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☆ EU sets out patent rules for smart technology to limit law suits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEPs protect technology such as for 5G, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that is needed by equipment producers to comply with international standards. Under the proposals from the European Union executive, patent holders in the fields of telecoms, computers, payment terminals and other smart technology, will be required to register their essential patents with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The EU proposal also includes a new supplementary protection certificate to extend a patent by five years for pharmaceutical or plant protection products. This would complement the EU unitary patent that will be launched on June 1. The rules need to be agreed with EU countries and the European Parliament before they can become law and may be amended.

☆ China may have to bail out one of its poorest provinces
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Hong Kong CNN —One of China’s poorest and most indebted provinces has admitted defeat in trying to sort out its finances and is appealing to Beijing for help to avert default. Guizhou, located in a mountainous region of southwest China, has hired a top state-owned distressed debt fund, China Cinda Asset Management, to resolve its “urgent” problems. China’s local governments are struggling with trillions of dollars of debt, after three years of strict pandemic controls and a real estate crash drained their coffers. The Pingtang Bridge links two cities in southwest China's Guizhou province. In China, most local government liabilities are composed of “hidden debt” issued by their financing arms.

☆ As US and Philippine defense ties grow closer, China drives wedge over Taiwan issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But the election of his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, last year has returned relations to a more even keel, in part because Manila has become wary of a more assertive China. Last year the US granted $100 million to boost the Southeast Asian country’s defense capabilities and military modernization. Heydarian added that China has to rethink its strategy towards the Philippines, as the Marcos Jr administration is openly more aligned with the US. China remains one of the top trade partners of the Philippines, while Marcos Jr also continues to negotiate energy and agriculture investments from Beijing. Some worry Marcos Jr might be giving too much access to the US, especially when it comes to bases and facilities close to Taiwan, Heydarian said.

☆ US bank run victims were bailed out in 3 days. In China, many have been waiting a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Selina Wang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN is not revealing the identities of the bank victims in order to protect their safety. Bank victims protest in Henan in July 2022. Experts say small banks in other parts of China could face the same crisis, as the world’s second largest economy faces a longer term structural slowdown. Some Chinese bank victims even say they’re living in fear of violent reprisals. CNN interviews bank victims in China.

[1/9] View shows the site where the gigafactory for electric vehicle battery production by Volkswagen Group's battery company PowerCo SE will be built in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada April 21, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos OsorioCompanies Volkswagen AG FollowStellantis NV FollowBERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) - Canada and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) on Friday together committed more than C$20 billion ($14.8 billion) for a battery gigafactory in St. Thomas, Ontario, the biggest single investment ever in the country's electric-vehicle supply chain. Europe's largest carmaker is investing up to C$7 billion to build the plant, Volkswagen said in a statement. The battery plant is expected to be Volkswagen's largest and create up to 3,000 jobs. "This secures the future of St. Thomas," the city's mayor, Joe Preston, told Reuters earlier this week.

Expressed in terms of annualised run-rates, China's output of 39.9 million tonnes last month was the lowest in a year and down by 1.6 million tonnes from August's record 41.5 million. China's aluminium production is now highly dependent on weather patterns in the south of the country. China's average daily aluminium output and monthly annualised changePRAYING FOR RAINYunnan province accounts for around 12% of China's aluminium capacity and produced 4.2 million tonnes in 2022. WESTERN PRODUCTION FLAT-LINESPrimary aluminium production outside of China was flat year-on-year in the first quarter. WEATHER WATCHHowever, China's dominant position in the global aluminium picture means that it holds the key to future production patterns.

☆ Bear That Killed Jogger in Italy Is Captured
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Amanda Holpuch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Italian authorities on Tuesday announced that they had captured a brown bear overnight after it had killed a jogger earlier this month. The fate of the 17-year-old female bear, known as JJ4, is now in the hands of an Italian court, which will determine if it should be euthanized. The debate has inflamed tensions over a successful effort to reintroduce brown bears to the region after they nearly went extinct in the 1990s. The bear was found in Val Meledrio, a valley in the mountains of Northern Italy, the provincial government of Trento said in a news release on Tuesday. The president of Trento Province, Maurizio Fugatti, said “satisfaction mixes with bitterness” over the capture.

☆ China resorts to extraordinary measures to soothe entrepreneurs amid deep retreat of private business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Hong Kong CNN —After years of regulatory crackdowns and draconian Covid curbs, private entrepreneurs in China are low on enthusiasm. If anything, the private sector seems to be retreating even more so far this year. State-led investment surged 10.5%, while private investment increased a mere 0.8%. In 2022, state investment rose 10.1%, while private investment ticked up 0.9%. “We always regard private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as people on our own side,” Xi said.

☆ Canada's top court upholds Quebec's ban on homegrown cannabis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 14 (Reuters) - The Canadian Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Quebec's provincial ban on cannabis grown in private homes is constitutional, in a blow to cannabis advocates who said it was at odds with a federal law allowing a small number of plants to be grown for personal use. The country's top court sided with the Quebecois provincial government, who banned cannabis plants grown at home after Canada legalized weed federally in 2018. Federal law states that a limited number of plants grown at home for personal use is legal, but Quebec law bans this. He won in Quebec's Supreme Court, but that ruling was overturned by the province's court of appeals, bringing it to the Supreme Court of Canada. "We are satisfied with the judgment of the Supreme Court confirming Quebec’s full capacity to act in the matter," he said on Twitter.

CNN —A female bear that was sentenced to death for the fatal mauling of jogger in Italy has been given a stay of execution until May 11, officials in Trento have said. Andrea Papi, 26, was attacked and killed last week while jogging in a public nature reserve in the Trentino–Alto Adige region of northern Italy. In the last 15 years, several bear attacks have been reported, including the nearly fatal attack of a mushroom farmer in 2014 and the 2020 attack of a father and his son while they were hiking. This time, after the fatal attack on Papi the World Wildlife Fund, which had previously petitioned to keep JJ4 alive told CNN they agree that the bear should be put down. There are now four bears, including JJ4, with judicial orders to be culled.

☆ China records world's first human death from H3N8 bird flu, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

All of the cases have been in China, with the first two cases reported last year. Sporadic infections in people with bird flu are common in China where avian flu viruses constantly circulate in huge poultry and wild bird populations. Though rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds in which it causes little to no sign of disease. There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected woman, the WHO said. Monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is considered important given their ability to evolve and cause a pandemic.

☆ Opinion: The revolving door access to state secrets has to end
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Brett Bruen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The US national security team is once more ignominiously living out the line made famous by pop star Britney Spears after finding itself back in the uncomfortable position of watching state secrets ping-pong around the internet. As a veteran of the National Security Council and State Department, I have a couple of ideas about what we need to change to get Spears’ song off repeat. Indeed, whatever the cause of this latest breach, it should galvanize us to shut the revolving door of access to our most sensitive secrets. For starters, there should be a minimum time commitment from those appointed to high political office. This turnover creates massive disruptions and gaps in our national security structure.

☆ Top Bank of Canada officials speak after rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MACKLEM ON POTENTIAL FOR NEGATIVE QUARTERS FOR GROWTH"We're forecasting small positives. When you're forecasting small positives you can't rule out that there's going to be a couple quarters of small negatives. MACKLEM ON NEEDING A PERIOD OF WEAK GROWTH"I would remind you that we actually need a period of weak growth. We're expecting pretty weak growth for the rest of the year, something a little less than 1%." MACKLEM ON NOT FORECASTING A MAJOR CONTRACTION"We're not forecasting a major contraction.

At least 133 people, including women and children, were killed after Myanmar’s military junta bombed Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region on Tuesday, the human rights minister of the ousted shadow National Unity Government Aung Myo Min told CNN. Like much of Sagaing, the area is not under the control of the military junta. I saw flesh on the road.”The eyewitness said he saw dozens of bodies after the attack, including children as young as five. The attacks have killed civilians, including children, and targeted schools, clinics, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure. And a military airstrike on a school in Sagaing in September killed at least 13 people, including seven children.

☆ Canadian Olympians among 333 banned from entering Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Some of Canada's best known athletes, including Olympic gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Hayley Wickenheiser, have been included on a list of 333 Canadians banned from entering Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Most of the athletes on the list are retired Canadian Olympians who signed a letter last month urging the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) to support a ban of Russia and Belarus from taking part at the 2024 Paris Summer Games unless Russia withdraws from Ukraine. The sanctions are mostly symbolic, with Russia banned from hosting major sporting events and Canadian athletes having no reason to travel to the country. Others on the list barred from entering Russia include the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon and members of the Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia provincial legislatures. Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pakistan's finance minister opposes snap polls mandated by top court
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) - Provincial snap elections are not in Pakistan's national interest given its economic turmoil and security situation, the country's finance minister said on Monday, in defiance of an order by the country's supreme court. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday put forward a financial bill to seek a vote on whether to approve the election funding. "The country's economic, security and internal conditions demand that snap polls aren't in the national interest," he said in a televised speech to parliament. He suggested holding the elections together in all provinces and national seats, saying that would reduce logistics and security expenses. ($1 = 286.2500 Pakistani rupees)Reporting by Asif Shahzad; editing by John Stonestreet and Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"The meeting agreed to launch an all-out comprehensive operation with the entire nation and the government, which will rid the country of the menace of terrorism with renewed vigor and determination," the security committee said in a statement. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country of 220 million people, has seen a rise in attacks by Islamist militants in the last few months, particularly since negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group broke down last year. The court has already rejected the government's argument, but Friday's security committee statement brings with it the key endorsement of Pakistan's powerful military. It (the government) gets the military's backing without the military giving any sort of political statement," Hussain added. Pakistan's military has ruled the country for over 30 years out of its 75-year history and continues to wield enormous power.

☆ Kim Jong Un digitally erased an actor he doesn't like from the re-run of a popular North Korean TV show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

North Korea has wiped all record of an out-of-favor actor from a popular TV show, per NK News. The actor was digitally replaced with another actor in the re-run of the series, per the outlet. Choe Ung Chol, an actor known for his good looks, has been digitally replaced with actor Pak Jong Taek in the show "The Taehongdang Party Secretary." The series was otherwise completely unchanged, per Prof. Tatiana Gabroussenko, a North Korea specialist writing for the outlet. Jang, once considered the most powerful person in North Korea beyond Kim himself, was denounced as "despicable human scum."

☆ Pakistan minister cancels trip to IMF, World Bank meetings in US - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is seen after a party meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal MahmoodISLAMABAD, April 7 (Reuters) - Pakistan's finance minister has cancelled a visit to Washington for spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, government officials said on Friday, citing domestic political turmoil as the reason. Minister Ishaq Dar was scheduled to attend the meetings from April 10 and see top IMF officials and multilateral creditors in a bid to secure stalled funding that the South Asian country desperately needs to avert a balance-of-payments crisis. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected Khan's demand, saying a general election is due anyway late this year. The officials said the finance secretary, the top civil servant in the ministry, and the central bank governor would likely lead Pakistan's delegation to Washington.

☆ In pioneering workshops, U.S. trains Cuban entrepreneurs to do business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Dave Sherwood | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Cuban entrepreneurs Maria Puga and Ana Torres pose for a photo at their atelier in Havana, Cuba, April 3, 2023. "Cuba's state-run economy has traditionally not delivered, and recently has delivered even less," Ziff said in an interview. The United States, which says it operates "transparently" in Cuba, is not alone in seeking to promote Cuba's fledgling private sector. Diplomat Ziff said the United States was seeking ways to ease the burden of U.S. sanctions on private business but in a way that would not inadvertently benefit the Cuban government. "The biggest impediment to doing business in Cuba is the Cuban government," Ziff said.

☆ Pakistan parliament rejects top court order to conduct provincial snap polls - speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan's parliament on Thursday rejected a Supreme Court order to conduct provincial snap polls, in the latest move in a power struggle between the government and the top court amid political and economic instability. The top court had on Tuesday ruled illegal the government's move to delay the snap polls in two provinces where former prime minister Imran Khan had dissolved his local governments earlier this year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government has been saying the country's poor economic condition didn't allow spending on the snap polls and then on a general elections due later this year. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies had dissolved the provincial governments, hoping that it would force Sharif's government to hold snap polls across the country, his longstanding demand since he was ousted a year ago. ($1 = 286.2500 Pakistani rupees)Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese officials step up foreign travel in race to find investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Their urgency highlights the pressure local governments face in boosting growth while burdened with cumulative debt of $9 trillion, said the sources who met Chinese officials in Hong Kong. The other executive and Yim said they had often attended as many as eight to 10 events a day with Chinese officials. Fengze, a district in the nearby city of Quanzhou, signed up procurement deals of up to 30 billion yuan from Hong Kong, the city's social media accounts showed. Shenzhen’s Boao district alone aims to attract 100 billion yuan in foreign investment this year, with 26 business managers and 10 officials responsible for key streets committing themselves to the task in a letter, Chinese media said. ($1=6.8810 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dutch government to face no-confidence vote after election loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, April 5 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government faced a no-confidence vote on Wednesday over plans to cut nitrogen emissions on farms, three weeks after being beaten in provincial elections by a farmers' protest party opposed to such cuts. Opposition parties said during Wednesday's parliamentary debate that the Rutte government had failed to offer any convincing policies to tackle nitrogen emissions as well as other issues such as high inflation and immigration. The opposition parties are expected to propose the no- confidence vote later in the day. Environmental groups have won a string of court cases since 2019 ordering the government to limit nitrogen emissions and preserve nature before new building permits can be granted. In a big shock for the Netherlands' political landscape, the farmers' protest party BBB (BoerBurgerBeweging - Farmer Citizen Movement) emerged as the clear winner of the provincial elections on March 15.

☆ South Africa fights to keep phone networks up as lights go out
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Nqobile Dludla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

A bank of expensive backup batteries, theft-proofed within a block of concrete. "Our costs have gone through the roof," lamented Sitho Mdlalose, managing director of Vodacom South Africa (VODJ.J). President Cyril Ramaphosa in February declared a national state of disaster, calling the crisis an existential threat to South Africa's social fabric. While most network towers in South Africa are equipped with a battery for backup power, more advanced systems are less common. That risks delaying South Africa's pivot to the digital economy and could leave rural areas, which already suffer from sparse coverage, lagging even further behind.

☆ Pakistan court orders provincial votes in win for ex-PM Khan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. But the Supreme Court ruled that the delay was illegal and voting in the two provinces should be held between April 30 and May 15. It said the provincial assembly election in Punjab, Pakistan's most prosperous and politically important province should be on May 14. The court also ordered the government to release 21 billion rupees ($73.17 million) to the election commission to organise the two provincial elections. Parliament last week introduced a draft law to clip the powers of the Supreme Court.

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