Tom Hancock

Taiwan says it expects no significant impact from China's new export controls on rare earth minerals, as it uses different rare earths in chip manufacturing (Ben Blanchard/Reuters)

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The @metoffice.gov.uk use weather station observations to reconstruct changes in UK average temperature since 1884.

@copernicusecmwf.bsky.social produce the ERA5 reanalysis which reconstructs global weather every hour back to 1950 using a weather forecast model.

Their estimates agree. Just sayin'.

Something I've been thinking is that gross output is a qualitative measure, given it depends on a deflator which is based on qualitative judgement. Is that right?

Belgium just flipped the switch on what’s billed as mainland Europe’s largest battery storage project — a big win for grid reliability and renewables.

ENGIE + Sungrow Europe have commissioned 100 MW/400 MWh at Vilvoorde (first phase of 200 MW/800 MWh due end-2025).

www.ess-news.com/2025/10/01/l...

China launches campaign to keep killjoys off the internetPessimistic social media posts may now be targets of a fresh crackdown by the Chinese government.14 mins agoAsia

📢 Pessimistic social media posts may now be targets of a fresh crackdown by the Chinese government.

A fantastic photo essay about photographing the vanishing Third Front factories of China.

China, world’s largest carbon polluting nation, announces new climate goal to cut emissions China, the world’s largest carbon polluting nation, has announced a new climate fighting goal to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035.

China, the world’s largest carbon polluting nation, has announced a new climate fighting goal to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035.

Nations ratify the world's first treaty to protect international waters

📢 The first treaty to protect marine diversity in international waters will come into force early next year after being ratified by the 60th nation, Morocco.

👉 欢迎告知问题、提出建议

UN inquiry finds top Israeli officials incited genocide in Gaza A United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had incited these acts - accusations that Israel called scandalous.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited these acts reut.rs/46nAyvo

China's former climate envoy to meet with EU to revive flailing UN pact, sources say China's former veteran climate envoy, who previously secured two pivotal climate agreements with the United States, will meet with the EU's top green transition official on Tuesday to resuscitate flailing international climate negotiations ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil, three sources told Reuters.

China is expected to announce its new NDC by September 24, two sources told Reuters. #ParisAgreement #2035

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

NEW | China’s clean energy boom and rapid electrification are creating the conditions for a FOSSIL DECLINE at home and abroad⚡

Fossil use in end-use sectors plateaued in 2015--while electricity use grew 65%, becoming central to 🇨🇳’s energy system.

https://loom.ly/psjqvhE

China’s biotech industry is gaining on the US. Can tariffs hold them back? Pharmaceutical firms in China have grown fast, but geopolitics and a long head start could keep US-based leaders at industry apex - for now.

Was quoted in this nice SCMP piece on Chinese biotech www.scmp.com/economy/chin...

The Kremlin released a video on Monday of Indian PM Narendra Modi holding hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who then joined China's Xi Jinping for what appeared to be a very convivial chat, on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin.

April 2025: COVID-19 and China’s Newly Revised Infectious Diseases Law The revision improves interagency coordination & disease reporting, expands local government authority, limits use of severest restrictions, and penalizes noncompliance with epidemic-control measures.

China's revised Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases [传染病防治法] takes effect today. The revision was adopted in April to improve China's legal framework on epidemic response in light of COVID-19.

Here's our earlier coverage:

newsletter.npcobserver.com/p/april-2025...

#UPDATE The head of the international Red Cross has denounced Israel's plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City ahead of a military takeover, insisting there was no way it could be done safely.

NEW: The first evidence of a solar take-off in Africa☀️✈️

x33 rise in Algeria solar panel imports in the 12 mths to June 2025, compared to previous 12 mths.
x8 in Zambia
x7 in Botswana
x6 in Sudan
x3 in each of Liberia, DRC, Benin, Angola, Ethiopia

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BREAKING: Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza killed at least 15 people, including three journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters, Palestinian health officials said reut.rs/45OFPfr

"in terms of issue attention and framing, the media tends to follow the lead of Congress and the President. The findings also indicate that Republican lawmakers exert greater influence on setting the China agenda in the media"

#Wildfires in Spain have reached record emissions in just one week according to our #CopernicusAtmosphere data. Heatwaves & drought are fueling fires, forcing evacuations & worsening air quality hundreds of km away. 🔥 Read the article for details https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/spain-below-average-record-wildfire-emissions-just-one-week

#Wildfires in Spain have reached record emissions in just one week according to our #CopernicusAtmosphere data. Heatwaves & drought are fueling fires, forcing evacuations & worsening air quality hundreds of km away. 🔥 Read the article for details
atmosphere.copernicus.eu/spain-below-...

Nice. So you don't see much of a role for the 2021 NSCAI report/Eric Schmidt?

Only area I've seen AI clearly increasing corporate profitability is online advertising - 'AI' targeted ads do seem to drive more clicks www.techinasia.com/news/tencent...

The adoption of EVs is surging in emerging markets, as affordable Chinese models help drive down prices

With rising Chinese EV imports, battery electric cars have reached price parity in Thailand & seen major price drops in Brazil & other markets ➡️ iea.li/4khAEd6

Beat sweetening www.thenation.com/article/arch...

Green Indicative Planning | Cornel Ban & Jacob Hasselbalch Market economies need planning to survive climate breakdown

"Perhaps most striking is the Chinese planning system’s reliance on a French-like macro-financial architecture: credit allocation on favourable terms to strategic sectors targeted by the plan and public ownership over systemically important financial institutions"

“This is an old chip that China already has and I deal with Jensen who’s a great guy at Nvidia. The chip that we’re talking about, the H20, it’s an old chip. China already has it in a different form, different name, but they have it, or they have a combination of two will make up for it and even then some. Jensen also has— Jensen’s a very brilliant guy. And Jensen also has a new chip, the Blackwell. Do you know what the Blackwell is? The Blackwell is super duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that, although it’s possible I’d make a deal, a somewhat enhanced in a negative way Blackwell, in other words take 30 percent to 50 percent off of it. But that’s the latest and the greatest in the world. Nobody has it. They won’t have it for five years, but the H20 is obsolete. You know it’s one of those things, but it still has a market. So I said listen I want 20 percent, if I’m gonna approve this for you, for the country, for our country, for the US— I don’t want it myself, you know every time I say like— 747, I want. I want, yeah, for the Air Force. So I just wanted— So when I say I want 20, I want for the country. I only care about the country, I don’t care about myself. And he said will you make it 15. So we negotiated a little deal. So he’s selling a essentially old chip that Huawei has a similar chip, a chip that does the same thing. And I said good if I’m going to give it to you, cause they have a, you know, they have a stopper, what we call a stopper, not allowed to do it, a restricted, it’s really known as a restrictive covenant. And I said if I’m going to do that I want you to pay us as a country something cause I’m giving you a release. I release them only on the H20. Now on the Blackwell, I think he’s coming to see me again about that. But that will be a un-enhanced version of the big one. Like I don’t know if you know we will sometimes sell fighter jets to a country and we’ll give them 20 percent less than we have, you know what I mean right?”

So you don't have to, I listened to Trump on H20s, Blackwell chips, taking 15%, and some fairly confused and confusing indications of his understanding of what these things are. From his press conference today.

UK academics studying topics sensitive to China face harassment, survey finds Exclusive: university staff report being pressured to change teaching and are told that Chinese surveillance is rife

www.theguardian.com/education/20...
some thoughts on this to put it into perspective. first of all I don't doubt the problems described are real and solidarity with colleagues who have been harassed or silenced for their research. if you read the report, you'll see that they emailed 469 scholars

Israel claimed responsibility for killing five Al Jazeera staff in Gaza, including Anas al-Sharif, in a strike on their media tent outside al-Shifa Hospital, bringing the total journalists killed to 237 since the war began.

🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: aje.io/1490et

Key line here "you’ve chosen an institutional set-up where you can’t produce public money" www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Most Canadian exports to the U.S. remained duty free in June About 92% of Canadian exports to the U.S. crossed the border duty free in June — up slightly from 91% in May and 89% in April.

RBC economists using US census data report that 92% of Canadian exports crossed into US duty free in June as producers file the paperwork needed to assert USMCA compliance. Tariff paid by the remainder will go up as 35% tariff implemented for August.

www.rbc.com/en/thought-l...

We're close to a huge moment in the UK car market:

Chinese EV firm BYD is about to overtake Tesla