The Chinese Zodiac is based on a twelve-year cycle, with each year related to an animal sign. The signs in order are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. It is calculated according to the Chinese lunar calendar.　Based in China, the zodiac and its variations remain popular in many Asian countries, such as South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.　This is the Year of the Rat according to Chinese zodiac. Rat is the first in the 12-year cy

　The number of traffic accident deaths in Seoul fell 19.1 percent last year from a year earlier, data showed.　A total of 246 people died in traffic accidents in Seoul in 2019, down from 304 tallied a year earlier, with a daily tally of 0.67, according to the data compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. (Yonhap)

　Samsung Electronics ranked third in global wireless headset shipments last year, industry data showed, though it trailed far behind its rival Apple. 　Samsung shipped 7.4 million totally wireless headsets for a 6.9 percent market share in 2019, according to data from market tracker Strategy Analytics. 　Apple was the dominant force in the TWS market with a 54.4 percent market share after shipping 58.7 million AirPods, its signature TWS headset product, in 2019. (Yonhap)

　South Korea’s outbound shipments of processed rice products shot up last year, amid the booming popularity of Korean dramas, K-pop and other cultural content abroad, data showed.　Exports of these products reached $106 million in 2019, marking a sharp rise from $89 million posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The exports also nearly doubled from $55 million posted in 2015.　These products cover a wide range of food items, such as snacks, n

　The hordes flocking to the Louvre in Paris fell to 9.6 million in 2019 as the museum tried to limit overcrowding, its director said.　After numbers rocketed by a quarter the previous year to a record 10.2 million, the most visited museum in the world said, it set out to actively discourage tourists in the peak summer months.　The Louvre gets far more visitors than any other museum in the world, including the National Museum of China in Beijing, which attracted 8.6 million people in 2018; and New

　Imported car sales in South Korea fell 6.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier as Japanese brands were affected by a boycott amid trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, an industry association said.  　The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 244,780 last year from the previous year’s 260,705, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.  　Japanese carmakers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor saw their sales plunge 19

　The number of people aged over 65 years in South Korea climbed to a new high last year, breaching the 8 million mark for the first time in history, while the country’s overall population grew at the slowest pace ever, data showed.　The country’s overall population remained nearly unchanged at just under 51.85 million as of end-December, up only 23,802 or 0.05 percent from a year earlier. It was the slowest on-year gain since the country began publishing related data in 2008, accordin

　The number of Roman Catholics in South Korea has steadily increased over the past two decades, though the pace has significantly slowed in recent years, a report showed.　The report, issued by the Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea, said the number of Catholics here increased 48.6 percent from 3,946,844 in 1999 to 5,866,510 in 2018.　The diocese of Suwon, just south of Seoul, saw the highest rate of increase in the 20-year period, 89.1 percent. This was followed by Daejeon in central Korea with

　Australia is experiencing an unprecedented, drought-fueled bushfire crisis that has burnt swathes of land across the vast continent. 　The catastrophic bushfires have killed at least 26 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched some 8 million hectares -- an area the size of the island of Ireland.　Scientists say the drought-fueled blazes are being worsened by climate change, which is increasing the length and intensity of Australia’s fire season. (AFP)

　Iran fired missiles Wednesday at Iraqi bases housing the US military, officials in Washington and Tehran said, in the first act of the Islamic Republic’s promised revenge for the US killing of a top Iranian general.　Across the Middle East, these threats have put on high alert the bases, ports and other installations where US troops are based or pass through.　The US has tens of thousands of military personnel at bases and aboard ships across the Middle East, as well as arrangements with va

　Last month, South Korea saw its lowest monthly snowfall on record for December, amid relatively warm weather, according to the meteorological agency. 　The amount of snowfall reached 3 millimeters in December 2019, the lowest since weather authorities began to compile December data, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.　The previous record-low snowfall was 5 millimeters in December 1998. The data was compiled by measuring the depth of the most accumulated snow over the past 24 hours. (Yo

　The number of deaths in major air crashes around the globe fell by more than half from the previous year in 2019, according to a report by an aviation consulting firm.　The To70 consultancy said that 257 people died in eight fatal accidents in 2019. That compares to 534 deaths in 13 fatal accidents in 2018. 　The 2019 death toll rose in late December after a Bek Air Fokker 100 crashed Dec. 27 on takeoff in Kazakhstan, killing 12 people. The worst crash of 2019 involved an Ethiopian Airlines Boein

　President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama tied as the most admired man of 2019, according to a Gallup survey in the US.　This is the first year Trump has risen to the top spot in the annual survey and the 12th year for Obama. Each was named by 18 percent of respondents to the open-ended survey conducted Dec. 2-15, 2019.　Obama tied former President Dwight Eisenhower for the most times named as most admired man since the survey began in 1948.　Former first lady Michelle Obama was nam

　European landmarks dominate TripAdvisor’s list of most popular travel experiences of 2019, with Rome’s Colosseum topping the ranking for the second year in a row. 　The top 10 list is filled with some of the world’s most recognizable sites, mostly concentrated in Europe, with the exception of a handful of US landmarks and attractions. 　After the Colosseum, the Louvre in Paris and the Vatican round out the top three spots. Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa are cons

　Korea’s public investment in future industrial materials and nanotech will jump 136 percent on-year in 2020, as the country moves to enhance its global competitiveness in cutting edge sectors, the government said.　The sum of 233.6 billion won ($201.2 million), approved by policymakers and experts, follows the passage of this year’s budget by the National Assembly. The focus will be on acquiring original technologies, expanding research and development infrastructure and the creation

　The annual number of passengers using ferries between South Korea‘s western port of Incheon and 10 Chinese cities has surpassed 1million this year for the first time in eight years, port authorities here said. 　According to the Incheon Port Authority, the figure was provisionally tallied at 1,003,030 from Jan. 1-Dec. 19. 　It’s the first time the annual figure crossed the 1 million threshold since 2011, when it recorded 1,043,230, the agency said. (Yonhap)

 　The hottest month, the fastest marathon, the wildest auction prices ... here is a look back at 10 new records in 2019.　1. Record temperatures　Temperatures in July 2019 were the hottest ever recorded globally at an average of 16.75 degrees Celsius for the planet, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced.　A heat wave in Europe the same month reset several record highs: 42.6 degrees for Paris, 41.5 degrees for Germany and 38.7 degrees in Britain.　2. Facebook fine　Face

　The demand for luxury cars in South Korea increased sharply in 2019 from a year prior, data showed, despite the overall decrease in sales of imported cars here.　Sales of imported luxury cars with price tags of 300 million won ($258,000) or higher reached 360 units over the January-November period, posting threefold growth on-year, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. (Yonhap)

　South Korea is the fourth-largest buyer of US weapons over the past 10 years, government data showed.　According to the global defense market yearbook published by South Korea’s Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, the United States exported weapons worth $93.1 billion between 2009 and 2018 to the outside world. 　Of the total, South Korea bought $6.28 billion, standing at the fourth spot.　Saudi Arabia was the No. 1 customer by purchasing US arms worth $13.47 billion, followed by Aust

The number of passengers handled this year by Jeju International Airport, the gateway to the resort iIsland, topped 30 million for the first time, data showed.A total of 30,057,300 passengers traveled through the airport until Dec. 16 this year, according to data released by the Korea Airports Corp.It is the first time for any of 14 airports in South Korea, excluding Incheon International Airport, to handle more than 30 million passengers a year. (Yonhap)