Day: January 14, 2021

(Xinhua)10:25, January 13, 2021

ROME, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Evidence that the coronavirus circulated in Italy months before its first formal detection has continued to mount, after researchers at the University of Milan revealed that a skin biopsy on a 25-year-old woman showed the presence of the coronavirus in Italy in November 2019.

That evidence is added to earlier research, also from the University of Milan, which in December discovered coronavirus antibodies in a four-year-old boy who fell ill in late November 2019.

Additionally, Italys National Cancer Institute said its research in November 2020 showed four Italian cancer test subjects had coronavirus antibodies in early October 2019, meaning they would have been infected in late September. That is three months before the first case of COVID-19 announced in China, and five months before the first official case in Italy in late February 2020.

In both of those cases, doctors and researchers told Xinhua that the evidence of the early detection of the coronavirus in Italy did not cast doubt on the origins of the virus. But it does help create a clearer picture of how the virus spread.

The latest data, which was published in the British Journal of Dermatology on Jan. 7, is based on the analysis of skin biopsies performed between September and November 2019. According to a statement from the University of Milan, skin pathologies can be a symptom of coronavirus infection in 5 to 10 percent of cases. So it is possible, the university said, the skin issue the 25-year-old woman sought treatment for was actually a symptom of the coronavirus.

That makes it similar to the earlier case involving the four-year-old boy, also in Milan, who was hospitalized after developing flu-like symptoms and a skin rash. The initial diagnosis for the boy was measles, an easily curable viral infection common in children.

There has been a speculation in Italian media that the presence of the coronavirus so much earlier could help explain reports of a particularly severe flu season in Milan between October and December 2019.

In a bulletin dated Dec. 24, 2019, a week before the first official case reported in Wuhan, Italys Ministry of Health reported high levels of unusual strains of flu and pneumonia concentrated in the area around Milan and appearing in 17 of Italys 20 regions.

On Jan. 7, 2020, Corriere della Sera, Italys most widely-read newspaper, ran an article about inflammation in patients apparently caused by the Pneumococcus bacterium, but noting that some cases seemed to be caused by a virus. The article said some hospitals in Milan had to use extra beds to accommodate the unusually high number of patients.

The latest developments come as COVID-19 cases continues to surge in Italy. On Tuesday, the countrys Ministry of Health reported more than 14,000 new coronavirus infections and 616 new deaths over the previous 24 hours.

Since the start of the pandemic, Italy has recorded more than 2.3 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 80,000 deaths, making it one of the hardest-hit countries in the world.

(Xinhua)08:10, January 11, 2021

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — China has issued a plan on building the rule of law.

The plan to build the rule of law in China (2020-2025), issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, states that the rule of law is a hallmark of human civilizations progress, as well as the basic way of governance.

It is also an everlasting pursuit of the Party and the Chinese people, it adds.

The plan calls for efforts to resolutely adhere to the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics.

It emphasizes that law-based governance in all areas must be elevated to a position that has overall, strategic and fundamental significance, as China embarks on a new quest to fully build a modern socialist country.

The plan lays out basic principles for building the rule of law in China, including upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC, following the people-centered philosophy, and focusing on solving problems.

The plan states that effective checks and supervision of the exercise of power, full protection for the legitimate rights and interests of the people and the establishment of faith in the rule of law are among the overall objectives.

A system of distinctively Chinese socialist rule of law shall take shape by 2025 and be basically formed by 2035, according to the plan.

The plan puts forward reform and development measures in a range of areas, including comprehensively implementing the Constitution and putting in place a complete system of laws, an efficient system for law enforcement, a rigorous legal supervision system, a strong system of legal guarantee, and a sound system of intra-Party regulations.

It also includes chapters on safeguarding Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests in accordance with the law, and strengthening the Partys centralized and unified leadership over the initiative to build rule of law in China.

As the first special plan for advancing rule by law in the country since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the document is a guiding document for promoting law-based governance in China in the new era and meets the peoples new demands and expectations on democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security and environment, according to the Office of the Commission for Overall Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee.

All localities and departments should formulate implementation plans in light of their actual conditions to ensure that all planned tasks and measures are implemented, it said.

(Peoples Daily Online)10:47, January 11, 2021

On Jan. 6, supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a chaotic riot, aiming at forcing lawmakers to overturn Trumps election defeat.

One woman was shot and killed during a violent clash with police, and three other supporters of Trump died after suffering “medical emergencies.”

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Today, the U.S. has to swallow its own bitter fruit, with the actions denounced as a violent clash by the mainstream media in the U.S.

This ironic circumstance is summed up by Mohamad Safa, a Lebanese diplomat and Permanent Representative to the United Nations: If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the values of democracy, freedom and human rights that the West has taken delight in talking about. People seem to find out that the reality has revealed contradictions and double standards.

If, in the face of such a straightforward, transparent, and thorough reality drama, some peoples myths and obsessions about democracy, freedom, and human rights in the West cannot be shattered, then the only hope for the time being should be pinned on more rational analysis.

Is democracy a means or an end or a combination of both? Should democracy solve the problem of fairness or efficiency? Should democracy safeguard procedural justice or substantive justice or give consideration to both? Mankind’s exploration and thinking over democracy has never stopped.

This kind of thinking and exploration, including the experience from the western world, is generally beneficial. The democratic system of the West, including the U.S., did play its due role in history when it comes to exploring the human system.

However, anyone, who tries to put an end to such exploration and thinking with a specific form to realize democracy, such as the democratic system in the West, and is ambitious to believe in the end of history,” is bound to face a backlash from democracy.

It is clear that the democratic arrogance boosted by economic power and the calculation of interests driven by global expansion have made the U.S. dizzy. It brazenly wants to sell its own democracy to the world, at all costs, including the use of force.

The problem is that the West overestimates its strength in the evolution of human society. Facing the history of human society, it should be in awe and understand that its exploration cannot represent human society and that it cannot build a comprehensive picture of human society.

The democratic exploration and practice in the West are more like regional records, incomplete generalizations and periodic summaries of human exploration of systems, which are simply not universally applicable. This reality has been proved by more and more practices, and western countries, including the U.S.

The U.S. regards itself as a decision-maker of the international community, whereas other countries seem to have no choice but to obey its orders. However, due to the lack of fairness and justice, the country’s self-righteous morality seems to be inappropriate.

As the general trend of the rise of the East and decline of the West has become increasingly prominent, the U.S. ambition to dominate the world is becoming more and more untenable.

It is evident that the negative consequences of the export of democracy by the U.S. have appeared in many countries. The gunshot at the U.S. Capitol shows that the bitter fruit of democracy will eventually have to be swallowed by the U.S. itself.

(Xinhua)08:37, January 12, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Boeing announced on Monday that it will support the International Space Stations (ISS) growing research capabilities and commercial opportunities with new solar arrays to increase the orbiting laboratorys power supply.

The modification to Boeings ISS sustainment contract with NASA calls for Boeing to deliver six additional solar arrays to NASA for installation beginning in 2021, the announcement said.

The new 63-foot-by-20-foot (19-meter-by-6-meter) arrays will together produce more than 120 kilowatts of electricity from the suns energy, enough to power more than 40 average U.S. homes.

Combined with the eight original, larger arrays, the hardware will provide a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in power. The arrays will provide the ISS with electricity to sustain its systems and equipment, plus augment the electricity available to continue a wide variety of public and private experiments and research in the stations microgravity environment, according to the announcement.

These arrays, along with other recent upgrades to the stations power system and data-transfer speed, will ensure that ISS remains an incubator and business model in the commercial space ecosystem for the coming decades, said John Mulholland, ISS vice president and program manager for Boeing.

Boeing is the prime contractor for ISS sustainment, according to the company.

(Xinhua)09:08, January 12, 2021

CHICAGO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — A study of the University of Illinois (UI) introduces an electrochemical reaction, enhanced by polymers, to improve CO2-to-ethylene conversion efficiency over previous attempts.

In the study, the researchers combined the copper ions and polymers into a solution, then apply that solution to an electrode, entraining the polymer into the copper.

They found that the new polymer-entrained electrodes were less likely to break down and produced more stable chemical intermediates, resulting in more efficient ethylene production.

We were able to convert CO2 to ethylene at a rate of up to 87 percent, depending on the electrolyte used, said UI graduate student Xinyi Chen. That is up from previous reports of conversion rates of about 80 percent using other types of electrodes.

With the development of economic sources of electricity, combined with the increased interest in CO2-reduction technology, we see great potential for commercialization of this process, said UI chemistry professor Andrew Gewirth.

Allowing CO2 gas to flow through a reaction chamber fitted with copper electrodes and an electrolyte solution is the most common method researchers use to convert CO2 to useful carbon-containing chemicals. Previous studies have used other metals and molecular coatings on the electrode to help direct the CO2-reduction reactions. However, these coatings are not stable, often break down during the reaction process and fall away from the electrodes.

The study, posted on UIs website on Tuesday, has been published in the journal Natural Catalysis.