The US is reportedly mulling a ban on shipments of US chipmaking equipment to memory chip producers in China, in what Chinese analysts call an extension of a crackdown on Chinese semiconductor development, and another desperate, strengthened effort to curb China's technological rise.

Analysts cautioned that the move, with a clear intention of supporting US firms that are losing market share, could also force industry dominant firms such as Samsung and SK Hynix to "choose sides," since they have been increasing their footprints in the world's second-largest economy in recent years.

The US is considering limiting shipments of US equipment to memory chip makers in China, including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), Reuters reported on Monday, citing four people familiar with the matter. 

Under the action being considered, US officials would ban the export of tools - mainly produced by US firms LAM Research and Applied Materials - to China that are used to make NAND chips with more than 128 layers, according to the report, citing two of the sources.

"If such tools are not allowed to be exported to China, it will inevitably hurt memory chip makers' production ability in the short run, especially those who 'run faster' like YMTC," Li Zheng, associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

YMTC accounts for about 5 percent of global NAND flash memory chip production, almost double from a year ago. US counterpart Western Digital accounts for about 13 percent and another US-based firm, Micron has 11 percent, according to Walt Coon of consulting firm Yole Intelligence.

However, Li noted that the technical barriers of memory-related chip tools are relatively lower than for others, so the time needed for tool replacement will be shorter, indicating that the impact will be relatively limited.

Sources Reuters cited, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also pointed out that the crackdown may hurt South Korean memory chip juggernauts Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix - both have factories in China and rely on US chipmaking equipment.

Observers told the Global Times that the reported US move will put South Korean giants in a more difficult position, as their memory chip industry chains are more integrated with the Chinese mainland market, and relied on Chinese demand.

"The US is trying to force South Korean giants to pick sides through the latest move, to finally establish a small circle to counter China, and force them to decouple from China," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Industry giants, including South Korean firms, have been relocating their production capacity for memory chips to China in recent years, with China being the largest electronic products maker and consumer in the world.

Yole data showed that production of NAND chips in China has grown to more than 23 percent of the worldwide total this year from under 14 percent in 2019, while production in the US decreased from 2.3 percent to 1.6 percent over the same period.

To move current memory chip production lines from China will require much time and money, Li said.

If the reported move takes place, the global chip industry will be further disrupted and shortages may occur in more sectors, Ma warned. 

But the crackdown will likely continue, Li said, warning of further possible US moves on talent and investment curbs in the semiconductor industry./Global Times

A spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday condemned a US military strike on a residential house in Kabul, in which the US claimed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed. Chinese experts said the so-called anti-terrorist action is a violation of the territorial sovereignty of Afghanistan and may be a strategy to gain political points at the upcoming midterm elections. 

The spokesperson for Afghan Taliban Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed on Tuesday in a statement that the airstrike on a house in the Shirpur area in Kabul was carried out by US drones, and called it "a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement," which the US signed with the Taliban in 2020 that led to the withdrawal of US forces.

US President Joe Biden announced on Monday that the US "successfully concluded an airstrike in Kabul that killed the emir of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri," and claimed that "now justice has been delivered," according to a White House statement.

The US did not alert Taliban officials ahead of the strike, reported CNN. 

The White House statement claimed that none of Ayman al-Zawahiri's family members were hurt, and there were no civilian casualties.  

Al-Zawahri was on the balcony of his house on Sunday when two Hellfire missiles were launched from an unmanned drone killing him, according to AP News. 

However, doubts are raised on the authenticity of such claims.  Li Wei, an expert on national security at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the drone attack in a densely populated area could have caused damage to surrounding buildings or even casualties among local residents considering the large impact of the Hellfire missiles. 

Experts said the US military attack was a violation of the territorial sovereignty of Afghanistan. 

"Any military activities and strikes within the territory of a country without first informing its government will constitute a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country no matter what the legitimacy is," Li told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Taliban's statement said Afghanistan "strongly condemns this attack on any cause." 

The US has once again openly trampled on Afghan territorial sovereignty after its troops' withdrawal in 2021, which proved that the country has "never really changed" despite its commitment. The strike aimed to show that it still has unmatched influence in Afghan affairs and to expunge the humiliation of having to leave Afghanistan, said a Beijing-based expert on international affairs who requested anonymity.

"The two-decade US-led war in Afghanistan is one of the main reasons why the country is still vulnerable to terrorism. The political chaos and economic depression in Afghanistan have made the whole country and even the region spin out of control for a long time, which has become a hotbed of terrorism and led to Afghanistan becoming a stronghold for many terrorist organizations," said the expert. 

Some experts suspect the airstrike against Ayman al-Zawahiri came because the critical US midterm elections are close. The country has historically conducted anti-terrorism operations as a political tool to serve its political interests at home, Li said. 

Li added the solutions to eradicating terrorism come from addressing Afghan domestic issues, such as economic issues and people's livelihoods, which the US is responsible for. 

The US is widely criticized in the world for illegally freezing $7 billion Afghan central bank assets. The international community has urged the US to unfreeze and return the money that belongs to the Afghan people in full to help overcome the humanitarian crisis in the country especially after a massive earthquake in June. /Global Times

Ukrainian grain exports deal signed between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine was a "product" of Ankara's "diplomatic success", Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"Everyone accepts that the steps taken to overcome grain crisis, which the world is closely observing, is the product of our country's efforts," Erdogan said after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on Monday.

He added that "this work, initiated under the leadership of our country, is an important diplomatic success."

Erdogan's remarks came after the first grain-loaded ship departed from Ukraine's port of Odessa for Lebanon earlier on Monday.

Loaded with corn, the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni will arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday, and it will continue on its way to the port of Tripoli following inspections in the Turkish metropolis. The ship is carrying a cargo of 26,527 tonnes of corn.

The president noted that "the grain knot was untied" in Istanbul.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports - Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny - for grain that has been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, a joint coordination centre in Istanbul was officially opened on Wednesday, comprising representatives from Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine to enable the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilisers from the three key Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Violence that began in the north has spread to the centre and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Source: agencies

The new Kuwaiti government led by Prime Minister Ahmad Nawaf al Ahmad has been sworn in.

Crown Prince Meshal al Sabah hosted the 12-member Cabinet at the Bayan Palace in the capital Kuwait City at a ceremony attended by top officials, state news agency KUNA said on Tuesday.

Oil Minister Mohammad al Fares, Finance Minister Abdul Wahab al Rasheed and Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al Mohammed al Sabah were all reappointed to their posts in the new government.

A royal decree was issued by the country’s emir on Monday to form a new government made up of 12 ministers.

The crown prince's move aims to resolve a stand-off between the government and elected parliament that has hindered fiscal reform. 

Last month Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al Ahmad al Sabah, who took over most of the ruling emir's duties, said on Tuesday he was dissolving parliament and would call for early elections. 

"To rectify the political scene, the lack of harmony and cooperation ... and behaviour that undermines national unity, it was necessary to resort to the people ... to rectify the path," Sheikh Meshal said in the decree dissolving parliament.

Political stability in Kuwait, an OPEC oil producer, has traditionally depended on cooperation between the government and parliament, the Gulf region's most lively legislature. 

The previous government resigned in April ahead of a non-cooperation motion in parliament against Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al Khalid, who late last month was replaced as premier by the current emir's son Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al Sabah.

Kuwait bans political parties but has given its legislature more influence than similar bodies in other Gulf monarchies.

Deadlock between government and parliament in Kuwait has often led to cabinet reshuffles and dissolutions of the legislature over the decades, hampering investment and reforms. 

The last time parliament was dissolved was in 2016./agencies

The proportion of the population with no health insurance in the United States has reached a new low in early 2022 at eight percent, President Joe Biden's administration has said.

The Department of Health said on Tuesday that based on a household survey it carried out, 5.2 million people have gained medical insurance since early 2021, when Biden came to office, a figure that includes a million children.

However, around 26 million people remain without health coverage in the country.

"No one should worry about whether they can pay for their doctor or choose between paying rent and filing a prescription," Biden said in a statement.

"Today, we are closer than ever to making that principle a reality," he added.

The drop in uninsured Americans began last year when Congress and Biden signed off on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that lowered premiums and out-of-pocket costs for new or returning customers purchasing plans through the Affordable Care Act's private health insurance markets.

The Affordable Care Act, known as "Obamacare," came into effect in 2014 and was the flagship law of former President Barack Obama, with whom Biden served as Vice President.

Between 2018 and 2019, however, the number of uninsured rebounded before falling again.

Inflation Reduction Act

The president attributed the rise in the number of medically insured Americans to improvements contained in the American Rescue Plan, the emergency aid plan adopted at the start of his term that contained measures facilitating access to health insurance through grants to help families pay for medical coverage.

"Pretty cool, huh, @BarackObama?" Biden said on Twitter.

"You bet, Joe," the former president responded.

The two men called on Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a law largely focused on clean energy and climate but also containing measures to secure subsidies for medical coverage and reduce drug prices.

Source: agencies

At least four people are now known to have died in a wildfire sweeping through California, authorities said, as they warned the toll from the western US state's worst blaze this year could rise further.

"We have four fatalities confirmed, and that number could change," Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Courtney Kreider told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.

Two of the dead were found in a car on Sunday, apparently caught in the flames as they tried to flee.

There were no details about the other deaths.

At least 3,000 people have been told to leave their homes in and around the town of Klamath River, with 100 structures already destroyed.

"Our goal today is to effectively communicate with people, and we're asking them to obey the evacuation orders," Kreider said.

"Our priority is to protect life and property."

Rain and cooler conditions brought some relief to hundreds of firefighters battling to protect the 8,000-person town of Yreka, but the human cost of the inferno was already mounting.

Unstable fire behaviour 

State fire department CalFire said better weather overnight had helped limit the spread of the so-called McKinney Fire, but vegetation remained extremely dry and vulnerable to lightning strikes.

"The continued threat of thunderstorms and the associated strong, erratic winds could result in increased fire behaviour," CalFire said.

The fire, which is burning in the Klamath National Forest near the border with Oregon, is California's largest this year, having consumed around 56,000 acres.

Firefighters were working to contain its spread, using bulldozers to create firebreaks around Yreka.

They were also battling spot fires, which erupt as sparks shoot off from the main blaze and ignite some distance away.

Man-made crisis

The drought, exacerbated by the man-made climate crisis, has left the countryside parched and vulnerable to naturally occurring wildfires, making the blazes hotter, faster and more destructive.

Dennis Burns, a fire behaviour analyst with the California Interagency Incident Management Team, said there was a potential for thunderstorms and heavy downpours on Tuesday that could give firefighters the edge they were looking for.

"We're not expecting any significant movement of the fire but we could still see active flaming," he said.

California still has months of fire season ahead of it.

Other parts of the world have also faced intense wildfires this year, as scientists say climate crisis and global heating is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense, increasing the risk of fires.

Source: AFP