标题: 2022.07.29 习近平警告乔-拜登 [打印本页] 作者: shiyi18 时间: 2022-7-29 21:02 标题: 2022.07.29 习近平警告乔-拜登 Xi Jinping, China’s president, warned Joe Biden against “interfering” with Taiwan, saying that “those who play with fire will perish by it”, according to Chinese state media. Their call lasted more than two hours, and included discussion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—and plans to meet face-to-face. Sino-American relations have become trickier with the prospect of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, paying a visit to Taiwan.
Russia launched missiles at a military installation near Kyiv—its first attack on Ukraine’s capital in weeks. Russian missiles also struck Kropyvnytskyi, in the centre of the country, killing five people. Ukrainian forces meanwhile stepped up efforts to retake Kherson, in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces are now “virtually cut off”, according to Britain’s defence ministry.
Germany reported stagnant GDP figures for the second quarter of 2022; it is set to be the worst economic performer among G7 nations this year. Germany’s outsize dependence on Russian gas has stalled economic growth and created the threat of rationing energy this winter. Germany’s results stood in sharp contrast to France’s: the French economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter.
Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, said that he expects to reach a deal with Russia for additional gas supplies by the end of the summer. The country intends to buy an extra 700m cubic metres of gas, on top of the 4.5bn it already receives. Mr Orban has consistently opposed European sanctions of Russian gas as a response to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Jack Ma is to cede control of Ant Group, the Chinese fintech giant he founded in 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal. Mr Ma, also the founder of Alibaba and perhaps China’s most recognisable businessman, fell out of favour with the Communist Party as it worried that his companies had accumulated too much power. Mr Ma largely disappeared from public view after criticising the party in 2020.
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Pakistan’s outlook, from “neutral” to “negative”, joining the other big ratings agencies. The Pakistani rupee plumbed a new low, shedding 1.3% to land at 236 to the dollar, as high commodity prices bit into its foreign-exchange reserves. With external debt of $250bn and reserves of barely $9bn, Pakistan could be in line for a Sri Lankan-style crisis.
Britain’s only gender-reassignment unit is to close following a damning report into its operations. The Tavistock clinic was accused of being too quick to rush children onto puberty blockers and of failing to explore its patients’ mental-health problems. Kids with gender dysphoria are to be sent to new regional centres, which will be required to have stronger links with mental-health services.
Fact of the day: 31%, the share of Americans who say the economy is their most important issue. Read the full story.
Ukraine’s grain sets sail
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
A ship packed with Ukrainian grain is is readying to leave Odessa or a nearby Ukrainian port, perhaps as early as Friday. It would be the first to leave the port under an agreement brokered last week by António Guterres, the UN’s secretary-general, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president.
The deal has survived despite a Russian missile strike on Odessa’s port on July 23rd, one day after it was signed. A co-ordination centre in Istanbul, staffed by officials from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, will inspect ships entering and leaving Ukrainian ports to ensure they do not carry weapons. Ukraine may have to clear some of the mines it planted in its own waters, to prevent an amphibious invasion, to create corridors for cargo ships.
The deal may ease a global food crisis intensified by the grain blockade. But uncertainty abounds. The costs of insuring shipments through the Black Sea have spiked, as companies fret about Russian attacks. And Russia could still—literally—torpedo the deal.
America revs up its industrial policy
PHOTO: EYEVINE
The CHIPS and Science Act, a bill aimed at building up America’s technological muscle, bringing chip manufacturing back to the country and countering China, has had a tortuous path. A version was first proposed in 2020. But this week, it finally sailed through votes in the Senate and the House. On Friday President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.
The bill allocates about $52bn to the semiconductor industry, providing subsidies to manufacture chips in America. A separate $200bn will go towards scientific research, particularly in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
There are plenty of sceptics about the potential impact. America’s advantage in the semiconductor industry lies in design, not manufacturing, but the legislation is focused on the latter. Managing such a huge infusion of cash into the sciences will also be a challenge. But given America’s political polarisation, Congress’s ability to agree on such a big initiative is remarkable in itself.
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Rocketing profits at ExxonMobil
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
ExxonMobil, an American oil firm, is expected to unveil its best quarterly financial results in at least 25 years on Friday. Its profits for the second quarter could shoot up to $18bn, more than double the figure it posted in the previous three months. Two factors are boosting the company’s fortunes. First, Russia’s war in Ukraine has led to a crunch in refined products like petrol and diesel. That has increased ExxonMobil’s refining margins by as much as $4.6bn. Second, higher global oil and gas prices will increase profits by up to $3.3bn.
But there might be trouble ahead. Sky-high profits for energy firms have triggered a political backlash: more governments may follow Britain’s lead in imposing windfall taxes. And elevated prices could eventually reduce demand, for example by spurring faster adoption of electric vehicles. As industry veterans say, the best cure for high prices is high prices.
Airbnb checks out of China
PHOTO: ALAMY
Few foreign internet services work in China. The country has its own array of super-app businesses and the government has restricted much of the competition, blocking foreign social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. But Airbnb, an accommodation-rental site, thought it could crack the market when it launched in 2016.
For a while it did, quickly picking up users by offering localised services on Chinese platforms. Yet revenues from China remained minuscule, accounting for about 1% of business in recent years. The Silicon Valley-based company was also occasionally rocked by controversy when minority groups, such as Uyghurs, were blocked from renting rooms. It finally called it quits in May, prompted by the government’s “zero-covid” policy, which has virtually halted foreign tourism. Friday is the last day users can book stays in China: from Saturday onwards they will be unable to. Airbnb joins a growing Western exodus. LinkedIn, a professional networking group, and Kindle, Amazon’s e-book service, have also ditched China over the past year.
Improving HIV prevention
PHOTO: AP
For years, abstinence and condoms were the only ways to prevent HIV infections. A daily pill of tenofovir and emtricitabine was later approved for high-risk people; it prevents people from contracting HIV, even if exposed. But last year American regulators approved a new regimen: injections of cabotegravir every two months. In trials in Africa, the drug was 89% more effective at preventing acquisition of the disease than the daily pill among women at high risk. Ahead of the International AIDS Conference, which begins in Montreal on Friday, the World Health Organisation has released new guidelines recommending cabotegravir.
Treatment, too, has improved. For years, people with HIV/AIDS had to take several pills a day to stay healthy and reduce the chances of transmission. In December European authorities approved the use of infrequent cabotegravir and rilpivirine injections as a treatment; the injections are as effective as pills in suppressing viral loads but much less burdensome. For people affected by HIV, science has delivered some relief.
Daily quiz
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Friday: What was the codename of the Apollo 11 lunar module?
Thursday: Which animated characters are the “rescue rangers” who are the focus of a new Disney film?
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?