New Year’s Day is the biggest holiday in Japan’s calendar, but this year’s festivities have been subdued following record highs in new coronavirus cases nationwide and calls from the government to stay home. Japan’s Emperor Naruhito appealed to the public to work together through the pandemic in a videotaped New Year’s Day address to the nation released on Friday.
Read moreA new era has begun for the United Kingdom after it completed its formal separation from the European Union. The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 GMT, as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK had “freedom in our hands” and the ability to
Read moreAustralia amended its national anthem to remove reference to the country being “young and free” amid calls to recognise that its Indigenous people are the oldest continued civilization in the world. The change to “for we are one and free” took effect on Friday. “We live in a timeless land of ancient First Nations peoples, and we draw
Read moreA statement issued by the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Health said Friday Jordan has recorded 17 new COVID-19 related deaths and 1,271 cases across the Kingdom. The new cases were: 507 in Irbid, including 42 in Ramtha district, 441 in Amman, 62 in Zarqa, 58 in Mafraq, 43 in Balqaa, 37 in Karak, 36 in Jerash, 32
Read moreThe New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is starting the process of delisting securities of three Chinese telecom companies, after U.S. President Donald Trump last month barred U.S. investments in Chinese firms Washington says are owned or controlled by the military. It’s “a modest step, but at least an awakening to national security and human rights-related risk”, said Roger Robinson,
Read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Friday overrode his veto for the first time in his nearly four years in office, pushing through a bill on defense spending against his strong objections 20 days before he leaves office. Meeting in a rare New Year’s Day session, the Senate voted 81-13 to achieve the two-thirds
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