[Newsmaker] Bill and Melinda Gates announce they are getting divorced

SEATTLE (AP) -- Bill and Melinda Gates said Monday that they are divorcing but would keep working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. In identical tweets, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said they had made the decision to end their marriage of 27 years. "We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,"

World NewsMay 4, 2021

[Graphic News] World military spending grows despite pandemic

　Military expenditure worldwide rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2020, defying the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers said. 　Global military spending increased by 2.6 percent to $1.98 trillion in 2020, when global gross domestic product shrank 4.4 percent, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 　The fact that military spending continued to increase in a year with an economic downturn meant the “military burden,” or the s

WorldMay 3, 2021

UK defends aid cuts after UN warnings of deadly impact

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain on Sunday defended cuts to its aid spending, stressing the budget impact of the coronavirus pandemic, after several UN agencies warned they would translate into thousands of deaths among the world's poor. "I've found the process of making those savings very difficult," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News. "We've had to make this extremely difficult decision to reduce and find savings in the aid budget, that's because of the impact Covid has had,

World NewsMay 2, 2021

Indian court urges government action as hospitals cry help

NEW DELHI (AP) -- With Indian hospitals struggling to secure a steady supply of oxygen, and more COVID-19 patients dying amid the shortages, a court in New Delhi said it would start punishing government officials for failing to deliver the life-saving items. On Sunday, India recorded a slight drop in new infections with 392,488 from a high of 401,993 in the previous 24 hours. It also reported 3,689 additional deaths, bringing the total to 215,542. Experts believe both figures are an under

World NewsMay 2, 2021

[Newsmaker] At least 44 killed in Israel pilgrimage stampede: rescue services, hospital

MERON, Israel  (AFP) -- A massive stampede at a densely packed Jewish pilgrimage site killed at least 44 people in northern Israel on Friday, with rescue workers facing chaotic crowds while trying to evacuate the injured. The disaster occurred in Meron at the site of the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage, where mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews flock to mark the Lag BaOmer holiday. Closed last year due to coronavirus restrictions, this year's pilgrimage wa

World NewsApril 30, 2021

[Graphic News] Majority of Japanese want prime minister to resign soon: poll

　The majority of respondents to a Japanese poll said they would prefer to see Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resign either immediately or by fall, according to a local press report. 　A recent survey showed 47 percent of 1,000 polled said they would prefer Suga resign in September, when a ruling party leadership contest is scheduled to take place, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. 　Another 12 percent of respondents said they would prefer Suga “resign immediately,” indicating

WorldApril 30, 2021

Tokyo 2020 organisers delay decision on local spectators until June

  TOKYO (AFP) -- Tokyo Olympics organisers Wednesday said they won‘t decide how many spectators -- if any -- can attend the Games until June, as coronavirus surges raise fresh uncertainty. They also announced athletes will have daily coronavirus tests, increased from an initial plan for tests every four days, as they firm up virus rules in a bid to build support for the postponed 2020 Games. With less than three months until the opening ceremony, parts of the country including Toky

World NewsApril 28, 2021

Poland plans to ease virus restrictions by end of May

WARSAW (AFP) --  Poland will lift most of its coronavirus restrictions by the end of May, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday. “The worst in terms of infections is probably behind us,” Morawiecki told reporters, pointing to a decrease in the number of infections and deaths as grounds for “cautious optimism”. Shopping malls and museums can reopen on May 4, he said. The three first school years will also resume on May 4, while other schoolchildren wi

World NewsApril 28, 2021

India virus cases spiral as Baghdad hospital blaze kills 82

NEW DELHI (AFP) -- India's capital New Delhi extended its lockdown Sunday as the country's coronavirus crisis grew, while the death toll from a fire that ravaged an Iraqi Covid-19 hospital rose to 82. The creaking health facilities in poorer countries injected a note of caution a day after the number of vaccines administered globally surpassed the one billion mark. Covid-19 has now killed more than three million people worldwide since emerging in China in December 2019. Its latest focus is In

WorldApril 25, 2021

[Graphic News] Samsung, LG among top 5 players in Europe’s smart home market in Q4

　South Korea’s two major electronics firms - Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics - were among the top five players in the European smart home market in the fourth quarter of last year, a report showed, as they push to increase connected devices amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. 　Samsung was the third-largest vendor of smart home devices, including smart TVs, smart speakers, thermostats and home security products, in Europe after shipping 4.91 million units in the Octob

World BusinessApril 23, 2021

[Graphic News] Shanghai replaces HK as most expensive city in world

　If you’re wealthy, the Asia-Pacific region is the most expensive place to live, with Shanghai overtaking Hong Kong as the priciest city in the world. 　Those are some of the key findings from a Julius Baer Group report about luxury lifestyles, which stated that part of the reason for the region’s success was its swift recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. By contrast, the Americas were the most affordable because of the slumps in the US and Canadian dollars and sharp devaluati

WorldApril 22, 2021

Biden meets Japan's leader to boost China-facing alliances

President Joe Biden is welcoming Japan's prime minister to the White House on Friday in his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader, a choice that reflects Biden's emphasis on strengthening alliances to deal with a more assertive China and other global challenges. Biden and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also look to counter messaging from Chinese President Xi Jinping that America and democracies in general are on the decline, after the political turmoil and international withdrawal tha

World NewsApril 16, 2021

Police: 8 dead in shooting at FedEx facility in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A gunman killed eight people and wounded several others before killing himself in a late-night shooting at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, police said, in the latest in a spate of mass shootings after a relative lull during the pandemic. Five people were hospitalized after the Thursday night shooting, according to police. One of them had critical injuries, police spokesperson Genae Cook said. Another two people were treated and released at the scene. Fe

World NewsApril 16, 2021

[Graphic News] Milestones in space exploration

  　The era of space tourism is on the horizon 60 years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space. 　From Yuri Gagarin to the first man on the moon and the robot that landed on a comet, we look at 10 key dates in space exploration. (AFP) 1. 1957: Sputnik 　Moscow launches the first satellite, Sputnik 1, Oct. 4, 1957, ushering in the Cold War tussle for the cosmos. 　The beach ball-sized aluminum sphere takes 98 minutes to orbit the Earth and sends back the first mes

WorldApril 15, 2021

US recommends 'pause' for J&J vaccine over clot reports

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The US is recommending a "pause'' in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. In a joint statement Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they were investigating clots in six women that occurred in the days after vaccination. The clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts making the usual treatment for bl

World NewsApril 13, 2021

UN fears Myanmar heading towards Syria-style 'full-blown conflict'

GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN rights chief warned Tuesday of possible crimes against humanity in Myanmar and said it seemed to be heading towards a massive conflict like the one ravaging Syria. In a statement, the UN rights office urged countries to take immediate and decisive action to push the military leaders behind a February 1 coup in Myanmar to stop their "campaign of repression and slaughter of its people." "I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflic

World NewsApril 13, 2021

Chinese vaccines' effectiveness low: official

BEIJING (AP) -- In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines "don't have very high protection rates," said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to p

World NewsApril 11, 2021

Thailand hits new daily record with nearly 1,000 virus cases

BANGKOK (AP) -- Thailand's Health Ministry warned Sunday that restrictions may need to be tightened to slow the spread of a fresh coronavirus wave, as the country hit a daily record for new cases. The ministry confirmed 967 new infections, the highest ever in a 24-hour period, bringing Thailand's total to 32,625 cases since January last year  including 97 deaths. The expanding outbreak comes after the country kept the virus largely in check for most of last year. If the number of cases is

World NewsApril 11, 2021

Britain mourns Prince Philip; leaders honor service to Queen

Britain mourned the death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, on Friday as the BBC interrupted scheduled programming to broadcast the national anthem, "God Save the Queen." The flag at Buckingham Palace, the queen's residence in London, was lowered to half-staff after the announcement of Philip's death. The Royal Family's website featured a black-and-white portrait of the prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Philip "earn

World NewsApril 9, 2021

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies aged 99

Buckingham Palace officials say Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died. He was 99. Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle. Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, married Elizabeth in 1947 and was the longest-serving consort in British history. He retired from public engagements in 2017 after carrying out more than 20,000 of them. Philip was a member of the Greek royal family and was born on the

World NewsApril 9, 2021