Tom Hancock
@tomhancock.bsky.social
China/economics etc, fmr Bloomberg/FT etc. still posting charts on LinkedIn
Chinese central government ultra-long term bond issuance is being used to fund new lifts in older apartment blocks around the country. A sign of elevating fiscal policy? @rajakorman.bsky.social mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LizLyTMUYW...
37部“超龄”电梯换新，居民没多花一分钱，北京这个小区有妙招
mp.weixin.qq.com
Hong Kong's independent Greenfield Bookstore, whose staff were arrested by national security police two weeks ago, has announced its closure. HKFP paid a visit on Thursday as customers made last minute purchases. In full: buff.ly/Xogcqsl Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
The supply response to the Hormuz crisis extends well beyond the Middle East Led by the US, Atlantic Basin producers have boosted exports to Asia. At the same time, China has drawn on inventories to curb crude imports, helping ease wider market pressures: iea.li/4y4yfKW
The FIFA World Cup’s advanced AI tools rely on thousands of data workers manually logging match actions to fuel the sports betting industry https://restofworld.org/2026/fifa-world-cup-ai-data-workers/?utm_campaign=row-social&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1782232049
The AI-powered World Cup runs on thousands of data workers
Human annotators in Brazil, Cambodia, and the Philippines are tracking every movement in the football tournament for teams, broadcasters, and the betting industry.
restofworld.org
🇨🇳 🇯🇵 Fans in China cheer on Japan at World Cup despite political tension China isn't the most obvious place for Japan football fandom to thrive, but groups of Chinese fans are cheering on Japan at the World Cup, inspired by their love of Japanese anime.
HUGE U-TURN: The report behind global news stories on a millionaire exodus has confirmed millionaire migration is “modest” & announced it will no longer be publishing migrations estimates that "data does not yet support”, after tax campaigners debunked its methodology. taxjustice.net/press/millio...
Millionaire exodus study drops author and numbers after fake data accusations - Tax Justice Network
The widely covered study confirms migration was “modest” and drops estimates that “data does not yet support”.
taxjustice.net
Harvard is no longer the top university in the Nature Index - China's Zhejiang University is. And with Tsinghua University hot on its heels, Harvard's second place is not looking secure, either. #NatureIndexResearchLeaders. www.nature.com/nature-index...
Harvard loses first place in Nature Index
For the first time in a decade, the US university has lost its top position in the academic rankings, usurped by a Chinese institution.
nature.com
China allows fresh urea exports amid Iran war-fuelled fertiliser crisis, sources say reut.rs/3Q8tRtb
China allows fresh urea exports amid Iran war-fuelled fertiliser crisis, sources say
China has issued export quotas for urea fertiliser, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that could help ease soaring global prices for one of the world's most widely used crop nutrients after supply disruptions linked to the Iran war.
reut.rs
Chinese researchers confirmed Tehran oil depot fires in March released toxic sulfur dioxide equivalent to a moderate volcanic eruption. via @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Toxic Fumes From Tehran Oil Fires Affected Area Size of Italy
When Tehran oil infrastructure caught fire in March following Israeli strikes, the blaze produced toxic fumes detectable across an area the size of Italy, according to fresh research.
bloomberg.com
“We have sold part of our oil to China through pre-sales, and the transfer of the purchased volume has already begun... The American side, according to its bilateral discussions with Beijing, is expected not to create any obstacles for the transportation of this oil by Chinese tankers"
Drop Site@dropsitenews.com · 2mo ago🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Official Outlines Latest Proposal to End the US War as Trump Weighs New Strikes The framework would defer nuclear enrichment talks until there is a deal to end the war and open the Strait... By @jeremyscahill.com & @mazmhussain.bsky.social www.dropsitenews.com/p/exclusive-...
34.8ºC at Kew Gardens breaks its May AND June records by OVER 4ºC for its May record set in 1922 and by 0.2ºC for its June record set in 1976. Unprecedented heat for the UK in late May, and likely to be bettered tomorrow. A rounded 35ºC temperature should not happen in May.
Britain needs a transformative state but progressive politicians worry about the gilt cage constraining public investment - here are three steps to get out of the bond vigilantes' hock. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre....
Britain’s politicians need to worry less about the bond markets – and more about the Bank of England | Daniela Gabor
A new model of central banking would weaken the power of bond vigilantes – and help progressive politicians pay for transformative change, says academic Daniela Gabor
theguardian.com
Ethiopia makes clear it won't pay bondholders anything until they accept a debt relief deal similar to that agreed by China and France www.mofed.gov.et/blog/ethiopi...
Global publisher Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025 according to new Chartbeat data Since May 2023, Google search referrals were down 21% globally, with Google Discover down 18% pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...
Global publisher Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025
Google search traffic was down globally by a third in the year to November, according to new Chartbeat data.
pressgazette.co.uk
For $7 an hour, virtual assistants in the Philippines are using AI to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives, fueling a "thought leadership" content mill https://restofworld.org/2026/virtual-assistant-linkedin-engagement/?utm_campaign=row-social
The Filipino virtual assistants behind LinkedIn's “thought leadership” content mill
For $7 an hour, virtual assistants use AI tools to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives.
restofworld.org
The global oil market is set to remain severely undersupplied until 4Q26 – even with the pre-crisis surplus cushioning the impact of disruptions Even if markets recover through the year, rebuilding depleted stocks could keep balances tight beyond 2026 👉 iea.li/4dbg0v0
At least 15 per cent of the Amazon has already been lost, and further destruction could unleash widespread rainforest dieback with as little as 1.5°C of global warming
Deforestation could trigger Amazon tipping point in the 2030s
At least 15 per cent of the Amazon has already been lost, and further destruction could unleash widespread rainforest dieback with as little as 1.5°C of global warming
newscientist.com
I wrote a post about this recently. It is a central fact about industrial capitalism that real resources are allocated on the basis of hopes and dreams, rather than as a rational response to prices in existing markets. jwmason.org/slackwire/mo...
Satellite measurements show that in the early 2010s sea level rise suddenly accelerated to a rate of 4.1 millimetres per year, possibly in response to an increase in the rate of global warming
There has been a sudden increase in the rate of sea level rise
Satellite measurements show that in the early 2010s sea level rise suddenly accelerated to a rate of 4.1 millimetres per year, possibly in response to an increase in the rate of global warming
newscientist.com
Base chemical prices rose more than 60% in recent weeks, the fastest pace ever recorded - Goldman Sachs research
NEW: I've been shocked by some of the numbers I've been seeing on behind-the-meter power plants for data centers, so I did a little math. less than a dozen gas plants being built to power data centers for big tech companies could emit a maximum of nearly 130 million tons of CO2e each year (!)
New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Emit More Greenhouse Gases Than Entire Nations
A WIRED review of permits for data center projects using natural gas and linked to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI shows they could emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
wired.com
NEW | Record exports of solar, batteries and EVs last month 📈 China’s exports for the ‘new three’ industries reached a record high of $21.9bn in March 2026, up 70% year-on-year, in the wake of the US-Israel war with Iran and changing export rebates for solar and batteries.
China curtailing, not banning fuel exports, shipping data shows reut.rs/4vGYbuY
China curtailing, not banning fuel exports, shipping data shows
China is curtailing refined fuel exports rather than banning them, with countries including Malaysia and Australia receiving supplies even after Beijing extended last month's restriction into April, according to shipping data and traders.
reut.rs
This is quite extraordinary- scientists set a kind of trap for AI chat bots by inventing a fake disease. AI told people it was real and… the deliberately bogus preprints started being cited in peer reviewed literature 🫣 🧪 #MedSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real
Bixonimania doesn’t exist except in a clutch of obviously bogus academic papers. So why did AI chatbots warn people about this fictional illness?
nature.com
