There is a tiger in the heart, sniffing the rose.
Today in history:122 years ago today, the American writer John Steinbeck was born, and his masterpieces include "Between Men and Mouse", "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Moon Has Gone Down" and so on. The most striking feature of his work is the observation and depiction of various living conditions under the poor material conditions of human beings, and in 1962, John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature. PoliticsThe Cambodian People's Party won the Senate electionCambodia China Times News, recently, Cambodia held a senate election, Cambodia People's Party spokesman Soe Sang said that the preliminary vote count results show that the party has won at least 50 Senate seats, that is, more than 80% of the votes, former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also won a Senate seat, there is news that Hun Sen will also serve as the speaker of the Senate.
It is understood that there are 62 seats in the Cambodian Senate, of which 58 seats are voted for by 125 members of parliament and more than 11,000 local councillors, and two seats are appointed by the king and the National Assembly. A total of four parties participated in the election, including Hun Sen's People's Party, the small royalist party allied with the People's Party, the Monarchist People's Socialist Party, and two other small opposition parties. Previously, according to political analysts**, Hun Sen's entry into the Senate and his position as speaker are almost impossible because most of the eligible MPs and local councillors are members of the People's Party, and the People's Party swept all 58 seats in the last Senate election.
South Korean doctors continue to go on strike, and medical alert rises to "severe".According to Lianhe Zaobao, recently, South Korea's interns and residents have continued to ferment in the strike action to expand medical school enrollment, and South Korea has raised the medical crisis alert to the highest "severe" level. South Korea's Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, Park Minshou, said at a press conference that concerns about the damage to people's health and lives caused by the collective actions of doctors have increased, and in addition to raising the health and medical alert level from "alert" to "severe", the authorities have also approved all medical institutions that are willing to provide ** remote medical treatment for patients until the strike ends. In addition, South Korea has also decided to set up a Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters headed by Prime Minister Han Deok-so to mobilize all ministries and localities** to respond to various situations, including asking medical staff in public hospitals to work more hours.
The Emergency Countermeasures Committee of the College of Medicine of Seoul National University in South Korea said that if they can't come up with acceptable countermeasures, they can only act together with the interns, and if this continues, the Korean medical system will not be able to hold out for even 10 days.
MilitaryThe Houthis threatened to blockade the Bab el-Mandeb StraitAccording to comprehensive news from Washington, recently, Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Ezzie issued a warning on the social ** platform, saying that the Houthis are considering a complete blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the coming days to threaten to end the Israeli-Kazakh fighting. It is understood that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, located at the southern end of the Red Sea, is the choke point of the sea lane between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and once the channel is blocked, it will inevitably disrupt the world ** and oil **.
Since November last year, the Houthis have been attacking merchant ships and US ships in the Red Sea. However, most of the merchant ships that were attacked were not very damaged and were able to continue sailing. The worst damage so far was the attack on the USS Ruby in the Gulf of Aden on 18 February. Not only was the ruby hull badly damaged, but it also left a 29-kilometer-long oil slick on the surface of the sea. The United States and Britain have teamed up to counter the Houthis in dozens of airstrikes over the past two months, targeting Houthi mobile missile launchers and underwater drones, but have so far failed to stop the Houthis from launching further attacks.
Thailand began salvaging the Sukhothai**According to the Bangkok Post, recently, the Thai and U.S. navies began to work together to salvage the frigate "Sukhothai" sunk in 2022 in the Gulf of Thailand. Admiral Adong, commander of the Thai Navy, said that 35 Thai Navy divers and 14 U.S. Navy divers were involved in the salvage work, and the salvage time was about 19 days. He also revealed that the budget for this salvage is as much as 200 million baht, and the United States has also borne a part of it.
It is understood that the "Sukhothai" corvette is a Royal Thai Navy corvette built by the American Tacoma Shipbuilding Company, late at night local time on December 18, 2022, the "Sukhothai" corvette sank in the waters near Prachuap Khiri Kharchuap, Thailand, with a total of 105 people on board at that time, 76 people were rescued, 24 people died, and 5 people were missing.
Earlier it was reported that Thailand and a Chinese company had developed a plan to salvage the Sukhothai, but the United States warned the Thai Navy that the Sukhothai is subject to the U.S. Foreign Arms Sales Act, is equipped with advanced systems and is subject to end-use monitoring. The selection of the rescue contractor also needs to be reviewed by Washington, which needs to provide information about the salvage operation, otherwise it will affect future U.S. arms sales to Thailand, so the Thai side canceled the plan and agreed to abide by the agreement with the United States.
EconomyVietnam became the second largest fishmeal country in China
According to the Vietnam News Agency, recently, data from the Vietnam Aquatic Products Export and Processing Association showed that in 2023, China's imports of fishmeal from Vietnam reached 2620,000 tons, worth 4$2.5 billion. China imported 1.65 million tonnes of fishmeal from abroad in 2023, down 9% year-on-year, of which 26 were imported from Vietnam, the association also said20,000 tons, ** up to 4$2.5 billion, up 24% and 48% in volume and value year-over-year, respectively.
Vietnam has become the second largest fishmeal country in China, after Peru. This is mainly due to the decline in Peruvian anchovy production due to the El Niño phenomenon in 2023, and the amount of fishmeal imported by China from Peru in 2023 decreased by 51% year-on-year, with a total import value of 4$300 million.
SafetyJapan** urged TEPCO to be more cautious in the treatment of nuclear wastewater
According to Reuters, Japan's TEPCO launched a nuclear wastewater discharge plan on August 24 last year, discharging wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea after treatment, and has completed three rounds of discharge so far, with a total of about 23,400 tons of treated water. According to NHK, TEPCO and ** samples collected near the nuclear power plant measured tritium concentrations of up to 22 becquerels per liter, well below the national standard of 700 becquerels and the World Health Organization's standard of 10,000 becquerels for drinking water. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also released a report in January confirming that the emissions met international safety standards. TEPCO will dump 54,600 tonnes of treated water into the ocean seven times this year, which will be twice as many as last year.
But TEPCO has been exposed to a series of mistakes recently. In October last year, two workers were reportedly sprayed with a liquid containing radioactive material due to a broken water pipe while cleaning a nuclear wastewater facility. Both employees** were contaminated and had to be admitted to the hospital**. The most recent case was on 7 February this year, when an employee was cleaning a facility, he failed to notice that the water pipe inside the equipment was open, resulting in the leakage of water containing radioactive materials. **Concerned about TEPCO's negligence in safety management, urging it to take stricter measures and more prudently dispose of nuclear wastewater.
CultureMalaysia has listed Bak Kut Teh as a national gastronomic heritageKuala Lumpur News, Recently, the Attorney-General's Office of Malaysia issued a gazette, promulgating the list of tangible heritage in 2024, and Heritage Commissioner Mohd Muda listed 10 foods such as bak kut tea as a national gastronomic heritage in accordance with the National Heritage Act 2005. It is understood that bak kut teh is a pork rib soup made with herbs and spices, which is widely loved by the Chinese community in Singapore and Malaysia.
However, the origin of bak kut tea is controversial, with both Singapore and Malaysia claiming to be the birthplace of bak kut tea. Johor Tebrau MP Pan Weiss suggested to Parliament last year that nasi lemak, bak kut teh and laksa be listed as Malaysia's culinary heritage to prevent other countries from "preempting" them, but the remarks were met with opposition from some of the public, who said that bak kut teh is not halal and not available to all and should not be listed as a national heritage. Subsequently, Malaysia's Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Teo Keng Sin instructed the relevant authorities to study the proposal to list Bak Kut Teh as a national gastronomic heritage and called on all parties to look at the issue with an open mind.
Financial NewslettersNews, recently, lithium carbonate ** rose sharply across the board, and the main contract **43%, * to 10180,000 tons, breaking through the 100,000 yuan mark again, and the position increased by 7,771 lots.