Tag Archives: Beijing

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- Aug 19, 2023

World Economic Forum (August 19, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Beijing’s heaviest rain in 140 years – Downpours have caused severe flooding across the city, destroying roads, infrastructure, and businesses. More than 20 people are known to have died. 1.5 million people have been evacuated from Beijing and the surrounding Hebei province. The floodwaters could take a month to recede.

1:41 This racing car is made from eWaste – It’s made from discarded phones, disposable vapes and old circuit boards. It’s called the Recover-E Car. It’s life-size and fully driveable . It was designed by British artist Liam Hopkins in collaboration with motorsports team Envision Racing to highlight the growing problem of e-waste.

3:30 These crops are suffering the most from change – Experts rank the food supply crisis as one of the world’s top 5 currently manifesting risks. This German farmer has started planting lavender. It’s best suited to the sandy soils and sunshine of the Mediterranean but climate change is bringing these conditions to southern Germany. The lavender is used in cosmetics and perfumes. Matthias Tafelmeier planted his first lavender crop in 2019 after what he says was a decade of declining soil quality. Farmers in the region are also trying other crops more suited to warmer climates such as chickpeas and kidney beans.

5:16 Cutting edge tech helps paralysed man feel again – Keith Thomas was paralysed from the chest down in a diving accident in 2020. But thanks to a historic trial, he’s recovering sensation in his arms and hands, letting him feel his sister’s handshake.

_____________________________________________

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

Morning News: Italy’s PM Draghi Visits Biden, China Lockdown, Eurovision

Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi heads to Washington to meet Joe Biden. Plus: Beijing and Shanghai ratchet up coronavirus restrictions, a look ahead to the Eurovision Song Contest and a review of today’s papers.

Morning News: Ukraine Invasion, Refugees, Taipei & Beijing, Misinformation

We hear the latest from Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues and discuss the situation on the country’s border as thousands flee.

Plus: the view from Taipei and Beijing, the use of misinformation in the conflict and the impact on aviation.

Views: China Prepares For 2022 Winter Olympics (BBC)

Beijing will become the first city to have staged both a summer and winter Games, having already hosted a successful summer Olympics in 2008. China is already getting ready for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Justin Downes, a Canadian winter sports specialist has been advising games organizers. “There is no question that Beijing will be ready as all the competition venues are ready for the Games and they have already hosted test events.” Some organisations are calling on governments to boycott Beijing 2022 because of reported human rights abuses in the country.

Walks: ‘The Forbidden City – Beijing, China’ (4K Video)

The Forbidden City is the palatial heart of China. Constructed in 1420, during the early Ming Dynasty, it is China’s best-preserved imperial palace, and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world.

As one of the five most important palaces in the world, the grand halls and walls proudly display the essence and culmination of traditional Chinese architecture, fitting for the capital city of the world’s largest nation.

Walks: The Great Wall Of China – Badaling Section, Beijing (4K HDR Video)

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. 

The Great Wall was continuously built from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD on the northern border of the country as the great military defense project of successive Chinese Empires, with a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers.

The Great Wall begins in the east at Shanhaiguan in Hebei province and ends at Jiayuguan in Gansu province to the west. Its main body consists of walls, horse tracks, watch towers, and shelters on the wall, and includes fortresses and passes along the Wall. The Great Wall reflects collision and exchanges between agricultural civilizations and nomadic civilizations in ancient China.

It provides significant physical evidence of the far-sighted political strategic thinking and mighty military and national defense forces of central empires in ancient China, and is an outstanding example of the superb military architecture, technology and art of ancient China. It embodies unparalleled significance as the national symbol for safeguarding the security of the country and its people.