Climate & environment, Health, Consumer · 24 h
24 storiesSouth Korea's Lee chairs public report on K-GX green transition strategy
President Lee Jae-myung chaired a public report in Seoul on October 7 presenting the Korean-style Green Grand Transition (K-GX) strategy and the K-GX Signature Project private investment plan. About 80 people attended, including Deputy Prim…
MFDS approves Hanmi's EPPE, Korea's first homegrown GLP-1 obesity drug
Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Hanmi Pharmaceutical's EPPE auto-injector (efpeglenatide) on Oct 7, the first domestically developed GLP-1 obesity drug and the country's 45th homegrown new drug. The injectable is indicated…
Kremlin: Russia informed WHO of Irkutsk region situation after worker death
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has informed the World Health Organization about the situation in the Irkutsk region, following the death of an employee of the Irkutsk anti-plague institute. Peskov also said he had no informatio…
US reports largest state-level measles outbreak in over 30 years
The United States is experiencing its largest state-level measles outbreak in more than 30 years, according to Chinese media reports. Pennsylvania health authorities reported 1,004 confirmed measles cases and five deaths in 2026 as of Octob…
WHO says more than 170 million children and adolescents worldwide live with obesity
The World Health Organization says more than 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 worldwide have been diagnosed with obesity, with prevalence in that age group rising fourfold since 1990, from 2% to about 8%. The WHO issued gui…
China medical insurance pooled funds take in 2.07 trillion yuan in Jan-Aug
China's National Healthcare Security Administration released data showing that in January to August 2026 the basic medical insurance (including maternity insurance) pooled funds took in 2.072772 trillion yuan and spent 1.550414 trillion yua…
Celltrion's Avtozma wins FDA nod for pediatric COVID-19 use in US
Celltrion said the US Food and Drug Administration granted an additional approval for its Avtozma (tocilizumab) intravenous formulation to treat COVID-19 in patients aged 2 and older. The approval widens the drug's COVID-19 indication from …
Betta Pharmaceuticals unit's BPI-572270 capsule wins US FDA clinical trial clearance
Betta Pharmaceuticals said the US FDA has approved a clinical trial application for BPI-572270 capsules, filed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Jingyao Biology, for advanced solid tumours. The company described the drug as a self-developed pa…
South Korea study links severe gestational diabetes to higher diabetes risk in children
South Korea's National Institute of Health said children of mothers who had gestational diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes, with the risk rising to 4.3 times for type 2 diabetes among children of mothers who needed insulin during …
Trump says he will hold phone call with Putin soon over suspected plague death in Russia
A woman who worked at a plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast fell ill and died on October 2, and suspicion has spread that she was infected with plague. Russian health authorities say the cause was "pneumonia of unknown caus…
Consumers sue Starbucks in US over “sugar-free” labels on eight drinks
Consumers have sued Starbucks in a US federal court in western Washington state, saying the chain falsely labels eight beverages as “sugar-free,” according to Japanese wire reports. The plaintiffs say a Venti-size (0.6–0.7 litre) drink from…
Three US consumers sue Starbucks over “Sugar-Free” protein drink labels
Three US consumers filed a proposed class action against Starbucks in Seattle federal court on October 2 over eight protein drinks whose names include “Sugar-Free”, saying a Venti contains 13–21 grams of sugar, mostly lactose from milk. Sta…
China forecast: clear, dry weather in east; heavy rain in Hainan
China's National Meteorological Center forecasts mainly clear and dry weather across most of central and eastern China from October 7 to 9, with afternoon relative humidity below 30% in many places. Hainan is expected to see widespread rain…
GC Cell starts Phase 1b trial of GCC2005 in T-cell lymphoma, first patient dosed
GC Cell said on Oct 7 that its drug candidate GCC2005 (CD5 CAR-NK), a cell therapy for T-cell lymphoma, has entered a Phase 1b trial and that the first subject has been dosed. The company completed the dose-escalation stage of Phase 1a and …
Woman, 55, who collapsed on Vietnam trip donates organs to three
A 55-year-old South Korean woman, Ku Jin-hui, collapsed with a brain hemorrhage while traveling in Vietnam with her daughter on Sept. 12 and was later declared brain dead. The Korea Organ and Tissue Donation Agency said she donated her live…
Secondhand platform Bungaejangter to hold first “Bungae Day” on Oct 9
Bungaejangter, a South Korean secondhand goods platform, said it will hold its first one-day “Bungae Day” shopping event on Oct 9, Hangul Day, with instant discount coupons for purchases made through its safe payment. The company said the c…
Seoul pharma and diagnostics stocks jump on report of Russian plague lab researcher’s death
A researcher at a plague research institute in Irkutsk, Russia, died on Oct 2 after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia on Sept 29, and Russian media reports of a broken pathogen vial raised the possibility of plague infection, though …
HLB says EMA begins main review of bile duct cancer drug lirafugratinib
HLB’s US subsidiary Eleba Therapeutics said the European Medicines Agency has begun the main review of its marketing authorisation application for the bile duct cancer drug lirafugratinib. Asia Economy reported the European filing was made …
Samsung Medical Center debuts Korea's first dual energy ablation for atrial fibrillation
Samsung Medical Center said it carried out South Korea's first dual energy ablation (DEA) for atrial fibrillation, a procedure that uses one catheter to deliver either pulsed field ablation or radiofrequency ablation. The hospital said phys…
Russia's industry ministry says Atarax supplies stable after pharmacy shortage reports
Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade said «Atarax» and other hydroxyzine-based medicines are being regularly and stably put into circulation, after reports on Telegram channels that the drug could not be bought in most large pharmacies i…