China to remove 11 steel companies from qualified enterprise list

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's industry ministry on Tuesday said it would remove 11 steel firms from a list of qualified enterprises, effectively banning them from operating, and ordered another 17 to rectify environmental, safety and other breaches or face the same fate.

The move comes as China, the world's biggest steelmaker, aims to streamline its bloated steel sector, which currently has around 908 million tonnes per year of production capacity, as well as improve operating efficiency and environmental standards.

Some of the 11 disqualified mills, including Xuzhou Dongya Iron and Steel and Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co, were identified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as having illegally added new capacity, being under bankruptcy liquidation processes or failing to obtain operating licenses from the local government.

https://m.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/china-to-remove-11-steel-companies-from-qualified-enterprise-list-1724582?ampMode=1

Researchers demonstrate teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots

A team of researchers from Austria, Italy and Sweden has successfully demonstrated teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group explains how they accomplished this feat and how it applies to future quantum communications networks.

Scientists and many others are very interested in developing truly quantum communications networks—it is believed that such networks will be safe from hacking or eavesdropping due to their very nature. But, as the researchers with this new effort point out, there are still some problems standing in the way. One of these is the difficulty in amplifying quantum signals. One way to get around this problem, they note, is to generate photons on-demand as part of a quantum repeater—this helps to effectively handle the high clock rates. In this new effort, they have done just that, using semiconductor quantum dots.

https://phys.org/news/2018-12-teleportation-on-demand-photons-quantum-dots.html

Boss of major Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate could be EXECUTED for treason after being accused of selling state secrets to the CIA

Sun Bo is the ex-general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation

The state firm was responsible for refitting China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning

He is accused of handing data about the ship to the US intelligence agency

The boss of a Chinese shipbuilding company responsible for refitting Beijing's first aircraft carrier could face a death penalty after allegedly selling state secrets to the CIA, according to media reports.

Sun Bo, the former general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, was sacked and investigated by China's top anti-corruption watchdog in June.

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The disgraced official could face a death sentence or 'at least a suspended death sentence' for his alleged spying role, South China Morning Post revealed in a report today, citing insiders.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6507325/Boss-Chinas-aircraft-carrier-builder-face-death-penalty-selling-secrets-CIA.html

US military hit by computer network outage in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. military was hit recently by a computer network outage in South Korea, but the problem has largely been resolved, a spokesman said Wednesday. No cause was given.

The temporary outage occurred in what the military calls Area I and Area II, which includes Seoul and areas close to the border with North Korea.

“Technicians from the 1st Signal Brigade began immediate restorative action and the network is currently at 90 percent,” Yongsan Garrison spokesman Wes Hayes told Stars and Stripes. “Due to the sensitive nature of the network and to maintain cyber security, no further information can be provided.”

China and North Korea have denied responsibility for cyberattacks on foreign countries.

https://www.stripes.com/us-military-hit-by-computer-network-outage-in-south-korea-1.561276

The Democrats' power grab in New Jersey

You can count on New Jersey to raise the bar in corrupt politics. This week, Democrats there have crafted a scheme to strengthen their already solid grip on power. They are writing gerrymandering into the state’s constitution. To pass their blatantly undemocratic move, they’re using every trick they can to circumvent opposition.

The current method of drawing districts in New Jersey isn’t perfect, but it's straightforward enough. Each party chairman picks five people to sit on a redistricting commission. Typically, each party submits a map, and an independent arbitrator, picked by the New Jersey Supreme Court, decides which map most closely matches the state’s constitutional mandate that districts be compact and contiguous and don’t give partisan advantage.

Their proposal is a constitutional amendment that would grant politicians more control over the process, define “competitiveness” to Democratic advantage, and almost certainly give Democrats even more legislative seats by requiring boundaries to reflect recent statewide elections where Democrats have done better than Republicans.

If Democrats truly believe their leadership is a better alternative for voters, they should stand by those ideas and win elections fairly rather than cheating — and there's a good lesson there for Republicans too.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/the-democrats-power-grab-in-new-jersey