Author: Justin M. Larson
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 7: NewJeans attends the first court hearing for ADOR lawsuit at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on March 7, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)The Chosunilbo Jns | Imazins | Getty ImagesSouth Korea’s largest K-pop agency Hybe added about $644 million in market value Thursday after a court reportedly ruled that girl group NewJeans’ contract with its sublabel ADOR remains valid.Hybe shares gained as much as 7.12%, boosting its market capitalization by roughly 915 billion won ($644 million).The court ruling means that NewJeans are still contractually bound…
BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA – OCTOBER 30: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News U.S. President Donald Trump said he has reached a 1-year agreement with China on rare earths and critical minerals, and cut fentanyl tariffs on Beijing by half, as his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded in South Korea on Thursday.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he left South Korea that the meeting with Xi was “amazing” and that…
More than 400,000 Syrians have been displaced in the year since the civil war ended, according to the United Nations, driven by a mix of sectarian violence, acts of revenge and property disputes. Source link
The Japanese national flag is seen at the Bank of Japan (BoJ) headquarters in Tokyo on July 31, 2024. The Bank of Japan lifted its main interest rate on July 31 for just the second time in 17 years in another step away from its massive monetary easing programme.Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty ImagesJapan’s central bank on Thursday kept benchmark interest rates steady at 0.5% in its first meeting after Sanae Takaichi took power as the country’s prime minister earlier this month.The decision was in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters, and comes even as inflation has…
Boris Johnson has warned the Conservatives will not win the next election by “bashing the green agenda”. Under Kemi Badenoch, the Tories have vowed to repeal the Climate Change Act – and scrap an “impossible” commitment to reach net zero by 2050 because it risks “bankrupting” the UK. Politics Hub: Latest updates from WestminsterBut in a new podcast, the former prime minister has described current arguments surrounding environmental policy as “depressing”. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 10:13 Net zero by 2050 ‘is impossible’ Mr Johnson claimed everyday voters aren’t interested in anti-net zero policies -…
File photo of a U.S. LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile inside a silo about 60 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.Universal History Archive | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to restart nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis,” citing testing programs by other countries.In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by “equal basis.”…
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping pose for photos as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan on October 30, 2025.Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty ImagesChinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday arrived in Busan, South Korea, ahead of a much-anticipated meeting to address trade and tariff concerns.The two leaders met for a photo op before their meeting that was slated for 11 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET, Wednesday). This is the first time the two are meeting in…
A £4bn data centre investment in the UK by one of the industry’s biggest companies has been confirmed today, Sky News can reveal.The money is being put up by Equinix – one of the most significant players on the global stage when it comes to providing data centre space for other clients. The 85-acre site in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, would have 250 megawatts of processing capacity and aim to be up and running by 2030.This doubles the company’s processing power in Britain, and shows it is willing to invest in the UK despite concerns about energy costs and its environmental…
South Korean auto and shipbuilding stocks rallied Thursday after Seoul and Washington finalized a trade deal announced back in July.Hanwha Ocean spiked as much as 14.9% while Samsung Heavy Industries climbed 8.33% at its peak. Defense product maker Firstec also rose as much as 9.7%.Automakers Hyundai and Kia saw gains of around 12% and 9% respectively.The agreement, detailed following a meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, includes lower U.S. tariffs on South Korean goods in exchange for a $350 billion investment pledge from Seoul — a move that could reshape trade and defense ties between…
Some of the world’s biggest tech giants reported quarterly earnings on Wednesday – with a mixed bag of results as fears grow that a bubble is forming in artificial intelligence.Microsoft revealed that its spending on AI infrastructure hit almost $35bn (£26.5bn) in the three months to the end of September, a sharp rise compared with the year before. Despite revenue jumping 18% and net income rising 12%, shares plunged by close to 4% in after-hours trading, with investors concerned about the mounting costs of sustaining the boom. Image: Microsoft is now a $4trn company thanks to its stake in ChatGPT…
About 20 people, including children, died in a Haitian community and at least three bodies were found in Jamaica, officials said, as they began to assess the huge storm’s damage. Source link
At least two people in the town died, and its historical buildings were reduced to rubble. Source link
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the latest strike took place on Wednesday in the eastern Pacific. It came two days after the deadliest set of strikes in the weekslong campaign in Latin America. Source link
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi Index has been on a record-breaking spree this month, hitting 16 intra-day records so far, propelled by a mix of AI-driven optimism about chip firms and sweeping corporate governance reforms. The rally has pushed the index past the 4,000 mark, with nearly 21% gains in October alone so far. The index has soared more than 72% this year, beating regional peers including Japan’s Nikkei 225, up 26%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 that has gained more than 19%. The rally in South Korea stocks reflects both global AI tailwinds and local structural changes that are steadily…
A container ship sails past buildings in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets were mixed on Thursday, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that a rate cut in December was far from a “foregone conclusion.”The Fed on Wednesday slashed the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points, as expected, to bring it to 3.75%-4%.In Asia, investors will closely watch a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — the first in-person meeting between the two leaders in Trump’s…
The death toll in Rio’s deadliest police operation in history rose to 132 people, the state authorities say, sparking outrage and a reckoning. Source link
Employees work on a mobile phone assembly line at Padget Electronics, a subsidiary of Dixon Technologies, in Noida, India, on Friday, March 22, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIn a move aimed at cutting India’s import dependency for electronic components, the government has approved the first set of projects under its $2.7 billion program, yet another measure in its stated self-sufficiency mission against a trying trade environment.Electronic goods were India’s third largest exports in fiscal year 2025, having jumped eight-fold over the last 10 years, to $38.56 billion in the year ended March 2025, according to government data. But those…
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the killings due to Israeli airstrikes of civilians in Gaza yesterday, including many children,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents in New York.“He condemns all actions that undermine the ceasefire and endanger civilian lives.”Reassurances givenMr. Dujarric said António Guterres noted “the importance of the parties’ renewed assurances to implement the ceasefire” and stressed that “these commitments must be upheld in full.” He added that any act that harms civilians or obstructs humanitarian operations “must be avoided.”The Secretary-General once again praised the mediation efforts of Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States, describing their engagement as “critical…
The hospital had served as the last refuge for many starving or injured civilians in El Fasher, a major battleground in Darfur recently seized by the Rapid Support Forces. Source link
Latest news reports say wind speeds have reached 165mph (270km/h) while storm surges of 13 feet (3.9 metres) are expected to lash the Caribbean island nation. Conditions are expected to significantly worsen with a third of the island already experiencing power cuts amid what US hurricane forecasters are describing as “an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.”The World Food Programme (WFP) is coordinating a sea-lift operation from Barbados, carrying essential supplies from the International Organization for Migration, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and WFP itself.“Some 2,000 relief kits are also planned for deployment once airports reopen and the weather conditions permit…
Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), told the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee that “the frequency and severity of international crimes in Myanmar have escalated.”Warning that civilians of all ethnicities are bearing the brunt, he said: “We have amassed evidence that persons detained by the military authorities have been tortured and subjected to various forms of sexual violence.”“We have evidence of the identity of the perpetrators and their commanders.”Mr. Koumjian added that his team has also documented summary executions and attacks on schools, hospitals, and places of worship as the military increasingly relies on airstrikes.He…
As Hurricane Melissa moved north of Jamaica on Wednesday, the head of the UN team there said that preliminary damage assessments from the category 5 storm showed a level of devastation “never seen before” on the Caribbean island.UN Resident Coordinator Dennis Zulu emphasised the UN remains closely engaged with governments across the region, on-the-ground UN agencies, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), noting the “tremendous and unprecedented destruction of infrastructure,” across Jamaica where Melissa made landfall on Tuesday. Looking to the months-long reconstruction and recovery effort ahead, he told correspondents in New York via video conference that it…
The author Wole Soyinka, a vocal critic of President Trump, told the Nigerian press he did not attend a visa renewal interview requested by the State Department. Source link
An overwhelming majority of the UN’s 193 Member States once again urged Washington to lift the measures – despite a noticeable shift in countries choosing to either abstain or side with the US.The resolution – titled Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba – was adopted by 165 votes in favour, seven against, and twelve abstentions.Last year, the measure passed by 187 votes with two against (US and Israel) and just one abstention (Moldova).Those voting against this year’s resolution were the US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, and…
