Snow storms hit Spain, Japan

People walk past trees fallen on a street during a heavy snowfall in the center of Madrid, Spain, on Saturday. A persistent blizzard blanketed large parts of Spain with an unusual amount of snow on Saturday, killing at least four people and leaving thousands trapped in cars or at train stations and airports that suspended all services. In Japan, 10 people died after parts of the country experienced between 1.2 meters and one meter of snow since Saturday.SD-Agencies

Johns Hopkins: Nearly 90m global COVID cases

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported on Saturday that there are nearly 90 million global COVID-19 cases.

The United States has more cases than any place else with almost 22 million infections. India comes in second with about half the infections of the United States — nearly 10.5 million cases.

With the virus surging in some U.S. states, President-elect Joe Biden said he believes in the rapid release of the COVID-19 vaccines so whoever wants it will have access to it.

Indonesian divers find parts of plane wreckage

Indonesian divers on Sunday located parts of the wreckage of a Boeing 737-500 at a depth of 23 meters in the Java Sea, a day after the aircraft with 62 people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta.

Earlier, rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the surface.

The break in the search for Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 came after sonar equipment on a navy ship detected a signal from the aircraft at a location that fit the coordinates from the last contact made by the pilots before the plane went missing on Saturday afternoon. It’s still unclear what caused the crash. There was no sign of survivors. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Flight 182 was delayed for an hour before it took off.

World leaders condemn violence at US Capitol

Government officials and leaders of international organizations have expressed shock at violent protests in the U.S. Capitol to support outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump, urging an immediate stop of violence, and a peaceful and lawful transfer of power.

United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was saddened by the violence and chaos in Washington on January 6 as U.S. Congress was counting elector votes for last year’s presidential election, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“In such circumstances, it is important that political leaders impress on their followers the need to refrain from violence, as well as to respect democratic processes and the rule of law,” said Dujarric.

US Congress certifies Biden win

Hours after hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken U.S. Congress on Thursday formally certified Joe Biden’s election victory.

Immediately afterward, the White House released a statement from Trump, in which he pledged an “orderly transition” when Biden is sworn into office January 20, although he repeated his claim that he won the November election.

Chinese student killed in Chicago shooting spree

A PH.D. student from China in his fourth year of study at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business was shot and killed on Saturday.

Fan Yiran tragically lost his life after being shot by an emotionally disturbed man who did not know the student. Born in China, the 30-year-old Fan came to the United States to pursue an academic career after briefly working in Beijing for JP Morgan First Capital.

When he began Booth’s Ph.D. program in financial economics in 2017, he had already earned master’s degrees in financial engineering from Cambridge University and in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago. (SD-Agencies)