Culture & entertainment, Health, Disasters & accidents
461 storiesRussian anti-plague lab researcher dies; US and EU say they are monitoring
A 28-year-old female researcher at the Irkutsk anti-plague research institute in Shelekhov, Russia, died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause, the state agency Rospotrebnadzor said. About 200 people who may have had contact…
Busan film festival opens 31st edition; Michelle Yeoh takes Asian Filmmaker award
The 31st Busan International Film Festival opened on the evening of October 6 with a red-carpet ceremony at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan, and runs until October 15. Actress Kim Min-ha hosted the opening ceremony, and Michel…
WHO keeps low-risk view on Russian plague lab death; Russia denies accident
The World Health Organization said the public health risk to the general public appears low after a researcher at a plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region died following what reports described as a broken test tube of plague p…
Actor Kim Min denies staging claims over old house on MBC’s ‘I Live Alone’
Actor Kim Min’s appearance on MBC’s ‘I Live Alone’, showing his daily life in a roughly 90-year-old house in Dongducheon, drew online allegations that the setting was staged after viewers compared July road-view images with the house as sho…
Three typhoons active near Japan as Typhoon 27 moves north, JMA says
The Japan Meteorological Agency announced on Oct. 5 that Typhoon 28 (Nolo) and Typhoon 29 (Koguma) had formed, making three active typhoons near Japan with Typhoon 27 (Choi-wan). Typhoon 27 was large and very strong, moving north-northwest …
WHO and Russia say no further plague infections after Siberian lab worker's death
A female worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East died last week from pneumonia of undetermined origin, according to Russian authorities and the WHO. Russia's Rospotrebnadzor said 60% of the identified contact…
National university hospital bed occupancy stuck at 56.4%, surgeries still below 2023
Average bed occupancy at South Korea's nine national university hospitals was 56.4% in both 2024 and last year, down from 73.6% in 2023, according to data Rep. Seo Mi-hwa obtained from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Surgeries at ten na…
Russia quarantines hospital as lab worker’s death puts nearly 200 under observation
A female employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East died last week of pneumonia of unknown cause, Russian authorities said, and a hospital in the town of Shelekhov was placed under quarantine. Officia…
Jeonnam-Gwangju special city to mark 100 days with “Into the New World” concert
The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City said on 5 October that it will hold a citizen concert, “Into the New World”, on 15 October at 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Theater of the Arts Center to mark 100 days since its integrated launch. A join…
China health experts urge problem-driven push to turn disease research into treatments
Experts at a 2026 conference on disease prevention research and translation in China called for problem-driven collaboration between hospitals, universities and industry, with AI among the topics discussed. The director of a national key la…
Eva Marie Saint, Oscar Winner for ‘On the Waterfront,’ Dies at 102
Eva Marie Saint, the Academy Award-winning actor who made her film debut opposite Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront” and starred with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was …
Busan International Film Festival opens 31st edition with 247 invited films
The 31st Busan International Film Festival opened on the evening of Oct. 6 at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae district and runs through Oct. 15. Organisers invited 247 films from 59 countries, with 316 screenings in all including the co…
Typhoon No. 27 moves north near Ogasawara as typhoons 28 and 29 form
Typhoon No. 27, described by the Japan Meteorological Agency as large and very strong, moved north over waters near the Ogasawara Islands and was forecast to approach the islands at very strong intensity from the evening of Oct. 5 to early …
Fishing boat capsizes off Jeju; nine rescued, two missing as search continues
A 29-tonne fishing vessel registered in Sacheon capsized at about 03:04 on October 5 about 65 kilometres northwest of Chagwido, off Jeju, with 11 people aboard. Nine crew — eight Indonesians and one Vietnamese — were rescued and taken to Ha…
Mezzo-soprano Kim Cheong-ja, first Korean to debut in European opera, dies at 82
Mezzo-soprano Kim Cheong-ja, a former professor at Korea National University of Arts who became the first Korean to debut on a European opera stage in 1970, died on Oct. 5 at age 82, her students said. She died at St. Luke’s Hospital in Yon…
Trump says he has call scheduled with Putin over suspected plague death in Siberia
President Trump said Tuesday he has a call scheduled with Vladimir Putin about the suspected pneumonic plague case in Siberia, after saying Monday the US was willing to help Russia. The case follows the death of Darya Shipilova, 28, a worke…
WHO says risk low as US presses Russia for transparency on plague lab death
The U.S. State Department is monitoring reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly called on Moscow to be more transparent about the death of a 28-year-ol…
New York declares measles disaster emergency as rural cases rise
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Monday over a measles outbreak, an order CNN reported is the first such declaration by a U.S. state since cases began surging in 2025. The state has reported 108 case…
Seoul police chief vows strict action over threats to “Assassins” actors
Seoul police chief Go Beom-seok said on October 6 that harm or threats against actors of “Assassins” will be handled strictly under the law and that criminal allegations will be met with a strict response if confirmed; he said no request ha…
Kenya confirms first Ebola death after patient arrives from Congo via Uganda
Kenya’s Health Ministry confirmed the country’s first imported Ebola case on Tuesday, after a Kenyan man who arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Uganda was treated at Nairobi Hospital and died late Monday. Authorities placed K…