Author Archive zhengerya.com

In a recent report by Saga Shimbun, it has been revealed that an 80-year-old man was arrested by local police at Saga Castle around noon today after being found in possession of a folding knife. This incident occurred just hours before Princess Aiko’s scheduled visit to the area, marking her first public official duty outside of Tokyo since turning 21.

The man, from Yamaguchi Prefecture, was discovered within the historical site of the Saga Castle, carrying a folding knife with an 8.5 cm blade. He was apprehended on charges of violating sword and firearm laws after museum staff alerted law enforcement due to his suspicious behavior. When questioned, the man admitted he understood carrying a knife was inappropriate but claimed he had no intention of causing harm.

Remarkably, this arrest happened just half an hour before Princess Aiko’s convoy passed through the vicinity. The princess, the only daughter of the Emperor of Japan, is visiting Saga Prefecture to attend the National Sports Festival. She arrived at Saga Airport earlier today, where she was warmly greeted by local citizens. This outing is not only significant for her as a public figure but also represents her first solo trip for official duties since reaching adulthood.

In a recent turn of events, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has charged four men in connection with a significant workers’ compensation fraud scheme that allegedly generated nearly $10 million in illegal profits. The primary suspect, 55-year-old David Fisch from Laguna Niguel, is facing over a decade in prison due to his history of insurance fraud convictions, which have resulted in a lifetime ban from participating in California’s workers’ compensation system.

Following a three-year investigation, prosecutors revealed that Fisch secretly controlled clinics and medical service providers, utilizing illegal referral fees and falsely reporting charges to insurance companies to profit unlawfully. A statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office emphasized, “Fisch referred patients to specific providers to receive illegal referral fees and then billed workers’ compensation insurance companies for related services unlawfully.”

The other three defendants include 78-year-old Martin Brill, 61-year-old Robert Lee, and neurosurgeon Vrijesh Tantuwaya. According to the indictment, the defendants co-founded the Southern California Injury Network, offering medical management services that included marketing, billing, and collections. Although Fisch presented himself as a “consultant,” he was actually at the helm of the entire operation. Tantuwaya, who practices in San Diego and was also implicated, co-founded a medical group that served as a key partner for Fisch’s company. Tantuwaya’s attorney, Scott Simmons, firmly denied the allegations, highlighting the surgeon’s 22-year spotless professional record and asserting, “The evidence will prove his innocence; Tantuwaya has never received any illegal kickbacks.”

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have been released on bail while awaiting trial. Fisch is facing the most serious allegations, including two counts of conspiracy, two counts of soliciting compensation from clients, and eight counts of insurance fraud. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer pointed out that such fraudulent actions not only inflate insurance premiums but also exacerbate the challenges faced by American families amidst rising living costs. Should the defendants be convicted, Fisch could face a sentence of over ten years.

The California Department of Insurance estimates that similar fraudulent activities cost state residents an additional $440 in premiums each year. The District Attorney’s Office underscored the importance of combating such fraud as a protective measure for all Californians.

Many people believe that fresh fruits and vegetables are the best choice for optimal nutrition, often viewing canned options as inferior due to the processing they undergo. However, recent research has shown that canned fruits and vegetables can offer nutritional value comparable to their fresh or frozen counterparts. In fact, for certain produce, canned options may even have higher nutritional content.

A study conducted by researchers at Michigan State University, published in the “American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine,” found that canned fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh or frozen ones. Particularly, canned tomatoes were noted to have higher levels of B vitamins, vitamin E, and carotenoids compared to fresh tomatoes. The canning process also makes the fiber in legumes more soluble, which is beneficial for the body.

Additionally, The Foundation for Fresh Produce (FPP) highlighted a survey that found adults and children who frequently consume canned foods—defined as eating six or more different canned products within two weeks—tend to have healthier eating habits than those who eat one or two kinds. The study revealed that canned food consumers had higher intakes of fruits and vegetables and a broader range of essential nutrients, including calcium and fiber, as reflected in their higher Health Eating Index (HEI) scores.

Moreover, canned products offer excellent cost-effectiveness, helping families save on their grocery budgets. According to FPP, there is no significant price difference among fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables. However, they found that the cost of canned vegetables is half that of frozen vegetables and just a fifth of fresh options. Popular canned vegetables like corn, tomatoes, peas, and green beans are generally cheaper than their fresh or frozen versions.

Another advantage of canned produce is that the fruits, vegetables, and legumes are harvested at peak ripeness, which helps retain their nutrition, flavor, and safety. Experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization have noted that produce has the highest nutritional value at the time of harvest. Once harvested, fresh crops begin to lose nutrients, as they are cut off from their soil or energy sources. Furthermore, if vegetables are stored for too long before cooking, they may lose additional nutritional value.

A study from UC Davis indicated that spinach stored at room temperature (68°F) for seven days could lose nearly all its vitamin C, while refrigerating it could result in a 75% loss. In contrast, carrots left at the same room temperature only lose 27% of their vitamin C.

FPP encourages consumers to enjoy fruits and vegetables in whatever form they prefer—fresh, canned, or frozen. Canned foods not only simplify healthy eating, being nutritionally comparable to fresh and frozen options, but they also make it easier for people to enjoy convenient, wholesome meals at home, fostering better dietary habits.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that it has approved the monkeypox vaccine produced by Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic for adolescents aged 12 to 17, a group particularly vulnerable to monkeypox outbreaks. This decision follows a confirmation of the vaccine’s prequalification status on October 8, as reported by Reuters.

A recent wave of monkeypox cases, which spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring countries, led the WHO to declare a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC) in August, marking the second such announcement in two years.

In September, the WHO authorized the vaccine for adults to facilitate easier access in African countries severely affected by the outbreak. Generally, the monkeypox virus can cause flu-like symptoms along with skin lesions, and children, teenagers, and immunocompromised individuals are particularly at risk.

Last month, the European Union also approved the Bavarian Nordic monkeypox vaccine for use in adolescents. Additionally, Bavarian Nordic is preparing to conduct clinical trials to evaluate the vaccine’s safety in children aged 2 to 12, aiming to expand its potential use.

This clinical trial is partially funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and is expected to commence in October.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Bavarian Nordic monkeypox vaccine, it is currently only available for adults aged 18 and older. During the monkeypox outbreak in 2022, the FDA had also granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for this vaccine.

Moreover, Japanese regulatory authorities have confirmed that another monkeypox vaccine, LC16 produced by KM Biologics, is suitable for children, though it requires the use of special needles.

Stones’ injury-time winner awarded after on-field review‘Is there something that influences decision-making?’Ben Fisher at MolineuxSun 20 Oct 2024 14.46 EDTLast modified on Sun 20 Oct 2024 21.30 EDTShareThe Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, questioned whether referees have a subconscious bias in favour of the “big guy” after Manchester City clinched a stoppage-time victory in controversial circumstances.
John Stones scored a ­95th-minute header from Phil Foden’s corner to extend City’s unbeaten run to a club-record 31 matches but ­Bernardo Silva made contact with the Wolves goalkeeper, José Sá, as the ball was en route into the box. Wolves are aggrieved because it was near ­identical to when they had an ­equaliser ruled out against West Ham last season.
John Stones’ injury-time header gives Manchester City dramatic win at WolvesRead moreThe referee, Chris Kavanagh, initially disallowed City’s goal because his assistant Constantine ­Hatzidakis raised his flag for offside against Silva. The Premier League said the VAR, Stuart Attwell, deemed Silva “wasn’t in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper and ­recommended an on-field review”. For Wolves, who voted at the end of last season against the use of VAR, it was another frustrating episode. “The referee overturned his original decision and a goal was awarded,” the Premier League Match Centre said.
O’Neil made clear the referees act in good faith but said other ­factors could influence the officials. “Is there something in the subconscious around the decision-making?” he said. “Without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves? My focus and senses are heightened when we’re facing Man City, Pep [Guardiola] and [Erling] Haaland. Are the officials the same when it’s Haaland and Manchester City? Is there something in there, not on purpose, that influences decision-making? I’ve spoken to them about this and they guarantee me there isn’t, but they are human.
“I can categorically tell you that they definitely don’t mean to. I just know from a human point of view, it’s tough. If I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I’m going to upset the little guy. Maybe there is something that edges it in that direction when it’s really tight.”
O’Neil said the decision to allow the winner was “a tough blow”, particularly given the parallels with when Wolves had a 99th-minute equaliser at West Ham disallowed in April in similar circumstances; then the Wolves forward Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to have obscured the view of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Football Daily
Free daily newsletterKick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion
“We sent an image to referees showing with proof that the West Ham keeper could see the ball, but the reason we were given was the player [Chirewa] was in close proximity,” O’Neil said. “The same argument could be said here but we just have to accept it.”

As average population falls reach 95% in some regions, experts call for urgent action but insist ‘nature can recover’
The age of extinction is supported byAbout this contentPatrick GreenfieldThu 10 Oct 2024 02.26 EDTLast modified on Thu 10 Oct 2024 18.59 EDTShareGlobal wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years, a new scientific assessment has found, as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse.
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the steepest average declines in recorded wildlife populations, with a 95% fall, according to the WWF and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet report. They were followed by Africa with 76%, and Asia and the Pacific at 60%. Europe and North America recorded comparatively lower falls of 35% and 39% respectively since 1970.
Scientists said this was explained by much larger declines in wildlife populations in Europe and North America before 1970 that were now being replicated in other parts of the world. They warned that the loss could quicken in future years as global heating accelerates, triggered by tipping points in the Amazon rainforest, Arctic and marine ecosystems, which could have catastrophic consequences for nature and human society.
Matthew Gould, ZSL’s chief executive, said the report’s message was clear: “We are dangerously close to tipping points for nature loss and climate change. But we know nature can recover, given the opportunity, and that we still have the chance to act.”
Decline in biodiversityThe figures, known as the Living Planet Index, are made up of almost 35,000 population trends from 5,495 mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles species around the world, and have become one of the leading indicators of the global state of wildlife populations. In recent years, the metric has faced criticism for potentially overestimating wildlife declines.
The index is weighted in favour of data from Africa and Latin America, which have suffered larger declines but have far less reliable information about populations. This has had the effect of driving a dramatic top line of global collapse despite information from Europe and North America showing less dramatic falls.
Hannah Wauchope, an ecology lecturer at Edinburgh University, said: “The weighting of the Living Planet Index is imperfect, but until we have systematic sampling of biodiversity worldwide, some form of weighting will be necessary. What we do know is that as habitat destruction and other threats to biodiversity continue, there will continue to be declines.”
Critics question the mathematical soundness of the index’s approach, but acknowledge that other indicators also show major declines in the state of many wildlife populations around the world.
View image in fullscreenBrazilian rainforest in Humaitá. The report identifies land-use change driven by agriculture as the most important cause of the fall in wildlife populations. Photograph: Adriano Machado/ReutersIn a critique of the index published by Springer Nature in June, scientists said it “suffers from several mathematical and statistical issues, leading to a bias towards an apparent decrease even for balanced populations”.
They continued: “This does not mean that in reality there is no overall decrease in vertebrate populations [but the] current phase of the Anthropocene [epoch] is characterised by more complex changes than … simple disappearance.”
The IUCN’s Red List, which has assessed the health of more than 160,000 plant and animal species, has found that almost a third are at risk of extinction. Of those assessed, 41% of amphibians, 26% of mammals and 34% of conifer trees are at risk of disappearing.
The index has been published days ahead of the Cop16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, where countries will meet for the first time since agreeing on a set of international targets to halt the freefall of life on Earth. Governments have never met a single biodiversity target in the history of UN agreements and scientists are urging world leaders to make sure this decade is different.
Susana Muhamad, Cop16 president and Colombia’s environment minister, said: “We must listen to science and take action to avoid collapse.
“Globally, we are reaching points of no return and irreversibly affecting the planet’s life-support systems. We are seeing the effects of deforestation and the transformation of natural ecosystems, intensive land use and climate change.
“The world is witnessing the mass bleaching of coral reefs, the loss of tropical forests, the collapse of polar ice caps and serious changes to the water cycle, the foundation of life on our planet,” she said.
How the ‘Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics’ is lighting a fire under big oilRead moreLand-use change was the most important driver of the fall in wildlife populations as agricultural frontiers expanded, often at the expense of ecosystems such as tropical rainforests. Mike Barrett, director of science and conservation at WWF-UK, said countries such as the UK were driving the destruction by continuing to import food and livestock feed grown on previously wild ecosystems.
“The data that we’ve got shows that the loss was driven by a fragmentation of natural habitats. What we are seeing through the figures is an indicator of a more profound change that is going on in our natural ecosystems … they are losing their resilience to external shocks and change. We are now superimposing climate change on these already degraded habitats,” said Barrett.
“I have been involved in writing these reports for 10 years and, in writing this one, it was difficult. I was shocked,” he said.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features

An empty cafe photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianUkrainians face new airborne threat that has killed 24 civilians and injured hundreds more since July
By Emma Graham-Harrison and Artem Mazhulin in KhersonFri 18 Oct 2024 01.00 EDTShareSasha Ustenko has survived three attacks by the Russian drones that stalk the streets of Kherson carrying fragmentation grenades to drop on anything that moves. The first, in late July, targeted a parked police car in central Kherson just as Ustenko walked past, throwing him to the ground. The second, in mid-August, hit a drinking water tanker as he queued for supplies, killing the driver. Ustenko was concussed, and came round to see a man lying in a pool of blood.
View image in fullscreenA view of the street photographed in Kherson on 14 October. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe third time, in late September, he heard the drone buzzing above and sprinted for shelter under the branches of a cherry tree. He hoped its leaves would hide him but the grenade tumbled through the canopy and landed barely a metre away.
The explosion ripped his left index finger apart. He is left-handed, so at 51 he is learning to write again with his other hand. When he speaks, his sentences sometimes peter out, the impact of multiple concussions, and he struggles to stand because of repeated blast injuries to his back.
View image in fullscreenUstenko photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianView image in fullscreenOleksandr (Sasha) Ustenko shows a photo of himself right after he was wounded in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianTwo years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, civilians living in the frontline city of Kherson are grappling with the new threat from small civilian drones adapted to carry explosives.
On social media, Russian soldiers openly boast that their objective is anyone or anything that moves. Since the drones began swarming the city in July, there have been thousands of attacks each month, killing 24 civilians and injuring hundreds more.
“The hunt has started,” urged one Telegram post above a satellite image of an ordinary van. “Any black minivan must be destroyed no matter where are they going.”
They have dropped grenades on buses and people waiting at bus stops, civilians on bikes and queueing for humanitarian aid, or, like Ustenko, just walking home with shopping.
0:37Video shows drone following two people in Kherson before dropping grenade – video One video, shared by a drone operator, follows two people ambling down a quiet Kherson street oblivious to the drone overhead until it drops a grenade that cuts both down, leaving them writhing on the ground in agony.
The repurposed Mavic drones, made in China for photography and videos, are controlled on radio frequencies that Ukraine’s anti-drone systems cannot block, and are too small, too numerous and fly too low for traditional air defences to pick up.
In August there were more than 2,500 attacks, or dozens each day, the vast majority of them inside Kherson city, said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, a spokesperson for the Kherson military administration. In September there were more than 2,700.
Between 1 July and 11 October, drones injured more than 400 civilians, including seven children. Many of those injuries were life-changing, including some requiring amputations, Tolokonnikov said.
View image in fullscreenA DJI Mavic 3 drone. Photograph: Aleksey Filippov/AFP/Getty ImagesThey are driving Kherson citizens out of areas where they had clung on through nine months of occupation after the full-scale Russian invasion of Kherson in February 2022 and another two years of war.
“There were maybe 1,500 or 2,000 people in my area after the Russian occupation ended. Now there are 1,000 at most,” said Dima Olifirenko, 22, a sailor stranded at home by the war. He has a line of stitches curving at the edge of his cheek beside his ear, from a grenade blast beside a bus stop.
“I heard the drone coming as the bus pulled in but I thought it would follow the bus, because that’s what they do, they hunt the buses,” he said. “But when it drove off the drone was still there and I realised even if I ran after the bus it would get me. There was nowhere to hide.”
View image in fullscreenDima Olifirenko photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianView image in fullscreenDima Olifirenko’s injuries. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe explosion came moments later, peppering one side of his body with shrapnel. He flagged down another bus to get to hospital and a passenger gave him her jacket to stem the bleeding. It took him nearly an hour to get there. “The driver had to stop at each bus stop as there aren’t many buses now,” he said with the dry humour that most people still hanging on in Kherson have cultivated.
Many residents had adapted, more or less, to living with the threat of shelling, but the drones have injected new fear into daily life. Each time people leave home, they know they could be individually stalked by killers.
“Drones are much worse than artillery, you can hear the launch and where its flying,” Olifirenko said. “With a drone, it’s [suddenly] there, it sees you, and you are done.”
In Kherson the frontline is the Dnipro River, broadening into wetlands and an estuary as it approaches the sea and separating Ukrainian from Russian forces on either side. This has protected the city from a full-scale Russian offensive, because attacking across a major river is extremely difficult. But because this natural barrier allows tens of thousands of civilians to live just a couple of kilometres from Russian forces, it also makes the city uniquely vulnerable to these drone attacks.
The range of the drones, up to 15km or about nine miles, allows them to dart across the river and back. They are small and cheap enough for Russia to deploy large numbers, and although they might struggle to find military targets on well-camouflaged frontlines, it is easy to find and hit civilians going about daily life.
“This is a systematic, well-planned operation to destroy civilian life in Kherson,” said Serhii Kuzan, the chair of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center thinktank and a former adviser to the Ukrainian defence ministry. “The tactic in this hybrid warfare isn’t to win on the battlefield, it is to destroy the civilian population so the central government will negotiate or surrender.”
The drone attacks intensified over the summer after Ukrainian forces withdrew from precarious footholds on the other side of the river, where estuary banks were too damp to dig trenches and troops were extremely exposed, Kuzan said. After they left, Russian drone operators could move forward into reed beds and woody areas. They have cover to set up a position, fly a drone into Kherson, then pack up and move on before Ukrainian troops can locate and target them.
View image in fullscreenA Ukrainian serviceman from an anti-drone mobile air defence unit uses his mobile device near an anti aircraft cannon as he waits for Russian kamikaze drones in Kherson region, in June. Photograph: Ivan Antypenko/ReutersHe described a city the Russian soldiers had divided into three zones, with areas near the river a declared a red zone where they consider anything that moves a legitimate target. Ustenko, Olifirenko and thousands of other civilians have their homes there.
“There is no air defence that can pick up these tiny drones, and if there was the sirens would be constant,” Kuzan said. The only types of air defence Ukrainian civilians can rely on now are the weather – drones struggle in rain and high winds – and luck, or, for the religious, faith.
In the city’s cafes you can still buy a trendy lavender latte, but the barista may warn you to move your car under a tree as she prepares it. For now Kherson’s many leafy streets offer some natural cover, but the trees have already turned yellow and when winter strips the branches they will leave people even more vulnerable.
Some people may move within the city or leave it, but not everyone is able or willing to go, particularly after the government halted payments to internally displaced people earlier this year.
Olifirenko is caring for his mother, their dogs, cats and ducks and wants to look after the family home, confident that one day peace will return.
View image in fullscreenA view of the street in Kherson on 14 October. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe drones also target empty houses in their neighbourhood by the river, and most nights one or two burn down, he said. They no longer have running water but they have stocked up on fire extinguishers so that if a grenade lands they should be able to put out any blaze.
Ustenko stayed on in Kherson through nine months of occupation and another two years of war largely to look after his disabled mother. “She can’t move on her own,” he said. “Where would we go to live if we left? How would I provide for her?”
Even as he tries to cling on in Kherson, drones that have damaged his body have recently brought a grim further threat to his efforts to nurse his mother through the war. Some are now scattering small “butterfly” anti-personnel mines across roads and public spaces. The mines are less than five inches long and contain about 40 grams of explosive, enough to take off the hand or foot of anyone who picks one up or steps on it.
The mines are sometimes covered in glue and rolled in dirt before they are dropped, to make them harder to spot, Tolokonnikov says. Ustenko is no longer harvesting vegetables from the patch he tended behind his house. “I’m scared to go into the garden because there are so many weeds that could be hiding mines.”
With no police or de-miners venturing into their dangerous red-zone neighbourhoods, locals have developed their own highly amateur de-mining techniques, Olifirenko says. Some people shoot the mines with pellet guns; others try to hit them with bricks. The most methodical get long wooden boards.
“They lie on the ground, shield their face with their arms and push the board towards the mine until it explodes,” he said. “We have a lot of questions for the government. Why aren’t they doing anything to stop this terrorism?”

Recent data from China’s General Administration of Customs indicates that the trade volume between China and Taiwan reached $27.025 billion in September, an increase of $452 million from August, marking a growth of 7.7% compared to the same month last year. China imported $20.662 billion from Taiwan, a rise of $487 million from the previous month, with an annual increase of 11%. However, exports to Taiwan amounted to $6.362 billion, reflecting a decrease of $36 million from August and a year-on-year decline of 1.6%.

For the first nine months of this year, the cumulative trade volume between the two sides totaled $212.436 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%. China’s imports from Taiwan reached $156.768 billion, up by 8%, while exports to Taiwan were $55.667 billion, a rise of 10.6%.

Analysts had previously suggested that while global demand is recovering and the electronic goods inventory cycle is coming to an end, significant jumps in trade between the two sides are unlikely to occur this year; instead, a gradual recovery is anticipated. There are also perspectives indicating that due to the shifting global supply chains, economic ties may gradually decouple in the long run.

Looking ahead, numerous uncertainties loom over cross-strait trade. Concerns about a potential U.S. economic recession could cool American consumer spending. Simultaneously, China may revoke previous tariff concessions on certain Taiwanese products and reimpose tariffs, which could impact trade statistics.

The Beijing Ministry of Commerce has stated that Taiwan has not lifted its trade restrictions against the mainland, and relevant departments are considering further measures based on the findings of investigations into trade barriers with Taiwan. Earlier this year, Beijing announced the termination of preferential tariffs under the Early Harvest Program of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

Since the beginning of this year, Beijing has suspended tariff reductions on 12 petrochemical products under the ECFA Early Harvest List and in May added a second batch of products that would no longer benefit from these reductions, covering sectors such as petrochemicals, textiles, machinery, steel, metals, and transportation. The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs has repeatedly noted that the Early Harvest List accounts for only 6% of Taiwan’s exports and has a limited overall impact on Taiwan’s economy. Currently, under the global supply chain restructuring, Taiwan is pursuing a diversified economic and trade strategy to mitigate risks.

On October 14, China’s central bank released data indicating that, as of the end of September 2024, the total social financing in the country reached 402.19 trillion yuan, marking an 8% increase year-on-year. This figure includes a RMB loan balance of 250.87 trillion yuan directed toward the real economy, which represents a 7.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Additionally, in the first three quarters of 2024, the incremental total social financing amounted to 25.66 trillion yuan, a decrease of 3.68 trillion yuan from the same period last year. Within this, loans to the real economy increased by 15.39 trillion yuan, which is 4.13 trillion yuan less than last year’s growth.

Looking at direct financing, net financing from corporate bonds reached 1.59 trillion yuan, down by 545 billion yuan year-on-year. On the other hand, net financing from government bonds climbed to 7.18 trillion yuan, which is an increase of 1.22 trillion yuan compared to last year. Meanwhile, non-financial corporate stock financing within the country amounted to 170.5 billion yuan, reflecting a decrease of 503.9 billion yuan year-on-year.

Liang Si, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, noted that there has been a significant acceleration in the issuance of special bonds since the third quarter, leading to a sustained increase in net financing from government bonds.

In terms of off-balance-sheet financing, trust loans increased by 356.2 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year rise of 292.3 billion yuan. Conversely, entrusted loans saw a decline of 15.5 billion yuan, while un-discounted bank acceptance bills dropped by 147.6 billion yuan.

Liang emphasized, “Since the beginning of this year, the cumulative volume of new trust loans has consistently increased, steadily enhancing support for the real economy and becoming a prominent highlight in off-balance-sheet financing.”

The open-hearted paean to friendship and a quiet life has become a global hit after charming viewers the world over. As it turns 10, its stars reflect on how they made TV magic
David RenshawWed 16 Oct 2024 11.00 BSTLast modified on Wed 16 Oct 2024 15.52 BSTShare‘Finding junk and talking bollocks.” That’s how Lance (Toby Jones) describes the life he and his best mate Andy (Mackenzie Crook) live in Detectorists, the gentle and beloved BBC sitcom that began 10 years ago this month.
It’s exactly this low-key charm that has led to the show’s success. The tale of two detectorists (never call them metal detectors, that’s the equipment) spending their days scanning the fields of the fictional town of Danebury is an unflashy look at the lives of two middle-aged hobbyists. Their pursuit of something, anything, that has been held by a Roman, or perhaps an item from the Saxon ship buried somewhere in the local area, is partly about dedication. But it’s also about escaping from the world around them, taking themselves away from the rabble of north Essex to enjoy a bucolic life alone, together.
“I deliberately set out to write something uncynical and removed from the awkward ‘cringe comedy’ that was prevalent at the time,” Crook (who also played Gareth in The Office) says, as he reflects on the show. He points to the series being made cheaply and airing on BBC Four, a channel made for obsessives precisely like Lance and Andy, as being key to the show’s slow-burn success. “Those who found it felt they’d discovered something special.”
This has continued, with Detectorists’ presence on Netflix opening it up to an international audience. Many recent converts discovered the show during lockdown, when exploring the great outdoors was fraught with risk. In France, it is described as “a delicious little thing that only British television knows how to produce”. German numismatic website Coins Weekly is a fan, too. Detectorists couldn’t be less Hollywood, yet the LA Times praised its “almost Shakespearean” quality. In 2018, after collecting a Bafta for his role as Lance, Jones talked about cycling through New Orleans, when two guys stopped him outside a bar to tell him, “Man, we love the Detectorists!” Back at home, Oscar-nominated actor Carey Mulligan said she bought a detector after watching the show.
Detectorists trailer – videoLooking back, you’re struck by the fact that, while Detectorists is routinely very funny, it’s not a sitcom chasing belly laughs. The action is captured at the speed of life, with long scenes directed by Crook filled with little more than Lance and Andy searching for the bounty they hope will change their lives. The two characters both have jobs – Andy is an agency worker and Lance a forklift truck driver – but work doesn’t dominate their lives. You need the luxury of time to be a detectorist, something that 10 years later feels about as rare and valuable as precious metals.
Jones underlines this point, explaining that, “Lance has a good life and he’s aware of that. Unlike so many people, he has the time to join a club and spend days wandering in the countryside with his best friend and to have a chat over a pint. It’s part of Andy and Lance’s quality of life that makes Detectorists so appealing.”
The show’s exploration of relationships – the ones that work and the ones that need more time and care – lies at the heart of its muddy-booted soul, particularly in terms of male friendship.
View image in fullscreen‘They trust each other and have nothing to prove’ … Lance (Jones) and Andy (Crook) stumble on a significant discovery. Photograph: BBCThe first series was ahead of its time in looking at the nature of masculine companionship and the things men find hard to discuss. A 2018 study found that 27% of men had no close friends at all, with 22% of men aged 55 and over saying they never see their friends. It’s not hard, for example, to see how Detectorists paved the way for the similarly tender and lush Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
“Andy and Lance are completely comfortable in each other’s company; they need and trust each other and have nothing to prove,” says Crook. “The first bits I wrote were a series of conversations between two characters in a field. They were relaxed and about nothing in particular, not lad’s pub banter, not about football, but more about struggling to answer questions on University Challenge.”
“There is an unspoken love about their relationship,” Jones says of Andy and Lance’s bromance. “Some friends, particularly men, express their love through banter and negotiating difficulties together, but I don’t think we ever sat down and discussed how this was about male relationships – that was manifest in the scripts.”
He adds: “Mackenzie and I are both in long-term relationships with partners and there is a lot of the distinction between the ways romantic relationships and friendships overlap, and also how they don’t. At the end of the day, they’re in a relationship together.”
However, it was a different duo that first inspired Crook to write the show. He wasn’t a detectorist himself but was a keen hobbyist, with Jones amusingly letting slip that the coin collection seen on the wall of Lance’s caravan, next to the poster of Linda Lusardi, actually belonged to Crook.
His introduction to the world was through an episode of Time Team in which a pair of detectorists claimed they had found Viking artefacts in a field in Yorkshire. The often difficult relationship between the amateur detectorists and TV archaeologists, perhaps mirrored in Detectorists through the villainous Simon & Garfunkel characters, struck him as a rich source of comedy and pathos. “There was something suspicious about these guys and the feeling was that they weren’t telling the whole truth,” he says. Later, when he came to write the second series, Crook found three pages of scribblings in a notebook from 1999 outlining a forgotten idea called The Metal Detectors (rookie error there). “It turns out I had been percolating the idea for a decade before Time Team brought it back to the surface.”
skip past newsletter promotionSign up to What’s On
Free weekly newsletterGet the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion
View image in fullscreen‘I get a lot of requests to sing it at weddings or even funerals’ … Johnny Flynn, who wrote the theme music to Detectorists. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The ObserverThe romantic notion that the things worth having in life are often right in front of you is also captured by musician and actor Johnny Flynn in the show’s stirring theme tune. Flynn and Crook bonded over a mutual love of US artist Iron & Wine while starring in Jerusalem in the West End together. Crook eventually contacted Flynn and explained that he had been writing early drafts of Detectorists while listening to his music, feeling that the story in his head was similar in tone to the folk songs Flynn had recorded with his band, the Sussex Wit. Flynn agreed to write the theme tune and ended up scoring all three series.
“I decided to write a song from the perspective of the treasure,” Flynn says of his song Detectorists, which has been streamed more than 20m times on Spotify alone. “The score all sprang from that song, too. We always had a twinkle calling out. It’s that treasure that is guiding the destiny of the characters and the song kind of wrote itself.”
For a long time, Flynn wouldn’t play Detectorists at gigs, for fear of being “a one hit wonder where people were only coming to the shows for that song”. However, he has returned it to his setlist in recent months and has also performed it in some more unlikely venues. “I get a lot of requests to sing it at weddings or even funerals, which I have done on occasion. It really works with the idea of lifelong love or for someone who has gone into the earth.”
The show returned for two more series and ended with a moment that rewarded Lance and Andy’s endeavours, when they discovered a trove of gold coins stashed in a magpie’s nest. Crook looks back on his time filming Detectorists as nothing but rose-tinted. “The sun was always shining, the sky was always blue, everyone had a laugh and I was never grumpy,” he says. Jones echoes that sentiment: “Those three summers we spent shooting felt like a holiday.”
Though the demand for more Detectorists never goes away, a decade on from its debut, Crook believes he is done with the show. “I won’t be making any more Detectorists, but nobody should be sad. We made just the right amount,” he says. “Having said that, I know Toby is keen to do a live stadium tour …”
Detectorists is on BBC iPlayer and Netflix