WORLD

Tokyo, Japan | Xinhua | Toyota Motor Corp. topped the rankings in global auto sales in 2021, accelerating past Germany’s Volkswagen AG for a second straight year, data from the Japanese automaker showed on Friday. According to the figures, Toyota Motor Corp.’s top ranking was supported by solid sales in China …

Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | If the United States were to impose more sanctions against Russia, the country would risk severing relations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “Regarding the threat of (new) sanctions, the Americans were told during the contacts of the presidents that the package …

COMMENT | HILARY APPEL & JENNIFER TAW |  Recent talks in Geneva between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the crisis over Ukraine achieved little. Russia asked for a written response to its demands, which include a halt to NATO enlargement. For now, Russian President Vladimir Putin might …

Kiev, Ukraine | Xinhua | Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that Kiev supports the U.S. response to Moscow’s proposal on security guarantees regarding Ukraine. “It (Ukraine’s position) has been taken into account, and the proposals that the United States will send to Russia in the part concerning Ukraine do …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a U.S. gun violence monitoring group, said the United States saw 44,868 gun-related deaths during incumbent President Joe Biden’s first year in office. The total number of murders, justifiable self-defense homicides and accidental homicides involving firearms were 20,783 in 2021, compared to …

London, UK | Xinhua | Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday defiantly fended off calls for his resignation ahead of the expected release of the findings of an official inquiry into parties that allegedly took place in Whitehall and Downing Street in the past two years in breach of the …

Berlin, Germany | Xinhua | German biotechnology company BioNTech and U.S. company Pfizer have started clinical trials of an Omicron-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate in healthy adults 18 through 55 years of age, the companies said on Tuesday. The trials would evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate, according …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated Tuesday that there is no intention in his administration or within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to send troops into Ukraine, but that Russia will face serious economic consequences if it invades the former Soviet republic. “We have no intention …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, announced Tuesday that she would run for reelection in this year’s midterm elections. “While we’ve made progress, much more needs to be done to improve people’s lives. Our democracy is at risk because the assault on the truth, …

United Nations | Xinhua | United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that military coups are not acceptable in the 21st century while speaking briefly about the military coup that occurred in the West African country of Burkina Faso the day before. “Democratic societies are a value that must be …