Author: xjadmin

On March 14th, the US Treasury Department confirmed on March 13th local time that the license allowing energy trading with Russian financial institutions has expired as planned on March 12th Eastern Time. It is reported that the Biden administration authorized the license on January 10th to settle remaining transactions, while prohibiting energy financing transactions with Russian banks including Sberbank and VTB. (CCTV News)

On March 14th, Tesla warned that President Trump’s trade war could make it a target for retaliatory tariffs against the United States and increase the cost of manufacturing cars in the country. In an unsigned letter to US Trade Representative Jamison Greer, Tesla stated that it “supports” fair trade, but warned that “US exporters will be disproportionately affected when other countries respond to US trade actions. In a letter dated March 11th, the company wrote: “For example, past trade actions by the United States could lead to immediate responses from target countries, including increasing tariffs on electric vehicles imported into these countries.” The letter emphasized that even Tesla, led by Trump’s close ally Musk, is concerned about the potential impact of widespread tariffs. (Financial Times)

On March 14th, Yermak, the Director of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated that Ukraine firmly opposes the “freezing of conflicts” and this position has received support from its US partners. Yermak also stated that Europe will be included in the peace process, which is just the beginning, and there is still a lot of work to be done urgently by the Ukrainian side. He emphasized that Ukraine is not isolated in this process, but has gained the support and cooperation of numerous partners.

On March 14th, local time, the 43rd ordinary meeting of the Defense Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was held in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, from March 11th to 13th. The meeting aimed to review the overall security situation in the region, especially the increasingly serious threat of terrorism and the consequences and security challenges brought about by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s withdrawal from the organization. Nigerian Defense Minister Mohamed Badaru revealed that the Western Community has activated standby forces to combat terrorism and other cross-border crimes in the region. This unit is expected to consist of approximately 5000 soldiers.

On March 14th, it was reported that on March 13th local time, a federal judge in California ordered six US agencies to reinstate thousands of laid-off probationary employees, including the US Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Department of the Treasury. As of the end of February, US media statistics showed that since President Trump took office, about 100000 federal employees in the United States have been laid off or accepted “buyout” plans. On February 27th local time, a federal district judge in California ruled that the federal government’s previous large-scale layoffs of probationary employees were illegal. (CCTV News)

On March 14th, US President Donald Trump was sued by a group of predominantly Democratic led states. These states accuse that cutting half of the US Department of Education’s workforce is essentially equivalent to dissolving the department. Several states, including New York and California, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston on Thursday, stating that the plan to lay off approximately 1378 employees on top of 600 employees who had previously accepted buyout offers would weaken the Department of Education’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities under federal law. The lawsuit against Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon is one of the increasing cases challenging government spending cuts and reshaping the federal government through Elon Musk’s controversial Department of Efficiency.

On March 14th, interstellar dust is an important component of the Milky Way, and its distribution and properties are of great significance for understanding the structure, formation, and evolution of the galaxy. The absorption and scattering of starlight by dust can alter the luminosity and color of observed celestial bodies, and understanding the impact of dust is key to conducting various studies. However, depicting the three-dimensional distribution of the absorption and scattering characteristics of starlight by dust in the Milky Way has always been an important challenge in the field of astronomy. Recently, Chinese doctoral student Zhang Xiangyu from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and his supervisor Dr. Gregory Green collaborated to construct the world’s first database describing the absorption and scattering characteristics of interstellar dust on starlight at the scale of billions of stars, using data from China’s Guo Shoujing Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Gaia Space Telescope. They successfully drew a three-dimensional dust distribution and characteristics map of the Milky Way covering the entire sky for the first time, which is crucial for understanding the impact of dust on starlight absorption and scattering and provides a new perspective for astronomical observations, galactic evolution, cosmology, and other research. This achievement was published in the international academic journal Science on March 14th Beijing time.

On March 14th, the European Spirits Industry Association called on the European Union and the United States to stop using the industry as a “bargaining chip” in the tariff war. According to media reports, the European Spirits Industry Association stated in a statement on the 13th that the industry is “deeply shocked” by the US tariff threat and that “this cycle of ‘tit for tat’ tariff retaliation must stop immediately! We urge both sides not to use the spirits industry as a bargaining chip in disputes unrelated to us.

On March 14th, according to CoinDesk, the US Senate Banking Committee has advanced the stablecoin regulation bill for the cryptocurrency industry, which is an important first step in sending the bill to US President Trump for signature into law. With the first committee approval, this bill that will regulate US stablecoin issuers at the federal level now needs to be passed by the Senate as a whole, and there is a similar version waiting for approval in the House of Representatives. Although there are still many obstacles to overcome, including ultimately merging different bills from both houses, the bill has passed the committee’s review with a vote of 18 to 6.

Lima, March 12 (Xinhua) — China COSCO Shipping Group’s subsidiary, COSCO Shipping Peru and COSCO Shipping Port Peru Qiankai, held a Qiankai Port and Service Promotion Conference in Lima, the capital of Peru, on the 12th. Nearly 300 representatives from China and Peru, as well as ambassadors from multiple countries to Peru, attended the meeting.

Chinese Ambassador to Peru Song Yang stated in his speech that the opening ceremony of Qiankai Port was held in November last year. The dream of “From Qian Kai to Shanghai” comes true, which is the result of the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road”. The direct flight to Qiankai Port saves more than 20% of logistics costs and is expected to bring $4.5 billion in revenue to Peru annually, creating over 8000 job opportunities. Qiankai Port will significantly enhance the level of non-traditional trade between China and Peru, benefiting more Peruvian small and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural practitioners.

Victor Mexia, Director of the Peruvian National Customs and Taxation Bureau, said that Qiankai Port has played an important role in promoting bilateral cooperation between Peru and China, fresh food exports, automobile imports, and other fields. The Peruvian government will strongly support port logistics to promote economic growth.

Wang Kunhui, Chairman of COSCO SHIPPING (South America) Co., Ltd., said that COSCO SHIPPING will use Qiankai Port as a pivot to create a new ecology of sea land air intermodal transportation, while using synergy as an engine to activate new regional development momentum.

The attending representatives had in-depth exchanges on how to truly make “from Qian Kai to Shanghai” a prosperous path to promote the common development of China, Peru and Latin America.