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855 storiesRussia 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…
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…
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…
Seoul defense chief: North Korea appears “taken aback” by DMZ mine response
South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul told a parliamentary audit on October 7 that North Korea appeared “considerably taken aback” by Seoul’s response to the Demilitarized Zone explosion and its mine-clearing operation. He pointed to…
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.…
Swedish air force plane flew radar reconnaissance over Black Sea, TASS reports
Russian state outlets reported that a Swedish Air Force aircraft carried out reconnaissance over the Black Sea, with TASS saying the flight was radar reconnaissance and that the plane took off from the Malmen military base. TASS later repor…
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…
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…
Hoban Construction develops AI design tech to auto-apply per-unit buyer options
Hoban Construction said it developed AI-based design technology that automatically reflects apartment buyers’ option contract choices in each unit’s building information model (BIM). The technology was developed jointly with building and in…
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…
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…
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…
Israel marks three years since Oct. 7 attack with memorials and protests
Israelis gathered on Wednesday to mark three years since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which killed more than 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, with ceremonies, memorials and protests at more than 400 locations. A national moment…
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…
KCTU to vote Oct 7 on return to social dialogue; council ready to talk
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (민주노총) will hold its 85th temporary delegate conference at 1 p.m. on Oct 7 at KINTEX in Goyang to vote on joining the Economic, Social and Labor Council (경사노위), which would end a 27-year absence from…
Apple and LG Electronics jointly develop smart home devices under LG brand
Apple and LG Electronics are jointly developing smart home devices — a camera-equipped video doorbell, a smart door lock, a security camera and a smart temperature sensor and thermostat — to be sold under the LG brand, according to Bloomber…
Busan shark Bukkangi crosses net, returns to waterway; rescue paused
The shark nicknamed Bukkangi, believed to be a dusky shark about 3 m long, crossed a large net and returned to the artificial waterway at Busan's Bukhang Chinsu Park around noon on Oct 3, a day after a second attempt to guide it to open sea…
Turkey's Aselsan announces Astralink network of 198 low-orbit satellites
Aselsan CEO Ahmet Akyol said at the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya that Turkey is building Astralink, a low-orbit satellite constellation of 198 spacecraft, with the first launch planned within two years. Akyol said work be…
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agree to activate collective defence against Houthis
Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia decided at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on 5 October to activate collective defence measures under a pact they signed in August, confirming they would deploy their forces inside Saudi territory. The three…
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 …