Consumer, Climate & environment, Policy & regulation, Science, Finance & markets
454 storiesSouth Korea re-designates 92 population decline regions, adding Busan Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong
South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, up from 89 in the first designation five years ago. Busan's Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi's Dongducheon and …
Chinese team builds first 3D cell atlas of rice life cycle, published in Cell
A Chinese multi-institution team said it has constructed the world’s first three-dimensional spatiotemporal cell atlas covering rice from seed germination to flowering and fruiting, with the paper published online in Cell on the evening of …
Euro falls to 17-month low as Spain and France political uncertainty rattles markets
The euro fell to its weakest level since May 2025, dropping below $1.12 against the dollar, as political and fiscal uncertainty in Spain and France weighed on the currency. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election for Nov…
Korean court suspends market-cap delisting decisions; exchange halts two more exits
Seoul Southern District Court Civil Division 51 granted injunctions on Oct 2 suspending the Korea Exchange's delisting decisions against KOSPI-listed Joo Yeon Tech and KOSDAQ-listed KM Pharma until a main ruling. The court questioned the 45…
UAE sets phased caps on salt, sugar and fat in packaged foods, fines up to Dh500,000
The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention has begun implementing a resolution that caps sodium, sugar and fat in selected packaged foods, with phased limits running until the end of 2030. The rules apply to locally made and imported produ…
Trump says he is considering suspending federal gas tax ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration is considering suspending the federal gas tax, as pump prices remain far above last year's levels a month before the midterm elections. Any suspension would require Congress, which is n…
Nuri rocket lifts off with 15 satellites in fifth launch
South Korea’s Nuri rocket lifted off at 12:25 p.m. local time on Oct 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, carrying 15 satellites, the most in its history. The five main ultra-small cluster satellites were placed in their target orbit, m…
Nuri rocket lifts off on fifth flight carrying record 15 satellites
South Korea's Nuri rocket launched at 12:25 p.m. on Oct. 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, after the launch management committee confirmed the time that morning. The rocket carries 15 satellites — five NEOANSAT microsatellite cluster…
Amazon's October Prime Day runs October 6-7 as outlets round up deals
Amazon's October Prime Day sale, also called Prime Big Deal Days, is running from October 6 through October 7, 2026. NBC News, The Verge and CNN published roundups of discounted products at price points under $50, under $25 and on seasonal …
Nobel medicine prize goes to three researchers for optogenetics
The Karolinska Institute announced on October 5 that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzbur…
Nuri rocket lifts off at 12:25 with 15 satellites on fifth flight
South Korea's Nuri launch vehicle lifted off at 12:25 local time on Oct 7 from the second pad of the Naro Space Center in Goheung, carrying five ultra-small cluster satellites and 10 cubesats. Kerosene and liquid oxygen loading was complete…
Nobel physics prize goes to IceCube neutrino researcher Francis Halzen
Sweden's Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on 6 October that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery…
Defense minister: arts, sports military service exemption to be cut and abolished
South Korea's defense minister said on Oct 7 that the goal is to gradually reduce the arts and sports military service exemption and ultimately abolish it, after controversy over remarks by Asian Games football gold medallists about the exe…
Land minister says Gangnam, Yongsan home prices have turned negative
Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Hong Ji-seon told a National Assembly audit on Oct 7 that home prices in Seoul's Gangnam three districts and Yongsan have turned negative, and said price growth should ease with the market stabili…
South Korea's Lee orders CPTPP talks restarted from the beginning amid farm concerns
President Lee Jae-myung instructed at a cabinet meeting on Oct 6 that the government should not fix a conclusion on joining the CPTPP and should “restart dialogue from the beginning,” saying the pact's strategic value is cited alongside ver…
Nikkei average recovers 70,000 level for first time in about three months
Tokyo's Nikkei average rose above 70,000 during trading on 5 October, the first time in about three months, as buying concentrated on semiconductor and AI-related shares. Nikkei reported the morning close at 70,037.61, up 1,728.15 points or…
China's central bank raises gold reserves for 23rd straight month
China's gold reserves stood at 77.47 million ounces, or about 2,409.59 tonnes, at the end of September, up 740,000 ounces (about 23.02 tonnes) from 76.73 million ounces (about 2,386.57 tonnes) a month earlier, according to figures carried b…
Nuri rocket erected on launch pad ahead of fifth flight on Oct 7
South Korea's Nuri rocket moved from its assembly building to the second launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung on the morning of Oct 6 and was erected and fixed in place at 10:35, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration and…
Asian Games exemption row: Ahn Cheol-soo urges review, defense ministry regrets remarks
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said on 7 October that the military service exemption for Asian Games gold medalists should be reviewed for abolition starting with this tournament, noting the rule is a presidential decree that Pre…
KOSPI opens down 1.11% at 6,864.25; KOSDAQ falls 0.27%
South Korea’s KOSPI opened 77.14 points, or 1.11%, lower at 6,864.25 on 7 October, while the KOSDAQ opened down 2.47 points, or 0.27%, at 917.45. The benchmark index rebounded to 6,944.83 by 09:25 as individual investors bought, then fell b…