British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was "out of control". Hancock warned that the strict measures could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out. "We acted very quickly and decisively," Hancock told Sky News, justifying the "stay at home" order and closure of non-essential shops affecting around a third

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States has authorized a second coronavirus vaccine. "Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved. Distribution to start immediately," he wrote on Twitter. This follows a recommendation by an expert panel on Thursday to grant emergency use approval for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue formal approval Friday. A vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech was app

WASHINGTON -- US Vice President Mike Pence prepared to roll up his sleeve for a public coronavirus jab on Friday as the country neared approval of a second vaccine and several European leaders quarantined ahead of the Christmas holidays. Pence's move comes as inoculation efforts unfurl across the globe, with officials mounting campaigns to quash skepticism about the record-fast development of the jabs. The vice president's public injection is an effort to "build confidence among the Ameri

BEIJING -- A citizen journalist detained in China after reporting from the Covid-19 ground zero of Wuhan will face trial later this month, her lawyer said Friday, as fears grow for her health. The coronavirus first emerged in central China late last year, and Beijing has faced accusations that it covered up the initial outbreak and silenced early whistleblowers. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February and livestreamed her experiences on social media. She also wrote essays c

　German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named the world‘s most powerful woman for the 10th straight year, according to Forbes’ 100 most powerful women 2020 list. 　President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde, US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen took second, third and fourth place, respectively. 　Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung’s late Chairman Lee Kun-hee and president of Hotel Shilla,

The European Union's top court ruled on Thursday that Volkswagen breached the law by installing on its cars a so-called defeat device to cheat on emission tests and cannot argue it was merely protecting car engines. The scandal known as "Dieselgate" erupted five years ago when the US Environmental Protection Agency found that Volkswagen had installed special software to rig US emissions tests for its latest "clean diesel" vehicles. The German car manufacturer admitted to f

Following the successful return of moon rocks by its Chang'e 5 robotic probe, China is preparing for future missions that could set the stage for an eventual lunar base to host human explorers, a top space program official said Thursday. China's next three lunar missions are on track, along with programs for returning samples from Mars and exploring asteroids and the planet Jupiter, Deputy Chief Commander of the China Lunar Exploration Program Wu Yanhua said. "Exploring the truth of the

French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, following a week when he has met with numerous European leaders. The French and Spanish prime ministers are among those self-isolating because they had recent contact with him. Macron took a test "as soon as the first symptoms appeared" and will self-isolate for seven days, the presidency said in a brief statement. It did not detail what symptoms Macron experienced or any treatment he might be receiving. The 42-y

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- Violence at a Wistron Corpfactory in southern India is likely to stall the company's and its client Apple Inc's drive to expand local manufacturing, while forcing the government to redouble efforts to encourage foreign investors. Thousands of contract workers angry over the alleged non-payment of wages, destroyed equipment and vehicles at a Wistron plant in southern India on Saturday, causing an estimated $60 million in damages. The Taiwanese company, one of Apple's top

　US and Chinese companies dominated the global arms market in 2019, while the Middle East made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers, a report from the SIPRI research institute said. 　The US arms industry accounted for 61 percent of sales by the world‘s top 25 manufacturers last year, ahead of China’s 15.7 percent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 　Total sales among the top 25 rose by 8.5 percent to $361 billion - 50 t

　Samsung Electronics was the second-largest smartphone vendor in the African smartphone market in the third quarter of the year, a report showed, as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence against Chinese competitors. 　Samsung accounted for 20 percent of the African smartphone market in the July-September period in terms of units, down from a 24 percent share a year ago, according to market researcher International Data Corp. 　China’s Transsion continued its dominan

BERLIN (AFP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday demanded tougher curbs to bring down coronavirus infections, as the German death toll reached a daily record of nearly 600 people. Germany has ordered far less stringent shutdown rules than other major European nations after coming through the first wave of the pandemic relatively unscathed. But Europe's biggest economy has been severely hit by a second wave with daily new infections more than three times that of the peak in the spring. D

PARIS (AFP) -- Earth remains on course to warm more than 3 degrees Celsius by the century's end despite a dip in greenhouse gas emissions due to the pandemic and pledges to curb pollution, the UN said Wednesday. In its annual assessment of emissions levels, the UN's Environment Programme found that 2020's 7-percent fall in carbon pollution would have "negligible impact" on warming without a broad and rapid shift away from fossil fuels. The Emissions Gap report analyses the gulf betw

  Citigroup Inc. appointed Elissar Farah Antonios as the first woman to run its Middle East & North Africa operations, among the US bank’s fastest-growing businesses in emerging markets. Antonios will continue to report to Atiq Rehman, who runs the bank’s Europe, Middle East & Africa emerging markets business, and will join the EMEA operating committee. She has been in charge of Citigroup’s operations in the United Arab Emirates, Levant and Iraq since 2019. Ant

Japan space agency officials on Sunday hailed the arrival of rare asteroid samples on Earth after they were collected by space probe Hayabusa-2 during an unprecedented mission. In a streak of light across the night sky, a capsule containing the precious specimens taken from a distant asteroid arrived on Earth after being dropped off by the probe. Scientists hope the samples, which are expected to amount to no more than 0.1 grams of material, could help shed light on the origin of life and the