Tag: United States Politics and Government

U.S. Car Brands Will Benefit Most From Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks

Chin@Strategy

American brands like Tesla and General Motors will benefit most from rules that determine which electric vehicles qualify for tax credits starting on Tuesday. Foreign carmakers like Hyundai will be at a significant disadvantage because of restrictions aimed at cutting China out of the supply chain. Only 10 vehicles will initially qualify for tax credits of $7,500, less than a quarter of the battery-powered cars on sale in the United States. But those 10 include many of the most popular models and accounted for two-thirds of electric vehicle sales before…

Tracking the Chinese Balloon From Space

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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…

WHO Accuses China of Withholding Data on Covid’s Origins

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The World Health Organization rebuked Chinese officials on Friday for withholding scientific research that may link the origin of the coronavirus to wild animals called raccoon dogs, asking why the data had not been made available three years ago and why, after it was published online in January, it could not be found now. Before the Chinese data disappeared, an international team of virus experts downloaded and began analyzing the research. They say it supports the idea that the pandemic could have begun when illegally traded raccoon dogs infected humans…

Justice Dept. Investigating TikTok’s Owner Over Possible Spying on Journalists

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating the surveillance of American citizens, including several journalists who cover the tech industry, by the Chinese company that owns TikTok, according to three people familiar with the matter. The investigation, which began late last year, appears to be tied to the admission in December by the company, ByteDance, that its employees had inappropriately obtained the data of American TikTok users, including that of two reporters and a few of their associates. The department’s criminal division, the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney for the…

House G.O.P. Hunts for Evidence That Biden Family Deals Were Improper

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WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday released financial records showing that Hunter Biden and other relatives of President Biden received more than $1 million in 2017 from an associate who had entered into a business deal with a Chinese energy company, as they hunted for evidence that the president and his family have profited improperly from his position. The disclosure came as the House Oversight Committee ramps up its investigation into the international business transactions of Mr. Biden’s family, obtaining more than a decade of bank records through subpoenas and…

TikTok Could Be a Hard Sell to Potential Buyers

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TikTok has what many Silicon Valley companies lust after: A culture-making machine beloved by 100 million Americans and deep-pocketed advertisers. That doesn’t mean they will line up to buy it. TikTok said on Wednesday that the Biden administration was pushing the company’s Chinese owners to sell the app or face a possible ban. But there are probably few companies, in the tech industry or elsewhere, willing or able to buy it, analysts and experts say. At a price of $50 billion or more — the value some analysts said TikTok…

Biden and E.U. Leader to Discuss Ukraine and Trade Spat

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WASHINGTON — President Biden is scheduled to meet on Friday afternoon with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and the two leaders are expected to coordinate on support for Ukraine and open negotiations over U.S. clean energy subsidies that have prompted anger among some European nations. The discussion, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the White House, will range from a potential trade deal to concerns over China’s support for Moscow, and will be a test of the trans-Atlantic allies’ ability to hold together a unified front…

Australia to Buy U.S. Nuclear-Powered Submarines in Deal to Counter China

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SYDNEY — Australia will buy up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the United States to be delivered in the 2030s, according to people briefed on the deal, which accelerates and deepens an ambitious defense agreement aimed at reinforcing American-led military dominance of the Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s military growth. Australia would then buy a new class of submarines with British designs and American technology in another stage of the deal. The arrangement — which would also include rotating American attack submarines through Perth, in Western Australia, by 2027…

Republicans Push Lab Leak Theory on Covid’s Origins, but Lack ‘Smoking Gun’

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WASHINGTON — The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accused top federal health officials on Wednesday of excluding him from discussions in early 2020 about whether the coronavirus was the result of a laboratory leak — an assertion that one of the officials, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, later said had “nothing to do with reality.” Three years into the pandemic, the accusation by the former C.D.C. director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, put a spotlight on the lingering bitterness and partisan divisions around the scientific question of…

U.S. Intelligence Agencies Warn of China’s Efforts to Expand Its Power

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WASHINGTON — China’s government is increasingly convinced it can only make itself the pre-eminent power in Asia, and a major power globally, by diminishing American influence, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday. The goal of weakening U.S. power and influence is one reason China has continued to pursue a deepening partnership with Russia, according to an annual intelligence threat assessment that was also released Wednesday. Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence who appeared before a Senate committee to present the threat assessment, said China believes it can…