Useful statistic for understanding the situation around Taiwan: China is the world’s largest exporter of microchips (nearly $154 billion in exports from Hong Kong + $117 billion from mainland China in 2020)
But the second largest exporter is little Taiwan. Two more countries — Singapore and South Korea — export more than $80 billion worth of chips each.
The United States is actively promoting the idea of banning the export of modern lithographic equipment by ASML (a Dutch company — the world’s main manufacturer of equipment for the production of chips) to China.
<<< Aug 04, 2022 Feed >>>
Huawei announced the stop of sales in the official VMALL online store in Russia. The Chinese company’s store stopped working on August 1. It is also impossible to order something through the application. The company promised to deliver existing orders as usual. The reasons for stopping sales have not yet been reported.
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The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry accused the Armenian side of gross violation of the agreements on Karabakh:
“The bloody incident that took place on August 3 once again demonstrates that Armenia is flagrantly violating the trilateral agreement, and also undermines efforts to normalize relations between the two states. It also shows Armenia’s disrespect for the efforts of international mediators. All responsibility for the incident on the territory of Azerbaijan lies with the political and military leadership of Armenia, which has not yet withdrawn illegal armed groups from the territory of the neighboring state.”
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Switzerland imposed a ban on Russian gold and decided to freeze the assets of Sberbank, joining the seventh package of EU sanctions against Russia. This decision was taken by the Swiss Federal Council
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Sberbank introduced a commission of 1.25% for withdrawing money to third-party banks. The press service of the Siberian Bank of PJSC «Sberbank» reported that indeed before such operations were carried out free of charge.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland reported that the country’s stores are required to refuse to sell goods and products that are subject to sanctions to Russian tourists. We are talking about those purchases that the Russians are going to import into Russia.
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PJSC Rostelecom has decided not to publish financial statements for the second quarter of 2022, the company’s press service told Interfax.
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Partial military mobilization has been announced in Nagorno-Karabakh since August 3. The decree was signed by President Arayik Harutyunyan.
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American scientists have created a humanoid robot that explores sunken ships at the bottom of the ocean. The robot is equipped with tactile (touch) feedback technology, thanks to which the operator can feel the water resistance and the contours of the found artifacts. The robot also has 3D vision and eight multi-directional thrusters to help it maneuver carefully around fragile wrecks.
OceanOneK has already worked on real underwater objects: explored the sunken Beechcraft Baron F-GDPV aircraft, the Italian steamer Le Francesco Crispi, a 2nd century Roman ship off the coast of Corsica, a World War II P-38 Lightning aircraft and the Le Protée submarine
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Smartphone shipments to Europe fell by 11% in the second quarter of 2022. This is the lowest figure since 2020, according to technical analytics agency Counterpoint. Among smartphone manufacturers, Samsung holds the lead in Europe, but in mid-2021, its shipments to the continent were the lowest in a decade. It is followed by Apple and Xiaomi.
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The results of a study by the Public Opinion Foundation have been published. 69% of Russians have never left Russia. 9% of Russian citizens traveled to foreign countries ten or more years ago, only 2% traveled abroad less than a year ago.
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In Moscow and St. Petersburg will open duty free currency shops with access control. Only diplomats, consuls and employees of international organizations will be able to buy there. Buyers will have to show documents confirming their official position and accreditation with the Russian Foreign Ministry.
These stores will sell alcohol, tobacco products, perfumes and cosmetics, confectionery, jewelry, smartphones, and watches. Payment will be accepted in rubles, dollars or euros.
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Gazprom has abandoned a turbine for Nord Stream. The company said that «the sanctions of Canada, the EU, the UK and the inconsistency of the situation with the obligations of Siemens make the delivery of the engine impossible»
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Maersk, the world leader in container shipping, is leaving Russia. All cargo flights have already been suspended. The company promised to take out 50,000 of its containers within a month.
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In the first six months of 2022, the number of Linux malware increased by 646%. As a result, the number of malicious programs for Linux has grown to 1.7 million. But this is still far from Windows, for which more than 41 million malicious programs have been created.
And although this operating system is not very popular among ordinary users (Linux occupies only 1.02% of the global OS market), attacks on Linux systems are still very beneficial for hackers, since clouds work on them, as well as Internet of things devices.
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The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan stated that it had carried out the «Retribution» operation. It is reported that several heights were taken and an air strike was carried out on a military unit in the village of Upper Oratagh.
“As a result, the manpower of the Armenian armed formations was destroyed and wounded, as well as several D-30 howitzers, military vehicles and a large amount of ammunition,” the ministry said.
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The volume of additional oil and gas revenues associated with rising oil prices in July turned out to be lower than planned by 74.7 billion rubles, the Russian Finance Ministry said.
As follows from the materials of the department, the total volume of oil and gas revenues in July amounted to 770.5 billion rubles, which is 22.5% lower than in July 2021. In particular, revenues from export duties decreased by a third year on year.
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In the Netherlands, there is a shortage of water, serious measures may be required to solve this problem, according to Dutch News, citing the country’s infrastructure minister, Mark Harbers.
Dutch News recalls that this is the fifth period of water shortages this century. The most severe deficit was observed in 2003, when the drought reached crisis levels. Currently, the country has declared a second level of drought, which means «actual lack of water.»
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French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin sent instructions to the prefects demanding that detention be applied primarily to illegal immigrants who violated public order.
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US President Joe Biden endorsed the Senate’s decision to approve Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO and thanked the senators for moving the process quickly, according to a statement posted on the White House website.
According to Biden, the accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance will further strengthen its collective security. He indicated that the US remains committed to the security of these countries.
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On Thursday and Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in meetings of the heads of foreign affairs agencies in the formats of Russia-ASEAN, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Security Forum (ARF) in Phnom Penh.
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China has successfully launched the TECIS Earth remote sensing satellite for environmental monitoring, as well as two other small satellites for various purposes, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Thursday.
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Ozon, Yandex and VK received preferential loans for 130 billion rubles
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An Electron rocket carrying the National Space Intelligence Agency’s secret NROL-199 mini-satellite lifted off from New Zealand on Thursday, rocket company Rocket Lab said.
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Europe continues pumping gas into underground storage facilities. At the moment, reserves have risen to 70.54%, according to data from the association Gas Infrastructure Europe.
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Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp slashed its net profit by 18% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. According to a press release from Toyota, net profit in April-June amounted to 736.82 billion yen ($5.5 billion), compared with 897.8 billion yen a year earlier.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the right to use maternity capital to pay for private education.
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Inflation in Belgium has reached nearly 10%, a record since 1997, La Libre Belgique reported on Thursday, citing a price watchdog.
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The Estonian government at a meeting on Thursday decided to remove Soviet monuments from public space.
«At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, we discussed in detail how to proceed with the removal of memorials with the symbols of the occupying power from public space. According to estimates, there are between 200 and 400 of them in Estonia. The main thing has been decided — red monuments must be removed from public space, and we will as soon as possible,» Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said at a press conference.
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North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In a statement, the Permanent Mission of the DPRK to the UN said that they legally have the right to self-defense.
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India and the United States will hold joint military exercises in the mountains in the Auli region near the Chinese border.
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The Chinese company MetalFish has released an unusual computer case Y2 Fish Tank Chassis: at the bottom of the case itself, on top — a real aquarium for domestic fish. Of the total volume of 27 liters, 13 are reserved for the aquarium. For the inhabitants of the aquarium, the manufacturer has provided a backlight that can be controlled using a remote control.
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Using simple and affordable compounds of phosphorus and silicon, scientists have created analog logic elements for the artificial brain that operate much faster than silicon transistors and a million times faster than synapses in the human brain.
The comparison with the brain is not accidental. The neurons in the complex can be quite large, while the new logic elements — proton resistors — can be thousands of times smaller. It will be possible to fit such a powerful analog processor into the volume of the brain that it will be something unimaginable by modern standards. However, many more discoveries remain to be made for this, although the main thing — the basic element — scientists have already invented
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About 171 million euros will be allocated to migrant projects. Support will be provided to Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Poland, according to the website of the European Commission.
In Cyprus, funding will be earmarked for the construction of an accommodation center and preparation for the departure of migrants. In Spain, they are going to expand the system of receiving migrants, including in the Canary Islands, which should help reduce its overload. The project in Italy concerns the support of children and women. Funds for Greece will be used to support the education of refugee children of school age. And in Poland, it is planned to improve procedures related to the return of migrants.
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