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<p><span data-sheets-value="{" library="" is="" a="" book="" lovers="" dream="" come="" true="" data-sheets-userformat="{">Following is a transcript of the video.</span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" library="" is="" a="" book="" lovers="" dream="" come="" true="" data-sheets-userformat="{">This library is a book lover's dream come true. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" library="" is="" a="" book="" lovers="" dream="" come="" true="" data-sheets-userformat="{">The Tianjin Binhai Library, Tianjin, <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">33,700 square meters. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">Five levels. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">Enough shelf space for 1.2 million books.</span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">It was completed by Dutch architecture firm <keyword id="1354982" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="MVRDV">MVRDV</keyword> and local architects from the <keyword id="6373150" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tianjin-urban-planning-and-design-institute">Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute</keyword>. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">It's nicknamed "The Eye".</span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{"><strong>Winy Maas, Co-founder of MVRDV:</strong> "The angles and curves are meant to stimulate different uses of the space, such as reading, walking, meeting and discussing. Together they form the 'eye' of the building: to see and be seen."</span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">There's a giant globe in the center of the library. It has an auditorium hidden inside. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">The climbable shelving acts as a book mountain. </span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">But there's a catch ... n</span><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">ot all of the books are real. </span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">You can find a lot of books in other reading spaces beyond the main atrium space. There are sections geared for children and education. </span></p><p><span data-sheets-value="{" square="" meters.="" data-sheets-userformat="{">The library has become a tourist hot spot since opening in 2017. It begs for the perfect Instagram photo.</span></p>

You can climb a 'book mountain' in this gigantic library in China

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Residents evacuated from their homes after last week's explosions at Binhai new district, hold placards bearing images of their damaged houses, at a rally demanding government compensation outside the venue of the government officials' news conference in Tianjin, China.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The death toll of the gigantic chemical blasts that leveled part of Tianjin, the fourth largest city in China, now stands at 114.</p><p>There are up to 70 people still missing. And t<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">here are still questions surrounding exactly what chemicals were spilled.</span></p><p>The government has tried its best to <a href="https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/08/13/cnn-local-chinese-media-struggle-to-report-on-tianjin-explosion/">censor journalists</a> and calm dissent online, but global interest in what's going on means that information is getting through China's "red fire wall."</p><p>For a combination of reasons, this disaster is more calamitous for the government than any economic crash.</p><p>This cuts directly to the heart of what scares the Chinese government the most - political dissent.</p><p>China has a complicated relationship with environmental reform. It's the only issue where China's authoritarian government has left room for protest.</p><p>In March, a famous Chinese television journalist named Chai Jing put a documentary called <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=video&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CCYQtwIwAGoVChMIzfGet4izxwIVxIoNCh2ZRQT9&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT6X2uwlQGQM&amp;ei=K1_TVY2wB8SVNpmLkegP&amp;usg=AFQjCNEctXiWYtAD7w2dyVCLWNr-PA2asA&amp;sig2=3UA8YR6ehSn0XD962pFfWQ&amp;bvm=bv.99804247,d.dmo">'Under the Dome' </a>on the internet.</p><p>It's a heart wrenching investigation into the roots and results of China's huge pollution problem. The well researched presentation replete with facts and in depth interviews immediately went viral.</p><p>Observers were surprised it was allowed to even exist on the internet. It had over 150 million views in a matter of days, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/16/this-documentary-went-viral-in-china-then-it-was-censored-it-wont-be-forgotten/">according to the Washington Post</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The government took it down after three weeks. </span></p><p>That wasn't the end of it, though. When reporters asked Chinese Premier Li Keqiang about the documentary's damning findings, instead of shutting them down, <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015twosession/2015-03/15/content_19815052_5.htm">he actually responded</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">I want to tell you that the Chinese government is determined to tackle environmental pollution, and tremendous efforts have been made in this regard. The progress we have made still fall far short of expectation of our people. Last year I said that the Chinese government would declare a war against environmental pollution. We are determined to carry forward our efforts until we achieve our goal.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">We must get the focus of our efforts right. This year our focus will be to ensure the full implementation of the newly revised environmental protection law. All illegal production and emissions will be brought to justice and held accountable. We need to make the cost for pollution too high to bear. More support, including capacity building, needs to be given to these environmental law enforcement departments.</p><p>This doesn't happen every day in China - in fact it rarely happens at all.</p><p>China has made big overtures at environmental safety, spending billions investing in alternative energy and pledging to cut carbon emissions. </p><p>It has laws on the books to promote environmental safety too, but as 'Under the Dome' shows over and over again, people don't follow them. There's always a way for powerful people to skirt requirements, which turns this into another issue the government has vowed to combat - corruption.</p><p>For over a year, President Xi Jingpin has been engaged in an anti-corruption probe that has taken down thousands of business people and government officials, "powerful tigers" and "lowly flies" alike.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Hospital workers hold a moment of silence at a commemoration ceremony for the victims of last week's massive explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China.</p></div><p></p></div></div>This is what makes Tianjin so dangerous. With a lot of issues - for example, religious or political freedom - Chinese people expect to be censored by their government. They often even preemptively censor themselves.</p><p>The environment and corruption, though, are two issues where they expect the government to do something - where, in fact, the government has promised to do something.</p><p>For days, after the blast the Chinese government shot silver-iodide into approaching clouds, keeping rain from falling on what has become a ghost city, according to <a href="https://instagram.com/p/6W0KuBtD-K/">Associated Press journalist Helen Franchineau</a>.</p><p>This is a common practice ahead of big events in the country, like the Olympics. The chemicals dissipate rain clouds and make the weather nice and sunny.</p><p>On Tuesday, though, it rained, <a href="http://shanghaiist.com/2015/08/18/first_rainfall_since_tianjin_explos.php">covering the city in a mysterious white foam.</a> Residents complained of burning sensations on their lips and skin.</p><p>They'll expect the government to do something about that.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p><p></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-powerful-trailer-for-the-man-in-the-high-castle-2015-7">Ridley Scott is about to show us a world where the Allies lost World War II</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dta241djpRYxOJPwswWRVKuVkW494WCf" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The Tianjin blasts are a way bigger threat to China than any economic meltdown

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">A firefighter walks among damaged vehicles as smoke rises amidst shipping containers at the site of Wednesday night's explosions, at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, August 14, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The explosions that rocked <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-huge-explosion-just-rocked-a-city-in-china-and-no-one-knows-where-it-came-from-2015-8">China's northeast port city Tianjin</a> were so deadly because first responders didn't know what chemicals they were dealing with while putting out the fire.</p><p>Of the more than 100 people killed in the blast, <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/caixin/2015/08/chinese_explosion_aftermath_officials_investigate_causes_behind_warehouse.html">more than half</a> were firefighters.</p><p>The first responders that went to address the fire at first fought the flames with water. <strong>However, the water made things worse, because the chemicals present in the warehouse were combustible when in contact with water, leading to an even bigger explosion. </strong></p><p>That was similar to what happened in the 2013 West, Texas fertilizer explosion. Of the 15 people killed in that accident, 11 were <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/25/hero-firefighters-west-texas/2112525/">firefighters</a>. A later <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/us-usa-texas-blast-idUSBREA4F02320140516">report</a> found that the firefighters were not prepared to deal with the size of the flames, and would have been better off evacuating the area.</p><p>The cause of that fire is still unknown, though the highly-explosive chemical compound <span>ammonium nitrate stored in the warehouse is the reason for the explosion.</span></p><p>In the US, fire departments are in charge of understanding what chemicals and other hazardous materials are in the area, said Ralph Stuart, a chemical hygeine officer for Keene State College. Working with the companies, the fire department can then make a plan for how to approach the possibility of a leak or explosion. That plan is contingent upon understanding how much of a substance is in a space. If the company adds more of a particularly toxic or combustible chemical, that plan needs to be revised, which is where things get tricky.</p><p>Luckily, Stuart said the US isn't too bad at accident prevention. "[Accidents are] not unheard of, but we do have a response system in place keeps these from being as bad," he told Business Insider.</p><p>Another big problem with tracking hazardous chemicals is companies write down what hazardous chemicals they have in their factories and warehouses in large stacks of paper called Material Safety Data Sheets, which they keep on site. If there were to be a fire, those papers would be near the blaze, and there wouldn't be a good way to communicate to firefighters what kinds of chemicals they're dealing with. <a href="https://www.msdsonline.com/">MSDSOnline</a>, a compliance software company, makes an online version of the MSDS records - that way, first responders can access the up-to-date information before they even get to the fire, which could help keep firefighters safer.</p><p>One of the reasons so many people died in the Tianjin explosions was because firefighters originally responded with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/world/asia/tianjin-china-explosions-firefighters-chemicals.html">water</a> that reacted with the chemicals in the plant and caused an even bigger explosion.</p><p>Some mishaps are easier than others to stamp out. Stuart said one the most common and well-known accidents are chlorine leaks. Chlorine is a high profile element, so firefighters know how to deal with it.</p><p>It's when you get lesser known chemicals and leave firefighters out of the discussion about those chemicals that you run into bigger problems if an accident does happen.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/song-made-using-coins-drummer-music-video-2015-7">This drummer created a whole song using only the sound of coins</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="s1ZDM1djoe2BbhjqVRCIwkLubOlkcQgk" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The main casualties in the Tianjin explosion were firefighters - here's how to prevent that from happening again

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">Staff members of a real estate developer pile up bundles of 100 yuan banknotes during a ceremony to give salaries to their construction workers, in Luoyang, Henan province, China, January 9, 2016. The developer gave away 20 million yuan ($3.05 million) in salaries to its workers on Saturday, according to local media.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Even with the wildly low expectations heading into its release, China's December trade report was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-economy-trade-surplus-united-states-record-trump-xi-2019-1">horror show,</a> Business Insider Australia's David Scutt wrote.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-economy-trade-surplus-united-states-record-trump-xi-2019-1"></a></li><li>Then on Monday, China announced its official GDP came in at 6.6% for 2018, the slowest pace of growth since 1990. This was music to the ears of US President Donald Trump who triumphantly tweeted that it made sense now for a battered China to make trade-war concessions.</li><li>But compared to 30 years ago, this is a brand-new Chinese economy, under shiny new management.</li><li>Winning a trade war with China is not as easy as tweeting about it.</li></ul><p>Even with the wildly low expectations heading into its release, China's December trade report was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-economy-trade-surplus-united-states-record-trump-xi-2019-1">horror show</a>.</p><p>With a US-China trade war in full effect, the value of China's exports and imports imploded by 7.6% and 4.4% respectively from a year earlier, well below market expectations.</p><p>"Underlining just how weak the result was, the year-ended percentage decline in both exports and imports was the largest since the second half of 2016, another period when concerns about the Chinese economy were acute," Business Insider Australia's David Scutt wrote</p><p>Then on Monday, China announced its official GDP came in at 6.6% for 2018 - the slowest pace of growth since 1990.</p><p>US President Donald Trump took note. Perhaps with an eye to generating concessions out of the ongoing trade war. Trump said this week that it "makes so much sense for China to finally do a real deal," and stop - as he put it - "playing around."</p><p>But with the China hawks circling, <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/01/23/headlines-about-chinas-weak-growth-are-somewhat-misleading">The Economist</a> encourages a closer look at the world's second-largest economy to better understand why Chinese President Xi Jinping and his economic management team are a good deal calmer than Trump is imagining.</p><p>Here are 7 sensible reasons that China is not about to fall over in the face of US tariffs, tweets, or a trade war.</p><h2><strong>1. It's a question of scale.</strong></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">This picture taken on October 20, 2018 shows Chinese riders and their horses taking part in a performance in the show hall of an equestrian-themed town in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, some 200 kilometres northwest of Shanghai.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>With an economy now of gargantuan proportions, even at its weakest in 30 years, China's slower growth last year still generated a record amount of new production. Nominal GDP increased by eight trillion yuan, according to The Economist.</p><p>The math is simple: China's economy has been growing in double digits for decades; that means its growth in the present day is coming off a much, much larger base than 2007, when it grew at 14.2% but generated around 3 trillion fewer yuan than 2018's derided 6.6%</p><h2><strong>2. China is now a much more self-sustaining economy</strong></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>STR/AFP/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">This photo taken on December 18, 2018 shows a customer holding a corgi at the Hello Corgi Cafe in Shanghai. - Welcome to Hello Corgi Cafe, the latest coffee shop in China populated with pets that clients can caress while drinking coffee or tea.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>A few years ago when China largely made things cheaply and sold them overseas cheaply, a trade war would have been devastating. And while US tariffs still smart, the fall in exports that Scutt called a horror show are less of a bloodbath now than ever before.</p><p>So while the trade surplus is slipping, as shown below, domestic demand easily accounted for the half-percent loss. Domestic consumption, as promised, has been driving Chinese growth; in 2018, it accounted for three-quarters of the growth, the most since 2000, The Economist says.</p><h2><strong>3. Debt is no longer a secret word</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">People walk past a propaganda billboard which reads 'Patriotism, Innovation' at the entrance to a subway station in Beijing on October 19, 2018. - China's economy grew at its slowest pace for nine years in the third quarter, as a campaign to tackle mounting debt, and trade frictions with the US take their toll. The world's second largest economy expanded 6.5 percent on-year in July-September, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed, in line with an AFP survey, but marking the worst performance since the start of 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>China's financial system remains troubled, but it's a mess that is being openly discussed and not hidden in the shadows.</p><p>Xi Jinping's government is the first to try and resolve the debt that has risen dramatically in the decade since the Beijing Olympic games.</p><p>Debt-to-GDP levels are still rising, but deleveraging was never Xi's goal. That can wait and may be part of an eventual re-nationalization of certain industries. What Xi craves is stability.</p><p>The Economist reckons China's pace of debt accumulation has slowed sharply. "In 2015 it took more than four yuan of new credit to generate each yuan of incremental GDP. In 2018 that multiple fell to 2.5, in line with China's average over the past 15 years."</p><h2><strong>4. Growth that is in for the long haul</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Wang Qishan, China's vice president.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>China's vice-president Wang Qishan has waved away the fears that decades of break-neck growth was always unsustainable, particularly in the face of a US trade war.</p><p>"There will be a lot of uncertainties in 2019, but one certainty is that China's growth will continue and be sustainable," Wang told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/880ecf24-1f20-11e9-b126-46fc3ad87c65">World Economic Forum in Davos</a>, which leads us to China's ace-in-the-hole.</p><h2><strong>5. Growth that is stage-managed</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Attendants pose for photos in Tiananmen Square as they wait for delegates during the opening ceremony of the 19th Communist Party Congress in Beijing on October 18, 2017. The Chinese Communist Party opened its week-long, twice-a-decade congress in the Great Hall of the People on October 18.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>When Wang says that the Chinese Communist Party will pull out all the stops to maintain the many years of growth China has enjoyed since the 1980s, he knows it's true. China's government and its economy are stage-managed by the same team. When the stock market moves in the wrong direction, the Party has never been too shy to get involved.</p><h2><strong>6. Actual tax cuts</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">TIANJIN, CHINA - 2018/08/09: Young people are working in an open office space, which is a cartoon and animation company. The working space is specially offered by Tianjin Binhai New area for the start-up enterprises.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>This year, for example, the government says it will step up fiscal spending to buoy the economy. There is strength enough to deliver further tax cuts and assistance for small business, finance ministry officials told Reuters on Wednesday. </p><p>Beijing delivered about 1.3 trillion yuan of cuts in <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/china-says-will-step-up-fiscal-spending-this-year-to-support-economy-11157118">taxes and fees</a> in 2018.</p><aside data-css="c-advertisement" data-js-module="advertisement" data-js-options="{" networkCode:="" adChannel:="" channel_newsasia="" adUnit:="" imu1="" adSection:="" news-story="" sizes:=""></aside><h2><strong>7. Inspired consumption</strong></h2><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(Photo by STR / AFP)</span></p><p class="caption">Australian model Miranda Kerr attends the 2018 Tmall 11:11 Global Shopping Festival gala in Shanghai on November 10, 2018, ahead of the annual November 11 Singles Day shopping spree - China's answer to Black Friday - which saw 25 billion USD spent in just one day last year.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p>Consumption in China looks less promising this year, according to The Economist.</p><p>"The middle three quintiles of China's population by income distribution saw earnings increase by only about 2% last year in real terms. Those of the richest quintile rose by 6.6%." Car sales fell last year for the first time in more than two decades. Even mobile phones sales were"sluggish."</p><p>But while China brings in a slew of supportive economic policies (like tax breaks) and a stimulus forever on stand-by, the fact is rousing the Chinese consumer for a spree of patriotic spending can be done at the drop of a hat. Or in this case, the word of a president.</p><p>One need only look at Jack Ma's Singles Day to understand what can be done when the political and the economic align in today's China.</p><p>Trump would do well to consider the previous 30 years of unbroken Chinese growth before he goes into negotiate with a China he imagines has its back against a wall.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-economic-forum-founder-shares-the-biggest-threat-to-the-economy-davos-2019-1">The founder of the World Economic Forum shares what he sees as the biggest threat to the global economy</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

7 reasons Trump is wrong about China's economy and why it will make it through the trade war just fine

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">An aerial picture shows smoke rising from the debris among shipping containers at the site of Wednesday night's explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, August 15, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div>TIANJIN, China (AP) - New small explosions rocked a disaster zone in the Chinese port of Tianjin on Saturday, as authorities pulled out an additional survivor and began evacuating the area to clean up chemical contamination nearly three days after massive explosions touched off the crisis.</p><p>Angry relatives of missing firefighters stormed a government news conference to demand any information on their loved ones, who have not been found since a fire and rapid succession of blasts late Wednesday at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals.</p><p>The death toll in the inferno in a mostly industrial area has climbed to 85, including 21 firefighters - making the disaster the deadliest for Chinese firefighters in more than six decades.</p><p>An unknown number of firefighters remain missing, and a total of 720 people were injured in the disaster in Tianjin, a key port and petrochemical hub about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Beijing.</p><p>The disaster has raised questions about whether dangerous chemicals were being stored too close to residential compounds, and whether firefighters may have triggered the blasts, possibly because they were unaware the warehouse contained chemicals combustible on contact with water. The massive explosions Wednesday happened about 40 minutes after reports of a fire at the warehouse and after an initial wave of firefighters arrived and, reportedly, doused some of the area with water.</p><p>Authorities on Saturday pulled out one survivor from a shipping container, state media reported. His identity was not immediately known. Television video showed the man being carried out on a sketcher by a group of soldiers wearing gas masks.</p><p>Authorities were keeping residents, journalists and other people not involved in the disaster response outside a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) radius around the site of the explosions to carry out what media reports said was a clean-up of chemical contamination from sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical that becomes combustible on contact with water or even damp air.</p><p>Burning flames were spotted on Saturday, and explosions were reported by witnesses and state media.</p><p>In one case, heavy smoke from a fire engulfing several cars rose up as high as 10 meters (yards), accompanied by at least five explosions.</p><p>Police and military personnel manned checkpoints on roads leading to the blast sites, and helicopters were seen hovering in the overcast sky. The air had a metallic chemical smell, and there was uneasiness over rain forecasts, although it was warm and windy.</p><p>Meanwhile, family members of missing firefighters disrupted the latest news conference about the disaster, demanding to know whether their loved ones were still alive.</p><p>"(The authorities) didn't notify us at all," said Liu Huan, whose son Liu Chuntao has been missing since late Wednesday. "Our son is a firefighter, and there was a team of firefighters who lost contact. We couldn't contact him."</p><p>Liu Longwang said she had not heard a word on her son Liu Ziqiao, also a firefighter. "We are extremely worried," she said. "He's just turned 18."</p><p>State media reported that the casualties of the first three squads of firefighters to respond and of a neighborhood police station have not yet been fully determined, suggesting that the death toll could go up further.</p><p>Tianjin Fire Department head Zhou Tian said at a news conference Friday that the explosions occurred just as reinforcements had arrived on the scene and were getting to work. "There was no chance to escape, and that's why the casualties were so severe," he said. "We're now doing all we can to rescue the missing."</p><p>One surviving firefighter, 19-year-old Zhou Ti, was found Friday morning and taken to a hospital. Zhou Ti and Zhou Tian are unrelated.</p><p>Li Yonghan, a doctor at Teda Hospital, called Zhou's survival "miraculous" and said Zhou escaped death mainly because he was covered by his fallen comrades. Zhou had massive injuries, including burns and leg cuts.</p><p>From his hospital bed, Zhou told state broadcaster CCTV that the fire was spreading out of control. "I was knocked onto the ground at the first blast," recalled Zhou, his eyes swollen and closed. "I covered my head and don't know what happened after that."</p><p>Lin Yujie, who lives in a nearby residential complex, said when he initially heard the blasts Wednesday night he thought they were a massive air strike.</p><p>"It was just a sea of fire," Lin recalled. "We were really worried that there would be a second or third explosion and what we would do then."</p><p>As details of the blasts and the rescue efforts surface, members of the public have been raising questions about whether fire commanders had erred in prematurely sending firefighters into a highly dangerous zone and using water to put out flames on the site known to have stored a variety of hazardous chemicals, including sodium cyanide and calcium carbide, which become flammable on contact with water.</p><p>Local officials also have been hard-pressed to explain why authorities permitted hazardous goods warehouses so close to residential complexes and critical infrastructure, clearly in violation of the Chinese rule that hazmat storage should be 1,000 meters (yards) away from homes and public structures.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press videojournalists Paul Traynor and Peng Peng in Tianjin and writer Didi Tang in Beijing contributed to this report.</p>

More explosions have rocked a disaster zone in China

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Feng Li / Getty</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>The spectacular rise of the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas over the past several decades has inspired city leaders around the country to try and emulate their success by building up city clusters of their own. The national capital has proved to be no exception. For years, plans to develop a greater <keyword id="1333" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beijing">Beijing</keyword> area were toyed with but never formalised. This may now finally come to pass. According to local media, a plan for the economic integration of Beijing, Tianjin and the surrounding province of Hebei may be announced early next year. The merits of centrally planned regional integration will be tested.</p>
<p>During <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>'s reform period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, emphasis was placed on labour-intensive manufacturing for export to boost growth. Special economic zones were established to attract much-needed capital, technology and management know-how. The resulting inflow of foreign direct investment ended up being a boon not only for core cities such as Shenzhen, but also for their surrounding areas. As cities like Guangzhou matured, the more polluting, lower-value-added industries within the core were pushed out, first to the suburbs and then to surrounding regions outside city borders, providing neighbouring cities with the opportunity to industrialise.</p>
<p>A paper published in 2011 by the Japan Research Institute showed that the contribution of the core areas-defined as Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou-to manufacturing sector added value in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) fell from 54.4% in 2005 to 50.4% in 2009. In the same period, the contribution from the outer-core areas-defined as Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan-rose from 34.8% to 37.4%. The paper also showed a shift toward services in the core.</p>
<p>Seeing the success of city clusters in the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas, China's authorities now push city integration schemes in regional development plans. These plans are consistent with the country's fixation with "balanced and co-ordinated regional development", especially between core cities and surrounding smaller ones.</p>
<h2>Horse trading</h2>
<p>Such attention was only paid to the national capital in the 2000s, however, as the economic void between the northern coastal area and the south-eastern coastal regions could no longer be ignored. There were steadily mounting concerns that Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei were all competing for industrial supremacy, with very little co-ordination between them.</p>
<p>In 2004 the State Council (China's cabinet) set up a working group to draft a development plan. A draft report put together by a government think-tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was completed in 2006. The plan called for the creation of a metropolitan area covering the municipal city of Beijing, Baodi and Wuqing districts and Ji county in Tianjin, and six cities in Hebei province: Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Baoding, Langfang, Tangshan and Qinhuangdao.</p>
<p>After almost a decade and repeated revisions, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei conurbation plan has yet to progress further. Lacking a suitable mechanism, the area remains very difficult to co-ordinate. Conflicts of interest between the three local governments abound, as they are unable to agree on their respective roles. When the initial draft was first put forward, key industries in all three areas were very similar, concentrated on steel, construction materials, cars and heavy machinery. This made any realignment of industry difficult. A final blueprint will require the involvement of various central government departments, as local leaders look unlikely to be able to design and manage the project themselves.</p>
<p>The question of which Hebei cities should be included in the economic circle serves as another sticking point. At present, six cities are listed. However, the provincial authorities hope that more cities, such as Hengshui and Cangzhou, can be included, as they could then benefit from more economic support.</p>
<p>Any plan is likely to prioritise Beijing-centred integration, as the capital continues to radiate into Hebei and Tianjin. Beijing's central business district, in the eastern part of the city, has been expanding further east towards Hebei. Some of Hebei's counties and cities have become de facto satellite towns of the capital; around 200,000 residents in Hebei's Xianghe county and Yanjiao town work in neighbouring Beijing. However, Tianjin is unwilling to take a back seat. The municipality, whose Binhai New Area has been given priority since 2006, aspires to develop as an economic centre in its own right.</p>
<h2>Get it together</h2>
<p>As discussions continue, events on the ground seem to be driving towards a final settlement. China's president, Xi Jinping, visited Tianjin in May and urged the three provinces to push forward with regional co-operation. Tianjin and Hebei set up a bilateral co-ordination group, with a vice-governor and a vice-mayor in charge, to "break institutional barriers". In August local media reported that a plan would be released by early 2014, and in September the State Council released an action plan for the prevention and control of air pollution, addressing Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei as one region.</p>
<p>But even without a comprehensive plan, the process has already begun. At its simplest, the initial draft plan envisaged Beijing focusing on services, Tianjin providing port facilities and Hebei managing industry. This is already taking place, to a certain extent. Leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing worked hard to get rid of its older, highly polluting industries. More than 3,000 enterprises have relocated to the city's fringe districts since the 1990s, including some to Hebei. Shougang, a major steel company, closed its final Beijing production line in December 2010, effectively marking the end of a transition of heavy industry from Beijing to Hebei. In 2012 the capital's growth was driven primarily by services, led by the financial services, retail and information technology sectors.</p>
<p>The question is then whether a centralised plan covering the three provinces will have much of a positive impact. One concern is that Hebei's relative poverty and underdevelopment will pose a drag on the two municipalities. Hebei has yet to develop the mass of suppliers that the PRD has built up to support its main industrial clusters. For example, 80% of the parts supplying the automotive industry in Beijing and Tianjin are manufactured outside the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei zone, mostly in the Yangtze River Delta industrial belt.</p>
<p>This suggests that Hebei, the intended workshop for its urbanised neighbours, lacks the capabilities and capacity to deliver what they need. Furthermore, efforts to build up this capacity will be expensive. Directing people and business to certain areas requires the use of public resources, which would otherwise go to improving infrastructure and public services in existing metropolitan areas that are already in higher demand. Local leaders might do well to recall that the PRD was built on the back of market-oriented reforms, not a detailed plan.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.store.eiu.com">here</a> to subscribe to <keyword id="425741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Economist">The Economist</keyword></p>
<p></p>

China's Fuzzy Vision For Greater Beijing

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>London-listed Zurich Insurance lost $275 million (£177 million) because of a&#xa0;series of explosions at a container storage station in the Port of Tianjin in China in mid-August 2015.<p>It has even cost the group its <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/rsa-insurance-gets-55-billion-takeover-offer-from-zurich-2015-8">£5.5 billion ($8.5 billion) merger with&#xa0;RSA Insurance</a>, with the Swiss company <a href="http://www.investegate.co.uk/zurich-insurance-co/rns/rule-2-8-announcement/201509210702406172Z/">saying in a statement this morning</a>&#xa0;(emphasis ours):</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">In light of the above recent deterioration in the trading performance in the Group's General Insurance business, Zurich announced this morning that it has <strong>terminated its discussions in connection with a possible offer for RSA</strong>. The Group's focus instead will be on taking the necessary actions to deliver on the required performance of the General Insurance business.</p><p>Zurich revealed in its preliminary third quarter update that its Zurich Insurance arm could be hit by further losses linked to the Chinese factory explosions because&#xa0;"<a href="http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12507079.html">the nature of many of the losses and the extended remediation period to complete repairs means that uncertainty as to the final cost remains</a>."</p><p>It added that it will alert investors of the estimated&#xa0;net of reinsurance before tax on November 5,&#xa0;when it reports its final third quarter results.</p><p>In August this year,<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/cecurity-camera-footage-of-tianjin-explosion-2015-8"> a warehouse containing large quantities of dangerous chemicals exploded in the port city of Tianjin</a>. The Japanese meteorological agency said at the time that the explosions were so huge that they could be seen from space. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-tianjin-explosion-2015-8">It killed 50 people and injured 701</a>. Fires continued to burn for nearly 24 hours after the explosion.</p><p>It was horrific:</p><p><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">Zurich said in the results statement that it&#xa0;now expects that "weaker than expected profitability in the General Insurance business in the first half of 2015 will continue in the third quarter."</p><p class="embed-spacer">On August 25,&#xa0;RSA Insurance <a href="http://www.investegate.co.uk/rsa-ins-grp--rsa-/bus/statement-re-possible-offer/20150825070000Z1138/">announced that rival insurer Zurich had tabled a £5.5 billion ($8.6 billion) offer for the company</a>, following <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/rsa-shares-are-going-crazy-right-now-2015-7">takeover talks first announced last month</a>.&#xa0;RSA's board said they were "<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/rsa-insurance-gets-55-billion-takeover-offer-from-zurich-2015-8">willing to recommend the offer</a>."</p><p class="embed-spacer">However, the explosions in China have changed all that.</p><p class="embed-spacer">General Insurance CEO Kristof Terryn will now conduct an "in-depth review of the business" due to the large losses associated to the Chinese explosions as well as further $300 million (£193 million) from prior liabilities in the US auto industry.</p><p class="a">It reiterated though that it is committed to achieving its financial targets for 2014 to 2016, which are to get Zurich to an&#xa0;operating profit after tax and generate a return on equity of between 12% and 14%.</p>

Zurich Insurance's &#163;5.5 billion merger with RSA is OFF because of explosions in China

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html?__hstc=109812634.7ee1b56e8775fbbcc79f7915e27f0173.1404137743087.1404137743087.1404137743087.1&amp;__hssc=109812634.3.1404137743087&amp;__hsfp=705070452">Screenshot via Bloomberg TV</a></span></p></div><p></p></div>Yujiapu, in China's Tianjin Binhai New Area, was modeled on Manhattan and expected to become the financial center of the world. </p>
<p>But it languishes as many <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-ghost-cities-in-2014-2014-6">wasteful Chinese ghost cities</a> have.</p>
<p>At one point it was reported that the <a href="http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2012-06/28/content_15532442.htm">Juilliard School</a> had signed an agreement to set up an institute in Yujiapu. And there were plans for a Rockefeller and Lincoln Center as well.</p>
<p>But construction in this Manhattan hopeful has ground to a halt.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html">Bloomberg's Steve Engle and Xin Zhou</a>, a Tianjin local-government financing vehicle (LGFV) saw its revenue fall 68% last year and about a third of its debt will mature this year.</p>
<p>Michael Hart, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc told Bloomberg that the local government can force some state owned enterprises (SOEs) to be the first to occupy the abandoned buildings, but that it won't be easy to do.</p>
<p>"It was a failure before it even started," Gao Fei of Centaline Property told Rob Schmitz, China correspondent for <a href="http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/marketplace-25/chinas-economic-boom-leaves-trail-ghost-cities">Marketplace/American Public Media</a>. "The most important thing for Tianjin's government has always been a high GDP rate. That means the government has to spend a lot of money on huge projects like this one. In China, these kinds of wasteful projects are everywhere."</p>
<p>Schmitz previously told Business Insider that the ghost cities don't neatly fit into China's urbanization plans.</p>
<p>Here are some images of Yujiapu from Bloomberg's Engle.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html?__hstc=109812634.7ee1b56e8775fbbcc79f7915e27f0173.1404137743087.1404137743087.1404137743087.1&amp;__hssc=109812634.3.1404137743087&amp;__hsfp=705070452">Screenshot via Bloomberg</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>"This 1,200 room five-star Country Garden Phoenix hotel is nothing but a shell," says Engle. The project was expected to be finished in 2012.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html?__hstc=109812634.7ee1b56e8775fbbcc79f7915e27f0173.1404137743087.1404137743087.1404137743087.1&amp;__hssc=109812634.3.1404137743087&amp;__hsfp=705070452">Screenshot via Bloomberg</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>It was hoped that private developers would step in but they have been slow to join.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html?__hstc=109812634.7ee1b56e8775fbbcc79f7915e27f0173.1404137743087.1404137743087.1404137743087.1&amp;__hssc=109812634.3.1404137743087&amp;__hsfp=705070452">Bloomberg TV</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The slowing economy has only made the Chinese ghost city problem worse.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html">Bloomberg TV</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>"Construction work on Yujiapu, planned to be "the financial capital of the world," has been largely put on hold," according to Schmitz.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/marketplace-25/chinas-economic-boom-leaves-trail-ghost-cities">Rob Schmitz/Marketplace/American Public Radio</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Laborers seen a construction site of a residential compound in 2012, are largely missing now.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Michael Martina</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>This image from 2012 shows a proliferation of cranes when construction in Yujiapu was still booming.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Michael Martina</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>

China Tried To Build A Replica Of Manhattan... And It's Not Looking So Great

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">Vehicles are seen burning after blasts at Binhai new district in Tianjin municipality, China, August 13, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The morning after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-huge-explosion-just-rocked-a-city-in-china-and-no-one-knows-where-it-came-from-2015-8">two massive explosions rocked China's northeast port city of Tianjin</a>, the magnitude of the damage has become clear.</p><p>The twin blasts on Wednesday killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds more, and left the surrounding area smoldering.</p><p>Early Thursday, the Beijing News newspaper cited fire department officials in Tianjin, who say dozens of firefighters were unaccounted for.</p><p>Here's the scene from China, the morning after:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Firefighters were still hard at work dealing with hot spots</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jason Lee</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2><span>Smoke rises over the site of the explosions in Tianjin.</span></h2><h2><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></h2><h2><span>Few things surrounding the blast were spared</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p> </p><h2>The level of destruction is surreal</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Lots of smoldering metal</h2><p> </p><p> </p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h2><span><span>Even vehicles under bridges were damaged</span></span></h2><p><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></span></p><p> </p><h2>More scattered vehicles</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Overturned shipping containers piled up nearby</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Hundreds were injured</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Many people have been displaced</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Some people slept outdoors</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table no-rightrail"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-abandoned-eastern-island-2015-7">This abandoned Chinese island shows what the world might look like without humans</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I2M2RndjosXm8VL4fbzK63gmuLVmFiGc" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

PHOTOS: Here's how China looks the morning after two devastating explosions killed more than a dozen people

<p>Business Insider is hiring a paid video intern to write videos for social media. </p><p>The role includes researching, pitching and writing scripts for videos on a variety of business topics, including but not limited to: interesting businesses and the people who run them; luxury products and experiences; large, well-known corporations; food; finance; and travel. Recent examples include videos about <a href="https://www.facebook.com/businessinsider/videos/10155594508214071/" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.facebook.com/businessinsider/videos/10155594508214071/">how to cook the perfect rib</a> and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/businessinsider/videos/10155565274644071/" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.facebook.com/businessinsider/videos/10155565274644071/">Tianjin Binhai Library in China</a>. This intern will focus on creating videos for Business Insider's social media presence.</p><p>Video-writing interns work closely with video editors, but they do not need to have video-editing experience. We're looking for ambitious reporters who can find and chase great stories and relay them to our audience in a compelling way. </p><p>We're looking for an intern with the following:</p><ul><li><p>Excellent writing skills</p></li><li><p>A passion for storytelling</p></li><li><p>Interest in reporting on various business topics</p></li><li><p>Familiarity with digital and social media</p></li><li><p>Ability to work at a fast pace</p></li></ul><p>Script-writing experience helps, as does general video production experience. </p><p>This is a paid internship based out of our New York office. Interns are encouraged to work 40 hours a week, and internships run for six months.</p><p>Created for the digital generation, Business Insider is the largest business news site in the U.S. and one of the fastest-growing news brands in the world. We embrace the themes of positive change and innovation and use fast, fun, and informative storytelling to cover the business, tech, and finance news stories you need to know to work, play and live better.</p><p>If this sounds like your dream job, <a href="https://hire.jobscore.com/careers/businessinsider/jobs/business-insider-video-writing-intern-bt87z6oDir6jTdeMg-44q7?previewing=true">APPLY HERE</a> with a resume and cover letter telling us why you want to be our Business Insider video-writing intern.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-cbd-oil-how-made-marijuana-cannabis-plant-health-2018-8">What is CBD oil and how did it become a $1 billion industry?</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Business Insider is hiring a paid social video writing intern

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon</span></p><p class="caption">A drone operated by paramilitary police flies over the site of last week's explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, August 17, 2015. Many operations have resumed at China's Tianjin port, trade sources said, after explosions last week that killed more than 100 people and disrupted business at what is an important oil, gas and bulk import harbor for Asia's biggest economy. The explosions on Aug. 12 led to the disruption of all chemical and oil tanker discharges at the port, and imports of iron ore were also affected.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Hello! Here's what you need to know for Tuesday.</p><p><strong>1.</strong> Turkey's nationalist opposition has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-turkeys-nationalists-reject-coalition-set-stage-for-more-turmoil-2015-8?IR=T">rejected a coalition with the ruling AK party</a> - setting the stage for yet more debilitating political gridlock.</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-irs-computer-breach-bigger-than-first-thought-334k-victims-2015-8?IR=T">A hack of the US Internal Revenue Service is more extensive than the agency originally disclosed</a>, with up to 334,000 victims' details affected.</p><p><strong>3.</strong> The Thai Junta chief says a "suspect" has been identified <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-thai-junta-chief-says-bangkok-bomb-suspect-identified-2015-8">in the Bangkok bomb attack that killed 21 people yesterday</a>.</p><p><strong>4.</strong> Angela Merkel's allies are <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/merkel-allies-struggle-to-ward-off-greek-vote-rebellion-1439825758">struggling to contain a rebellion</a> two days before a vote on a new €86 billion bailout for Greece, the Wall Street Journal reports.</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-gives-shell-permission-to-drill-for-oil-in-the-arctic-2015-8?_ga=1.243824448.457495825.1438236961">Shell has been given permission</a> to drill for oil in the Arctic.</p><p><strong>6.</strong> More than 300 of Hillary Clinton's emails sent from her private server while secretary of state are being reviewed to see if they contain classified information, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33968705">according to the BBC</a>.</p><p><strong>7.</strong> Jeff Bezos has <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-responds-nyt-report-amazon-working-conditions-2015-8">responded to a critical New York Times report about Amazon's workplace culture</a>, saying it doesn't "reflect the Amazon I know."</p><p><strong>8.</strong> Iran wants to work with its rivals for peace, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33963231">Vice President Masumeh Ebtekar told the BBC</a>.</p><p><strong>9.</strong> Indonesian officials have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-indonesia-official-says-missing-plane-is-totally-destroyed-2015-8">reached the wreckage of a passenger plane that disappeared over the weekend</a> and say it is "totally destroyed," and that there are no survivors.</p><p><strong>10.</strong> Brazil's Petrobras may need to pay a record penalty of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-us-graft-probes-may-cost-petrobras-record-16-billion-or-more---source-2015-8#ixzz3j8uZ8ozd">$1.6 billion or more in a US corruption probe</a>.</p><p><strong>And finally...</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/18/woman-who-sued-pro-putin-russian-troll-factory-gets-one-rouble-in-damages">A woman who sued a Russian "troll factory" has been granted one rouble in damages.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/arod-money-alex-rodriguez-yankees-million-salary-baseball-birthday-highest-paid-2015-7">How Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in MLB history, makes and spends his $400 million </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="12bnVpdjqafkr6jq8nyPFapNVVttflrw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The 10 most important things in the world right now

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;ALID=2C0BF1ON4KTYO#/SearchResult&amp;ALID=2C0BF1ON4KTYO&amp;VBID=2C0BX4WAC5O&amp;POPUPPN=16&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF1ONE02BY">Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon</a></span></p><p class="caption">A drone operated by paramilitary police flies over the site of last week's explosions at Binhai new district in Tianjin, China.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Here is what you need to know.</p><p><strong>Chinese stocks crashed. </strong>The Shanghai Composite (-6.2%) paced the decline in Asia and Thailand's SET (-2.8%) was hit hard after yesterday's explosion. In Europe, Britain's FTSE (-0.6%) leads the way lower while Spain's IBEX (+0.2%) outperforms. S&amp;P 500 futures are down 3.75 points at 2095.50.</p><p><strong>Chinese home prices fell further. </strong>Home prices fell 3.7% year-over-year, but are <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/18/china-property-prices-idUSL3N10T19K20150818">showing signs of bottoming</a> as they ticked up 0.3% on a month-over-month basis. The July reading represented a third straight MoM gain. Prices were up in 31 of 70 major cities. China's yuan was little changed at 6.3942.</p><p><strong>UK inflation quickens. </strong><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uk-inflation-figures-july-2015-2015-8">Prices in the UK ticked up 0.1% compared to last year</a>, slightly outpacing the flat reading that was expected. The reading matched the June number, which was the hottest since February. As for the core, prices jumped 1.2% YoY, above the 0.8% gain that was anticipated. The British pound is stronger by 0.7% at 1.5702.</p><p><strong>Bank Indonesia kept policy on hold. </strong>The central bank <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-18/indonesia-holds-key-rate-as-rupiah-risks-prevent-monetary-easing">held its benchmark interest rate at 7.50%</a>, as expected. The decision comes as Indonesian authorities grapple with the impact of further devaluation of China's yuan and a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve sometime this year. Inflation, which is running above 7%, faster than the central bank's 3% to 5% target, was also a factor, according to Bloomberg. Indonesia's rupiah strengthened 0.2% to 13,800 per dollar. </p><p><strong>BB&amp;T buys National Penn. </strong>The transaction, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-18/bb-t-extends-takeover-spree-with-1-8-billion-national-penn-deal">valued at $1.8 billion worth of cash and stock</a>, pays National Penn shareholders $13 per share or 0.3206 BB&amp;T shares per National Penn share. The $13 per share represents a 19% premium to Monday's closing price. According to Bloomberg, the deal comes just six weeks after BB&amp;T closed on its $2.5 billion takeover of Susquehanna Bancshares.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Urban Outfitters posted a mixed quarter. </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The retailer announced <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-urban-outfitters-sales-rise-7-percent-2015-8">earnings of $0.52 per share</a>, topping the Wall Street estimate by three cents. Revenue rose 6.9% to $867.5 million, missing the $881.6 million that analysts were forecasting. The quarter was boosted by the Free People clothing line, which posted a 14% jump in same-store sales.</span></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">American Apparel has cash problems. </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Reuters reports that </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">a regulatory filing shows <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/17/us-american-apparel-goingconcern-idUSKCN0QM25G20150817">the retailer has just $11.2 million in cash</a>, which likely isn't enough to last for 12 months. The company reported a loss of $0.11 per share in the second quarter as sales slumped 17%.</span></p><p><strong>Petco is going private, again. </strong>According to the Wall Street Journal, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/petco-files-ipo-plans-return-to-public-markets-1439846728">Petco has filed for an initial public offering nearly one-decade after it was taken private</a>. The offering is expected to raise approximately $100 million and give the company a $4 billion valuation. While a ticker has not been disclosed, Petco will not get 'PETS,' which is already used by PetMed Express.</p><p><strong>US economic data is light. </strong>Housing starts and building permits are set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 2.15%. </p><p><strong>Earnings reports flow. </strong>Dick's Sporting Goods, Home Depot, TJX and Wal-Mart highlight the names set to report ahead of the opening bell, while Weibo leads a light reporting schedule after the close.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/clear-out-iphone-storage-space-2015-6">How to clear out a ton of space on your iPhone superfast</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5qcmxndToofREk2JFghn1wjMFTZOXP_E" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "tianjin binhai library tianjin china" and got 12 results

You can climb a 'book mountain' in this gigantic library in China

Nick Fernandez,Justin Gmoser

The Tianjin blasts are a way bigger threat to China than any economic meltdown

Linette Lopez

The main casualties in the Tianjin explosion were firefighters - here's how to prevent that from happening again

Lydia Ramsey

7 reasons Trump is wrong about China's economy and why it will make it through the trade war just fine

Christian Edwards,Christian E…

More explosions have rocked a disaster zone in China

CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

China's Fuzzy Vision For Greater Beijing

The Economist

Zurich Insurance's £5.5 billion merger with RSA is OFF because of explosions in China

Lianna Brinded

China Tried To Build A Replica Of Manhattan... And It's Not Looking So Great

Mamta Badkar

PHOTOS: Here's how China looks the morning after two devastating explosions killed more than a dozen people

Bryan Logan

Business Insider is hiring a paid social video writing intern

Justin Gmoser

The 10 most important things in the world right now

Rob Price

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber

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You Searched For "tianjin binhai library tianjin china" and got 12 results

You can climb a 'book mountain' in this gigantic library in China

Nick Fernandez,Justin Gmoser

The Tianjin blasts are a way bigger threat to China than any economic meltdown

Linette Lopez

The main casualties in the Tianjin explosion were firefighters - here's how to prevent that from happening again

Lydia Ramsey

7 reasons Trump is wrong about China's economy and why it will make it through the trade war just fine

Christian Edwards,Christian E…

More explosions have rocked a disaster zone in China

CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

China's Fuzzy Vision For Greater Beijing

The Economist

Zurich Insurance's &#163;5.5 billion merger with RSA is OFF because of explosions in China

Lianna Brinded

China Tried To Build A Replica Of Manhattan... And It's Not Looking So Great

Mamta Badkar

PHOTOS: Here's how China looks the morning after two devastating explosions killed more than a dozen people

Bryan Logan

Business Insider is hiring a paid social video writing intern

Justin Gmoser

The 10 most important things in the world right now

Rob Price

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

Zurich Insurance's £5.5 billion merger with RSA is OFF because of explosions in China