Port in Haiphong, a city in northeastern Vietnam, according to a report in state-run Bao Chinh Phu newspaper. The containers were declared to be carrying peanuts.…
The ‘dear’ friendship of Putin and Xi… in 62 seconds
Russia’s Vladimir Putin has welcomed China’s Xi Jinping to Moscow, as part of a two day visit. Appearing in front of cameras, the leaders called each other “dear friend”. However, the relationship between the two countries has not always been so positive. BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg and China correspondent Stephen McDonnell examine the complex history between the two presidents and question what the future holds for the nations. Video by James McFadden and Suneil Asar. BBC
Sri Lanka, Its Economy Reeling, Is Approved for $3 Billion Rescue Loan
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved a loan worth $3 billion to help Sri Lanka through the financial crisis that has had the nation in a rolling economic and political crisis for more than a year. The I.M.F. had agreed in principle to extend the funds last September — subject to Sri Lanka’s meeting a series of conditions that included tightening its finances and renegotiating the terms of repaying debt it owes to the biggest economies in Asia. Even before the announcement was made, late on Monday…