The World News In A Flash

Some Headlines Making The Buzz Around The World:

The Wall Street Journal: 

■ Biden Promotes Plan Aimed at Tackling Meat Prices.

The Biden administration on Monday outlined tighter regulations for U.S. meatpackers, accusing the industry of inflating Americans’ food bills, as meat companies say they are experiencing persistent supply chain problems and labor shortages as the economy recovers from the pandemic.

■ The Elizabeth Holmes Verdict: Theranos Founder Is Guilty on Four of 11 Charges in Fraud Trial.

Jury’s mixed verdict caps downfall for former startup CEO who claimed to revolutionize the blood-testing industry.

SAN JOSE, Calif.— A federal jury convicted Elizabeth Holmes, the startup founder who claimed to revolutionize blood testing, on four of 11 charges that she conducted a yearslong fraud scheme against investors while running Theranos Inc., which ended up as one of Silicon Valley’s most notorious implosions.

■ Apple Briefly Tops $3 Trillion Market Cap.

The iPhone maker’s shares closed below the milestone after a 41% jump since the beginning of 2021.

■ Fanatics Pried Baseball Cards from Topps. Now Fanatics is Buying Topps.The new Fanatics company, valued last year at over $10 billion, accelerated its launch with the $500 million purchase of the company synonymous with baseball cards for decades.

■ Hong Kong No 2 official slams Wall Street Journal editorial on Stand News crackdown, accusing it of ‘new levels of nastiness.’

> John Lee expresses anger over piece titled ‘No One is Safe in Hong Kong’, centred on arrests of news portal’s employees and further charges against Apple Daily ex-staff.

> Chief secretary’s complaint letter is latest of its kind penned by city officials against foreign media outlets.

■ Tesla Opens Showroom in China’s Xinjiang, Region at Center of U.S. Genocide Allegations. 

Maker of electric cars risks wading into a human-rights dispute that has entangled Western companies.

■ Facebook Removes Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Post a Day After Her Twitter SuspensionGeorgia Republican’s post.

■ Sudan’s Prime Minister Resigns as Political Crisis Worsens.

> Abdalla Hamdok said political fragmentation and conflicts between civilians and the military over power sharing were behind his resignation.

■ China Is Haunted by Its One-Child Policy as It Tries to Encourage Couples to Conceive.

> The country expands fertility services as decades of birth restrictions mean fewer women of childbearing age and a younger generation less eager to start a family.

■ Man Who Crossed DMZ Into North Korea Is a Previous Defector.

A series of border breaches in recent years have raised criticism in South Korea over the penetrability of the heavily fortified demilitarized zone.

■ Turkey’s Erdogan Says He Will Visit Saudi Arabia in February.

A once-unimaginable meeting with the Saudi crown prince would signal detente in a rift that has divided the Middle East for years.

■ Turkey’s Inflation Rate Nears 20-Year High as Lira Crisis Continues.

> Inflation rate is the highest in nearly two decades and threatens to further destabilize the economy.

BBC:

■ Elizabeth Holmes: Theranos founder convicted of fraud.

> Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been convicted of defrauding investors after a months-long landmark trial in California.

■ Bee farming: Police stung as beekeepers protest in Chile.

 >Four beekeepers have been detained in Chile following a protest calling for government support for their industry.

> The beekeepers held a demonstration outside the presidential palace in the capital, Santiago.

> Seven police officers were stung as they tried to remove beehives placed by the protesters to block a main thoroughfare.

■ China: Xi'an residents in lockdown trade for food amid shortage.

>Some residents under quarantine in the Chinese city of Xi'an have resorted to bartering supplies in recent days, as worries of food shortages continue.

■ Hong Kong: Activist gets 15-month jail term for Tiananmen vigil.

> Pro-democracy Hong Kong activist Chow Hang Tung has been jailed for 15 months for organising a vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

■ Elon Musk: Tesla criticised after opening Xinjiang showroom.

■ Top US phone firms agree delay of 5G rollout.

SkyNews:

■ Apple becomes world's first $3 trillion dollar company:

> The world's most valuable company is the first to reach the $3tn milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out for iPhones, MacBooks and other gadgets and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music.

■ New York's attorney general has issued subpoenas to Donald Trump and his two eldest children in connection with a civil probe into the former president's business practices and family company.

■Tesla criticised for opening showroom in China's Xinjiang region. 

> The move drew criticism in Washington at a time when the US has accused China of genocide against the region's Uyghur Muslims and has passed a law restricting imports from there.

■ Sudan's prime minister has announced his resignation from the country's military-controlled government following pro-democracy protests which left two dead.

> The country's planned transition to democracy following the ousting of Omar al Bashir in 2019 now seems imperilled following another coup last October.

CNN:

■ Elizabeth Holmes found guilty on four out of 11 federal charges.

■ China, US, UK, France and Russia pledge to avoid nuclear war.

■ Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre's 2009 settlement with Jeffrey Epstein released.

■ The latest on coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant.

> Countries around the world are bracing for more disruptions as students return to school amid rising Covid-19 case numbers.

> More than 100,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 in the US for the first time in nearly four months, data shows.

> The US FDA on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15.

■ Germany softens entry rules for UK travelers.

> Germany will now allow fully vaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom to enter the country without having to quarantine.

> The new travel rules are a result of Germany downgrading the UK to a "high-risk area." For the last few weeks it had been classified as a "virus variant area," with mandatory quarantine even for vaccinated travelers.

> Under the new rules, unvaccinated arrivals will still have to isolate and quarantine for at least five days.

■ Hong Kong tightens vaccine requirements in wake of first Omicron cluster.

■ Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest living person, turns 119.

Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest living person, turned 119 years old on Sunday, according to a Twitter post published by her great-granddaughter, Junko Tanaka.

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