Chinese rescuers hope to drill shaft to free trapped gold miners

21Jan

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World

Chinese rescuers hope to drill shaft to free trapped gold miners

Rescuers in China were drilling new shafts today to reach gold miners who have been trapped underground for 11 days after an explosion, including one they hope to use to bring the survivors to safety. A total of 22 workers were stuck underground in the Jan. 10 blast in the Hushan mine on the outskirts of Yantai, a major gold-producing region in Shandong province on the northeast coast. Thick smog, reeking of chemicals, hung over the muddy road leading up to the mine site and a row of ambulances on standby in a carpark, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres. Rescuers have been in contact with 11 miners trapped in the middle section of the mine, about 350 metres below sea level and over 600 metres from the mine entrance, and have managed to send food and medical supplies to th...

Chinese and European variants of Sars-Cov-2 most prevalent in India

3Jun

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Highlights, India

Chinese and European variants of Sars-Cov-2 most prevalent in India

Two variants of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) virus from China and Europe are most prevalent, according to researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), who identified 198 variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in India. The most variants were found in Delhi, followed Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. “Scientists and scholars from ZSI have analysed nearly 400 genomes found in India and found at least 198 variants of the virus, which means the virus had mutated at least 198 times in India or before entering the country,” said Kailash Chandra, director, ZSI, Kolkata. The study was conducted by a team of seven scientists from the Centre for DNA Taxonomy of ZSI, India’s apex organisation on animal taxonomy under the Union ministry of environment and forests. Th...

US charges North Koreans, Chinese in $2.5B sanctions-busting scheme

29May

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World

US charges North Koreans, Chinese in $2.5B sanctions-busting scheme

The Justice Department has accused a network of North Korean and Chinese citizens of secretly advancing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program by channeling at least $2.5 billion in illicit payments through hundreds of front companies. The indictment, unsealed Thursday in Washington’s federal court, is believed to be the largest criminal enforcement action ever brought against North Korea. The 33 defendants include executives of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank, which in 2013 was added to a Treasury Department list of sanctioned institutions for transactions that facilitated the nuclear proliferation network, and cut off from the US financial system. According to the indictment, the bank officials — one of whom had served in North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau — s...

Chinese-origin frog species found in Arunachal Pradesh

15May

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Cities

Chinese-origin frog species found in Arunachal Pradesh

A team of zoologists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have found a frog species, with origins in the Tibet region of China, in Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh. Details of the find and the rare species ‘Nanorana conaensis’ found at an elevation of 2844 metres above sea level was published in ZSI’s latest journal on Thursday. “The species was first sighted in Tibet in 1981. There was a report of a sighting in Arunachal Pradesh in 2018 by some researchers, however, no details regarding the sighting was reported,” said Bhaskar Saikia “We were able to collect a specimen of the frog from Tawang in March the same year and conducted molecular studies on it. This is the first documentary confirmation of the presence of the species, which has origins in China, in India,” Saikia, one o...

Chinese Covid-19 vaccine could be tested, manufactured in Canada

13May

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World

Chinese Covid-19 vaccine could be tested, manufactured in Canada

China’s CanSino Biologics Inc, the company behind one of the few coronavirus vaccine candidates already in clinical trials, is collaborating with Canada’s National Research Council to “pave the way” for future trials in Canada, the research council said on Tuesday. The NRC said it would scale up a production process for CanSino’s vaccine at a government facility in Montreal, and that CanSino was preparing a trial application for drug regulator Health Canada. If CanSino’s vaccine works, the collaboration could help ensure that Canadians have access to it. Local trial data could reassure Health Canada that the vaccine is safe, and local manufacturing could ensure some doses are at hand. Asked whether the collaboration would make it possible for Health Canada to consider data gathere...

Chinese surveillance goods illegally sold to US: Federal prosecutors

8Nov

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World

Chinese surveillance goods illegally sold to US: Federal prosecutors

A Long Island firm sold tens of millions of dollars in Chinese-made surveillance and other sensitive security equipment to customers, including the U.S. military to use on aircraft carriers, by falsely claiming the goods were manufactured in America, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The fraud that prosecutors allege by Aventura Technologies Inc. raised “a grave concern” over cyber security, U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said. Though there was no allegation of breaches involving the Chinese government, emails and other evidence from the investigation showed “individuals in China were well aware of what was going on,” Donoghue said. The equipment made in China and sold by Aventura “as purportedly U.S.-made has been installed on dozens of Army, Navy and Air Force bases, Department...

Oil prices decline on weak Chinese data, US pipeline problems

1Nov

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Business

Oil prices decline on weak Chinese data, US pipeline problems

Oil prices fell on Thursday after data showed weak factory activity in China, with US crude facing extra pressure after flows out of the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub were disrupted because of reduced flows on a pipeline. Brent futures were down 38 cents, or 0.6%, at $60.23 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 88 cents, or 1.6%, to $54.18. The front-month Brent contract for December delivery expires on Thursday. Futures for January delivery, which will soon be the front-month, fell about 1.0% to settle at $59.62. For the month, Brent was on track to fall less than 1% and WTI to rise less than 1%. In the United States, TC Energy Corp’s 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) Marketlink crude pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Nederland, Texas, was operating at re...

Millions of Chinese grieve online over the death of 39 in a truck in Essex

26Oct

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World

Millions of Chinese grieve online over the death of 39 in a truck in Essex

Millions of Chinese were expressing grief online after news reports said Thursday that the 39 people found dead in refrigerated truck-trailer in Essex in the UK were from China as state media reports here said the deceased could have been victims of a human trafficking ring. Most messages on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platforms extended condolences to the victims and their families while calling for a thorough investigation into the gruesome incident. Reports said the truck on which the 39 bodies were found on Wednesday in Essex, arrived in England by passing through the port of Zeebrugge, a large container, bulk cargo and passenger ferry terminal port in the municipality of Bruges, Belgium. The Chinese foreign ministry said they were verifying details of the case and were in clos...