Monday proved to be the worst-ever start to a year for China as stock markets plunged, triggering a trading halt in more than $7 trillion worth of equities, futures and options.  Trading was halted at 1:34 p.m. local time after the CSI 300 index dropped to 7 percent. Bloomberg.com reports: An earlier 15-minute suspension at the 5 percent level failed to stop the retreat, with shares extending losses as soon as the market re-opened. Traders said the halts took effect as anticipated without any major technical problems.

Italian officials have launched an inquiry after five pregnant women died within the week after Christmas from unknown causes. Sputnik reports: Four investigative teams have been sent to hospitals to look into a string of deaths of heavily pregnant women in the north of the country, which has one of the lowest levels of maternal deaths in the world, the Guardian reported. On Christmas Day, Anna Massignan, 34, died during an emergency caesarean section at a hospital in the Verona area.

Jackson Country, Oregon, have joined an ever-increasing number of “GE-free” areas in the U.S., where farmers do not cultivate GMO crops.  It’s the eight county in the country to ban the practise of GE farming, as farmers across the land drop producing GMO crops en masse. Washingtonpost.com reports: The Jackson County designation was made final on Dec. 22, when a federal judge approved a consent decree protecting the zone.

A 16-year-old orphaned white boy from Boston rose up through the ranks of Chinatown’s underworld to become a major Chinese mafia crime boss. John Willis was only sixteen, down on his luck and looking for his next meal when he first ran into the Chinese mafia in Boston. The Daily Mail reports: With his father long gone and his mother dead, he was taking steroids to beef himself up and convince the owner of a club in Boston that he was 18 and therefore old enough to be a bouncer.

On Tuesday this week there will be a spectacular meteor shower visible from Earth from 11 p.m. Pravdareport.com reports: One will not need to have any special equipment to see the space extravaganza. It will be possible to enjoy the view of the quadrantids – particles of an extinct comet – with the naked eye. Astronomers say that in clear weather it will be possible to see up to 200 meteors per hour. On January 9, 2016, Saturn and Venus will showcase their closest conjunction since August 26, 2006. This phenomenon was dubbed as the kiss of two planets.