CNN, CNNBUSINESS By Simone McCarthy, CNN When China’s leader Xi Jinping opens the Beijing Olympics on Friday he will be flanked by leaders who are unlikely to quell the chorus of concerns these Games are bolstering an authoritarian regime. Of the just over 20 presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and royalty set to attend
Continue ReadingBy Ehsan Popalzai and Hande Atay Alam, CNN Afghanistan’s public universities opened on Wednesday with female students allowed back on campus for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year. The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials said women were permitted to
Continue ReadingCNN By Ehsan Popalzai and Hande Atay Alam, CNN Afghanistan’s public universities opened on Wednesday with female students allowed back on campus for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year. The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials said women were permitted
Continue ReadingBy Simone McCarthy, CNN When China’s leader Xi Jinping opens the Beijing Olympics on Friday he will be flanked by leaders who are unlikely to quell the chorus of concerns these Games are bolstering an authoritarian regime. Of the just over 20 presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and royalty set to attend the Opening
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan, CNN The Pacific island nation of Tonga has gone into lockdown after reporting its first community cases of Covid-19, weeks after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated parts of the archipelago. Two positive cases were discovered among front line workers at a port in the capital Nuku’alofa, where aid continues to
Continue ReadingBy Katie Hunt, CNN Flowers discovered perfectly preserved in globs of amber bloomed at the feet of dinosaurs, suggesting that some flowering plants in South Africa today have remained unchanged for 99 million years, a new study reveals. The two flowers once bloomed in what is now Myanmar and may shed light on how flowering
Continue ReadingBy Gawon Bae and Jessie Yeung, CNN Jimin, a member of South Korean supergroup BTS, tested positive for Covid-19 and underwent surgery for acute appendicitis, his management agency said Monday. The singer and dancer, whose full name is Park Ji-min, went to the emergency room on Sunday after experiencing “sudden abdominal pain along with a
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan, CNN After one year of military rule in Myanmar, millions of people are resisting a return to repression and isolation. Last February, military leader Min Aung Hlaing seized control of Myanmar in a coup that upturned any hope the country of 55 million people would become a functioning democracy under former leader
Continue ReadingBy Akanksha Sharma, CNN New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has entered self-isolation until Tuesday after being deemed a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case. “The exposure event took place on Saturday 22 January during flight NZ8273 from Kerikeri to Auckland,” the New Zealand government said in a press release Saturday. The statement added
Continue ReadingBy Brad Lendon, Gawon Bae, Junko Ogura and Barbara Starr, CNN North Korea fired what is presumed to be its longest range ballistic missile since 2017 on Sunday, an escalation of its weapons program and a possible sign of larger tests to come, according to South Korea’s President. Both the South Korean and Japanese governments
Continue ReadingCNN By Lianne Kolirin, Nectar Gan and Tom Booth, CNN Winter Olympians are accustomed to performing their awe-inspiring feats against the backdrop of spectacular snow-capped mountains. But Beijing’s Big Air Shougang Olympic venue is drawing attention for its much edgier, urban setting. Behind the skiers launching themselves off the 60-meter-high (196-foot) ramp are furnaces, tall
Continue ReadingBy David Culver and CNN staff China has touted its newly completed Olympic ski venue as an example of its commitment to making the Beijing Games the greenest and cleanest in history. But there’s just one problem — it was built in the middle of a nature reserve. Chinese organizers say the National Alpine Ski
Continue ReadingBy Reuters China and the United States could end up in a military conflict if the United States encourages Taiwan’s independence, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington said in a US radio interview broadcast on Friday. China considers the neighboring, democratically ruled island of Taiwan its “sacred” territory and has never renounced the use of force to
Continue ReadingBy Brad Lendon, CNN Images have emerged of a US Navy F-35C stealth fighter crashing into the South China Sea earlier this week. The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday, the Navy said. The
Continue ReadingCNN By Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea fired what are presumed to be two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday — a move believed to be its sixth missile test this month, the South Korean military said. The two projectiles were launched from
Continue ReadingBy Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea fired what are presumed to be two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday — a move believed to be its sixth missile test this month, the South Korean military said. The two projectiles were launched from Hamhung
Continue ReadingCNN By Brad Lendon, CNN The United States Navy is trying to retrieve its most advanced fighter jet from the depths of the South China Sea, an extremely complex operation that analysts say will be closely monitored by Beijing. The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed
Continue ReadingBy Jessie Yeung, Steven Jiang, David Culver and Jennifer Hansler, CNN The US diplomatic mission in China has formally requested the State Department grant American diplomats “authorized departure,” allowing them and their families to leave the country amid increasingly strict Covid-19 containment measures, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The request has not
Continue ReadingBy Brad Lendon, CNN The United States Navy is trying to retrieve its most advanced fighter jet from the depths of the South China Sea, an extremely complex operation that analysts say will be closely monitored by Beijing. The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on
Continue ReadingBy Rhea Mogul, CNN More than 20 Covid-19 cases have been identified aboard an Australian navy ship sailing to disaster-hit Tonga, complicating aid efforts to the virus-free Pacific island nation as Japan halted its relief mission due to a separate outbreak among crew members. Tonga has only reported a single coronavirus case since the start
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