[Graphic News] List of world leaders who have visited Ukraine

　Japan’s Fumio Kishida met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on March 21 during a rare, unannounced visit by the Japanese leader that underscored Tokyo’s emphatic support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion. 　The Japanese prime minister had been the only leader of the Group of Seven rich nations yet to visit Ukraine, which has seen an outpouring of popular support in Japan following the Russian invasion. 　On Feb. 20, US President Joe Biden also swept unann

March 24, 2023

[Graphic News] Hate crimes in US surged 11.6% in 2021, fueled by racial, ethnic bias

Hate crimes in the United States surged 11.6 percent in 2021, with the largest number motivated by bias against Black people, followed by crimes targeting victims for ethnicity, sexuality and religion, the FBI said in a report. The FBI said reported hate crime incidents rose to 9,065 in 2021 from 8,120 in 2020. The bureau said 64.5 percent of hate crime victims in 2021 were targeted because of their race, ethnicity or ancestry bias, while 15.9 percent were targeted because of sexual-orientation

March 22, 2023

‘I’M BACK!’: Trump returns to Facebook after reinstatement

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has returned to Facebook after a more than two-year ban. “I’M BACK!” Trump posted on the site weeks after his personal account was reactivated. Trump, who is running his third campaign for the White House, also shared an old video clip in which he said: “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business.” He posted the same clip on YouTube, which announced Friday that it, too, was welcoming him back. Facebook parent Met

March 18, 2023

International court issues war crimes warrant for Putin

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court said Friday that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The ICC said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (c

March 18, 2023

Lance Reddick, ‘The Wire’ and ‘John Wick’ star, dies at 60

Lance Reddick, a character actor who specialized in intense, icy and possibly sinister authority figures on TV and film, including “The Wire,” “Fringe” and the “John Wick” franchise, has died. He was 60. Reddick died “suddenly” Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. No further details were provided. Wendell Pierce, Reddick’s co-star on “The Wire” paid tribute on Twitt

March 18, 2023

[Graphic News] Major rail accidents since 2013

At least 57 people were killed after a collision between two trains caused a derailment near the Greek city of Larissa on Feb. 28. The passenger train, carrying more than 350 people, had been traveling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki. A stationmaster was charged with negligent homicide and jailed pending trial, while the prime minister apologized for any responsibility Greece's government may bear for the tragedy. Here are the world's worst train disasters:

March 8, 2023

[Graphic News] 7.2% adults in US identify as LGBTQ: poll

　A total of 7.2 percent of adults in the United States identified as LGBTQ in 2022 a Gallup poll shows. 　While that’s just a small increase from 2021 numbers - 7.1 percent - the 2022 Gallup data reflects an overall upward trend. In 2012, when the analytics giant began measuring LGBTQ identification, only about 3.5 percent of adults self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or something other than heterosexual and cisgender (meaning they identify with the sex they were

March 7, 2023

[Newsmaker] Rescuers comb wreckage of Greece’s deadliest train crash

TEMPE, Greece -- Rescuers searched late into the night Wednesday for survivors amid the mangled, burned-out wrecks of two trains that collided in northern Greece, killing at least 43 people and crumpling carriages into twisted steel knots in the country’s deadliest rail crash. The impact just before midnight Tuesday threw some passengers into ceilings and out the windows. “My head hit the roof of the carriage with the jolt,” Stefanos Gogakos, who was in a rear car, told state b

March 2, 2023

What Ukraine needs to learn from Afghanistan

By Jeffrey D. Sachs The greatest enemy of economic development is war. If the world slips further into global conflict, our economic hopes and our very survival could go up in flames. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists just moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to a mere 90 seconds to midnight. The world’s biggest economic loser in 2022 was Ukraine, where the economy collapsed by 35 percent according to the International Monetary Fund. The war in Ukraine could end soon, and economic recover

Feb. 28, 2023

[Graphic News] Record number of Americans dissatisfied with gun laws: poll

　Americans’ dissatisfaction with gun laws has reached an all-time high according to a Gallup poll, after the country averaged nearly two mass shootings a day in 2022. 　Sixty-three percent of Americans are now unhappy with the nation’s gun policies, the highest in Gallup’s 23-year trend, and an increase of 7 percentage points over the last year. Gun policy satisfaction has dropped to just 34 percent. 　Unsurprisingly, the level of satisfaction largely reflected political party

Feb. 28, 2023

[Graphic News] S. Korea ranks 31st in corruption index

South Korea came in 31st in a key international transparency index assessing corruption levels of countries in 2022, up a notch from a year earlier, a nongovernmental organization said. South Korea scored 63 in the 2022 Corruption Perception Index, ranking No. 31 among the 180 nations assessed, according to Transparency International, who compiled the index. The annual index ranks countries on a 100-point scale by levels of public sector corruption, as defined by the abuse of entrusted power for

Feb. 27, 2023

[Graphic News] Ukraine aid support softens in US: poll

　Support among the American public for providing Ukraine weaponry and direct economic assistance has softened as the Russian invasion nears a grim one-year milestone, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 　Forty-eight percent say they favor the US providing weapons to Ukraine, with 29 percent opposed and 22 percent saying they’re neither in favor nor opposed. In May 2022, less than three months into the war, 60 percent of US adults sai

Feb. 23, 2023

Japan aborts launch of new rocket carrying missile sensor

Japan's space agency aborted the inaugural launch of its next-generation H3 rocket on Friday after the auxiliary booster engines failed to ignite, officials said. The main engine of the rocket, which is carrying an observation satellite and an experimental sensor to detect missile launches, had already ignited when the launch was halted, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said. “I know many people were waiting for and looking forward to this day. I'm so sorry. We also feel ex

Feb. 17, 2023

[Graphic News] Most Americans think Biden should not run for reelection in 2024

The public continues to be largely opposed to President Joe Biden seeking reelection, including most Democrats. Few adults have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to handle various aspects of his job, including managing government spending, accomplishing policy goals, or working effectively with either Congressional Republicans or Democrats. In January 2022, 48 percent of Democrats wanted the president to run for a second term, and in October, 52 percent of them said Biden shoul

Feb. 17, 2023

[Newsmaker] 'Someone else' could be running Twitter this year, says Musk

DUBAI--Twitter boss Elon Musk said Wednesday that a new CEO might be running the online platform by the end of 2023, after a "rollercoaster" since he took full ownership last year. "I'm guessing probably towards the end of this year should be good timing to find someone else to run the company," he told the World Government Summit conference in Dubai via video. "I need to stabilise the organisation and make sure it's in a healthy place and that the product roadmap is cle

Feb. 15, 2023

[Newsmaker] Turkey, Syria quake toll rises, cold compounds misery

ANTAKYA, Turkey -- Freezing temperatures deepened the misery Thursday for survivors of a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed at least 15,000 people, as rescuers raced to save countless people still trapped under rubble. The death toll from Monday's 7.8 magnitude quake is expected to rise sharply as rescue efforts near the 72-hour mark that disaster experts consider the most likely period to save lives. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday conceded "shortco

Feb. 9, 2023

[Graphic News] World’s deadliest earthquakes since 2000

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 8,000 people. Here is a list of some of the world’s deadliest earthquakes since 2000:

Feb. 9, 2023

[Newsmaker] Fears grow for untold numbers buried by Turkey earthquake

NURDAGI, Turkey -- Rescuers raced against time early Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble before they succumbed to cold weather two days after an earthquake tore through southern Turkey and war-ravaged northern Syria. The death toll climbed above 7,700 and was expected to rise further. The last two days have brought dramatic rescues, including small children emerging from mounds of debris more than 30 hours after Monday’s pre-dawn quake. But there was also widespread despair and gro

Feb. 8, 2023

[Newsmaker] Powerful quake topples homes in Turkey and Syria; toll rises

ANKARA, Turkey — A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southeast Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling buildings and sending panicked residents pouring outside in a cold winter night. At least 207 people were killed in both countries, hundreds were injured and the toll was expected to rise. Rescue workers and residents frantically searched for survivors under the rubble of crushed buildings in multiple cities on both sides of the border. In one quake-struck Turkish city, dozens pulled

Feb. 6, 2023

Suicide bomber kills 28, wounds 150 at mosque in NW Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber struck Monday inside a mosque within a police compound in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 28 people and wounding as many as 150 worshippers, most of them policemen, officials said. The bombing drew nationwide condemnation from opposition political parties and government officials. Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Peshawar is the capital, said there were fears the death toll could rise

Jan. 30, 2023