Important figures of the South Korean police were detained, and Zhao Zhihao, director of the South Korean Police Department, and Kim Fung-sik, director of the Seoul Police Department, were detained on the evening of 13th. It is reported that the Seoul Central District Court said that Zhao Zhihao and Jin Fengzhi had the possibility of destroying evidence, so they issued detention orders. According to South Korean police investigation, the two men concealed the fact that they had met with President Yin Xiyue before martial law. South Korean police arrested Zhao Zhihao and Jin Fengzhi on suspicion of civil strife in the early morning of 11th. According to Korean law, after the police urgently arrest the suspect, if there is no detention order, they must release him within 48 hours.Bosch has reached a preliminary agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, and will receive a chip subsidy of 225 million U.S. dollars. On December 13, local time, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement with Bosch, a German auto parts supplier, to provide it with a subsidy of up to 225 million U.S. dollars for producing silicon carbide power semiconductors in California. This fund will support Bosch's planned investment of $1.9 billion to transform its manufacturing plant in Roseveare, California to produce silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors. The US Department of Commerce will also provide Bosch with about $350 million in government loans.Apple is about to switch to self-developed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips for iPhone and smart home. Apple plans to switch to domestic chips for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection on its devices from next year, which will gradually phase out some components currently provided by Broadcom. This chip, code-named Proxima, has been developed for several years and is now planned to be used in the first batch of iPhone and smart home devices produced in 2025. The internal chips of iPhone manufacturers will be produced by TSMC.
IBM and Illinois will cooperate with universities and industry to establish the National Center for Quantum Algorithms in Chicago.Countering the price limit of Western countries, Putin extended the oil supply ban. On the 13th, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree, announcing the extension of the counter-measures to set price ceilings for Russian oil and oil products until June 30, 2025. Putin signed a presidential decree on December 27, 2022, demanding that the supply of Russian petroleum and petroleum products to foreign legal persons and individuals who directly or indirectly use the price ceiling mechanism in their contracts be prohibited. This presidential decree came into effect on February 1, 2023, and its validity period was extended several times. In early December, 2022, EU member states reached an agreement on setting a price ceiling of $60 per barrel for Russian seaborne oil exports. The Group of Seven and Australia announced that they would implement the same price limit policy as the EU. (Xinhua News Agency)The dissolution of three village Town Bank was approved. According to the website of the General Administration of Financial Supervision on December 13th, Liaoning Financial Supervision Bureau agreed to the dissolution of Liaoning Dengta Village Bank Co., Ltd., Liaoning Shoushan Village Bank Co., Ltd. and Yingkou Hongcheng Village Bank Co., Ltd. three village Town Bank. Other approvals issued on the same day showed that Liaoshen Bank Co., Ltd. was approved to acquire the above-mentioned three village Town Bank to set up branches. In addition, the opening of Liaoyang Guangming Sub-branch, Yingkou Hongcheng Sub-branch and Liaoyang Shoushan Sub-branch of Liaoshen Bank Co., Ltd. was approved.
Minister of Transport of the Syrian Transitional Government: Aleppo Airport is ready, and the civil airport is trying to recover. On the evening of the 12th local time, the Minister of Transport of the Syrian Transitional Government said that he was working hard to prepare for the recovery of the Syrian civil airport for planes to take off and land. At the same time, the department is also coordinating the operational procedures for transit with neighboring countries. The minister said that in the next few hours, Syrian airspace will be opened to air traffic. At present, Aleppo International Airport in Syria is ready, and Syria will announce the operation dates of Damascus International Airport and Aleppo International Airport in the next few days.Israel pressured the Palestinian National Authority to search for militants. The Palestinian National Authority admitted on the 12th that Palestinian security forces killed a 19-year-old civilian man during an operation in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier this week. Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) accused the Palestinian National Authority of searching for "resistance fighters" and said that Palestine should avoid internal conflicts. According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli side pressured the Palestinian National Authority to intensify the search, and threatened that if the Palestinian security forces could not do it, the Israeli army would do it. (Xinhua News Agency)Canada is considering imposing tariffs on key resources exported by the United States, calling this a "last resort". It is reported that Canada is currently studying the imposition of export taxes on its main commodities exported to the United States, including uranium, oil and potash fertilizer. According to officials familiar with the internal discussions in the Canadian government, export tariffs will be Canada's last resort (if US President-elect Trump fulfills his promise to impose extensive tariffs). Retaliatory tariffs on American-made goods and export controls on some Canadian products will be more likely to be introduced first. But these officials said that if Trump decides to launch a full-scale trade war, Canada's export tax on goods is a practical choice. The Trudeau government may also propose to expand the power of export control.