Policy & regulation, Health, Technology, Consumer, AI
488 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 …
Kremlin urges reliance on official statements amid Irkutsk infection rumors
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Rospotrebnadzor is the competent agency on the situation in the Irkutsk region and that people should follow its official statements rather than rumors and speculation. The comments follow the death of a…
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…
Trump announces “Super Intelligence Force” AI task force led by Jay Clayton
President Donald Trump announced Sunday the creation of a “Super Intelligence Force,” a federal task force he said will coordinate government efforts to keep the United States leading in artificial intelligence, which he has directed the fe…
OpenAI chief Altman says AI benefits justify risks, warns on overregulation
Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify the risks and negative events that come with it, according to RBC, TASS and RIA Novosti, which attributed the remarks to an intervi…
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…
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…
Boston Dynamics names former Amazon AI executive Rohit Prasad as CEO
Boston Dynamics, described by Korean outlets as Hyundai Motor Group's robot affiliate, said it has appointed Rohit Prasad, a former Amazon executive who led work on the Alexa voice assistant, as its new chief executive. The company said the…
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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
AMD CEO Lisa Su to visit Korea Oct. 7 for Gamer Day; AI chip talks expected
AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su will visit Korea on Oct. 7, about seven months after her March trip, to attend an “AMD Gamer Day” event at 2 p.m. at Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, AMD said. Su and senior vice president Jack Huynh will attend, …
France's Mistral releases largest open-weight AI model, Mistral Large 4
France's Mistral released Mistral Large 4, its largest open-weight AI model, nicknamed “Chonk”, on Oct 6 foreign local time, with general availability set for Oct 27. Users can download the parameters, or weights, and customize the model on…
Korea's top individual tax delinquent Kwon Hyuk to pay 393.8 billion won
The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group and the country's largest individual tax delinquent, has submitted a plan to pay 393.8 billion won in back taxes in full, 15 years after the tax was assessed. He …
Russia denies plague after worker at Siberian institute dies of unknown pneumonia
A woman who worked at a plague-control research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia has died; Japanese outlets differ on whether she died on Oct 1 or Oct 2. Russian authorities say the cause was “pneumonia of unknown cau…
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 $190 ($…