Saudi Arabia announced on October 5th that it would step up cooperation with China in the energy supply chain in response to a recent decision concerning a reduction in oil supplies that resulted in a dispute with the United States (U.S.). On the 21st, the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Prince
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held the first plenary session of the Central Committee on October 23rd and finished the constitution of leadership that will lead the party for the next five years until 2027. Chinese leader Xi Jinping holds the most powerful positions in China: general secretary o
Heathrow Airport in London, England, has announced that they would extend the period of the capacity curbs on the number of passengers traveling through the airport until October 29th. Heathrow Airport’s maximum number of daily passengers is currently 100,000. The curb was to last until September 11
On August 15th, a delegation from the Congress of the United States (U.S.) met Taiwan’s dignitaries and discussed the relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan’s trade investment, and the global supply chain. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) explained that the visit reflected stable support of
Sri Lanka is an island country located in South Asia, in which the Rajapaksa family has dominated the country’s politics for the past two decades. Due to problems including nepotism among the political class, the collapse of tourism, and shortages of essential goods, Sri Lanka has faced one of the w
The United States (U.S.) Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for June 2022 reached 9.1%, the highest in nearly 41 years. These high inflation numbers have led the U.S. Federal Reserve, also known as the Fed, to hike the interest rates further. On July 17th, the Wall Street Journal reported that the F
The yen exchange rate against the dollar soared to ¥131.5 on April 28th, the highest in 20 years. Until now, Japan has depreciated the yen value through quantitative easing to activate the economy. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had implemented a stimulating policy called Abenomics, a policy t
Elon Musk, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla, the electronic car manufacturer, took over Twitter at $44 billion. The Board of Twitter agreed to sell the company to Musk for $54.2 per share, which is a 38% premium over the stock price on April 1st. Bret Taylor, Twitter’s independent Board Ch
When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last August, they vowed to respect women’s rights; however, recent acts have proven otherwise. Lately, the government has been introducing sexual discrimination policies and has been further putting Islamic orders forward through the Ministry for Pro
Concerns about the natural gas crisis have risen recently as Russia has mentioned “supply discontinuation” of the European natural gas supply. The value of Russia’s currency, the ruble, has dropped significantly since the invasion of Ukraine. Thus, Russia requested foreign countries to purchase natu
On February 15th, the case of an American woman who recovered from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was revealed: this is the third case in the world but the first woman to be cured. When the patient was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2017, she had a cord blood stem cell transplant f
On February 24th, Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an invasion into Ukraine to block Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Due to this invasion, Ukraine suffered the devastating damage of at least 57 deaths and 169 injuries on the first day of invasion alone. W
On January 16th, the first freight train departing from Sinuiju, North Korea, crossed the North Korea-China Friendship Bridge, arrived at Dandong Station in China, then returned to North Korea. Shortly thereafter, the second freight train, which departed on the following day, arrived at Dandong Stat
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading at an alarming rate. Despite Omicron being the most contagious variant yet, it appears to have relatively milder symptoms. As such, observers say that it could trigger a natural vaccine effect and build herd immunity against
On October 28th, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed a new logo and name for Facebook, “Meta”, with the wish of creating a metaverse environment that allows people to communicate both in reality and virtually. A metaverse is a compound word using meta and universe, having the meaning of v
The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on November 1st. Most countries proposed the amount of carbon emission goals and set a target of Net-zero. According to the Paris Climate Change Accord, countries all around the world should
On September 23rd, the United States (US) White House and the Department of Commerce convened the 3rd semiconductor-related meeting, and controversy arose as the contents of the meeting were revealed to have requested disclosure of the company’s internal trade secrets. In the meeting, automobile man
On September 24th, a steel processing company in Liaoning Province in China was shut down due to a sudden blackout, and 23 employees were exposed to toxic gas. The blackout was caused by a serious power shortage in China nationwide, and the problems were especially severe in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and G
On September 22nd, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) announced that local governments distributed about 5,449 billion won for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency relief funds as of 2020 and the 1st half of 2021. As a result, the average independent rate of finance or munic
A growing number of wealthy countries are starting to offer a 3rd dose of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Hoping to curb the Delta variant, Israel, a country with one of the world’s highest infection rates per capita, began administering the booster shots to its elderly population o