Energy, Policy & regulation, Crime & justice
610 storiesTexas set to execute Jamaal Howard for 2000 killing of store clerk
Texas is set to execute Jamaal Howard, 46, by lethal injection on Wednesday for the 2000 fatal shooting of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout, 42, during a robbery in Silsbee. It would be the 30th execution in the U.S. this year and th…
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…
Trump signs order allowing tax-free red-dyed diesel on highways
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday temporarily allowing off-road red-dyed diesel to be used for highway driving and deferring the federal excise tax on that fuel through the end of 2026 without interest or penalties.…
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, …
Case opened in Russia’s Syzran over reported beating of children at camp
Russian authorities opened a criminal case after reports that children were beaten at a camp in Syzran, official outlets reported. Social media posts cited by TASS said a counselor beat two brothers with autism. A State Duma deputy from the…
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…
California couple charged with child abuse in surrogacy case involving 21 children
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were arrested Tuesday at their Arcadia, California, home and charged with child abuse, conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact and dissuading a witness, Los Angeles County District A…
Cornell protests grow; faculty push no-confidence vote over rape case handling
Students at Cornell University protested Monday and Tuesday over the school's handling of an alleged 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity, after activists vandalized the Day Hall administration building with red-painted messages and a s…
Seoul appeals court to rule in ex-President Yoon's free opinion poll case
A Seoul appeals court is due to deliver its verdict on Oct 7 in the political funds case against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accused of receiving 58 free opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun. The first trial sentenced Yoon…
Appeal rejected: 1 year 6 months for driver who dragged police officer 200m
A South Korean appeals court upheld a 1 year 6 month prison sentence for a 53-year-old driver who dragged a police officer on his car for more than 200m during a drunk-driving stop in Jeonju. The Gwangju High Court's Jeonju bench dismissed …
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…
Four former Sanko Seika executives indicted over 2022 fire that killed six
Niigata District Public Prosecutors Office indicted four former executives of rice-cracker maker Sanko Seika, including former CEO Motoyasu Sato (56), on charges of professional negligence resulting in death over a February 2022 fire at its…
South 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…
Pianist Kyohei Sorita indicted over 144 km/h speeding; admits charge, verdict 29 Oct
Pianist Kyohei Sorita, 32, has been indicted on-home for driving at 144 km/h on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo on 20 December last year, 84 km/h over the 60 km/h limit. At a first hearing at the Tokyo District Court on 6 October, prosecutors…
Army study found ICE shock gloves cause pain, compliance and fear, AP reports
A previously unreleased Army study found that shock gloves now purchased by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement caused intense pain, immediate compliance and fear of further shocks during a 2024 military exercise. Records obtained by t…
US forces in Okinawa order 48-hour pause and night curfew after Marine arrest
The top US commander in Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, ordered a 48-hour suspension of operations for US military personnel in the prefecture from noon on 7 October to noon on 9 October, with off-base outings and drinking on and off bas…
Japan police rearrest man over murder of woman found dead with daughter in Nara
Mie prefectural police on Oct. 7 rearrested a 37-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of murdering his 44-year-old partner, whose body was found with her 20-year-old daughter's in Nara City in July. Investigators allege he strangled the wom…
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 …
Germany detains ex-BND chief Hanning on suspicion of espionage
August Hanning, who headed Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, has been detained on suspicion of espionage, obtaining state secrets and attempted high treason, according to German and Russian outlets. His former …
German prosecutors arrest ex-BND president Hanning on espionage suspicion
German federal prosecutors announced on 6 October the arrest of August Hanning, 80, who led the foreign intelligence service BND from 1998 to 2005, on suspicion of treasonous espionage. Prosecutors allege he obtained about 2,000 documents, …