Gradually.  Then suddenly.

China’s AMEC unveils 6 chip-making machines in a day in boost to self-reliance ambitions
 
A rapid R&D drive is powering the firm’s transition beyond its core business
 
Updated: 4:12pm, 2 Sep 2026
 
Chinese chip equipment giant Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) has unveiled six new machines – at different stages of commercialisation – in a single day as the company accelerates research and development to feed soaring local demand driven by Beijing’s self-reliance push.
 
The new line-up, announced at an industry conference in Wuxi on Tuesday, spans several steps in chip production, including etching tools that carve microscopic patterns into wafers, deposition systems that build ultra-thin layers of material and the complex equipment used to make silicon-carbide power chips.
 
Unveiling six tools simultaneously marks a notable shift for AMEC as it accelerates its transformation from an etching specialist to an all-around semiconductor equipment firm. Four of the six new products are deposition tools.
 
The global etching and deposition markets are dominated by US and Japanese giants like Lam Research, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron.
 
During an investor briefing last month, AMEC said it had cut its product development cycle from three to five years down to two years or less. The company poured 2.04 billion yuan (US$303.5 million) into research and development in the first half of the year – a 36.9 per cent year-on-year surge representing 30.5 per cent of its total revenue.
 
It currently has more than 20 new machines under development across six equipment categories.
 
full story ==> https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3366079/chinas-amec-unveils-6-chip-making-machines-one-day-speed-self-reliance
 

Posted by: too scents | Sep 2 2026 8:50 utc | 203

The results of Kaja Kallas’ performance review are in.
 

EU accelerates plans to break up diplomatic service
 
France and Germany drive push for reform as pressure mounts on Brussels to find budget savings
 
2 Sep 6h00 CEST 2026
 
The European Commission is drawing up plans to break up the EU’s diplomatic service and fold parts of it into the bloc’s executive, in response to demands from France and Germany for a sweeping overhaul of Brussels’ foreign policy machinery by the end of the year.
 
Senior officials have begun studying which functions of the European External Action Service (EEAS) could be absorbed by existing Commission departments, according to people briefed on the process, in what would amount to a partial reversal of one of the EU’s biggest institutional reforms of the past two decades.
 
The EEAS, led by EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, has come under scrutiny from capitals that see it as struggling to co-ordinate effective responses to crises, including the wars in Ukraine and Iran, Donald Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and the growing use of economic coercion as statecraft.
 
continues ==> https://www.ft.com/content/1e55d948-98e5-4c1a-8a09-51e1311fcf63
 

Posted by: too scents | Sep 2 2026 10:12 utc | 205

USDA’s ag report for last week.

 
Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin
August 25, 2026
 
HIGHLIGHTS for August 16 – 22, 2026
 
For the second week in a row, monsoon-related moisture interacting with Northern cold fronts delivered heavy showers (1 to 4 inches or more) and locally severe thunderstorms from the central Plains to the middle Atlantic Coast. Wet weather perpetuated lowland flooding in parts of the eastern Corn Belt but further eased drought on the central Plains. Farther south, hot weather stretched from the southern Plains to the southern Atlantic Coast. In the Southeast, showers locally offset heat-related impacts. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 5°F above normal from the southern half of the Plains into parts of the Southeast. Readings averaged as much as 10°F above normal across the southeastern Plains and the mid-South. Aside from locally significant rainfall in Nebraska and portions of neighboring states, showers on the Plains were widely scattered. In fact, negligible rain fell in the south-central U.S., including much of Texas. Elsewhere, hit-or-miss showers in the West were heaviest across the eastern half of the region, including portions of the Four Corners States. The Pacific Coast States and the western Great Basin remained mostly dry, with ongoing or expanding wildfire activity. Weekly temperatures broadly averaged at least 5°F above normal across interior sections of the West. Conversely, near- or slightly below-normal temperatures prevailed from the Dakotas, eastern Nebraska, and northeastern Kansas to the northern half of the Atlantic Coast, including key Midwestern corn and soybean production areas.
 
Late-summer heat gripped the south-central U.S., pushing high temperatures on multiple days into the general range from 100 to 110°F. The hot weather depleted topsoil moisture and maintained stress on livestock, as well as rangeland, pastures, and immature summer crops. Readings near 100°F extended eastward to the Mississippi Delta and scattered Southeastern locations. Jackson, MS, recorded triple-digit maximum temperatures each day during the week, peaking at 103°F on August 18. On August 16 and 17, Greenville, MS, collected consecutive daily-record highs (103 and 104°F, respectively). Tallahassee, FL, touched 100°F on August 17 and 18, setting or tying a daily record both days. Parts of Arkansas bore the brunt of the heat, with Fort Smith experiencing triple-digit heat each day starting August 4. Fort Smith’s temperature peaked on August 18 and 19 with a pair of daily-record highs of 109°F—the hottest weather in that location since August 6, 2011, when it was 111°F. Farther east, Miami, FL (100°F on August 18) tied its all-time station record and achieved a triple-digit reading for only the second time, along with July 21, 1942. Extreme heat also extended into the Desert Southwest, where daily-record highs included 115°F (on the 18th) in Imperial, CA, and 116°F (on the 22nd) in Yuma, AZ. Heat in Texas generally intensified as the week ended, with triple-digit, daily-record highs for August 22 reaching 109°F in Wichita Falls, 108°F in Longview, 107°F in Austin, and 103°F in Corpus Christi. A day earlier in the West, record-setting highs for the 21st had included 101°F in Boise, ID, and 100°F in Pullman, WA, and Denver, CO. Four days of 100-degree heat so far this month in Denver edged an August 1878 record by a day. In contrast, temperatures remained below 90°F all week in much of the Midwest and Northeast.
 
full report ==> https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/796032/wwcb3426.pdf

Posted by: too scents | Sep 2 2026 11:43 utc | 207

Interview with Journalist/Writer Stella Calloni Regarding the Situation in Venezuela
 
https://orinocotribune.com/interview-with-journalist-writer-stella-calloni-regarding-the-situation-in-venezuela/
 

Stella Calloni: The betrayal of Chávez is absolute and total. That is why they wiped his legacy off the map, and now they are trying to do the same with the figure of Bolívar. They seek to eradicate our peoples’ historical memory, sweep away social gains, and leave behind an impoverished, desperate society.

Posted by: arby | Sep 2 2026 13:45 utc | 209

Does this also apply to Foreign Investment Funds that own shares of Chinese enterprises ?If so, this is a significant attack on US Gov‘t. US tax law allows US investors to offset taxes paid on foreign dividends. Translation Chinese Gov’t collects the 20% Tax and US taxpayers get a deduction on their US taxes. 🤣🤣🤣
Posted by: Exile | Sep 2 2026 6:11 utc | 202

 
It reduces US gov tax revenues, because earlier the investors had to pay the whatever normal share of taxes to US anyway (they paid all up to normal tax rate to US), but now China withholds 20%. The investors need to reapply 10% back from China according to the tax treaty, but US loses 10% of all gross income as tax revenue it got before.

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 2 2026 14:14 utc | 211

@ Exile | Sep 2 2026 4:27 utc | 200
 
thanks exile! i would enjoy that, but doubt it is going to happen… have you been?? 

Posted by: james | Sep 2 2026 14:51 utc | 213