Washington (AFP) Dec 28, 2020 President Donald Trump has signed a law that authorizes US sanctions on Chinese officials if they interfere in Tibetan Buddhists’ selection of the next Dalai Lama. Congress overwhelmingly approved the Tibetan Policy and Support Act amid growing concern that Beijing will seek to handpick a successor to the 85-year-old spiritual leader, hoping the movement for greater freedoms in the Chinese-rhttp://dlvr.it/RpbCmj Continue reading US authorizes sanctions for China Dalai Lama meddling

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is making good on a resolution to strengthen its enforcement of security deficiencies occurring in e-commerce transactions. The agency’s recent action involving allegations of improper activities by teleconferencing provider Zoom Video Communications is a notable example.http://dlvr.it/RpYNx1 Continue reading FTC’s Zoom Deal Signals Commitment to Security Enforcement

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 24, 2020 The origins of the Caribbean’s first islanders can be traced to two distinct groups, thousands of years apart, suggesting the archipelago was settled by highly mobile people, with distant relatives often living on different islands, a study published Thursday by Nature found. The islands’ first inhabitants, a group of stone tool-users, boated to Cuba about 6,000 years ago, gradually … Continue reading Researchers use DNA to track original settlers of Caribbean islands

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 23, 2020 Across a given landscape or ecosystem, mammals with big brains are less abundant than those with smaller brains, new analysis suggests. As a result, populations of bigger-brained mammals tend to be sparser. The findings, published this week in the Journal of Animal Ecology, may explain why the densities of mammal populations, including populations of mice, monkeys, kangaroos and foxes,http://dlvr.it/RpPY5j Continue reading Big-brained mammals tend to be less abundant than their smaller-brained peers

Beijing (AFP) Dec 23, 2020 More than half of adults in China are now overweight, official figures showed Wednesday, with increasingly sedentary lifestyles among the country’s growing middle class translating to expanding waistlines. China has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades that has profoundly changed eating habits – massively popular online delivery apps make cheap, calorie-rich meals available thttp://dlvr.it/RpPY3l Continue reading Over half of Chinese adults now overweight: official

Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 25, 2020 Hong Kong extended its compulsory quarantine to three weeks for almost all international travellers from Friday, saying the measure was needed to prevent new, more infectious, coronavirus variants from spreading. The government said expert advice suggested that the incubation period of the virus could be longer than 14 days in some people – so passengers will now have to … Continue reading Hong Kong imposes three-week hotel quarantine for visitors

Qaraqosh, Iraq (AFP) Dec 25, 2020 It wasn’t Santa on a sleigh, but it was close: just before dusk on Christmas Eve, a busload of volunteers pulled into the Iraqi Christian town of Qaraqosh to deliver holiday happiness. Under a pinkish sky, they disembarked from their charter bus with cardboard boxes full of Christmas cards, bearing hand-written messages from across Muslim-majority Iraq. “A special greeting … Continue reading Cards from across Iraq bring Christmas cheer to Christians

Beijing (AFP) Dec 25, 2020 Ten of 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists arrested as they tried to flee the territory by speedboat to Taiwan will face trial in mainland China on December 28, campaigners and family members said Friday. Relatives of the detainees have been told by Chinese government-appointed lawyers that a video hearing will take place Monday afternoon at Yantian District People’s Court in … Continue reading Hong Kong ‘speedboat fugitives’ to face trial next week in China

Washington (AFP) Dec 23, 2020 Carmelo Duncan was strapped into his car seat when he was hit by multiple stray bullets, becoming at just 15 months old one of the youngest shooting victims in the US this year – and a symbol of powerlessness in the face of gun violence. On December 2, he and his eight-year-old brother were in a car being driven by … Continue reading Lives cut short: the American children lost to stray bullets

Khartoum (AFP) Dec 22, 2020 A senior Sudanese army officer was the first to be questioned by a committee investigating a deadly crackdown last year on pro-democracy protesters, a source linked to the probe said Tuesday. “The first hearing of a member of the Transitional Military Council took place on Monday,” an associate of committee head Nabil Adib told AFP, without revealing the name of … Continue reading Sudan probes ‘first’ senior officer over deadly protest crackdown