Category: WORLD

A fugitive ex-Philippine anti-narcotics officer was arrested on Tuesday over his conviction in the 2016 kidnapping and killing of a South Korean businessman who was strangled inside the national police headquarters in Manila, officials said. The case of Jee Ick-joo, abducted by anti-narcotics police under the guise of a drug raid, was one of the … Continue reading Philippine ex-policeman arrested in notorious drug war killing

A Nepali mountaineer who spent six days dragging himself off Mount Everest after being abandoned has been moved out of intensive care as he slowly recovers, his family said Tuesday. His improbable survival has sparked celebration among fellow climbers, but also anger from family members and the mountaineering community over the failure to locate him … Continue reading Everest survivor out of intensive care, as probe calls grow

A key governing body of the International Criminal Court on Monday suspended chief prosecutor Karim Khan as he faces sexual abuse allegations against a member of his office. The 21-member bureau of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) decided to refer Khan's case to the wider ASP that represents every member country of the ICC. … Continue reading ICC chief prosecutor suspended amid sex abuse claims

The hunt for a black bear spotted more than a dozen times in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya continued on Tuesday as all 94 municipal primary and middle schools were closed for a second straight day. The adult bear, with an estimated weight of about 100 kg (220 lbs), was last seen early on Tuesday … Continue reading Bear hunt continues as Japanese city shuts schools for second day

A US federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump from imposing a $100,000 fee on employers filing visa applications for foreign highly-skilled workers. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic-ruled states that the move usurped taxation powers held by Congress and the fee for the H-1B visas constituted an … Continue reading US judge blocks Trump’s $100,000 fee for skilled visa applications

In Catalonia, Spain, fashion retailer Mango's vice chairman, Jonathan Andic, was arrested last month over his suspected involvement with the death of his father, Isak Andic, who founded the brand. The case may have been motivated by a dispute over inheritance rights, according to East Week magazine, The Standard's sister publication. Jonathan has since said … Continue reading Fashion chain heir named suspect in father’s death

South Korea's cabinet approved on Tuesday a presidential decree as part of the process to allow $350 billion of strategic investments in the United States to proceed under a trade deal struck between the countries last year. The decree specified some terms and conditions in the investment plan, including the definition of "commercial reasonableness," which … Continue reading South Korea’s cabinet approves decree on $350 bln US investment plan

A federal judge on Monday struck down a US$100,000 fee U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, concluding that it constituted an unlawful tax Congress never authorized. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenging … Continue reading Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee is unlawful, US judge rules

A historically strong earthquake struck off Cuba's northwest coast on Monday, according to official reports, shaking parts of Cuba, Mexico and Florida that are typically not prone to quakes. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake at a magnitude 6.1 at a shallow depth of 26 km (16 miles) and its epicenter 104 km … Continue reading Strongest earthquake in nearly 150 years hits off Cuba, shakes Mexico, Florida

U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, the U.S. military said. U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that the M/T Marivex, a Palau-flagged vessel, was transiting international waters in the Gulf of … Continue reading US disables Iran-bound tanker in Gulf of Oman; Indian crew safe after fire

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea has triggered a surge in sales of a convenience store biscuit after he was seen eating it, with daily sales jumping 766 percent and search volume on a convenience store app soaring 160-fold, Yonhap reported. On the evening of June 5, Huang dined at a grilled pork … Continue reading ‘Jensen Huang effect’ sends Korean convenience store biscuit sales soaring 766%

A shopping centre in Nagoya was evacuated on Monday after at least 16 people reported eye and throat irritation, with six hospitalised, local authorities said. Police received an emergency call around 5.30pm from a security guard at the Mozo Wonder City complex in Nishi Ward, reporting that several people were experiencing eye irritation and coughing. … Continue reading Japanese shopping centre evacuated after multiple people report eye and throat pain

US President Donald Trump has shared an AI-generated "Thank You President Trump" music video on social media, featuring lyrics claiming "everywhere I go, they love Donald Trump," sparking both praise and ridicule. The one-minute video, created by New York Republican congressional candidate Anthony Constantino, shows AI-generated scenes of Trump in various global settings. The footage … Continue reading Trump shares AI-generated ‘Thank You President Trump’ song praising himself

A senior Hezbollah official told AFP on Monday that the Iran-backed group has had "no direct contact" with President Donald Trump, despite recent statements from the US leader suggesting otherwise. Washington considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, including both its military and political wings, and recently imposed sanctions on several of its lawmakers. Last Wednesday, referring … Continue reading Hezbollah official tells AFP group had no direct contact with Trump

President Donald Trump lasted through probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC -- but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud. "You're a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have … Continue reading Trump storms out of tense, rain-plagued NBC interview

Tsunami warnings were issued after an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck off Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Monday, the German Research Centre for Geosciences said. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), GFZ said. The geophysics agencies of the Philippines and neighbouring Indonesia issued tsunami warnings. There were no immediate … Continue reading Earthquake of magnitude 7.8 strikes off southern Philippines, tsunami warnings issued

Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima prefecture erupted early on Sunday, spewing ash for over an hour and sending smoke up to 1,300 metres, with the ash mixing with rain to create a rare "grey rain" that covered the city in thick mud, authorities said. The eruption began with small-scale activity around 5am, followed by a large … Continue reading Sakurajima volcano erupts, covers Kagoshima in ‘grey rain’

US President Donald Trump said the United States will work with Iran to retrieve and destroy its highly enriched uranium if a deal is reached to end the three-month-old war, or will degrade Iran's military to the point where American forces can safely collect the material on their own, in an exclusive interview with NBC … Continue reading Trump: US will work with Iran to destroy its uranium if deal reached

Etihad Airways is ordering more widebody planes as the Middle East carrier expects to be flying about 8% more than a year ago by June 15, CEO Antonoaldo Neves said in an interview. He said on the sidelines of a global gathering of airline CEOs in Brazil on Saturday that the Abu Dhabi carrier is … Continue reading Etihad Airways orders widebody planes, sees return to pre-war capacity in June

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has chosen Han Seongsook, the country's minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to be prime minister, the presidential office said on Sunday. If approved by parliament, Han would become South Korea's first female prime minister in 20 years. Han, who had also previously served as chief executive … Continue reading South Korea nominates Han as country’s first female prime minister in two decades

The Pentagon has raised its counterintelligence threat level for Israel to its highest level, US media reported on Saturday. The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said Israel's "ability to conduct human espionage and technical collection is at a 'critical level'," NBC News said, citing US officials. The move came after concerns that Israel had been … Continue reading Pentagon raises threat of Israeli spying to ‘critical’: US media

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the naval destroyer Kang Kon to oversee a navigation test, state media said Saturday, stressing the need to enhance the navy's capability to deter a nuclear war. The Saturday report came as Beijing and Pyongyang announced Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea from June 8 to … Continue reading North Korea’s Kim stresses stronger naval nuclear deterrent

The United States announced Friday its approval of a $1.98 billion arms sale to Kuwait, one of the Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes during the Middle East war. In a statement, the US State Department said it would allow purchases of counter-drone technology from defense company Anduril, which was founded by a supporter of … Continue reading US authorizes sale of $2 bn in anti-drone weapons to Kuwait

The US CDC on Friday urged strong public health interventions against the current Ebola outbreak, citing their models that show it could otherwise rival the scale of the 2014 West Africa outbreak. That eruption of the virus resulted in more than 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. "That scale is possible," said Jason Asher, … Continue reading US warns Ebola outbreak on scale of largest ‘is possible’

Argentina will expand its search for hantavirus-carrying rodents to western Mendoza province as part of an investigation into a deadly cruise ship outbreak in April, the health ministry said Friday. The MV Hondius was sailing from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde when its journey was disrupted after three passengers died following a hantavirus outbreak. … Continue reading Argentina to expand hantavirus search to a second province

Rescuers called off their search Saturday for two men trapped in a semi-submerged cave in Laos for more than two weeks, as the site became unstable and survival hopes faded. Seven villagers became trapped in the cave in central Xaysomboun province on May 20 when flash floods blocked their exit as they hunted bats for … Continue reading Rescuers halt search for two last men lost in Laos cave

SpaceX on Friday signed a blockbuster cloud computing agreement under which Google will pay the Elon Musk-founded rocket company $920 million per month for access to a massive cluster of AI chips, according to a disclosure in its initial public offering filing. The deal, which will bolster SpaceX's finances ahead of its IPO on June … Continue reading SpaceX signs pre-IPO deal to provide AI computing to Google

President Donald Trump has pardoned former U.S. Representative Stephen Buyer, an Indiana Republican, who was convicted of securities fraud for engaging in insider trading in 2018 as a T-Mobile US consultant ahead of a $23 billion merger with Sprint. The proclamation, issued on Thursday and announced by the White House on Friday, gave no specific rationale for the pardon other than to assert that Buyer's service … Continue reading Trump pardons former US congressman convicted of securities fraud

After five decades of trying, astronomers have finally discovered the wind emanating from the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, though it turns out it is more of a gentle breeze than a hurricane. Using data from the Chile-based ALMA telescope and NASA's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, the researchers viewed … Continue reading Wind from Milky Way’s supermassive black hole is finally discovered

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang arrived in Seoul Friday for a packed schedule of meetings with tech leaders, promising "some surprises" for South Korea while predicting robotics will be the country's next major growth sector. The visit comes about seven months after Huang's last trip to South Korea, when he pledged around 260,000 hi-tech chips … Continue reading Nvidia’s Huang arrives in South Korea with ‘surprises’, bets on robotics

The Japanese prosecutors office will launch an investigation into harassment within the organisation, the justice minister said Friday, in light of a rape allegation involving a former regional chief. Very few women in Japan speak out about sexual assault but a prosecutor who uses the pseudonym Hikari came forward in 2024 to accuse her former … Continue reading Japan prosecutors office to hold internal probe after rape allegation

The head of South Korea's election commission resigned Friday, hours after riot police cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station following a near two-day blockade sparked by a ballot shortage during local elections. Wednesday's election was the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae Myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol over … Continue reading South Korea election chief quits after ballot shortage sparks blockade

Japan could fall prey to a new form of colonialism in the AI era if it fails to keep pace with the technology's rapid development, the country's digital minister warned on Friday. "I hope many Japanese people understand that we need to press ahead with AI development, or we'll end up becoming an 'AI colony'," … Continue reading Japan could end up an ‘AI colony’ if it falls behind, digital minister warns

An "extremely intelligent" bear that injured four people in northern Japan remains at large as of Friday, after apparently unlatching a window while evading capture and turning on a water tap, officials said. A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan last year, and there has been a jump in sightings as the … Continue reading ‘Extremely intelligent’ bear at large in Japan after hurting four