Disasters & accidents, Health, IT & software, Crime & justice
601 storiesSouth Korean court acquits former president Yoon Suk Yeol in political funds appeal
The Seoul High Court acquitted former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol on October 7 in the appeal of a case under the Political Funds Act, overturning his first-instance conviction. Prosecutors had alleged he and his wife Kim Keon Hee r…
Christa Pike awake after failed execution; attorneys seek Tennessee records
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has regained consciousness after the state's failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Sept. 30, and her attorneys were due in court Wednesday seeking more information about what went wrong…
Japan protests after U.S. Marine is arrested over killing of woman in Okinawa
Japanese police have arrested U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, on suspicion of robbing and killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa, police say. Japan lodged a strong protest with the United States, and Prime Minist…
Ex-CIA official found with gold bars pleads guilty to $194 million fraud
David J. Rush, a former senior CIA official, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to one count of wire fraud in a scheme prosecutors say cost the federal government about $194 million. Prosecutors said Rush fabri…
South Korea holds 52 death row inmates, average age 58.7; executions halted since 1997
South Korea's Justice Ministry said on Oct. 6 that 52 people with confirmed death sentences are in custody, with an average age of 58.7 and 32.7% aged 60 or older. No execution has been carried out since Dec. 30, 1997, and the Constitutiona…
Korea police open formal probe into AI-linked hacking of financial firms
South Korean police have converted their investigation into a series of AI-linked hacking attacks on financial institutions into a formal probe, assigning a 28-member, four-team dedicated unit. Data leaks have been confirmed at seven financ…
Cornell Rape-Allegation Lawsuit Prompts Push for Campus Assault Protections
A lawsuit alleging rape at Cornell University has led women on campus and beyond to share their own experiences of sexual violence, The New York Times and NPR reported. The Hill reported that a former Cornell University student accused seve…
MrMax says breach may have leaked data of up to 1,735,154 members
MrMax Holdings said on October 6 that unauthorized access to servers for its MrMax app and online store may have exposed personal information of up to 1,735,154 members. The company said member IDs, names, email addresses and telephone numb…
Daiwa Securities: vendor breach may have exposed data of 110,000 customers
Daiwa Securities said on Oct 5 that a server at outsourcing vendor Scalar Communications was subject to unauthorized access and that about 220,000 records may have leaked, including names, email addresses and securities account numbers for …
Okinawa police send US Marine to prosecutors over Naha hotel robbery-murder
Okinawa prefectural police arrested US Marine lance corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, of Futenma base, on suspicion of robbing and killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha, and sent him to the Naha district prosecutors’ office on Oct …
Okinawa US forces order 48-hour pause and overnight curfew after Marine arrest
The top US commander in Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Watson, issued an emergency statement ordering a 48-hour “training period” for US military-related personnel in the prefecture from noon on 7 October to noon on 9 October, with off-base outings and …
US Marine arrested in Naha hotel killing; Japan protests, Okinawa governor speaks out
A 20-year-old US Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbery-murder after a 39-year-old woman was found dead at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and Japanese officials protested to the US side. Foreign Ministry Senior Deputy Minister Ta…
Korea financial regulator orders full security review after bank data leaks
Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won chaired an emergency meeting of the entire financial sector in Seoul on Oct. 4 after customer data leaks spread from major banks to non-bank lenders, saying the possibility of AI-enabled ha…
Russian 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…
Christa Pike conscious and speaking after failed Tennessee execution, lawyers say
Christa Pike, 50, is conscious and speaking and receiving critical medical care nearly a week after Tennessee's attempt to execute her with the drug pentobarbital failed, her attorneys said Tuesday. They said her prognosis remains unclear, …
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…
Regulator identifies 19 attacker IPs in 12 countries in Korean bank hacking case
South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service has identified 19 IP addresses suspected of being used in hacking attacks on financial companies, spread across 12 countries including the United States, Japan and Hong Kong (China). The regulator…
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…
Couple in their 60s found dead in Naju house; police seek suspect
A couple in their 60s were found dead at a house in Naju, in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region, according to police reports carried by several South Korean outlets on Oct 6. Local reports described the bodies as bound and said police believe the c…
Trump approves firing squad for Fort Hood shooter, first since WWII
US President Donald Trump has approved a firing-squad execution for Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people and wounded 32. The Pentagon said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method an…