Pop group BTS have been named the best-selling artists of 2020 by the IFPI, the organisation that represents the global recorded music industry. The accolade caps a stellar year for the Korean boyband, who released two chart-topping albums in 2020 – Map of the Soul: 7 and Be. The boyband beat Taylor Swift, who took the crown last year, into second place. They are the first non-Western act to win, and the first whose songs are not predominantly sung in English. The award is calculated according to an artist or group’s worldwide sales, downloads and streams, covering their whole body … Continue reading BTS named world’s best-selling artists of 2020

According to new economic data, China dethroned the US as Europe’s top trade partner in 2020, likely buoyed by strong demand in China for European goods, and Chinese medical products in Europe. The European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, said trade between the 27-country bloc and the rest of the world was down across the board in the first quarter of last year because of the pandemic. Between Jan. and Dec. 2020, euro area goods exports fell 9.2% year-on-year, while imports fell 10.8% compared with the same period in 2019. European trade appears to be slowly recovering. In Dec. 2020, euro area goods … Continue reading China dethroned the US as Europe’s top trade partner in 2020

Joe Biden has been sworn in as president of the United States, pledging to unite a deeply divided nation reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Raising his right hand and placing his left on a Bible, Biden took the oath of office on Wednesday during a scaled-down inauguration due to the coronavirus, which has killed more than 400,000 people in the US. “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts,” Biden said in his first address as president. “This is … Continue reading A New Dawn: Joe Biden sworn in as US president

Singapore has given regulatory approval for the world’s first “clean meat” that does not come from slaughtered animals, the decision paves the way for San Francisco-based startup Eat Just to sell lab-grown chicken meat. The meat will initially be used in nuggets, but the company hasn’t said when they will become available, demand for alternatives to regular meat has surged due to consumer concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment. According to Barclays, the market for meat alternatives could be worth $140bn (£104bn) within the next decade, or about 10% of the $1.4tn global meat industry. Plant-based meat options … Continue reading Singapore approves lab-grown ‘chicken’ meat

Israeli scientists say they have managed to not only successfully stop the biological ageing process but to reverse it, using only oxygen, the study, a collaboration between Tel Aviv University and the Shamir Medical Center, administered high-pressure oxygen in a pressurized chamber and said it reversed two processes relating to ageing and illness. Using hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) on ageing healthy adults, the researchers found the shortening of telomeres (chromosome ends) and the accumulation of old and malfunctioning cells in the body could be reversed. That is, the adults’ blood cells actually grow younger as the treatments progress, some 35 adults … Continue reading Israeli scientists claim to stop and reverse the ageing process

New Zealand has voted to legalize euthanasia in what campaigners call “a victory for compassion and kindness”. Preliminary referendum results showed 65.2% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force as a new law, it will allow terminally ill people, with less than six months to live, the opportunity to choose assisted dying if approved by two doctors, for it’s opponents the law lacks adequate safeguards. The results announced on Friday do not include an estimated 480,000 special votes, including overseas ballots, so the final outcome will not be confirmed until 6 November, but with … Continue reading Assisted dying to be legal in New Zealand for terminally ill people

The appointment of Nigeria’s ex-finance minister to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been thrown into doubt after the US opposed the move. On Wednesday, a WTO nominations committee recommended the group’s 164 members appoint Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, she would be the first woman and first African to lead the WTO, but the US, critical of the WTO’s handling of global trade, wants another woman, South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee, saying she could reform the body. Ms Okonjo-Iweala said she was “immensely humbled” to be nominated, but the four-month selection process to find the next WTO director-general hit a road block … Continue reading US tries to block Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who would be first African WTO head

President Xi Jinping warned on Friday that China was not afraid of war and would never allow its sovereignty, security and development interests to be undermined, in a muscular speech to mark 70 years since Chinese troops entered the Korean War, any act of unilateralism, monopolism and bullying would not work and would only lead to a dead end, Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, which took place amid rising tensions with the United States. “Let the world know that ‘the people of China are now organised and are not to be … Continue reading Xi says China not afraid of war in speech to mark Korean War

Prosecutors in Taiwan have charged the captain of a fishing boat with ordering the killing of four suspected Somali pirates eight years ago, the four were shot dead in the Indian Ocean in September 2012. The killings came to light after mobile phone footage of the incident was posted online. Prosecutors say the suspect, a Chinese national, admitted ordering the killings while captaining the Taiwanese vessel, the suspect said the alleged Somali pirates shot at his boat and three other boats fishing in the area, before one of the fishing boats managed to knock the men into the sea. Despite … Continue reading Taiwan charges Chinese captain over killing of Somali pirates

The UN World Food Programme has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 for its “efforts to combat hunger”. The Nobel committee on Friday announced the winner of what many consider to be the world’s most prestigious prize, after heightened infringements on press freedom in several countries, groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders were pegged as strong contenders to win the prize. Some also thought the committee might have chosen to highlight an individual or organization that is prominent in fighting climate chang, bookies’ favourite to win the prize was the World Health Organization (WHO), … Continue reading World Food Programme wins Nobel Peace Prize 2020 for efforts to combat hunger

The 2020 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has been jointly awarded to the group of scientists who discovered the Hepatitis C virus. Three researchers, Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M Rice, were revealed on Monday as this year’s laureates for the medical breakthrough touted as saving millions of lives. In a statement, the Nobel Assembly said the isolation of Hepatitis C had marked a “landmark achievement in the ongoing battle against viral diseases” and had resulted in the creation of specific testing regimen and cures to essentially eliminate the illness around the world. This year’s prize comes … Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: Nobel Prize in medicine goes to scientists who discovered the Hepatitis C virus

The richest person is China is a bottled water tycoon, knocking Alibaba founder Jack Ma from his mantle. Zhong Shanshan founded Nongfu Spring in 1996 in the Zhejiang province on China’s Eastern coast. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index now puts Mr Shanshan in top spot with wealth of $58.7bn (£46.2bn). The recent stock market listing of his bottled water firm and a controlling stake in a vaccine maker have helped boost his fortunes. Nicknamed the “Lone Wolf”, Mr Zhong is now Asia’s second-richest person behind India’s Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire behind Reliance Industries. Mr Zhong now ranks 17th overall on its … Continue reading China’s new richest person is a bottled water tycoon