World & Politics
FT: EU considers imposing first sanctions on China for helping Russia - 05/09/2023
According to the Financial Times, the European Commission is mulling the first penalties against Chinese firms because of their connections to Russia since the commencement of the war in Ukraine. A draft of the new EU sanctions package obtained by the Financial Times states that the European Commission is considering applying penalties against Chinese companies for their relationships with Russia...
Zelenskyy estimates Ukraine's damage at $400bn - 05/05/2023
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the cost of the conflict with Russia to his nation is $400 billion. Mr. Zelenskyy said that the damage assessment takes into account a variety of factors, including destruction of energy, transportation infrastructure, buildings, environmental harm, and facilities for the arts and sciences. The World Bank and the UN estimated in April that...
Germany ponders banning exports of chemicals for advanced microchips to China - 04/28/2023
The German government is discussing the idea of prohibiting shipments of a variety of chemicals that can be used in the manufacture of sophisticated semiconductors to China, reports Bloomberg citing its own insiders in the German government. The sources claim that if the German government takes this action, German businesses like Merck and BASF won't be allowed to sell some of their chemicals to...
EU Council passes legislation to reduce sales of carbon dioxide certificates - 04/26/2023
The Council of the European Union established a number of rules as part of the Fit for 55 in 2030 climate initiative, which aims to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The EU has specifically passed legislation to limit the sale of CO2 certifications for goods brought into the EU. The EU Council approved expected 62% reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. The measures...
FT: US asks South Korea not to fill chip shortages in China if sanctions are imposed on Micron - 04/24/2023
According to sources quoted by the Financial Times (FT), the White House has requested South Korea to ask chip makers not to supply shortages in the Chinese market if the latter puts a ban on US Micron products. The request was made prior to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's trip to Washington. 25% of Micron's sales came from China in 2022. The newspaper's sources claim that US officials...
G7 to help Ukraine rebuild agricultural infrastructure - 04/24/2023
G7 agriculture ministers have decided to assist Ukraine in demining farmland and repairing infrastructure that has been devastated. G7 leaders met for two days with representatives from the UN FAO, the World Food Programme, the OECD, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in the Japanese city of Miyazaki. "We stand ready to support Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction,...
US offers $3.5bn in grants for carbon dioxide capture and storage - 04/21/2023
The US government has made funds totaling $3.5 billion available for the construction of facilities using the DAC (direct air capture) technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for later use. Reuters claims that this is the greatest grant funding ever granted globally for this use. The newspaper notes that $124 million was allotted for the planning and building of DAC...
Reuters: Western countries fear China's expanding presence in Antarctica - 04/20/2023
China has begun work on the fifth research station it was building in the southern polar region before it was put on hold in 2018. Reuters came to this conclusion after studying satellite photographs from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. It is anticipated that the station on Inexpressible Island in the Ross Sea will have an observatory and a satellite...
India’s population surpasses China - 04/18/2023
According to information from the World Population Review website, India will exceed China in terms of population in 2023. Among other things, the website keeps tabs on population statistics across the world and updates them frequently. Currently, India has a population of 1, 425, 943,916 people, while China has a population of 1, 425, 743,834 people. China stood at the top of the list in 2022....
G7 countries set to cut CO2 emissions from cars by 2035 - 04/17/2023
During a meeting of G7 environment, energy, and climate ministers, the nations decided to reduce CO2 emissions from their car fleets to half of 2000’ levels by 2035, according to a joint statement released after the meeting. "We note the possibility of collectively reducing at least 50% of CO2 emissions from the G7 vehicle fleet by 2035 or earlier from levels of 2000’ as half way to achieving...
