#Automotive

by Sunghee Hwang The de facto chief of South Korea’s Samsung business empire was convicted Monday over a huge corruption scandal and jailed for two and a half years, in a ruling that deprives the tech giant of its top decision-maker. Lee Jae-yong, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, […]

At least 81 people have died, with more than 250 seriously injured, after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Friday (Jan 15). According to an update on Monday (Jan 18) by disaster mitigation spokesman Raditya Jati, rescue workers have stepped up efforts to find people buried beneath the rubble. The epicenter of the […]

Sitamarhi (India) — With the start of a vaccination programme against Covid-19 in India on Saturday (Jan 16), another firm step is being taken in the battle against the virus in the country. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the daily life of every individual in some way or other around the world. Millions of people […]

by Joseph SOTINEL After the latest wild ride took the poster child of cryptocurrencies above $40,000 before a stomach-churning plunge, the million dollar question won’t go away: how much is bitcoin actually worth? The virtual currency barrelled to new highs to rise more than 400 percent over the past year, before promptly sliding some 20 […]

by AFP Bureaus Pharma giant Pfizer tried to ease concerns in Europe about deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine as nations across the world doubled down on restrictions to fight the rampaging pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, with infections surging past 94 million and more than two million deaths, and […]

NASA conducted a test firing of the engines for its giant Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on Saturday but they shut down earlier than planned, the space agency said. The “hot-fire” test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was supposed to last a little over eight minutes — the time the engines would burn […]

An Australian father and son have been released after almost six months in detention on unknown charges in Qatar, multiple sources said Sunday. Professor Lukman Thalib, 58, and his son Ismail Talib, 24, were reportedly arrested in the Qatari capital Doha by local authorities in July. The pair have been released from Qatari custody, said a […]

A senior official at the Greek sailing federation has been axed in the wake of sex abuse allegations by one of the country’s top Olympians, the federation said. The federation late Saturday said it was “shocked” by the claim put forward by two-time Olympic medallist Sofia Bekatorou, which has sparked a flurry of revelations by […]

China will donate one million doses of its Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to Cambodia, the kingdom’s strongman premier Hun Sen has said, thanking “friend” Beijing for its generosity. Cambodia has long been a staunch ally of Beijing, receiving billions of dollars in soft loans and investment from China. While many countries reacted early in the pandemic […]

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed global migration by nearly 30 percent, with around two million fewer people than predicted migrating between 2019 and 2020, according to a UN report released on Friday. Some 281 million people were living outside their country of origin in 2020. The report, entitled “International Migration 2020,” showed that two-thirds of […]

by AFP Bureaus India kicked off one of the world’s largest coronavirus vaccination drives Saturday as the pandemic spread at a record pace and global Covid-19 deaths surged past two million. The World Health Organization has called for accelerating vaccine rollouts worldwide as well as ramping up efforts to study the sequencing of the virus, […]

Hong Kong on Saturday hit back at the United States over its latest sanctions on six pro-China officials, slamming the move as “insane, shameless and despicable”. The US announced on Friday it was imposing sanctions on the half dozen officials, including Hong Kong’s sole representative to China’s top lawmaking body, over the arrests of more […]

Australian firefighters said they expect to battle an out-of-control bushfire well into the night on Saturday, as the blaze threatens lives and homes in the west coast city of Perth. Residents were told “to act immediately to survive” as the flames approached homes near Oakford, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Perth’s city centre, […]

by Jalees ANDRABI A homegrown coronavirus vaccine will be rolled out in India from Saturday even though clinical trials haven’t been completed. But the government insists it will be safe and effective. The All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), an independent watchdog, led a chorus of concern from experts saying it was “shocked” and “baffled” […]

by Haeril HALIM / Agnes ANYA A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sulawesi island early Friday, killing at least 34 people, levelling a hospital and severely damaging other buildings, authorities said. Hundreds more were injured when the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours, triggering panic among the terrified residents of the island, which was hit […]