By Nectar Gan, CNN The ice rinks have been smoothed out, the brown mountain slopes draped with artificial snow. The Olympic flame has made its final journey to the heart of Beijing, lighting up the night sky. Defying a raging pandemic and months of international controversy, the 2022 Winter Olympics officially opened as scheduled in
Continue ReadingCNN By Simone McCarthy and Rhea Mogul, CNN India on Thursday announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing after a commander involved in 2020 border clashes between the two countries appeared as an Olympic torchbearer in the customary torch relay leading up to the Games. The last-minute boycott, which will see India’s
Continue ReadingBy Simone McCarthy and Rhea Mogul, CNN India on Thursday announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing after a commander involved in 2020 border clashes between the two countries appeared as an Olympic torchbearer in the customary torch relay leading up to the Games. The last-minute boycott, which will see India’s top
Continue ReadingBy Angela Dewan and Danya Gainor, CNN The highest glacier on the world’s tallest mountain is losing decades worth of ice every year because of human-induced climate change, a new study shows. The findings serve as a warning that rapid glacier melt at some of the Earth’s highest points could bring worsening climate impacts, including
Continue ReadingCNN, CNNBUSINESS By Simone McCarthy, CNN When China’s leader Xi Jinping opens the Beijing Olympics on Friday he will be flanked by leaders who are unlikely to quell the chorus of concerns these Games are bolstering an authoritarian regime. Of the just over 20 presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and royalty set to attend
Continue ReadingBy Ehsan Popalzai and Hande Atay Alam, CNN Afghanistan’s public universities opened on Wednesday with female students allowed back on campus for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year. The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials said women were permitted to
Continue ReadingCNN By Ehsan Popalzai and Hande Atay Alam, CNN Afghanistan’s public universities opened on Wednesday with female students allowed back on campus for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year. The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials said women were permitted
Continue ReadingBy Simone McCarthy, CNN When China’s leader Xi Jinping opens the Beijing Olympics on Friday he will be flanked by leaders who are unlikely to quell the chorus of concerns these Games are bolstering an authoritarian regime. Of the just over 20 presidents, prime ministers, heads of state and royalty set to attend the Opening
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan, CNN The Pacific island nation of Tonga has gone into lockdown after reporting its first community cases of Covid-19, weeks after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated parts of the archipelago. Two positive cases were discovered among front line workers at a port in the capital Nuku’alofa, where aid continues to
Continue ReadingBy Katie Hunt, CNN Flowers discovered perfectly preserved in globs of amber bloomed at the feet of dinosaurs, suggesting that some flowering plants in South Africa today have remained unchanged for 99 million years, a new study reveals. The two flowers once bloomed in what is now Myanmar and may shed light on how flowering
Continue ReadingBy Gawon Bae and Jessie Yeung, CNN Jimin, a member of South Korean supergroup BTS, tested positive for Covid-19 and underwent surgery for acute appendicitis, his management agency said Monday. The singer and dancer, whose full name is Park Ji-min, went to the emergency room on Sunday after experiencing “sudden abdominal pain along with a
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan, CNN After one year of military rule in Myanmar, millions of people are resisting a return to repression and isolation. Last February, military leader Min Aung Hlaing seized control of Myanmar in a coup that upturned any hope the country of 55 million people would become a functioning democracy under former leader
Continue ReadingCNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the life of Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand. Personal Birth date: July 26, 1980 Birth place: Hamilton, New Zealand Birth name: Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern Father: Ross Ardern, police officer Mother: Laurell Ardern, school cook Children: with Clarke Gayford: Neve Te Aroha Education: Waikato University,
Continue ReadingBy Akanksha Sharma, CNN New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has entered self-isolation until Tuesday after being deemed a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case. “The exposure event took place on Saturday 22 January during flight NZ8273 from Kerikeri to Auckland,” the New Zealand government said in a press release Saturday. The statement added
Continue ReadingBy Brad Lendon, Gawon Bae, Junko Ogura and Barbara Starr, CNN North Korea fired what is presumed to be its longest range ballistic missile since 2017 on Sunday, an escalation of its weapons program and a possible sign of larger tests to come, according to South Korea’s President. Both the South Korean and Japanese governments
Continue ReadingBy David Culver and CNN staff China has touted its newly completed Olympic ski venue as an example of its commitment to making the Beijing Games the greenest and cleanest in history. But there’s just one problem — it was built in the middle of a nature reserve. Chinese organizers say the National Alpine Ski
Continue ReadingCNN By Lianne Kolirin, Nectar Gan and Tom Booth, CNN Winter Olympians are accustomed to performing their awe-inspiring feats against the backdrop of spectacular snow-capped mountains. But Beijing’s Big Air Shougang Olympic venue is drawing attention for its much edgier, urban setting. Behind the skiers launching themselves off the 60-meter-high (196-foot) ramp are furnaces, tall
Continue ReadingBy Reuters China and the United States could end up in a military conflict if the United States encourages Taiwan’s independence, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington said in a US radio interview broadcast on Friday. China considers the neighboring, democratically ruled island of Taiwan its “sacred” territory and has never renounced the use of force to
Continue ReadingBy Brad Lendon, CNN Images have emerged of a US Navy F-35C stealth fighter crashing into the South China Sea earlier this week. The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday, the Navy said. The
Continue ReadingCNN By Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea fired what are presumed to be two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday — a move believed to be its sixth missile test this month, the South Korean military said. The two projectiles were launched from
Continue Reading