Historical museum

The New Culture Movement Memorial of Beijing, a museum turned from a centenary building formerly affiliated to Peking University, hosted a series of live streams on its history during the May Day holiday.

The five-day live-streaming event provided viewers with access to a virtual visit to the museum to learn more about the May Fourth spirit, the People’s Daily reported. The event is part of a “cloud museum” program launched by the Chinese Museums Association, promoting online exhibitions and cultural activities amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Up to now, 16 museums across the country have held 57 live-streaming events, according to the report.

Lunar rover

China’s lunar rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, has driven 447.68 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct scientific exploration of the virgin territory.

Both the lander and the rover of the Chang’e-4 probe have ended their work for the 17th lunar day, and switched to dormant mode for the lunar night due to the lack of solar power, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

Oil futures

Bank of China (BOC) said it has hired lawyers to formally send a letter to CME Group, urging the U.S. exchange operator to investigate reasons behind “abnormal fluctuations” in crude oil futures prices on April 21.

The bank said that it would continue negotiating with investors, shoulder responsibilities under the current legal framework and was seeking to respond to customers’ “reasonable requests” as early as possible. BOC’s statement came after prices for the May West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract fell below zero for the first time, ending the day at minus US$37.63 a barrel April 20.

Conspiracy theory

Claims that the novel coronavirus came from China’s National Biosafety Laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) are groundless and contradict all available evidence, said lab director Yuan Zhiming in a recent written interview with Reuters.

Yuan said “malicious” claims about the lab had been “pulled out of thin air” and contradicted all available evidence. “The WIV does not have the intention or the ability to design and construct a new coronavirus,” and “there is no information within the SARS-CoV-2 genome indicating it was man-made,” he said.(SD-Agencies)