[Newsmaker] Pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol in bid to overturn election

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas masks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes

World NewsJan. 7, 2021

[Graphic News] Kids’ overuse of social media major health concern during pandemic: US survey

　Nearly 75 percent of parents ranked overuse of social media during the pandemic as a leading health concern for their children, according to the results of survey released by the University of Michigan. 　Just over 60 percent  of parents surveyed described bullying or cyberbullying as a major concern, while more than half cited unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity and depression and suicide, the data showed. 　However, fewer than half named COVID-19 itself as a major health conc

WorldJan. 7, 2021

EU agency approves Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine

The European Union's medicines agency gave the green light Wednesday to Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine, a decision that gives the 27-nation bloc a second vaccine to use in the desperate battle to tame the virus rampaging across the continent. The approval recommendation by the European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee -- which must be rubber stamped by the EU's executive commission -- comes amid high rates of infections in many EU countries and strong criticism of the slow pace of

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

Germany to require women on large firms' boards

German listed companies must include women on their executive boards as part of a landmark bill agreed by the country's coalition government Wednesday after voluntary efforts failed to close a gender gap. Listed companies with four executives or more must appoint at least one woman to their boards, according to a draft law to be voted on by parliament. The law sends "a very strong signal", Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht told reporters, urging corporations to "take advanta

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

Why do the latest mass arrests in Hong Kong matter?

China has moved to crush Hong Kong's democracy movement in recent months but Wednesday's mass arrest of democracy figures for subversion under Beijing's new national security law was particularly momentous.  Here's why. What's so significant about this operation? The most eye-catching element is the scale of the crackdown and the variety of figures caught in the dragnet. Prior to Wednesday, around 30 people had been arrested under the new security law since its imposition in late June

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

WikiLeaks founder Assange denied bail in UK

A British judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, who has been jailed in Britain since 2019 as he fights extradition to the United States. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ordered Assange to remain in prison while the courts consider an appeal by US authorities against a decision not to extradite him. On Monday, the judge rejected an American request to send Assange to the US to face espionage charges over WikiLeaks' publication of secret military documents a deca

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

Dutch begin COVID-19 vaccinations; last EU nation to do so

Nearly two weeks after most other European Union nations, the Netherlands on Wednesday began its COVID-19 vaccination program, with nursing home staff and front-line workers in hospitals first in line for the shot. Sanna Elkadiri, a nurse at a nursing home for people with dementia, was the first to receive a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Veghel, 120 kilometers southeast of the capital, Amsterdam. “This is a very important moment for me as a person wh

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

Where is Jack Ma, China's e-commerce pioneer?

BEIJING (AP) -- China's best-known entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, made his fortune by taking big risks. The former English teacher founded Alibaba Group in 1999, when China had few internet users. Online payments service Alipay launched five years later, before regulators said such businesses would be allowed. Both long shots grew to dominate their industries. Ma's latest gambit backfired after he called regulators too conservative in an Oct. 24 speech and urged them to be more

World BusinessJan. 6, 2021

[Graphic News] Plane crash deaths rise in 2020 despite COVID pandemic

　The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes rose in 2020 to 299 worldwide, even as the number of crashes fell by more than 50 percent, a Dutch consulting firm said. 　Aviation consulting firm To70 said in 2020 there were 40 accidents involving large commercial passenger planes, five of which were fatal, resulting in 299 fatalities. In 2019 there were 86 accidents, eight of which were fatal, resulting in 287 fatalities. 　Large commercial airplanes had 0.27 fatal acciden

World NewsJan. 6, 2021

Former head of China state asset firm sentenced to death

The former head of state-owned China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd. was sentenced to death Tuesday for bribe taking in one of the harshest punishments for economic crimes in recent years. Lai Xiaomin, 58, was also found guilty by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin of lesser charges including corruption and bigamy. Life sentences and suspended death sentences commuted to life after two years are frequently handed down in corruption cases, but death sentences without the chan

World NewsJan. 5, 2021

Trump, on tape, presses Ga. official to 'find' him votes

President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's Republican secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state's presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of a "criminal offense" if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation. The phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday was the latest step in an unprecedented effort by a sitting pre

World NewsJan. 4, 2021

Hope fades in Norway landslide that left 7 dead; 3 missing

Norwegian officials insisted Monday that there was "still hope" in finding survivors in air pockets five days after a landslide killed at least seven people as it carried away homes in a village north of the capital. Three people are still missing. Police spokesman Roger Pettersen said search efforts in the landslide-hit village of Ask, 25 kilometers (16 miles) northeast of Oslo, are still considered "a rescue operation." But only bodies have been found in the last few days.

World NewsJan. 4, 2021

Iran acknowledges it seized South Korean-flagged oil tanker

Iranian state television has acknowledged that Tehran seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The report on Monday alleged that the MT Hankuk Chemi had been stopped by Iranian authorities over alleged "oil pollution" in the Persian Gulf and the strait. The semiofficial Fars news agency said Iran's Revolutionary Guard's naval forces seized the ship. Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed the MT Hankuk Chemi off the port of Bandar Abbas on Monday aftern

World NewsJan. 4, 2021

Greece names first openly gay minister

The center-right government in Greece named the country's first openly gay minister in a cabinet reshuffle Monday. Nicholas Yatromanolakis, 44, was named as the new deputy minister of culture after being promoted from the position of general secretary at the ministry. The government retained its ministers of health and finance and most other key positions in the reshuffle. Greece is reeling from the impact of the pandemic that caused a spike in deaths in the fall and is expected to have ca

World NewsJan. 4, 2021

Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot shareholders vote on merger

The marriage of carmakers PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is built on the promise of cost-savings in the capital-hungry industry, but what remains to be seen is if it will be able to preserve jobs and heritage brands in a global market still suffering from the pandemic. PSA Peugeot shareholders on Monday overwhelmingly approved the deal to create the world's fourth-largest carmaker, to be called Stellantis, with the capacity to produce 8.7 million cars a year, behind Volkswagen, Toyot

World BusinessJan. 4, 2021

UK judge refuses extradition of WikiLeaks founder Assange

A British judge on Monday rejected the United States' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh US prison conditions. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that extradition would be "oppressive" because of Assange's mental health. She said Assange was "a depressed and sometimes despairing man" who had the "intellect and determination" to circumvent any suicide preventi

World NewsJan. 4, 2021

Alarm in France after 2,500 mass for illegal rave

LIEURON, France (AFP) - Some 2,500 partygoers attended an illegal New Year rave in northwestern France, violently clashing with police who failed to stop it and sparking concern the underground event could spread the coronavirus, authorities said Friday. The revellers had set up the illegal rave in Lieuron, south of Rennes in Brittany, after skirmishes with police, said a statement from the local prefecture. Many were still on the site Friday as a sanitary cordon was thrown up around it. Local

WorldJan. 2, 2021

Trump extends visa ban, health coverage policy advances

  President Donald Trump on Thursday extended pandemic-related bans on green cards and work visas to large groups of applicants through March 31, while a federal appeals court sided with him on a rule that requires new immigrants to have their own health insurance. The twin developments on the final day of 2020 encapsulated how Trump has made US immigration policy more restrictive without support from Congress. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to undo many of Trump's actions but it

World NewsJan. 1, 2021

Wuhan virus cases may be 10 times higher than reported: China health study

BEIJING -- The number of coronavirus cases in the Chinese city where the pathogen was first detected may have been 10 times higher than official figures suggest, according to a study by health authorities in Wuhan. About 4.4 percent of the city's 11 million residents had developed antibodies against the virus causing Covid-19 by April, the report by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control said. That correlates to around 480,000 infections in Wuhan by April, nearly 10 times the official tally to

World NewsDec. 30, 2020

Britain first to approve AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine

Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, hoping that rapid action would help it stem a surge of infections driven by a highly contagious variant of the virus. Boris Johnson's government, which has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, said it had accepted a recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant emergency authorization. The approval

World BusinessDec. 30, 2020