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551 storiesWHO 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…
Texas 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…
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…
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…
Apple and LG co-develop smart home devices including doorbell, lock and thermostat
Bloomberg reports that Apple and LG have co-developed a line of smart home devices, including a video doorbell, thermostat, smart deadbolt lock, indoor and outdoor security cameras and a floodlight camera. The products are expected to carry…
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…
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 …
WHO says Russia reported no plague case in Irkutsk as US tracks lab worker's death
The World Health Organization said Russian authorities reported no plague case had been recorded in the Irkutsk region, while the cause of a 28-year-old anti-plague laboratory worker's death remained unconfirmed. The US State Department sai…
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…
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…
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…
Nuri rocket completes fifth launch, placing satellites in orbit
South Korea’s Nuri rocket lifted off at 12:25 p.m. local time on Oct 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, carrying 15 satellites, the most in its history, and placed the five main ultra-small cluster satellites in their target orbit. Ne…
Tennessee Republicans weigh new execution methods after botched lethal injection
Some of Tennessee's top Republicans said they want to explore alternative ways of executing condemned prisoners after the failed execution of Christa Pike on Sept. 30, in which a large dose of pentobarbital did not kill her. Gov. Bill Lee h…
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…
2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded for optogenetics
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Foundation announced on October 5. The technique l…