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459 storiesTrump 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.…
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…
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days Begin With Discounts on Apple Macs, AirPods and iPads
Amazon's fall Prime Big Deal Days sale is live, with early discounts on Apple products including AirPods Pro 3 at $179.00, down from $249.00, AirPods Max 2 at $429.00, and about $200 off most M5 MacBook Air models. Outlets also reported all…
South Korea unveils 1,000 trillion won green transition plan to 2035
South Korea announced a “Korean-style Green Transition” (K-GX) strategy on Oct 7, pledging about 1,000 trillion won over ten years to 2035 — 200 trillion won in fiscal support and more than 790 trillion won in climate finance through five p…
Pennsylvania measles cases pass 1,000, largest state outbreak in decades
Pennsylvania has reported 1,004 measles cases in 2026, the state Department of Health said Monday, including at least 198 hospitalizations and five deaths. State health officials say it is the largest outbreak in any U.S. state in more than…
Russian woman at plague research institute dies; cause disputed
A woman in her 20s who worked at a plague control research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region died on October 2. Russian health authorities said on October 4 the cause was “pneumonia of unknown origin,” while speculation of plague infecti…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
FT: EU weighs universal corporate levy to raise taxes on US tech giants
The European Commission is considering a new mechanism to raise more tax revenue from large US technology companies without singling them out as a separate category, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources. Under discussion is …
HIS says up to 627 customers' passport data may have leaked after Thai unit breach
HIS announced on October 7 that up to 627 customers' passport details may have leaked after unauthorized access to a file server at its Thai subsidiary, H.I.S. TOURS. The company said it detected the access in December 2025 and identified t…
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…
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…
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…
Amazon’s October Prime Day runs October 6-8 as retailers cut prices early
Amazon’s October Prime Day, also called Prime Big Deal Days, runs from October 6 at 3AM ET through 3AM ET on October 8, with discounts already live, according to The Verge, NBC News and Wired. Wired listed Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 at $190 ($…
S. Korea farm minister says minor farmland survey violations won't be punished
Agriculture minister Song Mi-ryung told a parliamentary audit on Oct 7 that most ordinary, customary violations found in the government's full farmland survey would not be punished, and that the government has no plan or reason to confiscat…
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…