World last 7 days - featured news

1. Positive signs on the Korean Peninsula

Scene of the North Korea-South Korea expert-level talks on the morning of January 15. Photo: Yonhap

After more than a year of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, high-level talks between North and South Korea finally took place in a positive atmosphere. At the end of the second meeting at the Peace House in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the two sides agreed to keep in touch to discuss another round of talks.

In addition, North Korea will also participate in the Winter Olympics in South Korea next February. And the Winter Olympics, a symbol of peace, is the best opportunity for the two countries to express their goodwill for dialogue.

2.Shocking America: 13 children chained, imprisoned and starved in their home by their parents

The children were starved and abused by Mr. and Mrs. Turpin.

According to information obtained from the Daily Mail, the couple David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin from Perris, California, USA were arrested by the police for threatening and torturing children.

According to the police investigation, a total of 13 victims ranging in age from 2 to 29 were discovered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. David Allen Turpin and Mrs. Louise Anna Turpi. It is known that all the victims found in a state of severe malnutrition and chained to the bed at the scene were the biological children of this couple.

President Trump's immigration ban policy targeting Muslim countries has met with fierce opposition from the American people as well as around the world, causing a wave of strong protests. Photo: WBUR

Last week, Mr. Trump's comments about immigrants from Africa sparked a heated debate in the United States and around the world on the topic: Is the US President a racist?

In a statement, the UN said it was difficult to describe Trump's comments as anything other than 'racist'. The Vatican said Trump's language was "extremely vulgar and offensive". UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said Trump was going against "common global values".

After an emergency meeting at the United Nations on Trump's comments, 54 African countries unanimously asked the White House boss to "retract his comments and apologize". They also sent thanks to all the Americans who condemned the comments.

4.US government shuts down over budget failure

US Capitol Building. Photo: Reuters

The US Senate on the night of January 19 (noon January 20 Vietnam time) failed to pass the budget bill, causing the US government to shut down.

According toReutersThe budget bill received just 50 votes out of 100 — fewer than the 10 needed to pass the Senate. Most Democrats opposed the bill.

Last-minute efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer failed to produce the desired results. The US government “technically” shut down at midnight on November 19.

5.Putin receives more than 1.5 million signatures in support of presidential run

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Tass.

"We have collected 1,503,781 voter signatures" in the past two weeks,Tassquoted Sergei Kogogin, co-chairman of President Vladimir Putin's election campaign, as saying on January 19. "We have five times more signatures in support than we needed. It shows broad support."

Mr. Kogogin said that the above signatures were collected in 76 regions of Russia and that 40% of the total signatures had been checked. The group decided to stop collecting on January 22.

According to Kogogin, “there were some unacceptable cases” that occurred during the collection process. “We removed those signatures,” he said, thanking the volunteers for their assistance.

6.Strongest storm in 11 years hits Western Europe

Many large trees were uprooted in the storm in Germany. Photo: BBC

Storm Friederike with winds of more than 100 km/h made landfall in Germany and the Netherlands on the night of January 18, flattening many buildings.CNNreport

High winds from the storm knocked people off their feet. At least six Germans died in the storm, including two firefighters. A 68-year-old driver died when his car was blown off the road, police said.

According to Germany's weather agency DWD, it is "one of the strongest storms" since Typhoon Kyrill hit the country 11 years ago.

7.Tragic traffic accidents in India and Türkiye

Accident scene. Photo: Reuters

On January 20, at least 7 people were killed and 20 others were injured in a serious traffic accident in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

Seven people died at the scene of the accident. The other injured victims were taken to hospital for treatment, of whom at least nine were seriously injured.

On the morning of the same day (November 20), a bus accident occurred in Western Türkiye, killing 11 people and injuring 46 others. Most of the passengers were members of many families going skiing for the weekend.