'Shoot here!': reporter screams at Prague gunman to help people flee

PRAGUE -- "Hey, you fucker, here I am, shoot here!" screamed a Czech reporter trying to distract a gunman who killed 14 people at a university building in Prague on Thursday, helping people to flee the country's worst mass shooting. Jiri Forman, a reporter for a small security-focused news outfit who said he had experience in war zones, evaded fire from the gunman who was perched on a balcony on the top floor of Charles University's Faculty of Art. While ducking behind a corn

Dec. 23, 2023

Police say mass shooting suspect in Prague died by suicide

  The deadly violence erupted on Thursday afternoon in the philosophy department building of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Czech Republic’s capital city. Police said the gunman, identified only as a 24-year-old student in the philosophy program, opened fire on classmates and faculty before he died by suicide on the balcony of the building. Vondrášek described the shooter as an excellent student with no criminal record. He said authorities are also investigat

Dec. 23, 2023

China earthquake death toll rises to 148

The toll from China's deadliest earthquake in years rose to 148 on Friday, state media reported, as authorities turned their attention to resettling thousands of people displaced by the disaster. The quake, which struck northwest China just before midnight on Monday, has killed at least 117 people in Gansu province and 31 in neighboring Qinghai, the official Xinhua News Agency said. More than 139,000 people have been moved to emergency shelters across the two provinces, according to state b

Dec. 22, 2023

[Graphic News] Popular varieties of Christmas trees

  Douglas fir These soft needles are dark green or blue-green in color and are about 2-3 centimeters in length. The Douglas fir’s needles radiate in all directions from the branch. When crushed, these needles have a sweet fragrance. They are one of the top Christmas tree choices. Balsam fir These trees exhibits a relatively dense, dark green, pyramidal crown with a slender spirelike tip. On lower branches, needles generally occur as two-ranked (two rows along sides of the branch), a

Dec. 22, 2023

Deadly quake shakes China

BEIJING — An overnight earthquake killed at least 116 people in a cold and mountainous region in northwestern China, the country's state media reported Tuesday. Search and rescue operations were underway in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai provinces. The earthquake left more than 500 people injured, severely damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines, according to the media reports. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in Gansu at a relatively shallow depth of

Dec. 19, 2023

Pope approves blessings for same-sex couples that must not resemble marriage

ROME — Pope Francis formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced Monday, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage. But while the Vatican statement was heralded by some as a step toward breaking down discrimination in the Catholic Church, some LGBTQ+ advocates warned it underscored the church’s idea that gay couples remain inferior to heterosexual partnerships

Dec. 19, 2023

[Graphic News] S. Korean students rank among top performers in educational performance

　South Korean 15-year-olds were among the top performers in mathematics, reading and science among their peers from the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed. 　The findings were made in the latest report by the Programme for International Student Assessment, operated by the OECD. 　In the 2022 report, the PISA measured the abilities of 15-year-olds from a total of 81 countries — including 37 OECD member nations — to use their r

Dec. 19, 2023

Israel strikes Gaza as pressure grows to free more hostages

GAZA STRIP (AFP) -- Israel carried out fresh strikes on Gaza Sunday as its leaders came under growing pressure to secure the release of hostages still held in the Hamas-run territory more than two months after the Oct. 7 attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced protests Saturday by relatives of hostages who called for an urgent deal to secure their freedom after the army admitted mistakenly killing three captives in Gaza. The trio were among an estimated 250 people taken hostage during H

Dec. 17, 2023

[Graphic News] Singapore and Zurich named world’s most expensive cities to live in

Singapore and Zurich surpassed New York to become the world’s most expensive cities to live in this year, according to a new global survey. The sky-high cost of car ownership, pricey alcohol and rising grocery prices saw Singapore pull ahead of the US city, with which it shared top spot last year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2023 report. Zurich jumped from sixth place last year to joint first, thanks in part to the strong Swiss franc, as we

Dec. 15, 2023

[Graphic News] More Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of Gaza crisis than approve it: poll

　Americans are divided on US President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Gaza conflict, with more disapproving of the president’s response than approving of it. 　Most Americans agree Hamas has “a lot of responsibility,” for the current conflict, according to data from the Pew Research Center. 　Opinions on the Biden administration’s response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza are starkly different between age groups. 　Cumulatively, 41 percent of respondents

Dec. 12, 2023

Putin will seek another presidential term in Russia, extending his rule of over two decades

Vladimir Putin has moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for another six years. Putin still commands wide support after nearly a quarter-century in power, despite starting an immensely costly war in Ukraine that has taken thousands of his countrymen’s lives, provoked repeated attacks inside Russia -– including one on the Kremlin itself -– and corroded its aura of invincibility. A short-lived rebellion in June by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin raised

Dec. 8, 2023

Israeli troops battle Hamas militants in southern Gaza

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories (AFP) -- Israeli troops battled Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday after expanding their offensive deeper into the besieged territory, with warnings that an "even more hellish scenario" was unfolding for trapped civilians. Israel had initially focused its offensive on the north of the territory, but the army is now also dropping leaflets on parts of the south, telling Palestinian civilians there to flee to other areas. Israeli tank

Dec. 5, 2023

[Graphic News] Israel-Hamas truce on hostage exchange ends

Israel’s war with Hamas resumed after a weeklong truce to allow hostages to be released broke down on Friday. In Israel, sirens warned of incoming rockets at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that militants had also restarted attacks. The renewed hostilities heightened concerns for Palestinians - many of whom have been displaced by the war - as well as about 140 hostages who remain in Gaza, after more than 100 were freed during the truce. By Wednesday, Hamas had released 97 hostages

Dec. 5, 2023

Israel expands offensive in Gaza as global concern deepens

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories -- Israel expanded its offensive against Hamas militants in besieged Gaza on Monday, as international concern deepened over the mounting civilian death toll in a war sparked by the Oct. 7 attacks. The return to open warfare after the truce between Israel and Hamas expired has had ripple effects around a region on the cusp of a wider conflagration. Since the expiry of the truce on Friday, fighting in Gaza has resumed between Hamas and advancing Israeli troops,

Dec. 4, 2023

Hamas govt. says Gaza toll rises to 240

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip said Saturday that 240 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory since a pause in the fighting expired on Friday. Another 650 people had been injured in "hundreds of air strikes, artillery and navy bombardments, everywhere in the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement, adding that Israeli forces had "particularly targeted Khan Yunis, where dozens of houses were destroyed with their inhabitants inside." (AFP)

Dec. 2, 2023

Over 20 nations call for tripling of nuclear energy

More than 20 countries called for the tripling of world nuclear energy capacity at UN climate talks on Saturday as part of efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. A declaration endorsed by nations ranging from the United States to Ghana to Japan and several European countries said nuclear energy plays a "key role" in reaching the goal of carbon neutrality. The use of nuclear energy as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels is controversial as environmental groups are concerned ab

Dec. 2, 2023

At UN climate talks, world leaders to pledge and plead on second of leaders' summit

A critical climate conference that began with world leaders acknowledging an Earth in crisis was set for a second day of leaders' speeches on Saturday that organizers hope will set the stage for concrete action in coming days. The annual United Nations conference, known as COP28, was dominated Friday by presidents, prime ministers and royals laying out their plans to reduce heat-trapping emissions and urging each other to come together to avert climate catastrophe that seemed to draw closer

Dec. 2, 2023

[Graphic News] Global wine production hits lowest level since 1961

Global wine production has fallen this year to its lowest level since 1961 as vineyards were pummeled by extreme weather events, the International Organization of Vine and Wine said. Output reached 244.1 million hectoliters, down 7 percent from last year, the intergovernmental body said as it presented its first estimates. A number of major producers in the southern hemisphere had significant drops in production. Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil all saw output drop between 10

Dec. 1, 2023

Henry Kissinger, American diplomat and Nobel winner, dead at 100

WASHINGTON -- Henry Kissinger, a controversial Nobel Peace Prize winner and diplomatic powerhouse whose service under two presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy, died on Wednesday, according to Kissinger Associates Inc. Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, Kissinger Associates said. Kissinger had been active past his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat pos

Nov. 30, 2023

[Graphic News] Half of Russians want Putin to end war

Almost half of Russians want President Vladimir Putin to open talks to end the war in Ukraine, according to a survey. Some 48 percent of respondents agreed it was time to negotiate a peace deal, with 39 percent in favor of pressing on with the war, the telephone poll of 1,611 people by the Russian Field company found. The proportion favoring talks was the highest since the company began monitoring attitudes to the war in April last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness

Nov. 29, 2023