Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · 2d

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'.

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · 6d

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?

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 6d

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...

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BBC新闻摘要实时更新｜非官方 @bbcnewscn.nzcow.com · 12d

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

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

www.bbc.com

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Xander ✺ @spectralcodex.com · 7d

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

Sixth Tone @sixthtone.bsky.social · 15d

I am a third-generation of the Third Front Movement. There’s a saying that captures the experience of families like ours: “First we devote our youth, then we devote our whole lives — in the end, even the futures of our children and grandchildren are tied to the cause.”

The Factory Workers Who Helped Build a Nation

A photographer strives to protect the memory of China’s Third Front Movement and the families who dedicated their lives to it.

www.sixthtone.com

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 13d

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, 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.

bit.ly

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AP美联社新闻摘要实时更新｜非官方 @apnewscn.nzcow.com · 18d

📢 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

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

apnews.com

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Reuters @reuters.com · 22d

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

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.

reut.rs

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Yan Qin @yanqin.bsky.social · 22d

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

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

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.

www.reuters.com

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Ember @ember-energy.org · 29d

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

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · 29d

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

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.

www.scmp.com

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The China-Global South Project @chinagsproject.bsky.social · Sep 1

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.

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𝙉𝙋𝘾 𝙊𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧 @npcobserver.com · Aug 31

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...

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.

newsletter.npcobserver.com

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AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · Aug 30

#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.

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Dave Jones @cleanpowerdave.bsky.social · Aug 26

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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Reuters @reuters.com · Aug 25

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

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · Aug 21

"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"

Stanford APARC @aparc.stanford.edu · Aug 21

How do US political leaders and the media shape narratives concerning China, and how do citizens in young democracies perceive them? At a recent policy engagement conference, the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab team presented research findings addressing these questions. stanford.io/4793N7A

Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab Probes Political Messaging and Public

At a recent conference, lab members presented data-driven, policy-relevant insights into rival-making in U.S.-China relations

aparc.fsi.stanford.edu

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Copernicus ECMWF @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social · Aug 19

#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-...

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · Aug 16

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

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · Aug 16

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...

Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem

www.techinasia.com

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International Energy Agency @iea.org · Aug 16

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

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Tom Hancock @tomhancock.bsky.social · Aug 15

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

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Anderson Lee @andersonlee.bsky.social · Aug 11

"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"

Green Indicative Planning | Cornel Ban & Jacob Hasselbalch

Market economies need planning to survive climate breakdown

www.phenomenalworld.org

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Reposted by Tom Hancock

Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · Aug 11

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.

“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?”

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Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · Aug 11

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

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

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