FRANCE – Simone Thiot and Paulette Olivier were born on January 30 1912, before the outbreak of the First World War and the sinking of the Titanic.  Due in March, doctors gave the pair a slim chance of survival after arriving three months prematurely, with Simone weighing less than a kilo and her sister just 1400 grams. They were born to parents Marie Lamolie, a dressmaker, and Joseph, a carpenter, they told The Local. The sisters marked the big day at their retirement home in Onzain, central France, where they have become something of a local celebrity. They were sent flowers from the local council, prompting them to gush “we’re being very spoiled”.

(INDEPENDENT UK)…[+]

While New York City had its coldest start to Valentine’s Day in 100 years on Sunday, it would seem balmy compared with the wicked wind chill at upstate Whiteface Mountain. As temperatures dropped across the Northeast from the blast of a polar vortex, the wind chill at Whiteface, near Lake Placid, made it feel like a body- and mind-numbing minus 114 degrees late Saturday and into Sunday. Central Park could only muster a minus 1 degree. The Wild Center, which works with the Atmospheric Science Research Center at SUNY Albany, recorded the frigid temperature from a research station at the mountain’s summit.(Nydailynews.com)…[+]

MUNICH — Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan delivers a speech during the 52th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb, 14, 2016. Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and other officials from Africa said on Sunday that “inclusive development” was needed to ensure security in the continent, especially when facing an enormous young population. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)…[+]

BEIJING  — Despite the current difficulties of BRICS economies, their economic fundamentals remain unchanged and better cooperation will help them tackle global challenges, said Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao.

In an article in Monday’s “Economic Daily,” Zhu acknowledged that downward pressure on the global economy and fluctuating capital flows are negatively affecting the bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. However, these nations will not lose their appeal, Zhu pointed out, citing a string of factors including economic scale and cooperation within the bloc.

“Emerging economies, especially BRICS, represent the upward power on the global stage,” he wrote. BRICS accounts for over 20 percent of the global economy, and the share is expected to reach 25 percent by 2020, he noted. The bloc is also home to over 40 percent of the world’s people.(Xinhua)…[+]

Hours after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, his conservative legacy and replacement on the U.S. Supreme Court bench were debated by each of the GOP candidates vying for the Oval Office. The six Republican candidates took to the stage in South Carolina to remember Scalia during a moment of silence before “Face the Nation” anchor John Dickerson kicked off the debate with a round-robin Q&A on Scalia’s vacancy. “It’s not even two minutes after the death of Judge Scalia,” said Ohio Gov. John Kasich. “I wish we hadn’t run so fast into politics.” Each candidate, in his own way, said he hopes Obama will either delay or falter at nominating the next U.S. Supreme Court justice during his administration’s final year.(Nydailynews.com)…[+]

KABUL — The overall Afghan civilian causalities hit a record high in 2015 as about 11,000 non-combatants were killed and injured in conflict-related violence last year, a UN mission here said in its yearly report released on Sunday.

“The most important finding in the report is that 11,002 Afghan civilians have died or injured in 2015, this figure surpasses by 4 percent the same figure for 2014,” UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom told a joint press briefing.

“We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop on the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016,” Haysom, also head of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noted. (Xinhua)…[+]

NANCHANG – China’s first patient with the Zika virus was discharged from hospital on Sunday. China confirmed the imported Zika case on Feb. 9. The patient, a 34-year-old man from Ganxian County in Jiangxi Province, developed a fever, headache and dizziness on Jan. 28 in Venezuela, before returning to his hometown on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and Shenzhen. He has been treated in a hospital in Ganxian since Feb. 6, said the provincial health and family planning commission in a statement on Sunday. He has fully recovered after treatment, according to the statement. Tests on his serum, urine and saliva samples returned negative results. Symptoms of the Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain.(Xinhua)…[+]

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — Crude prices plunged Thursday as market expected the supply to surpass the demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided on opposing cutting output last December. The cartel accounts for around 40 percent of the global crude output. Traders expected that Iran, a member of OPEC, will quickly start to export more crude when sanctions are lifted.

Thanks to the shale oil revolution in the United States, American oil production has almost doubled in the past six years. There is no sign that U.S. shale oil producers started to cut production in face of the plunging prices.

U.S. crude supplies of last week declined 0.8 million barrels to 502 million barrels, 84 million barrels more than one year before, according to the weekly report issued by U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) Wednesday. The U.S. crude production only lost 28,000 barrels to 9.186 million barrels a day last week, which is disappointing, according to the EIA report.(Xinhua)…[+]

RIO DE JANEIRO,– Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro on Thursday announced a partnership between Brazil’s Evandro Chagas Institute and the University of Texas to produce a vaccine against the Zika virus.

The virus has recently become an international health issue with suspected links to microcephaly. It is also believed to trigger Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease, in individuals with a propensity for the disease.

According to Castro, the two institutions will work to speed up initial research, and a vaccine might be ready for a two-year test in 12 months. “We know it will take time but we are optimistic that we can develop the vaccine in a shorter time,” said Castro. The Brazilian government will invest 1.9 million U.S. dollars in the project while the amount to be invested by the U.S. side is yet to be disclosed.(Xinhuan)…[+]

A North Carolina mom was mauled to death by a pit bull she adopted only a week previously. Suzanne Story, 36, died in her Snug Harbor home after the dog attacked her Wednesday afternoon. Story’s family said she got the dog from Virginia for free after spotting an advertisement in a newspaper. Her stepfather Randy Brown said that the pit bull’s previous owners told her it was well behaved and good with young children. “I think they had a problem with the dog and didn’t know how to handle it, and they were just trying to get rid of it, and they did,” Brown told 13 News Now, noting that the move resulted in a death.(nydailynews.com)…[+]