January, 2017

• 21 January

  2 die in central China landslide

    BEIJING / AP At least two people were killed and 10 others are missing after a hotel in central China was buried in a landslide, the local government reported on Saturday. Crews were working to dig out those trapped in the Mirage Hotel that was struck by the disaster around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the government of Nanzhang county in ...

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• 21 January

  Gambian activists urge justice as longtime leader steps down

    BANJUL / AP As Gambia’s defeated authoritarian ruler prepares to leave the country, human rights activists demand that he be held accountable for alleged abuses. Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he will cede power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat that a regional military force would forcibly remove him. No date has been set for ...

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• 21 January

  Chinese express doubts about US relations under Trump

  

    BEIJING / AP People in Beijing expressed doubts on Saturday about President Donald Trump’s ability to steer the US economy and manage China-American relations, underscoring concerns over trade, Taiwan and other issues. While Trump didn’t mention China in his inaugural address on Friday, he referred often to the country during the campaign and upended diplomatic protocol after the election by ...

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• 21 January

  Europe’s nationalist leaders launch year of election hopes

  

    KOBLENZ / AP French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen declared on Saturday that 2017 will be the “year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe” as she joined fellow nationalist leaders in Germany at the beginning of a year of high-stakes national elections. Le Pen was joined by the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s Northern League ...

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• 21 January

  Erdogan advocates powerful presidency after key vote

    ISTANBUL / AP Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started campaigning for constitutional reforms that would greatly expand the powers of his office, hours after a vote in parliament cleared the way for a national referendum on the issue. Speaking in Istanbul on Saturday, he hailed the assembly’s early-morning decision and said “God willing the people will give the true ...

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• 21 January

  Cryptocurrency emerges as tool to block cyber attacks

  

    Bloomberg The US defense agency that helped invent the Internet is now looking at blockchain, the database technology behind the digital currency bitcoin, to help protect the networks its research made possible. The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, an R&D arm of the military, has funded several startups and technology companies, such as Guardtime Federal LLC, while others including ...

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• 21 January

  Robot cars to descend on 10 test sites in US

    Bloomberg Robot cars will be put through their paces by researchers and federal regulators at 10 test tracks designated by the US as official sites for validating the technology. In one of its last acts under the Obama administration, the Transportation Department picked two sites in California and one each in Michigan and seven other states as locations for ...

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• 21 January

  Samsung to blame Note 7 fiasco on irregular sized battery

  

    Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. will reveal on Monday that irregularly sized batteries made by an affiliate caused the overheating and fires that eventually forced the cessation of its Note 7 smartphone line, a person familiar with the matter said. The world’s largest smartphone maker is scheduled to announce the results of an investigation into the fires that forced it ...

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• 21 January

  Flabby heart keeps pumping with squeeze from robotic sleeve

  

    WASHINGTON / AP Scientists are developing a robotic sleeve that can encase a flabby diseased heart and gently squeeze to keep it pumping. So far it’s been tested only in animals, improving blood flow in pigs. But this “soft robotic” device mimics the natural movements of a beating heart, a strategy for next-generation treatments of deadly heart failure. The key: ...

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• 21 January

  Turkey’s Pegasus culls Boeings for leaner Neo as demand ebbs

  

    Bloomberg Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines is accelerating a shift to more fuel-efficient A320neo planes ordered from Airbus Group SE as a spate of terrorist attacks in the country hurts demand and curbs revenue. The low-cost carrier, owned by Istanbul-based private equity firm Esas Holding AS, will start selling older Boeing Co. 737 jets following Turkey’s worst year for tourism in ...

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