Taiwan's new President Lai in his inauguration speech urges China to stop its military intimidation

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, said in his inauguration speech Monday that he wants peace with China and urged it to stop its military threats and intimidation of the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. “I hope that China will face the reality of (Taiwan)’s existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation,” Lai said after being sworn into office. Lai ple

May 20, 2024

Iranian President Raisi: Hard-liner on morality, protests, nuclear talks

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain in northern Iran on Sunday, became a contender to be Iran's next supreme leader with a clampdown on morality questions and a bloody crackdown on the nationwide protests it triggered. Raisi's victory in an election in 2021, after heavyweight conservative and moderate rivals were disqualified by a hard-line oversight body, brought all branches of power under the control of hard-liners loyal to Supreme Leader

May 20, 2024

Iran’s president found dead at helicopter crash site

  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash Monday after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63. The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missi

May 20, 2024

Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing

TEHRAN -- Search and rescue teams were scouring a fog-shrouded mountain area of northwest Iran Monday after President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter went missing in what state media described as an accident. Fears grew for the 63-year-old ultraconservative after contact was lost with the aircraft carrying him as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others in East Azerbaijan province on Sunday, reports said. After hours of searching, state TV reported early Monday that a Turkish

May 20, 2024

Heavy rains set off flash floods in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 47 people

More heavy rains in Afghanistan have triggered flash floods, raising the death toll to 47 in the country's north following weeks of devastating torrents that had already left hundreds dead and missing, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. The new round of heavy rains and floods hit three districts in Faryab province Saturday night, destroying houses and farmlands, said Shamsuddin Mohammadi, the provincial director of information. Earlier reports from Faryab put the death toll at 18 but official

May 19, 2024

Putin concludes a trip to China by emphasizing its strategic and personal ties to Russia

BEIJING — Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded a two-day visit to China on Friday, emphasizing the countries’ burgeoning strategic ties as well as his own personal relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as they sought to present an alternative to US global influence. Putin praised the growth in bilateral trade while touring a China-Russia Expo in the northeastern city of Harbin. He met students at the Harbin Institute of Technology, known for its defense research and its

May 18, 2024

Israeli army finds bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza killed at Oct. 7 music festival

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Louk's twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the militants’ attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year

May 18, 2024

[Graphic News] UK tops global chart for child alcohol use

One in three 11-year-olds in England has tried alcohol (34 percent of girls, 35 percent of boys), according to a World Health Organization report, which warned it is a “serious public health threat” to the country. The organization examined data from 280,000 children aged 11, 13, and 15 from 44 countries, and the England topped the list of child alcohol use. Romania, Slovenia and Greece also placed high on the list. Even worse for the England, by the time children reach 13 years

May 16, 2024

Singapore inaugurates new PM as Lee makes way after 20 years in charge

SINGAPORE -- Singapore was to inaugurate Lawrence Wong on Wednesday as its new prime minister and fourth leader since independence six decades ago, completing a carefully calibrated power transfer designed to guarantee continuity in the wealthy city-state. Wong, 51, comes from among a crop of so-called "4G" leaders, a new generation of politicians hand-picked by the long-ruling People's Action Party to take over the reins of the key Asian trade and financial center. Wong will retain hi

May 15, 2024

OpenAI gives ChatGPT new powers to see, hear

SAN FRANCISCO -- OpenAI on Monday released a higher performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its popular generative tool ChatGPT, making it free to all users. The update to OpenAI's flagship product landed a day before Google is expected to make its own announcements about Gemini, the search engine giant's own AI tool that competes with ChatGPT head-on. "We're very, very excited to bring GPT-4o to all of our free use

May 14, 2024

Afghanistan floods devastate villages, killing 315

Flash floods caused by heavy rains have devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 people and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday, as villagers buried their dead and aid agencies warned of widening havoc. Thousands of homes were damaged and livestock wiped out, the Taliban-run refugee ministry said, while aid groups warned of damage to health care facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supply, with streets left coated in mud. In the Nahrin district of B

May 12, 2024

Pentagon refuses to comment on whether Korea should offer lethal arms support to Ukraine

A Pentagon spokesperson refused Thursday to comment on whether the United States wants Seoul to provide lethal arms support to Ukraine, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirmed his administration's policy against any provision of offensive weapons to the war-torn country. Seoul has maintained a stance to offer humanitarian and non-lethal defense assistance to Ukraine, such as protective suits, demining equipment and other military supplies, though pressure has continued for arm

May 10, 2024

[Graphic News] 90% of global citizens want to ban unrecyclable plastic

Ninety percent of global citizens say that types of plastic that are not recyclable should be banned, according to a study. The World Wildlife Fund’s latest report is based on a survey of around 25,000 people from 32 countries, asking for their opinions about unrecyclable plastic products and their negative impact on human health. In Korea, 1,000 people participated in the survey. In the survey, 87 percent of respondents are against the use of unrecyclable plastic products, and 85 percen

May 9, 2024

US halts bomb shipment to Israel over Rafah concerns

WASHINGTON -- The US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the US, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 900-kilogram bombs and 1,700 225-kilogram bombs, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, with the focus of US concern being the

May 8, 2024

[Graphic News] 1 in 4 US teachers experiences gun-related school lockdown

With school shootings in the United States reaching 82 cases in 2023, a majority of the country's teachers worry about the possibility of a shooting occurring at their school. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of US public school teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade, or K-12, say they are at least somewhat worried about such an occurrence. Among them, 7 percent say they are extremely worried. About a quarter of teachers report experiencing a gun

May 8, 2024

Israeli forces take control of Rafah crossing with Egypt

An Israeli tank brigade seized control Tuesday of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, authorities said, moving forward with an offensive in the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain on a knife’s edge. The move comes after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group on Monday saying it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. Israel, meanwhile, insisted the deal did not meet its core demands. The high

May 7, 2024

US soldier detained in Russia on charges of criminal misconduct: US Army

An American soldier was detained on charges of criminal misconduct in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok last week while on leave after finishing his tour of duty in South Korea, officials said Monday. US Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith said that the soldier, whose name was withheld, was detained Thursday, and that the US Army notified his family of his detention. The soldier was on leave in Russia following the completion of his tour of service in South Korea, a US official told Yonhap Ne

May 7, 2024

Prosecutors move deeper into Trump's orbit as testimony in hush money trial enters a third week

Prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money trial are moving deeper into his orbit following an inside-the-room account about the former president's reaction to a politically damaging recording that surfaced in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. Hope Hicks, a former White House official and for years a top aide, is by far the closest Trump associate to have taken the witness stand in the Manhattan trial. Her testimony Friday was designed to give jurors an insider's view of a cha

May 6, 2024

Israel begins evacuating part of Rafah

Israel called on civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah on Monday in what appeared to be preparation for a long-threatened assault on Hamas holdouts in the southern Gaza Strip city where more than a million war-displaced Palestinians have been sheltering. Instructed by Arabic text messages, telephone calls and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian zone" 20 kilometers away, some Palestinian families lumbered out under chilly spring rain, witnesses sa

May 6, 2024

Israeli strikes on Rafah after deadly Hamas rocket attack

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a rocket attack claimed by Hamas armed wing, near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where Palestinian health officials said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli fire Sunday. Hamas's armed wing claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers. Israel's military said 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the area of the crossing, wh

May 6, 2024