Category: Trends

(BEIJING) — China says it will resume issuing passports for tourism in another big step away from anti-virus controls that isolated the country for almost three years, setting up a potential flood of Chinese going abroad for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. The announcement Tuesday adds to abrupt changes that are rolling back some […]

Tokyo — Many hospitals and funeral homes say they’re being overwhelmed by a worsening COVID-19 outbreak in China, even as the government reports just a handful of new deaths from the virus. The surge in cases across China is drawing a response from other countries, including the U.S. Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia have […]

Irmgard Furchner, a former secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp, waits for the continuation of her trial in a court in Itzehoe, northern Germany, where her verdict was announced on December 20, 2022. CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS / POOL / AFP via Getty Images A 97-year-old woman is appealing her conviction in Germany […]

The Biden administration is weighing the possibility of imposing new requirements on arriving travelers from China, officials say, citing “mounting concerns” about the country’s ongoing COVID-19 surge and “the lack of transparent data” from Chinese officials. The move comes as the Chinese government has begun to ease travel restrictions that were imposed years ago early […]

This aerial photo taken on December 28, 2022 shows a multi-vehicle collision on Zhengxin Yellow River Bridge in Zhengzhou, in China’s central Henan province. STR/AFP via Getty Beijing  —One person died during a highway pile-up involving hundreds of vehicles in central China, state broadcaster CCTV reported Wednesday, with images of the accident showing scenes of […]

Comment on this story Comment If you’ve been online at all over the past decade or so, you’ll probably have seen this dog. The Japanese shiba inu Kabosu catapulted from inconspicuous rescue dog to unlikely celebrity after a photo of her perched on a pale sofa with what looks like a bemused expression, front paws […]

(ANKARA) — The Turkish, Syrian and Russian defense ministers have held previously unannounced talks in Moscow, the Turkish and Russian defense ministries said on Wednesday. It was the first ministerial level meeting between rivals Turkey and Syria since the start of the Syrian conflict 11 years ago. A Turkish defense ministry statement said the Turkish, […]

ATHENS, Greece — Emergency services were placed on alert on an island near Athens following a new earthquake Wednesday that caused no injuries or severe damage but puzzled scientists. The magnitude-4.9 quake occurred inland, near the western coast of the island of Evia, and follows an uncommon pattern of seismic activity in the area. Felt […]

Comment on this story Comment ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Eleven people have been sentenced to life in prison in Ivory Coast on Wednesday after being convicted of carrying out an Islamic extremist attack that killed 19 people and injured dozens more on a tourist beach nearly seven years ago. The killings in the Grand-Bassam resort […]

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Buffalo was set to emerge from a deep freeze Wednesday, bringing some relief but also the tragic possibility of finding more victims amid melting snow from the area’s deadliest storm in decades. Officials said more than 30 people so far have been reported to have died because of the blizzard that raged […]