Biden govt. announces potential $1.5 billion award to chipmaker GlobalFoundries

The US government announced a plan Monday to award roughly $1.5 billion to the New York-based chipmaker, GlobalFoundries, to strengthen domestic semiconductor production, drawing attention to its support plans for foreign firms like Samsung Electronics. The Joe Biden administration said that the Commerce Department and GF signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms to provide the proposed funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to support "significant capacity expansion" and t

Feb. 20, 2024

[Graphic News] S. Korea places 32nd in global corruption ranking

South Korea came in 32nd in an annual global corruption index, down a notch from a year earlier, Transparency International said, the first drop in seven years since an anti-graft law came into force in 2016. South Korea scored 63 out of 100 in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index that ranks countries by levels of public sector corruption based on expert assessments and surveys. A higher score and ranking indicate a lower assessed level of corruption. Among 51 Asia-Pacific countries, South Ko

Feb. 20, 2024

Kremlin says investigation into Navalny death ongoing

The Kremlin said Monday the investigation into the death of Alexei Navalny was ongoing as it slammed "vulgar statements" over the Kremlin's responsibility for his death. Russian authorities have so far refused to hand over the opposition leader's body to his relatives, enraging his followers who have accused the Kremlin of being "killers" trying to "cover their tracks." President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday an invest

Feb. 19, 2024

Death of Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny provokes Western outrage

As outrage over the death of chief Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny reverberates across the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning a deaf ear to Western anger as he prepares to extend his 24-year rule in an election next month and police across Russia continue to squelch any protest attempts. The US and its allies are pondering new sanctions against Russia over Navalny’s death and the Kremlin’s recent actions in Ukraine. But as US aid for Ukraine remains stuck in Congress and

Feb. 18, 2024

GOP-led House impeaches Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas over border management

The US House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the US-Mexico border after failing last week in a politically embarrassing setback. The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare Republican Party majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Mayorkas, the first Cabi

Feb. 14, 2024

[Graphic News] Meaning of Valentine’s Day rose colors

Shakespeare’s Juliet said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But what about the flower's color? Here’s what the roses you give this Valentine’s Day really mean according to the American Rose Society.

Feb. 14, 2024

State Dept. says NATO gives 'actual security' for US after Trump's controversial remarks

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization provides "actual security" for America, the State Department said Monday, amid a controversy over former President Donald Trump's recent suggestion that he would "encourage" Russia to attack NATO members if they fail to fulfill their spending obligations. Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, made the point as Trump's remarks raised concerns that the United States' security commitments to NATO and other allia

Feb. 13, 2024

White House touts trilateral cooperation with S. Korea, Japan as key feat in Indo-Pacific Strategy

A White House official on Monday highlighted strengthened trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan among key achievements of the Joe Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy unveiled two years ago. During a press briefing, John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, catalogued key examples of progress in the strategy that Washington rolled out to deepen engagement with the region, which it has cast as the "epicenter" of geopolitics i

Feb. 13, 2024

[Graphic News] Famous people born in Year of Dragon

The Lunar New Year begins on Feb 10. It will be the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is the 5th animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Dragon years include 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 and 2024. Those born in years of the dragon are said to be powerful, endlessly energetic and full of vitality, goal-oriented, yet idealistic and romantic, and visionary leaders. They know exactly who they are and possess the keenest sense of self among the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.

Feb. 9, 2024

Donald Trump wins Nevada’s Republican caucuses after being the only major candidate to participate

LAS VEGAS -- Former President Donald Trump won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses Thursday after he was the only major candidate to compete. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley skipped the caucuses, which are the only contest in Nevada that counts toward the GOP nomination. Haley cited what she considered an unfair process favoring Trump and instead ran in Nevada’s symbolic state-run presidential primary on Tuesday, when she finished behind the “none of these candidates&rdq

Feb. 9, 2024

Putin, in rare US interview, says Russia has no interest in wider war

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that aired on Thursday that Russia will fight for its interests "to the end" but has no interest in expanding its war in Ukraine to other countries such as Poland and Latvia. In his first interview with an American journalist since before Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, Putin said Western leaders had come to realize it was impossible inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and were wondering what to do next. &qu

Feb. 9, 2024

Biden will not face criminal charges for mishandling classified papers, says 'memory is fine'

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden will not face charges for knowingly taking classified documents when he left the vice presidency in 2017, according to a prosecutor's report released Thursday that will raise new problems for the Democrat as he seeks reelection. Special Counsel Robert Hur said he opted against bringing criminal charges following a 15-month investigation because Biden cooperated and would be difficult to convict, describing him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poo

Feb. 9, 2024

Bombings at Pakistani political offices kill at least 29 a day before parliamentary elections

Bombs ripped through two separate political offices in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than two dozen, officials said, the day before the country was set to elect a new parliament. The attacks in Baluchistan province -- home to a low-level insurgency and various militants groups -- raised concerns for the election in the troubled Western ally, where many voters are already disillusioned by political feuding and a seemingly intractable economic cri

Feb. 7, 2024

Ukraine lawmakers advance key mobilization bill

Ukraine's parliament tentatively backed a bill on Wednesday aimed at drafting more soldiers into the army, a deeply divisive proposal in a nation exhausted by fighting. Kyiv's military had for months been asking the government to draft more soldiers, to boost its dwindling ranks and reprieve its fatigued frontline troops. After refusing outright to debate the bill last month, 243 lawmakers approved the measure in its first reading on Wednesday. The process of making it law could ta

Feb. 7, 2024

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s military power 5th in world

South Korea ranked fifth in the world in terms of military strength, while North Korea stood at 36th, an annual military power index showed. South Korea had a firepower score of 0.1416 to rank fifth out of 145 countries, according to Global Firepower 2024. Its standing rose by one notch from a year earlier. The index is calculated based on more than 60 factors, with categories ranging from military might and financial standing to logistical capability and geography. The lower the index is, the s

Feb. 7, 2024

King Charles diagnosed with cancer

King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said on Monday, sparking a flood of support from around the world. Charles, who became king upon the death of his 96-year-old mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sept. 8, 2022, has generally enjoyed good health, barring injuries from polo and skiing. But the palace said that during his recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement "a separate issue of concern was noted." "Subsequent d

Feb. 6, 2024

Montenegro deports crypto fugitive Do Kwon's associate to S. Korea

Montenegrin authorities on Monday announced the deportation of the business partner of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon, after the pair were arrested at an airport in the Balkan country last year carrying fake passports. Police have not officially released the South Korean's name, only referring to him by his initials J.C.H., and saying he had been handed back to officials in his home country. "J.C.H. was handed over to the competent judicial and police authorities in South Korea to

Feb. 5, 2024

[Graphic News] China’s population decline continues

　China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy’s growth potential. 　The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.08 million, or 0.15 percent, to 1.41 billion in 2023. That was well above the population decline of 850,000 in 2022, which had been the first since

Feb. 5, 2024

President Joe Biden wins South Carolina’s Democratic primary as he gears up for his reelection bid

Joe Biden easily won South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Saturday, clinching a state he pushed to lead off his party’s nominating process after it revived his then-struggling White House bid four years ago. Biden on Saturday defeated the other long-shot Democrats on South Carolina’s ballot, including Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson. His reelection campaign invested heavily in driving up turnout in what it saw as a test drive of its efforts to mobi

Feb. 4, 2024

Ukraine says Russia refuses to turn over the bodies of military plane crash victims

Russia has refused Ukrainian requests to hand over the bodies of scores of prisoners of war whom the Kremlin claims were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Kyiv's forces, a Ukrainian intelligence official said. Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, in televised remarks late Thursday reaffirmed Kyiv's call for an international probe into the Jan. 24 crash inside Russia that would determine whether the Il-76 transport carried

Feb. 2, 2024