STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE


COVID and economy woes walloped Puerto Rico — but statehood may help bring it back

Reggie Wade
·Writer
Sat, March 13, 2021

Puerto Rico — buffeted by natural disasters, a debt crisis and most recently, COVID-19 — is struggling under the weight of a hobbled economy that relies heavily on tourism.

However, the so-called “Island of Enchantment” may yet see better days, as the Biden administration, and a chance to become fully recognized as a U.S. state, could help restore a much-needed sense of normalcy after a rough stretch of years.

In the U.S. Congress, where Democrats currently hold a slim majority, key lawmakers are united in their desire to bolster Puerto Rico’s future — but exactly how that gets done is up for debate. One option currently being discussed with more intensity is a bid for statehood, an option that some have floated for Washington, D.C. as well.

Last year, New York Democrats Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spearheaded an effort to advance the island's bid to determine its future. In a November referendum, Puerto Ricans voted to become a U.S. state, the latest in a years-long effort to clarify the island’s relationship with America.

Earlier this month, Puerto Rico’s sole representative in Congress, González Colón (R-PR) and Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL 9) introduced the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, which would pave the way to make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

To be certain, Puerto Rico’s economy wasn’t always defined by crisis. For decades, U.S. tax incentives made the island a draw for subsidiaries of most U.S. companies that operated within its borders, turning into a manufacturing hub for big pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Roche (RHHBY), Pfizer (PFE), and Novartis (NVS).

However, legislation passed in 1996 phased out those incentives within a decade, hastening a decline that made the economy far more reliant on tourism.

Edwin Melendez, director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies and a professor of urban policy and planning at New York’s Hunter College, faulted a lack of investment in Puerto Rico for its most recent economic downturn.

“It’s not a decline because the companies packed up and left. It’s that the companies stopped investing in Puerto Rico,” Melendez told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview.

He noted that Puerto Rico’s pattern of economic decline was briefly interrupted when The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds were injected as a stimulus. However, the reprieve would be short-lived: In the years that followed, two hurricanes, an earthquake, a rolling debt crisis and COVID-19 would turn life on the island upside down in the years that followed.

COVID-19 wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico much later than it did for many other parts of the U.S. However, in August, the island recorded an average of 419 daily hospitalizations. At present, the island nation has had 135,552 cases and 2,066 deaths.

Clinical Epidemiologist Roberta Lugo tells Yahoo Finance that Puerto Rico’s Government and Department of Health efforts to fight the COVID-19 have been slow and “full of stumbles.”

Lugo, who was on the island during its first wave, notes that the Puerto Rican government’s slow reaction time caused severe problems.

“We experienced poor decision making, and the economic sector had more weight than the scientific community. I can describe the emergency response as reactive rather than proactive,” she said.
Eat or get eaten

Representative Nydia Velasquez (NY) speaks during a press conference with activists from 'Take Action for Puerto Rico' demanding support from the Federal Government to rebuild Puerto Rico after two years of Hurricane Maria in Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. Wednesday, September 18, 2019. (Photo by Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The fumbled response to the pandemic underscores why a growing number of lawmakers believe full statehood would help Puerto Rico solve many of its problems, including better service delivery and better overall economic conditions.

One of those is New York Democratic Rep. Richie Torres, who backs statehood as a path to opening the floodgates of money and opportunities for the island desperately in need of both.

“If you do not have a seat at the table, then you’re probably on the menu. Statehood would provide Puerto Rico a seat at the table,” Torres told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview.

Becoming a U.S. state “would mean billions of dollars in new funding for Puerto Rico, both directly and indirectly. Directly from programs affected by statehood and indirectly from political representation, conferred by statehood,” he explained.

“If Puerto Rico had two senators and five members of Congress, it would be in an infinitely stronger position to claim its fair share of federal funding — there’s no substitute for direct representation,” he said.

“Representation matters … There are 29 programs that make up 86% of federal funding for states and statehood would mean greater funding for Puerto Rico and 11 of those programs,” such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and education, Torres added.

Torres believes that Biden’s approach to Puerto Rico’s future will be infinitely better than that of former President Donald Trump, who openly sparred with the island’s leadership after Hurricane Maria devastated the economy there in 2017.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Biden is going to treat Puerto Rico much more fairly than his predecessor ever did or could — but ultimately the status quo is failing Puerto Rico miserably,” said the congressman, who compared it to a colony.

“Puerto Rico is subject to the control of the United States without the ability to vote; that is the definition of colonialism” — which can only be corrected by statehood, Torres said.

Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade.

#DEREGULATION

Texas utility sues power grid operator over 'excessive' cold snap charges

FILE PHOTO: A neighborhood experiences a power outage after winter weather caused electricity blackouts in San Marcos

Gary McWilliams
Fri, March 12, 2021

(Reuters) - The largest city-owned utility in Texas on Friday sued the state's grid operator alleging it levied "excessive" power prices during a February deep freeze, and seeking to bar the grid from issuing a default that could affect its credit rating.

High prices for emergency fuel and power during a severe cold spell left Texas utilities facing about $47 billion in one-time costs. Those costs have led to two bankruptcies and knocked two other electric providers off the state's power grid because of payment defaults.


"We are fighting to protect our customers from the financial impacts of the systemic failure" of the state's grid operator, said Paula Gold-Williams, chief executive of San Antonio's municipal utility, CPS Energy.

CPS, which has some 820,000 electricity customers, faces about $1 billion in extraordinary charges for natural gas and electricity during a five day deep freeze last month.

COLD WEATHER CRISIS

The lawsuit alleges

 https://www.cpsenergy.com/content/dam/corporate/en/Documents/2021-03-12%20CPS%20Energy%20Original%20Petition%20w%20Ex%20A(117202625_1).PDF

 grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) mismanaged the cold weather crisis, and overcharged CPS Energy and others for power and services. It asked a Texas state court to prevent ERCOT from declaring it in default and to prevent ERCOT from charging CPS for other grid users' defaults.

An ERCOT spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit.

More than $3 billion in charges that ERCOT issued to grid users were in default as of Friday, a grid official said.

Credit rating firms this week cut their outlook on the utility's debt and warned of further downgrades as size of the costs become clearer.

Fitch Ratings lowered some ratings and placed a negative outlook on CPS Energy's long term debt while S&P Global said it could further cut debt ratings "one or more notches."

ERCOT officials hiked power prices by about 400 times the usual rate to $9,000 per megawatt for five days last month in an effort to bring in more power. State officials this week called on ERCOT and the utility regulator to cut those charges for high-price power for the 32-hour period after the grid emergency passed.

'EXCESSIVE' POWER COSTS

CPS Energy's lawsuit called ERCOT's handling of the crisis "one of the largest illegal wealth transfers in the history of Texas." It brought the complaint "to protect its customers from excessive and illegitimate power and natural gas costs," according to the lawsuit.

Just Energy Group this week filed for bankruptcy as result of high power charges. The state's largest and old cooperative, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc, also filed for bankruptcy this month, citing $1.8 billion owed to ERCOT. Texas' rural cooperatives pool their power and service purchases to gain efficiencies of scale.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Ted Cruz Mocked Again Over Cancun Trip As Texas Panhandle Faces Tornado Warning


By Lauren Dubois @l_dubois

03/13/21

Ted Cruz faced a lot of backlash after it was revealed he has flown to Cancun for a trip with his family as Texans struggled with freezing cold temperatures and power outages following winter storms, and now, with a new natural disaster and weather threat approaching the region, the senator is once again receiving heat for his previous actions.

As news of a weather system that could dump snow on Colorado and bring rain and a moderate risk of tornadoes to the Texas panhandle and Western Oklahoma began to circulate, Cruz, who was seen flying to Cancun during the state’s winter storms, quickly found himself ridiculed over his past behavior.

Cruz had gone to Cancun during the storms as his constituents struggled to survive in the freezing conditions, and quickly claimed he was only going down for a night to drop off his daughters who wanted to go. It was later revealed that he had planned to stay for a few days and his wife had also texted neighbors and friends to get them to go along with the family on their trip.

The current storm system has a threat of severe thunderstorms and potential tornados to areas of the panhandle, after a tornado already touched down in Lubbock, Texas on Friday night. According to the National Weather Service, parts of the area are under a Tornado Watch until 6:00 p.m. Central Time.

“A major storm system will bring heavy snow and blizzard conditions to parts of the central Rockies and High Plains through early Monday,” a statement from the NWS reads. “Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected across the Oklahoma and Texas Pandhandles, northwest Texas, and western Oklahoma this afternoon and evening. A few tornadoes, some strong, and very large hail are the main threats.”

According to Weather Nation, the Amarillo area is under the highest risk, which is a moderate one, while Lubbock and areas west heading into Oklahoma are under an enhanced risk. Slight risks extend up into Kansas and as far south as Sonora, while Wichita, Kansas and Del Rio are under marginal risks. General risks extend as far east as Austin and Dallas.

The Tornado potential is as high as 15% in Amarillo, with one small 30% chance near Abilene. A 30% chance of hail is also possible near Amarillo.

WOKE CAPITALI$M 
Social Capital
Mike Brady: 

Why Social Justice Isn’t Just Right

 – It’s Profitable!

IS COMPASSIONATE CAPITALI$M

By Chris Benguhe AND RaeAnne Marsh
02/25/21 IBT

After being at the helm of Greyston Bakery for several wildly successful years, Mike Brady is moving on to a broader arena. Photo: Greyston Bakery.

Mike Brady, successful business leader formerly of pioneering Greyston Bakery, believes being nonjudgmental in hiring is the right thing to do – and discusses how it creates a win-win-win for the employer.

As we continue to grow this Social Capital section, we turned our attention in January to kindness as a characteristic of successful business leaders making a difference in the business world. I t’s a key trait that is too often overlooked in importance when it comes to leadership skills nowadays. Does it sound out of place in business leadership? Too cutting-edge to be practical? Is it impossibly hard to find genuine examples of it?

Mike Brady is proof that it exists. After being at the helm of Greyston for several wildly successful years, he is moving on to a broader arena.


Mike exemplifies kindness in leadership -- leaders making decisions that follow the golden rule, treating people how we want to be treated, with humanity and respect.

In fact, Mike is so into this role for leadership that he interviewed us in-depth on our agenda regarding Social Capital before settling in to talk about his favorite subject: non-judgment. It’s a philosophy he practiced at Greyston, leading it to become the gold standard. As he is fond of explaining: “No questions asked, no background checks, no interviews, no references.” He remains a strong advocate for trusting in the power of people to be successful and giving everyone an equal chance at that.

In this interview, he shares his incredible journey of growth opportunities to “move the needle” on things he cares about within the context of the business world. “My core strength is being an entrepreneur. How can I use that strength in a different arena, trying to do good while doing well?” he asks – and shares what he has done and found along the way.

He makes very clear his commitment to being an example and a resource to help other business leaders create win-win-win dynamics throughout the supply chain, helping them understand where the value creation of this approach is.

As he explores the next steps for himself, personally, he discusses the tremendous opportunity he sees for the “S” in the ESG (environmental, social, governance) equation, which makes him all that much more appealing to us as and our Social Capital movement. His journey now is to find his footing in that space, working with organizations committed to social justice and helping them understand how they can create value. Their success furthers the opportunity to create equal access to jobs, which, he says, “will address a lot of the inequalities the American workforce is experiencing.”

VIDEO INTERVIEW

 https://www.ibtimes.com/mike-brady-why-social-justice-isnt-just-right-its-profitable-3150394

Africa Set For Growth With Rising Poverty, Debt In 2021: Forecast


By AFP News
03/12/21 

Africa's economy should return to growth in aggregate across the continent in 2021 after a coronavirus recession, the African Development Bank said Friday, while warning that poverty and public debt would continue to rise.

The 2.1-percent contraction of the pan-African economy in 2020 was the first recession in half a century, but should give way to expansion of 3.4 percent this year, the AfDB said in the 2021 edition of its African Economic Outlook report.

At 3.1 percent, the International Monetary Fund's forecast was less optimistic than the AfDB, whose mission is to fund investment in African countries and offer advice and technical assistance to development.

The development bank predicted the strongest rebound for economies like Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritius that depend on tourism, at 6.2 percent -- although their GDP fell the furthest last year.


Meanwhile oil and raw materials exporters like Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and South Africa should enjoy growth around three percent, and the continent's most diversified economies like Ethiopia and Ivory Coast rise by 4.1 percent, having already suffered a softer 2020 blow.

The AfDB report also highlighted that 39 million more people could slip below the extreme poverty threshold of $1.90 per day this year, up from an estimated 30 million last year.

The coronavirus hobbled African economies in 2020 but experts predict a return to growth this year Photo: AFP / JOHN WESSELS

A total of 465 million people in Africa could be affected by extreme poverty, one-third of the continent's population, in a setback after two decades of steady reductions.

Meanwhile "the pandemic shock and ensuing economic crisis have had direct implications for budgetary balances and debt burdens," the AfDB warned.

Deficits roughly doubled last year, to around 8.4 percent of GDP, while the average debt-to-GDP ratio on the continent is expected to surge by between 10 and 15 percentage points, to around 70 percent.

By December, 14 of 38 countries analysed for debt sustainability were judged "in high risk of debt distress", with 16 seen as moderate risk and just two at low risk.

"Serious debt challenges might be looming, and disorderly defaults and lengthy resolutions could become a major obstacle to Africa's progress toward prosperity," AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina wrote in the report.

"We need to address Africa's debt and development finance challenges, in partnership with the international community" and with private creditors, he added.

But Adesina also urged leaders to enact "bold governance reforms to eliminate all forms of leakages in public resources, improve domestic resource mobilisation, and enhance transparency".

Myanmar crackdown continues as civilian leader urges protesters to keep up anti-coup fight

Issued on: 14/03/2021 - 

Makeshift barricades erected by protesters on a road in Yangon, 

Myanmar on March 13, 2021. © AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Myanmar security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters in the commercial capital Yangon on Sunday, and at least three people were killed, witnesses and domestic media said. Meanwhile, civilian leader Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most of the country's senior officials, called on the people to not give up their fight.

Video taken at the site showed protesters holding handmade shields and wearing helmets as they confronted security forces in the Hlaing Tharyar district of the city. Plumes of black smoke rose over the area and one report said two factories in the district had been set on fire.

The Irrawaddy media group said three people were killed.

At least two people were killed elsewhere in the Southeast Asian nation, a day after the acting leader of the parallel civilian government said it will seek to give people the legal right to defend themselves.

A young man was shot and killed in the town of Bago, near Yangon, witnesses and domestic media said. The Kachin Wave media outlet said another protester was killed in the town of Hpakant, in the jade mining area in the northeast

More than 80 people had been killed as of Saturday in widespread protests against the military's seizure of power last month, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said. Over 2,100 people have been arrested, it said.

>> UN warns of 'crimes against humanity' in Myanmar as junta accuses ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption

Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most senior officials from the ruling National League for Democracy Party, addressed the public via Facebook on Saturday, saying, "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close.”

He said the civilian government would "attempt to legislate the required laws so that the people have the right to defend themselves" against the military crackdown.

‘We need justice’

The Monywa township in central Myanmar declared it had formed its own local government and police force.

In Yangon, hundreds of people demonstrated in different parts of the city after putting up barricades of barbed wire and sandbags to block security forces.

In one area, people staged a sit-in protest under sheets of tarpaulin rigged up to protect them from the harsh midday sun. "We need justice," they chanted.

At least 13 people were killed on Saturday, one of the bloodiest days since the Feb. 1 coup, witnesses and domestic media said.

"They are acting like they are in a war zone, with unarmed people," said an activist in the city of Mandalay, Myat Thu.

A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment. Junta-run media MRTV's evening news broadcast on Saturday labelled the protesters "criminals" but did not elaborate

Iran charges aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe with ‘propaganda against the system’
Issued on: 14/03/2021 - 

Gabriella Ratcliffe, daughter of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, protests outside the Iranian Embassy in London on March 8, 2021. © Andrew Boyers, REUTERS

Text by: FRANCE 24

British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe appeared in a Tehran court Sunday to face new charges of "propaganda against the system", a week after she finished serving a five-year sentence, her lawyer said.

The hearing has dashed hopes of family and supporters for a swift release of the 42-year-old, in a case that has heightened diplomatic tensions between London and Tehran.

"The hearing took place in a very calm and good atmosphere, in the presence of my client," her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told AFP, adding that the judgement would be handed down at a later and unspecified date.

According to Kermani, she is now being prosecuted for "propaganda against the system for having participated in a rally in front of the Iranian embassy in London" in 2009.

"Given the evidence presented by the defence and the legal process, and the fact that my client has also served her previous sentence, I hope that she will be acquitted," the lawyer added.

In London, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq said that "no verdict was given", but added that "it should be delivered within a week".

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that the new charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe are “unacceptable”.

“It is unacceptable that Iran has chosen to continue a second wholly arbitrary case against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe,” Raab wrote on Twitter.

"She must be allowed to return to her family in the UK without delay. We continue to do all we can to support her," he added.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained while on holiday in 2016 and convicted of plotting to overthrow the regime in Tehran – accusations she strenuously denied.

The mother-of-one was working at the time as a project manager for Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media organisation's philanthropic wing.

She has been under house arrest for months and had her ankle tag removed, giving her more freedom of movement and allowing her to visit relatives in Tehran.

She completed her sentence on March 7.

Rights group says Zaghari-Ratcliffe experienced ‘torture’ in prison

A day later, her husband, Richard, and their six-year-old daughter, Gabriella, held a vigil outside the Iranian embassy in central London demanding she be allowed home.

He tried to deliver an Amnesty International petition signed by 160,000 supporters calling for his wife's release, but was turned away.

Earlier this month, Richard Ratcliffe told the BBC her detention has "the potential to drag on and on".

Media in both the UK and Iran and Richard Ratcliffe have drawn a possible link between Nazanin's detention and a British debt dating back more than 40 years.

The British government has previously admitted it owes Iran up to £300 million (€350 million), but both countries have denied any link with the Zaghari-Ratcliffe case.

She has been temporarily released from Tehran's Evin prison and has been under house arrest since the spring due to the coronavirus outbreak.

For four years, however, at Evin she spent time in solitary confinement in windowless cells, declared hunger strikes and had medical treatment withheld.

While in prison, she suffered from lack of hygiene and even contemplated suicide, according to her husband.

Iranian authorities have consistently denied that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was mistreated.

On Friday, human rights campaign group Redress handed a report to Raab which it said "confirms the severity of the ill-treatment that Nazanin has suffered".

The legal campaigners said that it "considers that Iran's treatment of Nazanin constitutes torture”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Fauci: US weighs 3-foot distancing rule,

a major change

Social distancing circles in New York -- but could the rules soon be cut from six foot to three foot?

 Kena Betancur Afp/AFP
Issued on: 14/03/2021 -

Washington (AFP)

The United States' top pandemic advisor said Sunday that authorities were considering cutting social distancing rules to three feet (one meter), a move that would change a key tenet of the global fight against Covid-19.

Anthony Fauci, a world-respected figure during the coronavirus crisis, said experts at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were examining a Massachusetts study that found "no substantial difference" in Covid cases in schools observing six-foot and three-foot rules.

Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" show whether that meant that a three-foot separation was sufficient, Fauci replied, "It does, indeed."

While cautioning that the CDC was still poring over the new data and conducting tests of its own, he said its findings would come "soon."

The six-foot social distancing rule has been a widely-adopted global measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, along with mask-wearing and hand-washing.

School officials across the world are under enormous pressure to fully reopen as soon as safely possible, but many say the six-foot requirement makes it extremely difficult without adding portable classrooms or shortening the school day.

Many teachers unions have also insisted on six-foot distancing.

Policies on reopening schools and businesses have varied sharply across the US and around the globe as government try to balance quelling infections with a return to normal life.

The study led by the Beth Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts, surveying 251 school districts, found "no substantial difference in the number of cases of Covid-19 among either students or staff" between those observing the three- and six-foot rules when all wore masks.

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, add to a growing body of evidence that Covid-19 transmission rates are low in schools.

In another potentially significant finding, researchers found the rates of Covid-19 were lower in schools practicing masking than they were in the surrounding cities and towns.

A three-foot rule would have an enormous impact on prospects for fully reopening schools, offices and even public areas such as sports venues.

As the top school officials from Penfield, New York wrote in the journal Education Week, "The single biggest obstacle to fully reopening schools is the 6-foot distancing requirement."

CHINA

Discovery sheds light on ancient cosmetics

(China Daily)  March 13, 2021

Remains of cosmetic face cream unearthed in Weinan, Shaanxi province. CHINA DAILY

Researchers confirmed recently that traces of a substance found in an over 2,000-year-old jar are a cosmetic face cream for men that was used to whiten the skin, illustrating that the desire to be physically attractive, as measured by the standards of the day, is a shared wish of both ancient and modern man.

After several years of complex analysis, six grams of residue in a delicate, sealed bronze jar found in 2017 in the grave of an ancient Chinese nobleman of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) is thought likely to be a cosmetic, adding a significant new piece to the puzzle of early human activity, experts said.

The Liujiawa Site in Chengcheng county of Weinan, Shaanxi province, where the grave was discovered, was the capital of the Rui State in the early to middle part of the period.

After completing a complex chemical analysis, researchers proved the residue was made of ruminant fat mixed with monohydrocalcite that was probably used as a whitening face cream, said Sun Zhanwei, a researcher of the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, who led the Liujiawa field excavation project.

"It's the oldest cosmetic for males ever discovered in China and the oldest face cream so far. It is more than 1,000 years older than previous written records," he said.

Most historical records of males using cosmetics have been found in the era of Three Kingdoms (220-280). They tell the stories of famous handsome noblemen, such as Cao Zhi and He Yan. But the new findings showed that certain social customs existed far earlier, he said.

"Besides beautifying the skin, use of cosmetics is also related to the social environment, which underwent drastic changes."

Small bronze jars are often found in graves of nobles, and are a symbol of the aristocratic class.

"Nobles used cosmetics as a way to lead fashion trends and to express their cultural identity," Sun said. "They also confirm the pursuit of a refined life and beauty among ancient Chinese men. Although we have no idea on what occasions the Liujiawa nobleman might have used the face cream, it should be regarded a precious item, as it was important enough to be put into a grave."

The find also provides an important reference for studies concerning the rise of the cosmetics industry and application of fat in the handicrafts industry, Sun added.

The rim of the jar is elliptical, with a major axis of 5.5 centimeters and a minor axis of 4.3 cm. The height of the jar is 5.9 cm. Its surface has complex and refined artistic patterns.

The jar was found in the northwestern corner of the grave, far away from other bronze containers in the southeastern corner that were used for sacrificial rituals, banquets and funerals. The placement suggests that the function of the jar is different from the others, Sun said.

Some archaeologists suspected the jar contained cosmetics, but there was no hard evidence. Samples of the residue were sent for analysis to the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

"Cosmetics have a long history in China, though their origin has remained unclear. They potentially originated in the Spring and Autumn Period but little is known about its early manufacture and use," according to a paper co-written by researchers from the university, together with the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, Peking University and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. The paper was published in the journal Archaeometry in February.

"This work provides an early example of cosmetics production in China and, together with the prevalence of similar cosmetic containers during this period, suggests the rise of an incipient cosmetics industry," the paper said.

The paper added that monohydrocalcite, an ingredient in the cream, came from moonmilk, a special stalactite found in some limestone caves, and was likely collected by Taoists.

The Taoist school, a philosophical discipline originating in the Spring and Autumn Period, features the doctrine of longevity, immortality and salvation. Taoists admire caves and have hosted rituals in prestigious ones. Caves are considered metaphorical wombs that enable rebirth. Exploitation of the moonmilk reflects the link between early Taoists and cosmetics production for the aristocracy, the paper said.

Myanmar coup: six protesters killed as world leaders vow to restore democracy

Deaths come as US, India, Australia and Japan vow to work together to address crisis in Myanmar

Protesters in Myanmar stand next to their metal shields on the outskirts of Yangon. Photograph: EPA


Reuters
Sat 13 Mar 2021 

At least six protesters were killed by security forces in Myanmar, witnesses and media have reported, as activists marked the anniversary on Saturday of a student whose killing in 1988 sparked an uprising against the military government.

Three people were killed and several injured when police opened fire on a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city, two witnesses told Reuters. Another person was killed in the central town of Pyay and two died in police firing in the commercial capital, Yangon, overnight, domestic media reported.

“The security forces initially stopped the ambulance from reaching the injured people and only allowed it later,” a 23-year-old protester in Pyay told Reuters, asking not to be named for fear of retribution.

“By the time they allowed it, one of the injured became critical and he later died.”

The deaths came as the leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan vowed to work together to restore democracy in Myanmar, where violence has escalated as authorities crack down on protests and civil disobedience.

Local media reported two protesters were killed in police firing in the Tharketa district of Yangon overnight on Friday. DVB News said police opened fire on a crowd that gathered outside the Tharketa police station demanding the release of people arrested.

Posters spread on social media calling on people to come out on the streets to protest against the junta and to mark the anniversary of the death of Phone Maw, who was shot and killed by security forces in 1988 inside what was then known as the Rangoon Institute of Technology campus.

Britain advises its citizens to flee Myanmar amid fears of mounting violence
Read more

His shooting and that of another student who died a few weeks later sparked widespread protests against the military government known as the 8-8-88 campaign, because they peaked in August that year. An estimated 3,000 people were killed when the army crushed the uprising.

Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a democracy icon during the movement and was kept under house arrest for nearly two decades. She was released in 2008 as the military began democratic reforms and her National League for Democracy won elections in 2015 and again in November last year.

On 1 February, the generals overthrew her government and detained Aung San Suu Kyi and many of her cabinet colleagues, claiming fraud in the November elections.

More than 70 people have been killed in widespread protests since then, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group said.

Britain, the former colonial power, warned its citizens in Myanmar to leave on Friday, saying “political tension and unrest are widespread since the military takeover and levels of violence are rising”.

South Korea said it would suspend defence exchanges and reconsider development aid to Myanmar because of the violence.

The Kremlin said Russia, which has close ties to Myanmar’s military, was concerned about the mounting violence and “analysing” whether to suspend military-technical cooperation.

“We evaluate the situation as alarming, and we are concerned about the information about the growing number of civilian casualties coming from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying.