🇯🇵©️❗️🇨🇳 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | Japanese companies growing more wary of operating in China, report shows | Number of businesses down from peak but massive market still alluring | August 6, 2024:

"TOKYO -- Supply chain risks, anti-espionage legislation and rising geopolitical tensions are making Japanese companies less inclined to operate in China, a recent survey shows."

#Geoeconomics

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🇨🇳🏭🧠🤝🇲🇾 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | Malaysia and China deepen chip cooperation with joint expo | Kuala Lumpur seeks foreign investment to upgrade its 'Silicon Valley' | August 8, 2024:

"BEIJING/SINGAPORE -- Malaysia and China are pursuing closer cooperation on semiconductors via a joint industry event, as Kuala Lumpur seeks to advance its chip industry while Beijing bolsters its own supply chains.

The first Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Summit and Expo is set for October in the Malaysian state of Penang. The Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association and the China Electronic Production Equipment Industry Association are among the organizers.

Malaysian businesses are anticipated to make up around 40% of the exhibiting companies, with 30% from China and 30% from elsewhere in the region."

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®️👋🇨🇳 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | HP plans its most aggressive shift of production away from China | Thailand emerges as major factory destination as PC maker hires engineers in Singapore:

"TAIPEI -- HP is looking to shift more than half of its personal computer production away from China and is setting up a "backup" design hub in Singapore in an attempt to reduce geopolitical risks around China and Taiwan, Nikkei Asia has learned."

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🇺🇸❕🇨🇳 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | Tim Walz and China: Close personal ties and sharp criticism of Beijing | Harris' VP pick taught and honeymooned in country before becoming vocal on human rights | August 7, 2024:

"NEW YORK -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, selected to be the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump in the U.S. election in November, has visited China numerous times and has emerged as a sharp critic of Beijing on human rights and other issues.

(...)

Walz was critical of Trump's confrontational trade policy and later led a delegation on a six-day trip to Asia, visiting South Korea and Japan to strengthen commercial ties. He has underscored the need to maintain dialogue with China, too. But at the same time, he had tough words for Beijing in an interview with Nikkei in Tokyo last year.

"We need to cooperate with China on issues such as climate change and agricultural production, but I'm disappointed with China's recent performance -- on the Ukraine issue, they are on Russia's side," he said."

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🚔❗️🇨🇳 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | Amazon develops China seller network to take on Temu, Shein | Chinese upstarts are cutting into U.S. e-commerce giant's share with cheap goods | August 8, 2024:

"SHANGHAI/PALO ALTO, California -- Amazon is making a push to acquire more sellers in China, aiming to expand its offerings of affordable products in the U.S. and elsewhere to take on Temu and other Chinese competitors."

#Geoeconomics

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🇺🇸🗣❗️🇨🇳 — 🇯🇵 Nikkei Asia | Where will U.S.-China tech decoupling go under Harris or Trump? | Silicon Valley split on different futures for AI, crypto and China investment | August 8, 2024:

"(...) While the U.S. and China tech sectors are expected to continue moving apart regardless of who wins in November, some still prefer a "stable decoupling" by a Harris administration over a less predictable Trump administration."

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🇵🇸 🇮🇱 🇮🇱 This Israeli soldier, who, alongside his unit, raped a Palestinian prisoner, was invited on Israeli Channel 14 to defend the assault live on TV.

⬛️ "Our army in the healthiest army, I'm here to protect our good name"

🔶️ The heinous assault was captured on CCTV at the Sde Teiman detention center and leaked, revealing the brutal conditions and systematic torture inflicted on Palestinian prisoners. Reports from the center have documented severe abuse, including rape, electric shocks, and starvation.

🔶️ The case has caused controversy in Israel, primarily because the focus has been on initiating an investigation and questioning the soldiers rather than addressing the rape itself.

🔶️ Hundreds of Israelis, including politicians and reserve soldiers, have even stormed a military base to protest the investigation and demand the release of the soldiers, effectively defending their actions. According to an Israeli TV poll, 47% of Israelis supported the rape of Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers.

📎 Quds News Network

🚀 🇨🇳 🛰 China's Effort to Launch Starlink Rival Accidentally Creates Orbital Debris Field

🔶️ A mishap from the Chinese rocket creates over 300 pieces of trackable debris, according to US Space Command. And the fragments might one day pose a danger to Starlink.

🔶️ A rocket carrying satellites for China’s version of Starlink accidentally broke apart in space, creating a debris field in Earth’s orbit.

🔶️ The rocket, Long March 6A, took off on Tuesday, carrying the first 18 satellites for China’s Qianfan “Thousand Sails” satellite constellation, which was previously known as G60. Although the satellites were successfully deployed, the rocket's upper stage appears to have split into numerous fragments, according to satellite tracking firms.

🔶️ On Thursday, US Space Command confirmed the “break-up” of the rocket, saying the incident has resulted in over “300 pieces of trackable debris in low-Earth orbit.”

https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinas-effort-to-launch-starlink-rival-accidentally-creates-orbital-debris

🇮🇷❌🇺🇸🇺🇸 — The Islamic Republic of Iran is Targeting 2024 US Election to manipulate public opinion against Donald Trump, says Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC)

In Their report, MTAC says:

➡️ Today we’re sharing intelligence about activity we’ve been tracking that increasingly points to Iran’s intent to influence this year’s US presidential election. In recent weeks, groups connected with the Iranian government have upped two kinds of activity.

➡️ First, they’ve laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics and begun to activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters – especially in swing states. Second, they’ve launched operations that Microsoft assesses are designed to gain intelligence on political campaigns and help enable them to influence the elections in the future.

➡️ We discuss this activity in a new report we released today, which details this activity, and four examples illuminate what we can increasingly expect from Iran as we near November.

One Iranian group has been launching covert news sites targeting US voter groups on opposing ends of the political spectrum. One of the sites, called Nio Thinker, caters to left-leaning audiences and insults former president Donald Trump, calling him an “opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop” and a “raving mad litigiosaur.”

➡️ Another, called Savannah Time, claims to be a “trusted source for conservative news in the vibrant city of Savannah” and focuses on topics including LGBTQ+ issues and gender reassignment. The evidence we found suggests the sites are using AI-enabled services to plagiarize at least some of their content from US publications.

➡️ A separate Iranian group has been setting the groundwork for US-focused influence operations since March.

➡️ We believe this group may be setting itself up for activities that are even more extreme, including intimidation or inciting violence against political figures or groups, with the ultimate goals of inciting chaos, undermining authorities, and sowing doubt about election integrity.

🔗 Link
https://archive.is/RVzm7
🔗 Microsoft Threat Intelligence (@MsftSecIntel)

🇧🇷✈️⚠️ — ☠ In a statement, the City Hall of Valinhos, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, reported that there are no survivors from the plane crash. 68 people lost their lives in the accident.

🇲🇽🇷🇺🇺🇦 Mexico rejects Ukraine's request to arrest Russia's Putin during visit

The Mexican president on Thursday rejected a request from Ukraine's government to arrest Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader defies an international arrest warrant and attends the inauguration of Mexico's next president in October.

🗣"We can't do that," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters at a regular government press conference. "It's not up to us."

Ukraine asked Mexico to arrest Putin if he attends the Oct. 1 swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum's team has invited the Russian president to attend the inauguration, noting earlier this week that it sent a "diplomatic notice" to all countries with which Mexico maintains diplomatic relations.

https://t.me/meriblood/3441

@FelipeChannel

🇵🇦🇺🇸 Panama asks the US to expedite resources for repatriating migrants

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino asked the U.S. to accelerate aid deliveries for repatriating migrants who cross into Panama through the Darien Gap.

Mulino took office in early July vowing to crack down on the record number of migrants crossing the Darien and announced an agreement with the U.S. under which Washington would foot the bill for sending back migrants who enter Panama without authorization.

In a press conference on Thursday, Mulino called on the U.S. to deliver the money quickly, saying he needed it for repatriation flights.

🗣"The ball is in their court, we have done everything we can do," he said, referring to the Americans.

🔎 Source
#Panama #US #DarienGap

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇦🇷📰❌🇻🇪 — Leandro Lutzky, former Argentine news presenter at teleSUR, has announced his resignation due to the electoral scandal in Venezuela and the news network's support for Nicolás Maduro's regime:

"I resigned from my job as a news presenter at Telesur because of the electoral scandal in Venezuela. On the return flight, a Venezuelan migrant made me promise that I would make a video explaining it."

Leandro Lutzky (@LeanLutzky) 🖇