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Chinese science fiction The Three-Body Problem to be adapted as Netflix original series

(Xinhua)09:50, September 03, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) — Netflix has been granted the rights from the Chinese fiction The Three-Body Universe and Yoozoo Group to produce the English-language series adaptation and have assembled a talented and thoughtful creative team, according to an announcement by the companys executive.

Im pleased to announce that the Hugo Award-winning The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels are coming to Netflix as a series, Vice President of the companys Original Series Drama Peter Friedlander said in the announcement.

The first time I read The Three-Body Problem trilogy, it changed what science fiction meant to me forever, he noted.

The Chinese writer Liu Cixin has joined as a consulting producer alongside Ken Liu, who wrote the English translation for The Three-Body Problem and Deaths End. Having Cixin and Ken involved will help ensure that the spirit of the books remains intact, the announcement said.

I have the greatest respect for and faith in the creative team adapting The Three-Body Problem for television audiences, said Liu, adding that the story considers the fate of humankind as a whole, transcending time and the confines of nations, cultures and races.

It is a great honor as an author to see this unique sci-fi concept travel and gain fandom across the globe and I am excited for new and existing fans all over the world to discover the story on Netflix, Liu said.

The team starts with writers and executive producers David Benioff D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones), and Alexander Woo (The Terror: Infamy, True Blood), who have experience tackling ambitious sagas over time and space, as well as executive producers Rian Johnson and producing partner Ram Bergman (Looper, Knives Out, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi), the announcement said.

According to writers and executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Lius trilogy is the most ambitious science-fiction series they have read. We look forward to spending the next years of our lives bringing this to life for audiences around the world.

Its a privilege to be adapting one of the great masterpieces of Chinese science-fiction. The Three-Body Problem trilogy combines so many things I love: rich, multi-layered characters and true existential stakes – all told as an elegant and deeply human allegory, said the writer and executive producer Alexander Woo.

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Casual eateries may provide cognitive benefits for older adults study

(Xinhua)09:58, August 19, 2020

A study posted on the website of University of Michigan (UM) on Tuesday has found that older adults regular visits to eateries such as fast food restaurants and coffee shops may be as protective of cognitive health as marriage.

The researchers interviewed 125 older adults aged 55-92 in the Minneapolis metro area and accompanied them on visits to their neighborhood haunts. Through analysis of the interviews, they found that older adults valued these types of eateries as places of familiarity and comfort; places that were physically and economically accessible; and places to socialize with family, friends, staff and customers.

The researchers then tested this idea in a national cohort to determine whether access to eateries was associated with cognitive function. They drew on the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke, or REGARDS, study, which collects longitudinal information by mail and telephone from more than 30,000 aging black and white individuals. The participants were an average age of 64 in 2003-2007.

REGARDS respondents residing in the most sparse retail food environments had cognitive scores that were modestly lower, about 0.1 points, than residents living in the highest density environments. The difference in cognitive well-being between individuals living in high density and low density neighborhoods was equivalent to about a year difference in age, which is strongly linked to age-related cognitive decline in older adults.

Philippa Clarke, a professor of epidemiology at the UM School of Public Health and research professor at the Survey Research Center, worries what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on these older adults ability to visit these places.

As these third places close for business during the pandemic, the opportunities for social interaction for older adults are constrained. This research highlights the importance of informal places for social interaction for maintaining cognitive health with aging, and raises important questions about the impact of their closure for the future rates of dementia in older Americans.

The study has been published in the journal Health and Place.

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Cultural heritage inheritor turns to new media to promote dough figurines

(Peoples Daily Online)11:26, August 14, 2020

Lang Jiaziyu, 25, is the third-generation inheritor of Dough Figurine Lang, a national intangible cultural heritage. In addition to using this ancient craft to make new figurines, he has also sought to make full use of new media channels such as short video and online streaming to promote the traditional skill.

Lang Jiaziyu makes a dough figurine. (File photo)

The origins of dough figurines date as far back as the Han Dynasty. People turned leftover dough into ornamental figurines during festivals and gave them special meanings, Lang said, explaining the craft鈥檚 long history.

Also known as 鈥済lutinous rice figurines,鈥?dough figurines, are a traditional Chinese art form in which wheat flour and glutinous rice flour are used as the main ingredients. The figures typically depict scenes from Chinese opera, books and daily life, or mythical characters from famous works.

Lang came into contact with dough figurines in June 2008 when he was just 13, and remembers being excited at the news of their inclusion in the second national intangible cultural heritage list.

When Lang was 16 years old, he was accepted as a prospective member of the Beijing Folk Artists Association, and became a full member at 18. Today, he is a postgraduate student at the School of Art, Peking University.

Lang has gained many fans through his short videos. He said his biggest dream is to become a craftsman and spread the art of making dough figurines through We media.

Lang said that through making short videos, he hopes to bring traditional dough figurines to more peoples attention through familiar methods. If we can get 100 people to know about it, 10 people to like it and one person to become good at it, then this skill will hopefully be passed down, he said.

Today, the cultural and creative industry related to intangible cultural heritage has developed, but peoples consumption habits for traditional arts and crafts have yet to be cultivated. It takes a long time for traditional culture to integrate into modern life, and our generation needs to keep working on it,鈥?Lang said.

This year, Lang opened his own studio to further advance dough figurine culture. I want to carry forward this fine traditional culture with the courageous spirit of young people, Lang said.

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War epic film The Eight Hundred wins applause

(Xinhua)08:54, August 18, 2020

The Eight Hundred, a war epic film which has won applause from moviegoers and critics following its Aug. 14 preview screening in China, will see further preview run from Monday through Thursday before its formal release on Friday.

Directed by Guan Hu, whose best-known works include the 2015 film Mr. Six, The Eight Hundred depicts Chinese soldiers defense of a warehouse against the invading Japanese army during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937.

Box office data compiled by Maoyan, a movie-ticketing and film data platform, showed that as of 8:40 p.m. Monday, The Eight Hundred had grossed nearly 59 million yuan (about 8.5 million U.S. dollars) from its preview screenings, of which nearly 45 million yuan was generated on Monday.

Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and a professor at Tsinghua University, has hailed The Eight Hundred as a movie that Chinese filmmakers should be proud of.

It marked a new height for Chinese war films, or even Chinese films, following the 2007 Feng Xiaogang film Assembly, Yin said.

Currently, the film boasts a rating of 9.4 points out of 10 on the Maoyan platform and a rating of 8.1 on Douban, a review platform.

Movie theaters were greenlighted to reopen from July 20 in parts of China deemed to be low-risk areas after months-long closures meant to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

The past couple of days saw an increasing number of major films unveil their theatrical release dates for China, a sign of the gradual recovery of the worlds second-biggest box office market.

The Eight Hundred, shot entirely with IMAX cameras, is the first major Chinese film to land in Chinese theaters since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Overseas, it is slated for release in North America, Australia, and New Zealand on Aug. 28, a week after its formal release in China, according to CMC Pictures, a distributor of the film.

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5 suspected leftist rebels, marine soldier killed in Philippine clash

(Xinhua)16:16, September 03, 2020

MANILA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) — Five suspected leftist rebels and a government soldier were killed in fierce fighting in Palawan province of the Philippines on Thursday, a military official said.

Brigadier General Nestor Herico, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade, said a 10-minute clash erupted shortly before 6:00 a.m. local time in a village in Palawan province when marine soldiers encountered eight New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels while conducting reconnaissance security operations in the area.

Herico said government troops were sent to the village after villagers tipped off the presence of the rebels in the area. Some of the rebels killed were women cadres, he added.

He said troops recovered firearms, laptops, mobile phones, and documents in the clash site.

The NPA has been fighting the government since 1969. They concentrate their attacks in rural areas and small-scale skirmishes with the military.

The NPA strength is estimated at 3,500, a number significantly lower than its peak strength of around 25,000 in the 1980s.

On and off talks to end the decades-old insurgency that killed thousands stalled again last year.

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3 militants dead in airstrike in S. Afghanistan, police officer killed in separate incidents

(Xinhua)16:18, September 03, 2020

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) — One Afghan police officer and three militants have been killed in two separate incidents in Afghanistans southern Helmand province, authorities said Thursday.

In one incident, Taliban gunmen riding a motorcycle shot dead a police officer in Police District 7 of provincial capital Lashkar Gah early Thursday, provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told Xinhua.

The assailants fled the scene after the shooting and relatives of the slain officer were notified, the spokesman added.

In neighboring Garmser district, three militants were killed and four others wounded after Afghan Air Force struck a Talibans position Wednesday night, Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The precise strike was launched based on a confirmed tip that showed the targeted militants tried to attack security forces checkpoints in the desert district, the statement said.

Among those killed was a local Taliban leader named Shakir Aqa, the statement said, adding a weapons depot, a vehicle, three motorcycles, five AK-47 guns and two heavy guns were also destroyed by the sortie.

The Taliban militants have tried to overrun small towns or districts across Afghanistan and consolidate their position since the signing of a Taliban-U.S. peace agreement in late February.

The militants have intensified attacks, frequently launching hit-and-run ambushes against security forces.

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Chinese envoy asks U.S. to change course over Iran nuclear issue

(Xinhua)14:49, August 15, 2020

Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun on Friday asked the United States to change course over the Iran nuclear issue and return to the right track of multilateralism.

In an explanation of vote after the Security Council rejected a U.S. draft resolution that sought to extend the arms embargo against Iran, Zhang said the voting result once again shows that unilateralism receives no support, and bullying will fail. Any attempt to place ones own interest above the common interests of the international community is a dead end.

The draft only received two votes in favor. China and Russia voted against it, and the remaining 11 Security Council members, including the European allies of the United States, abstained.

In recent years, Zhang said, in pursuing unilateralism and America first, the United States has abandoned its international obligations and withdrawn from multilateral agreements and international organizations, shattering its own credibility.

China urges the United States to abandon unilateralism and stop unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction. The United States should adopt a reasonable and realistic attitude, and return to the right track of observing the Iran nuclear deal and Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 deal between Iran and the six powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, he said.

The United States unilaterally announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and later re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Diplomacy is the only right way forward, and preserving and implementing the Iran nuclear deal is of vital importance, said Zhang, asking for efforts to facilitate dialogue and consultation among relevant parties.

China will continue to work with the international community to jointly uphold the Iran nuclear deal and Security Council Resolution 2231, and it will always be on the side of international fairness and justice, world peace and stability, and multilateralism, and work hard for the political settlement of the Iran nuclear issue, he said.

The U.S. draft resolution is about re-imposing sanctions on Iran and a continuation of the policy of maximum pressure, and has no legal ground and common sense, Zhang said, noting that the overwhelming majority of the Security Council members have expressed reservations about the draft and believe that the U.S. attempt has no legal basis.

Under Resolution 2231, the arms embargo against Iran expires on Oct. 18, 2020.

The United States has repeatedly claimed that it will invoke the snapback mechanism within the Security Council should its draft resolution fail to pass, Zhang noted.

Having withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, the United States is no longer a participant of the deal, and therefore ineligible to demand the Security Council invoke a snapback, he said.

Should the United States insist in disregard of international opinion, its attempt is doomed to fail again, he said.

Under Resolution 2231, any participant state to the Iran nuclear deal can notify the Security Council about an issue that it considers a significant violation of the agreement. The UN sanctions in place before the adoption of Resolution 2231 in July 2015 would then resume 30 days after the notification, unless the Security Council adopts a resolution to decide otherwise.

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UN Security Council strongly condemns mutiny in Mali

(Xinhua)09:14, August 20, 2020

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday strongly condemned the mutiny, which happened in Kati, Mali on Tuesday and led to the arrest of Malian president, prime minister and several other members of government by some mutineers.

In a press statement, the Council members urged those mutineers to release safely and immediately all the officials detained and to return to their barracks without delay.

They also underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to the constitutional order.

They reiterated their strong support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) initiatives and mediation efforts in Mali and expressed their support to the two ECOWAS communiques of Aug. 18 as well as to the one from the African Union chairperson. They called on all Malian stakeholders to show restraint and give priority to dialogue to resolve the crisis in their country.

The Council members reiterated their support to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali in its efforts to stabilize the situation in Mali.

They also expressed their determination to continue monitoring closely the situation.

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Russian jets intercept U.S. planes over Baltic, Black seas

(Xinhua)09:44, August 20, 2020

Russian fighter jets on Wednesday intercepted three U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic and Black seas, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian airspace control systems detected an air target approaching the Russian border over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, the ministrys Zvezda broadcasting service said in a statement.

The crew of a Russian Su-27 fighter approached the aerial object and identified it at a safe distance as a U.S. Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance plane, Zvezda said.

Also on Wednesday, another Su-27 jet was scrambled to intercept a U.S. Air Force RC-135 plane and a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft reconnaissance aircraft, which were approaching Russia over the neutral waters of the Black Sea.

In the past few weeks, Russian jets repeatedly intercepted U.S. reconnaissance planes approaching the Russian border from various directions.

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Chinese city releases map for nighttime consumption

(Xinhua)16:07, August 07, 2019

GUANGZHOU, Aug. 7 — Guangzhou, capital of southern Chinas Guangdong Province, rolled out a map highlighting commercial clusters for nighttime consumptions on Tuesday, as the city aims to spur nighttime economy.

Nighttime economy refers to business activities between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the service sector. Many Chinese cities, especially metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have rolled out plans to support nighttime consumption to drive economic growth.

The map of nighttime consumption, published by the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau, lays out 15 nighttime consumption landmarks including some of the citys well known shopping malls and creative art zones.

The city will continue to improve infrastructure and public services, as well as hold symbolic festive and night events in the night consumption clusters, according to the bureau.

Chinas nighttime consumption has seen growth recently. Since June, the market for nighttime food delivery services has significantly expanded and seen a growing legion of takeaway delivery drivers, according to data from Eleme, Alibabas flagship takeaway-ordering app.

Chinas night catering consumption jumped 47 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, 2 percent higher than the daytime growth, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy and Meituan, a Yelp-like Chinese online city guide.