China has finally produced its own fully home-produced ballpoint pen after years of trying to master the complex techniques involved in making the delicate tips.
Despite manufacturing 80% of the world's ballpoint pens, the country had previously been unable to produce the small but crucial component.
Now, state-owned steel firm Taiyuan Iron & Steel has announced it has finally cracked it.
So why did a country renowned for ingeniously replicating technology struggle to create an everyday item for so long?
Firstly, it did not have machines with the precision needed to cut a tiny ball-bearing accurately, meaning the balls had to be imported from Switzerland.
And despite being the world's largest steel producer, China was unable to produce the high quality steel to case the ink-dispensing ball, resulting in the steel being imported from Germany or Japan.
Such was the national concern about the issue that, in June 2015, state-run broadcaster CCTV hosted three manufacturing chief executives in an hour-long talk show discussing what the country could do to solve the problem.
And the dilemma made headline news last year, when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang complained on national TV that the country's pens were "rough" in comparison with their Japanese, German and Swiss counterparts.
His comments led the Hong Kong Economic Journal to declare: "The day China can produce a 100% homemade ball pen will be the day it truly qualifies as a first-class industrial power."
The newly announced breakthrough is a small but very symbolic success for the central government's Made in China 2025 programme, designed to help domestic growth.
Following the announcement, CCTV posted a video on social media site Weibo asking its followers to cheer for the momentous achievement.
China is now hoping to phase out pen tip imports completely within the next two years.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Kamiyah Mobley found safe 18 years after being abducted
A newborn girl abducted from a hospital 18 years ago by a woman posing as a nurse has been found alive.
Kamiyah Mobley was taken from her mother at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998.
Police say in the 18 years since, they have followed up more than 2,500 leads and tips relating to the case.
Two new leads last year from the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children led cold-case detectives to Walterboro in South Carolina, where Kamiyah was eventually found.
"Please remember she was abducted as a newborn and she's going to need time and assistance to process all of this and we are respecting her privacy and we ask that you do the same.
"She appears to be a normal 18-year-old woman. She's taking it was well as you can imagine. She has a lot to process."
Police say Gloria Williams, aged 51, has been charged with kidnapping and interference in custody. She will appear in court in Jacksonville.
Sheriff Williams said he has spoken with Kamiyah's biological family.
Kamiyah Mobley was taken from her mother at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998.
Police say in the 18 years since, they have followed up more than 2,500 leads and tips relating to the case.
Two new leads last year from the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children led cold-case detectives to Walterboro in South Carolina, where Kamiyah was eventually found.
"Please remember she was abducted as a newborn and she's going to need time and assistance to process all of this and we are respecting her privacy and we ask that you do the same.
"She appears to be a normal 18-year-old woman. She's taking it was well as you can imagine. She has a lot to process."
Police say Gloria Williams, aged 51, has been charged with kidnapping and interference in custody. She will appear in court in Jacksonville.
Sheriff Williams said he has spoken with Kamiyah's biological family.
Donald Trump's record-breaking £74m donation haul for inauguration
With £74m of private donations so far, Donald Trump's inauguration has proved to be an attractive way for corporations to set out their stall for America's next commander-in-chief.
Mr Trump's inauguration committee has received enough money to pay for the event twice over - and the money is still flowing in.
Most donors remain anonymous and the committee has 90 days to name them.
Blue chip donors named so far include aircraft maker Boeing, which has donated £820,000.
The company's multibillion-dollar Air Force One contract was last month threatened with cancellation by Mr Trump.
Oil and gas giant Chevron has donated £410,000 while AT&T has supplied extra mobile capacity for the National Mall.
US taxpayers will provide a considerable share of the budget despite a big share of the inauguration costs being covered by the private donations.
Public funds will pay for the £4.1m cost of building a bunting-decorated 10,000 square-foot platform for the swearing-in.
The public also pays security costs for the event, which brings together a big chunk of the US political leadership, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans and a fair share of protesters.
This will include a £2m overtime bill for the US Capitol police force. Federal funds will also pay for more than 5,000 service members from across the regular armed forces, plus a further 7,500 National Guard reservists.
The District of Columbia expects to spend £24m, which it will claw back from federal government after the event.
This leaves an unprecedented and unspent pot of private donations for Mr Trump's inauguration team to spend on pop singers, parades, choirs, celebratory balls, bunting - and more than 1,000 portable toilets.
The man who organised America's last two inaugurations has questioned why donors' money is still coming in and wondered where it will go.
"We planned the two largest inaugurations in the history of our country and we never spent anywhere near that," said Steve Kerrigan, who led Barack Obama's 2009 and 2013 inauguration events.
"I can't imagine how they are going to spend that amount of money - and why they would even keep raising money," he said.
Mr Kerrigan's committee collected £45m for Mr Obama’s first inauguration and £35m for his second.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
McDonald's 'dosa burger' amuses Indians
If you are a fan of Indian food, you must have come across the hugely popular masala dosa, which is a type of rice pancake with a potato filling.
But have you ever imagined the classic dish in the form of a burger? No? Well, McDonald's is reportedly planning exactly that.
Reports say that "dosa burgers" may soon be sold at McDonald's outlets.
While the news has amused some Twitter users, others are angry at the attempt to "mess around" with Indian dishes.
But have you ever imagined the classic dish in the form of a burger? No? Well, McDonald's is reportedly planning exactly that.
Reports say that "dosa burgers" may soon be sold at McDonald's outlets.
While the news has amused some Twitter users, others are angry at the attempt to "mess around" with Indian dishes.
Family hope for breakthrough in missing RAF man mystery
The uncle of missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague has told Sky News military intelligence grade software has helped to narrow down the possible outcomes of what happened to the 23-year-old airman.
Mr McKeague, originally from Dunfermline in Fife, went missing on 24 September last year, following a night out in Bury St Edmunds.
He was last spotted on CCTV at 3.20am entering a cul-de-sac loading bay area known as the 'Horseshoe’.
It would be impossible to leave that particular area on foot without being captured by CCTV cameras. However, there was so sign of him leaving.
Police seized a refuse vehicle that was in the area when Mr McKeague disappeared. However, when it was weighed, its load was found to be too light to have carried a body.
But Mr McKeague's uncle Tony Wringe said the bin lorry theory was "still an active line of inquiry", adding that other refuse vehicles could have been involved.
"There's all these other bins that were collected by other vehicles within two to four days after Corrie's disappearance," Mr Wringe said.
Mr Wringe believes Mr McKeague could still be in the area where he was last seen.
"The full area has not been cleared. That's everything - roofs, gutters, basements, empty cupboards and storage areas."
Mr Wringe revealed that not all the cars that were seen leaving the area at the time of Mr McKeague's disappearance have been ruled out of the police investigation.
"There were four vehicles in the area in the window of time that's of most interest to the investigation team. That is an open line of inquiry," he said.
Private investigators with a military background have been brought in to collate information and analyse it using specialist technology. The investigators have a background of supplying information to special forces in war zones like Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their services have been paid for out of an online crowdfunding venture which has raised more than £50,000 from donors worldwide.
Mr McKeague, originally from Dunfermline in Fife, went missing on 24 September last year, following a night out in Bury St Edmunds.
He was last spotted on CCTV at 3.20am entering a cul-de-sac loading bay area known as the 'Horseshoe’.
It would be impossible to leave that particular area on foot without being captured by CCTV cameras. However, there was so sign of him leaving.
Police seized a refuse vehicle that was in the area when Mr McKeague disappeared. However, when it was weighed, its load was found to be too light to have carried a body.
But Mr McKeague's uncle Tony Wringe said the bin lorry theory was "still an active line of inquiry", adding that other refuse vehicles could have been involved.
"There's all these other bins that were collected by other vehicles within two to four days after Corrie's disappearance," Mr Wringe said.
Mr Wringe believes Mr McKeague could still be in the area where he was last seen.
"The full area has not been cleared. That's everything - roofs, gutters, basements, empty cupboards and storage areas."
Mr Wringe revealed that not all the cars that were seen leaving the area at the time of Mr McKeague's disappearance have been ruled out of the police investigation.
"There were four vehicles in the area in the window of time that's of most interest to the investigation team. That is an open line of inquiry," he said.
Private investigators with a military background have been brought in to collate information and analyse it using specialist technology. The investigators have a background of supplying information to special forces in war zones like Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their services have been paid for out of an online crowdfunding venture which has raised more than £50,000 from donors worldwide.
Amazon Canada fined $1.1m for misleading pricing
Amazon Canada has been fined 1.1m Canadian dollars (£689,000, or $837,000) over misleading savings claims.
Canada's Competition Bureau penalised the company following a two-year investigation in to its pricing practices.
The bureau is in charge of enforcing many of Canada's consumer laws.
"Consumers are naturally attracted to claims that they will save money," said commissioner John Pecman.
Following the investigation, Amazon agreed to change its pricing practices and pay a fee, which includes a $1m penalty and $100,000 to help cover the cost of the investigation.
"We're pleased that Amazon has put procedures in place to validate list prices received from its suppliers. This ensures that consumers are provided with accurate information and not misled by savings claims," Mr Pecman wrote in a news release.
The investigation found that Amazon routinely advertised consumer savings by comparing its prices to list prices at other retailers. However, it didn't verify these "list prices", which meant that the savings could be exaggerated, the bureau found.
Amazon had already begun to fix its pricing practices before the investigation, according to the bureau.
Amazon says the policies now in place will effect not just the Canadian website, but savings claims made on Amazon.com as well.
Nintendo announces Switch price and date
Nintendo has said it will release its long-awaited new console, the Nintendo Switch, on 3 March.
It will cost $299.99 in the US and 29,980 yen ($260) in Japan, more than most analysts had been expecting. European prices were not announced.
The stakes are high for the Japanese firm after its most recent console, the Wii U, failed to replicate the success of the original Wii.
Nintendo shares dipped as details of the launch began to trickle out.
Mario's back
Nintendo revealed in October last year that the games machine would be a handheld device that doubles as a home console.
Games will be delivered on small cartridges, a nod to older Nintendo consoles.
The firm says that about 80 games were in development, including a new Mario game called Super Mario Odyssey, out late in 2017.
Other details announced on Friday included:
Console comes with 32GB of storage - extendable with a MicroSD card slot
Plans to end regional locking - meaning games could be played on all consoles - no mater where in the world they were bought
Multiplayer online gaming - initially free but later paid-for
A smartphone app for social aspects of games including chat function
Nintendo consoles: A history in pictures
'Watershed moment'
Other details announced on Friday included:
Console comes with 32GB of storage - extendable with a MicroSD card slot
Plans to end regional locking - meaning games could be played on all consoles - no mater where in the world they were bought
Multiplayer online gaming - initially free but later paid-for
A smartphone app for social aspects of games including chat function
Some analysts believe the device could be Nintendo's "last shot" at selling a home console, after the WiiU proved a flop.
It was rapidly outsold by Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, although Nintendo has enjoyed success with its handheld 3DS device.
"This is another watershed moment for the company because the Switch kind of epitomises the new strategy that the company is trying to put into practice," said Piers Harding-Rolls, gaming analyst at IHS Technology.
"This is being positioned as more of a home entertainment device with mobile capabilities. The big deciding factors are the pricing and the marketing. You would hope that they've learnt the lessons of trying to market the Wii U."
By releasing something that allowed gamers to play Nintendo titles both at home and on the move, the firm could find a "very lucrative middle ground", said Ovum analyst Paul Jackson.
"Pure console gamers are likely to be disappointed here as it will probably be a powerful mobile device (battery allowing) but a comparatively weedy dedicated home one."
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