Sears to close 109 Kmart stores

Announced this Thursday, Sears said it will close 109 Kmart stores and 41 Sears outlets. The company did not state how many workers would lose their jobs due to the store closures. The reason behind the decision to close the stores is because many have struggled with their financial performance, and they have kept them open in hopes that the store would ultimately improve. Sears CEO Eddie Lampert stressed that the only way to save the whole company would be for Sears to focus on it’s better performing stores. The company has also stated the workers at the closing stores will receive the opportunity to apply for positions at other Sears and Kmart stores in their area.

For more information: http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/05/investing/sears-kmart-closing-stores/index.html

Son of Osama Bin Laden on terror watch list

On Thursday, the State Department announced that Hamza Bin Laden, son of Osama Bin Laden, leader of the al Qaeda terror group, has been placed on the terror watch list. They noted that he has threatened terror attacks against the United States. The department said that, on August 15th, 2015, Hamza was officially announced by al Qaeda senior leader, Ayman al-Sawahiri, as part of the terror organization. Hamza Bin Laden has been named a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” which “imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or a pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States,” said the State Department.

For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/osama-bin-laden-son-terror-watch-list/index.html

South Korea speeds up Kim Jong Un ‘decapitation unit’

South Korea is quickly beginning to set up what some call a “decapitation unit”, a brigade specifically tasked to target North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and their “wartime command”. The unit will be activated in the “event of war,” said a South Korean Defense Ministry official. South Korea and North Korea are still at war; they signed an armistice in 1953 but not a treaty. The South Korean Defense Ministry said it believes North Korea will stage even more missile and nuclear tests in the coming year, despite the pressures from the international community.

For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/asia/south-korea-kim-jong-un-brigade/index.html

China tells Trump to give Twitter a rest

China has bashed US President-elect Donald Trump for excessive use of Twitter to conduct international diplomacy in a tweet published by the country’s official news agency Xinhua. Trump has earned a reputation for making unpredictable and sometimes incorrect statements on Twitter that often depart from longstanding US policies, and he’s made several controversial comments about China. He’s also used Twitter to accuse China of keeping its currency artificially low. “Twitter should not be for foreign policy,” said former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/politics/china-trump-twitter/index.html

China issued red alert for fog

China has issued its first-ever red alert for fog. China’s national observatory issued the fog alert on Tuesday in northern and eastern regions of the massive country. Some 24 cities issued red alerts for air pollution. Red is the most serious level in the country’s warning system.

All through Wednesday, thick and impenetrable fog in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will reduce visibly by 500 meter (about 547 yards). Now, the fog alert in Beijing has been downgraded to yellow, though the city had already issued a red alert for smog, said Beijing Meteorological Service.

For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/03/asia/china-fog-alert/index.html