Today, nations such as Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Ghana and Guinea are dismantling that system – by banning exports of raw materials and enforcing local processing rules. These measures force international mining firms, including Chinese companies, to invest billions of dollars in domestic processing plants.

Now, instead

The finance director of a private college in Hong Kong has been remanded in custody on suspicion of embezzling HK$41 million (US$5.2 million) over three years, with his wife and an engineering contractor also denied bail for allegedly handling the illicit proceeds.

Ray Yip Kam-chun, 49, appeared in Tuen Mun Court on Wednesday to face a count of theft for allegedly stealing from Hong Kong Chu Hai College in Tuen Mun between December 23, 2022, and January 7

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday threatened retaliation for Western seizures of its commercial vessels, describing them as “piracy.”

Speaking on a visit to a Russian warship that was taking part in a naval exercise in the Pacific, Putin described the Western moves to detain vessels linked to Russia as a breach of international maritime law.

“It’s nothing but piracy and robbery,” Putin said. “If this is done, we will be forced to respond in kind.”

He added that the Russian response would not

A venture capital fund backed by Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC), China’s top producer of NAND flash memory, has taken a stake in domestic semiconductor manufacturer SOI Micro, adding a high-profile investor to the country’s push for an alternative chipmaking ecosystem.

Led by a prominent figure in China’s semiconductor industry, SOI Micro is focused on developing fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology – a low-power chipmaking technology that offers a complementary route to mainstream processes.

Nestled within thick, verdant foliage in Cha Kwo Ling is one of Hong Kong’s last squatter settlements, where a handful of remaining residents are staying until a government deadline to move out for redevelopment of the area for public housing.

Mrs Lam, one of the last villagers living among the juxtaposition of makeshift metal dwellings and stone houses complete with wooden window frames, said she had until August 25 to clear her belongings.

“I’m going to miss my medicinal herbs so much,” said Lam, in

When a patient repeatedly refuses the same medicine, there are usually three possibilities: he does not understand the diagnosis, cannot afford the treatment, or does not trust the doctor. The same logic applies to economic prescriptions.

In the case of China, the first possibility is unlikely because Beijing understands what ails its economy. The reason it is not acting as expected is probably a combination of the other two scenarios, compounded by a more fundamental difference: China believes it is treating a different disease.

Western economists see weak consumption