Shipments of Apple Macs plunged during the first quarter of this year as the global personal computer market suffered due to tough economic conditions, a market research report said. Weak demand, excess inventory and a worsening macroeconomic climate contributed to a “precipitous drop in shipments of traditional PCs” in the first three months of this year, according to the report from IDC. PC shipments globally tallied 56.9 million, some 29 percent less than the same period a year ea

World Business April 26, 2023

India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people than its neighbor by the middle of this year, data released by the United Nations showed. India’s population by mid-year is estimated at 1.4286 billion, against 1.4257 billion for China - 2.9 million fewer - in the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population Report” for this year. The United States is a distant third, with an estimated population

World News April 25, 2023

Eight of the top 10 bestselling albums worldwide last year were K-pop albums, a global album sales chart showed. According to the Global Album Sales Chart 2022 released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, an organization that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide, albums by K-pop acts swept eight of the top 10 positions on the chart. The IFPI Global Album Sales Chart ranks the biggest albums of the year based on the number of units sold across all

K-pop April 21, 2023

Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell by 29.1 percent in 2022 as Russia’s full-scale invasion battered the economy, the state statistics service said. The final 2022 GDP figure was slightly better than the 30 percent drop previously forecast by the government. Russia’s economy contracted by 2.1 percent last year, shrinking less than expected despite sanctions imposed by European nations and the United States. Moscow’s February 2022 invasion has killed tens of thousands, u

World Business April 20, 2023

A total of 401 human rights activists were killed in 2022, and about half of the killings took place in Colombia, according to the Guardian. The UK daily quoted Front Line Defenders, a human rights group, and said Colombia’s 186 killings were followed by Ukraine (50), Mexico (45), Brazil (26) and Honduras (17) in that order. The figure of 401 deaths across 26 countries in 2022 was a jump from 358 deaths in 30 countries the previous year. Colombia saw more than three times the number of suc

World News April 19, 2023

The number of large and small forest fires in Korea has increased every year over the past decade. On April 11, A massive wildfire hit the northeastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, destroying about 70 homes and buildings, and burning woodland the size of 530 soccer fields. President Yoon Suk Yeol designated Gangneung a special disaster zone on April 12 after the eastern coastal city was ravaged. According to the Korea Forest Service, 441 forest fires have occurred nationwide this

Social Affairs April 18, 2023

Sales of smartphones in South Korea fell 6 percent last year from a year earlier, industry data showed. Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone maker, saw its smartphone sales decline 2 percent on-year in its home country in 2022, while sales of Apple’s iPhone inched down 0.4 percent from a year ago, market analyst firm Counterpoint Research said. Sales of others tumbled 71 percent on-year last year due to a base effect stemming from LG Electronics’ exit from the mo

Consumer April 17, 2023

　Investors are buying more gold as prices rise to an all-time high. 　According to the banking industry, gold bars sold at KB Kookmin, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup from April 3-6 stood at 2.49 billion won ($1.89 million). 　Gold bar sales at the four major banks increased from 1.98 billion won in January to 3.29 billion won in February and 3.95 billion won in March. 　Gold prices have risen as investors kept an eye on safe assets due to instability in global financial markets.

Market April 14, 2023

　The rates of murder and attempted murder in Russia increased last year for the first time in 20 years in what some analysts suggest is a knock-on effect of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant. 　The number of murders and attempted murder cases in Russia in 2022 was 7,628, up 4 percent from 7,332 in the previous year. 　The data showed a significant rise in murder rates in the Russian regions that border Ukraine. 　The number of c

World News April 13, 2023

Despite recent advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, Americans are growing increasingly wary of the safety of self-driving cars. AAA released the results of its annual automated vehicle survey, finding that nearly 70 percent of respondents were afraid of self-driving cars, while less than 10 percent fully trusted them. These numbers represent a significant shift from last year’s survey results, with the number of respondents fearful of self-driving cars spiking by 13 percentage po

World News April 12, 2023

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump has evenly divided Americans but appears to have boosted his chances of winning the Republican nomination for the 2024 election, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll was conducted between April 5-6, following the indictment of Trump by prosecutors in New York City on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The survey found that 49 percent of all Americans think it was right for prosecutors to pursue the indictment, the first

World News April 11, 2023

Lahore in Pakistan jumped more than 10 places to become the city with the worst air quality in the world in 2022, according to an annual global survey by a Swiss air purifier manufacturer. The report published by IQAir also said that Chad in central Africa had replaced Bangladesh as the country with the most polluted air last year. IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. Its annual survey is widely cited by researchers and

World News April 10, 2023

Debt held by South Korean salaried workers in their 20s jumped 15 percent on-year in 2021, much higher than the 7 percent growth on average for all salaried workers, data showed. Bank and nonbank loans extended to salaried workers in the country averaged 52.02 million won ($40,107) per person as of the end of 2021, up by 3.4 million won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It is the first time that salaried workers’ per capita debt surpassed 50 million won sinc

Social Affairs April 3, 2023

The American Kennel Club said registration data from 2022 revealed French bulldogs are now the most popular variety of purebred dogs in the US, ending the Labrador retriever’s 31-year reign. The AKC said Labrador retrievers have topped its yearly list of the most popular dog breeds in the United States for 31 consecutive years, but French bulldogs clinched the top spot for the first time. French bulldogs were the second most popular breed in 2021, and Labrador retrievers were booted down t

World News March 31, 2023

A 28-year-old woman shot dead three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, before police killed her. The incident is one of the latest mass shootings at US schools. In January, a first grader shot and killed his teacher in Virginia, and on March 22, two school administrators were shot dead during a Denver high school shooting.

World News March 30, 2023