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Qatar Showcases Pricey Cooling Tech for World Cup Soccer Stadium

US to Require Chinese Officials to Report American Contacts

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration said on Oct. 16 that it will soon require Chinese officials in the United States to notify the State Department ahead of any contacts they plan to have with American educators, researchers and local and state governments. The release of the new rules was accompanied by notices to American educational and research institutions and local governments informing them of the reporting requirement. The change is effective Wednesday. State Department officials say the change is made to reciprocate for similar rules faced by U.S. diplomats in China. But, they said the rules are less onerous than China’s because the Chinese must approve such contacts. In contrast, the American government will not be requiring any Chinese official to receive permission from the State Department for any of the meetings.…

Soccer World Cup host Qatar is touting a new cooling system for open-air stadiums as the energy-efficient model for the future—but will it catch on?

Architects and engineers of Al Janoub, a 40,000-seat venue in Doha for the 2022 Soccer World Cup, said they found a technological solution to beat the unbearable desert heat of Qatar.

Soccer fans and players can enjoy a game at a comfortable 75 degrees in the outdoors, even as temperatures soar past 120 Fahrenheit.

Small ducts under the seats and nozzles at field level gently diffuse cool air. “You’re living inside a micro, climate-controlled bubble,” said Saud Abdul-Ghani, a Qatar University mechanical engineering professor who led the design.

Abdul-Ghani said the system requires about one-fifth of the energy typically needed to cool spaces of the same size, such as airport terminals or closed baseball stadiums. This is because the new system continuously recycles air into small zones.

Nadia Elrokhsy, associate professor of ecological design at Parsons School of Design in New York, said while she appreciates the four-fifths reduction as a step forward, she is less convinced about the overall impact.

“They are comparing it to business as usual. … Business as usual is never as business we should have been in,” she said

Qatar wants to see its new cooling technology spread beyond its borders.

“The Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians will surely look at this because of thermal stress on players,” Abdul-Ghani said, referring to the host nations of the 2026 World Cup.

The system has been left unpatented for anyone to adopt. Still, it is uncertain whether other countries will be willing to pay for the upgrade.

Thani Khalifa Al Zarraa, the project manager for the stadium, said the cooling system increased the cost of construction by two to three times, or around $6,000 to $7,000 per seat.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Norwegian Lawmaker Nominates Hong Kong Protesters for Nobel Peace Prize

She said she hoped the move will further encourage the movement as Hongkongers “risk their lives and security every day to stand up for freedom of speech and basic democracy.” Melby said she chose to nominate the entire population of Hong Kong rather than an individual since the demonstrations have no clear leadership and most of the sporadic decisions take place on social media and online discussion groups. “The international community must show that we also stand up for these principles and acknowledges their struggles,” she wrote in the nomination text. “Their contribution to peace is considerable.” Melby visited Hong Kong in late September, during which she met with local pro-democracy lawmakers and activists, including Democratic Party member Ted Hui, who was detained for obstructing police after he tried to…