Pope calls for 'courageous courses of peace' for Ukraine

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Europe to find "courageous courses of peace" to end the war in Ukraine as he opened a five-day visit to Portugal for a major Catholic youth festival. The 86-year-old pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and has sought to play a mediating role, though his efforts have yet to yield results and he has faced criticism for failing to blame Russia for the war. "We are sailing amid storms on the ocean of history, and we sense the need for cou

Aug. 2, 2023

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang removed from office: state media

BEIJING -- China's foreign minister Qin Gang was removed from office on Tuesday, state media reported, after not being seen in the public eye for a month. "China's top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister... as it convened a session on Tuesday," state media outlet Xinhua said. "Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister." The report did not give a reason for Qin's removal but said President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order

July 25, 2023

Algeria battles raging wildfires that have killed 34

ALGIERS -- Algerian firefighters were Tuesday battling blazes that have killed 34 people across the tinder-dry north, destroyed homes and coastal resorts and turned vast forest areas into blackened wastelands. Witnesses described fleeing walls of flames that raged "like a blowtorch," and TV footage showed charred cars, burnt-out shops and smouldering fields and scrubland as thousands of residents were evacuated. Severe fires raged through the mountain forests of the Kabylia region on t

July 25, 2023

China to review appointments, dismissals of officials at Tuesday meeting: state media

China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, a powerful body that enacts and amend laws when parliament is not in session, will review appointments and dismissals of officials at a meeting on Tuesday, state media reported. The announcement comes one month since Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang was last seen, with China's government saying he was off for unspecified health reasons. The NPC committee, which meets roughly every two months to deliberate legislation and pass

July 24, 2023

[Graphic News] S. Korea ranks 43rd most peaceful country in world

　South Korea has been ranked as 43rd most peaceful country in the world, while North Korea is positioned at the 149th spot out of the 163 surveyed countries. 　According to the 2023 Global Peace Index conducted by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the top 10 most peaceful countries are predominantly in Europe and Asia. Iceland claimed the top spot, maintaining its position since 2008, followed by Denmark, Ireland and New Zealand. 　On the other hand, Afghanistan ranked the least peaceful c

July 21, 2023

[Graphic News] Record number of 40-year-old Americans have never married

The proportion of 40-year-olds in the US who are not married is at an all-time high, according to a survey. As of 2021, 25 percent of those aged 40 had never been married. This figure was a significant increase from 20 percent in 2010. The percentage of Americans at age 40 who have never married has increased steadily since 1980. Only 6 percent of 40-year-old Americans were unmarried at that time. Pew Research Center said people born after the 1960s are increasingly delaying marriage, and the pe

July 19, 2023

US Southwest swelters under dangerous heat wave, with new records on track

A dangerous heat wave threatened a wide swath of the Southwest with potentially deadly temperatures in the triple digits on Saturday as some cooling centers extended their hours and emergency rooms prepared to treat more people with heat-related illnesses. “Near record temperatures are expected this weekend!" the National Weather Service in Phoenix warned in a tweet, advising people to follow its safety tips such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors. &ld

July 16, 2023

US politics and the Paris finance summit

By Jeffrey D. Sachs Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and French President Emmanuel Macron invited world leaders to Paris on June 22-23 to reach a new “global pact” to finance the fight against poverty and human-induced climate change. All kudos for the ambition, yet few dollars were put on the table. To an important extent, the continuing global failure to finance the fight against poverty and climate change reflects the failings of US politics, since the US, at least for the mome

July 11, 2023

[Graphic News] Majority of S. Koreans hold positive view of US, Biden: poll

A majority of South Koreans hold a positive view of the United States and President Joe Biden while more than 7 out of every 10 South Koreans also believe the US contributes to global peace and stability, a poll showed. In a 23-nation survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, 79 percent of those polled in South Korea said they hold a positive opinion of the US, significantly higher than the 23-country median of 59 percent. The reading for South Ko

July 10, 2023

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including prelates based in Hong Kong and Jerusalem

Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong — places where Catholics are a small minority — as he continues to leave his mark on the body of churchmen who will select his successor. The pope announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on Sept. 30. Among those tapped are several

July 9, 2023

NATO unity will be tested at upcoming summit. Ukraine's possible entry may be the biggest challenge

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, NATO's much-celebrated unity faces fresh strains when leaders gather for their annual summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania. The world’s biggest security alliance is struggling to reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member. Military spending by member nations lags behind long-standing goals. An inability to compromise over who should serve as NATO’s next leader forced an extension of the current s

July 9, 2023

[Graphic News] Most livable city is Vienna; Seoul ranks 4th among Asian cities

Vienna has been ranked the world’s most liveable city for the second year in a row, while Seoul and Busan respectively claimed the fourth and sixth spots among Asian cities. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vienna achieved a score of 98.4 out of 100 on the annual Global Livability Ranking, followed closely by Copenhagen in Denmark and Melbourne with scores of 98 and 97.8, respectively. Seoul and Busan fell slightly short of the 90-point threshold, placing them lower than Londo

July 7, 2023

Dutch to return colonial treasures to Indonesia, S.Lanka

The Netherlands said Thursday it will hand back hundreds of colonial-era artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka, including a haul of treasure and a gem-encrusted bronze cannon. The decision to return some 478 objects followed recommendations by a government-appointed commission last year looking into illegal Dutch colonial acquisitions now being displayed in museums in the Netherlands. "These recommendations are a milestone in dealing with collections from a colonial context," said Gunay

July 6, 2023

[Graphic News] 60% of Americans say gun violence is ‘very big’problem: poll

A Research Center poll shows 60 percent of Americans believe gun violence is a very big and growing national problem. But the poll also shows an even split as to whether gun ownership increases or decreases safety. The majority, 58 percent, said US gun laws should be more strict. A bare majority of 51 percent of white Americans wanted stricter laws, while 77 percent of Black Americans supported stricter gun laws. The vast majority - 88 percent - supported keeping mentally ill people from buying

July 6, 2023

[Graphic News] Asia’s billionaire club takes heaviest hit in 2022

Billionaires in Asia faced the steepest drop in membership in 2022 at 7.1 percent, more than any other region, according to data firm Wealth-X Analytics. This decline, when contrasted with North America’s modest 2.3 percent dip, reflects a year of heightened economic volatility. South Korea and Taiwan’s tech sectors bore the brunt of Asia’s decline, while market sentiment was constrained by China’s stringent zero-COVID policy, the report explained. Against a backdrop of g

July 4, 2023

Baltimore block party shooting leaves 2 dead and 28 injured

BALTIMORE -- Gunfire erupted at a block party in Baltimore on Sunday -- killing two people, wounding 28 and leaving an extensive crime scene that marred the US holiday weekend, police said. Three of the wounded were in critical condition. Baltimore Police Department Acting Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters there were a total of 30 victims during a press conference at the scene. The shooting took place just after 12:30 a.m. at a block party in the Brooklyn Homes area in the southern part

July 2, 2023

New legal battles await colleges after US Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling

The Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday barring race-conscious admissions policies will force universities to find new ways to attract a diverse student body -- but experts said such efforts will likely open a new front in what has been a decades-long legal battle over race and college admissions. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court’s five other conservatives, held that giving some minority applicants a boost over others based on their

June 30, 2023

[Graphic News] Migrant deaths in Middle East, North Africa hit highest since 2017

Last year marked a grim milestone as migrant deaths within and from the Middle East and North Africa region surged to nearly 3,800 people, the highest number since 2017, according to data released by the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project. This unsettling trend was mainly spurred by a shift in migratory paths, as increasing interceptions by the Libyan Coast Guard have forced desperate migrants to seek alternative and often perilous sea routes from North Afr

June 29, 2023

[Graphic News] New York tops world’s most expensive cities for expats

New York has leapfrogged Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive city to live in as an expat, while skyrocketing rents saw Singapore crash into the top five, according to a new study. Soaring inflation and rising accommodation costs were cited as reasons for New York topping ECA International’s Cost of Living Rankings for 2023, while Geneva and London remained in third and fourth place, respectively. Seoul, which rose from 10th to 9th place this year due to increased housing and acco

June 27, 2023

How JFK would pursue peace in Ukraine

By ​​​​​​​​​​Jeffrey D. Sachs US President John F. Kennedy was one of the world’s great peacemakers. He led a peaceful solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis and then successfully negotiated the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union at the very height of the Cold War. At the time of his assassination, he was taking steps to end US involvement in Vietnam. In his dazzling and unsurpassed Peace Speech, delivered exactly 60 years ago on June 10, 1963, Kennedy laid out his formu

June 27, 2023