HONG KONG (AP) -- Hong Kong police rejected an application Monday by organizers for an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary this week of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as residents rushed to apply for passports that could allow them to move to the United Kingdom It would be the first time in 30 years that the vigil, which draws a huge crowd to an outdoor space, is not held in Hong Kong. The vigil commemorates China's deadly military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters

　Spending on video games in the US jumped to a new April record as locked-down consumers sought refuge in playing games, industry figures showed. 　A total of $1.5 billion was spent on video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards, eclipsing a previous April high of $1.2 billion spent in the US in 2008, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. 　April was the first full month of tight restrictions on people’s movements in the US to prevent the spread of the deadly novel cor

In the midst of COVID-19 crisis, a statue standing in front of the Korean Cultural Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, displayed a four-minute-long video clip on Tuesday, conveying a message of hope to Brazilians. Under the “Cheer-up!” theme, the statue, also known as the Greeting Man, presented the course of a journey that opens up with the departure from Korea and concludes with the arrival at Brazil, by using 2D and 3D digital technologies. The Greeting Man features a visual mapping

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters who gathered Sunday against a controversial security law proposed by China, in the most intense clashes for months. As the demonstrators and police were facing off in the semi-autonomous financial hub, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi insisted in Beijing that the proposed law must be imposed "without the slightest delay". The planned legislation -- expected to ban treason, su

BEIJING (AFP) -- The United States is pushing relations with China to "the brink of a new Cold War", China's foreign minister said Sunday, rejecting Washington's "lies" over the coronavirus while saying Beijing was open to an international effort to find its source. Keeping up the worsening war of words with Washington over the pandemic and a Beijing move to tighten control over Hong Kong, Wang Yi said the United States had been infected by a "political virus" com

North Korea is estimated to have spent $620 million on its nuclear weapons program last year, an international anti-nuclear weapons group said. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, made the estimate in a report about the expenditures that nine countries, including the North, made on nuclear development. The figure was drawn based on a South Korean think tank’s estimate that the North spent 35 percent of its gross national incom

Author: Gregory Pence Homepage: www.soundstagecomics.com Twitter: @sixpencenow

BERLIN (AFP) -- From anger over lockdown measures to a purported vaccine plan by Bill Gates: a growing wave of demonstrations in Germany by conspiracy theorists, extremists and anti-vaxxers has alarmed even Chancellor Angela Merkel. Initially starting as a handful of protesters decrying tough restrictions on public life to halt transmission of the coronavirus, the protests have swelled in recent weeks to gatherings of thousands in major German cities. Thousands are set to mass again in S

As the coronavirus leaves colleges holding "virtual graduation" events online, many schools are recruiting famous figures to deliver speeches over their laptops instead of the lectern. This year's college graduates won't get to take their triumphant walk across the stage. They won't get to toss their caps amid a sea of classmates. Instead, they have to settle for online ceremonies while their diplomas are mailed home. But at least one aspect of the traditional graduation ceremo

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump threatened to cut ties with China over its role in the spread of the coronavirus, as the global death toll from the disease topped 300,000. Despite fears of a second wave of infections, national and local governments around the world are easing lockdown orders as they try to get stalled economies moving again. But there were warnings Friday that some of the world's poorest people remain the most vulnerable, with predictions that a quarter of a bi

LONDON (AFP) -- The deadly coronavirus pandemic will cost the global insurance industry about $203 billion (188 billion euros), Lloyd's of London insurance market forecast on Thursday. Lloyd's said it had examined underwriting losses and reductions in the value of investments that companies hold to fund future claim payments. Lloyd's itself expects to pay out up to $4.3 billion on coronavirus claims, putting the cost on a similar magnitude to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. "The

THE HAGUE (AFP) -- A vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be ready in a year's time under an "optimistic" scenario, based on trials that are underway, the European Medicines Agency said Thursday. The Amsterdam-based EU agency also played down fears expressed by the WHO that the virus might never go away, saying it would be "surprised" if a vaccine was not found eventually. "We can see the possibility if everything goes as planned that some of them (vaccines) could