Death becomes a growing business in ageing, lonely South Korea
Busan, South Korea -- Rows of coffins line a university classroom in the South Korean port city of Busan, ready...Business Culture & Society Geostrategy Health
Unexploded bombs haunt Gazans, posing deadly risk as fragile truce halts demining efforts in ruins
After two years of war, the ruined cities of Gaza, a densely packed territory home to more than two million...Geostrategy
Trade truce in balance as Trump meets ‘tough negotiator’ Xi: ‘We’ll have a great understanding’
The world's two top economies' trade tussle -- encompassing everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees -- has rocked...Sitting opposite each other each leader was flanked by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
Xi's team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before - the US side was already in South Korea - included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao
Israel hits dozens of targets as Gaza sees deadliest night since truce
Gaza's civil defense agency said more than 100 people were killed, including many children, but both US President Donald Trump...The Hamas-run territory's civil defense agency said at least 35 children were among the more than 100 killed.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said the report of so many dead was appalling and urged all side not to let peace "slip from our grasp".
Syria attracted $28 bn in investment since Assad’s fall: president
Syria has begun the mammoth task of trying to rebuild its shattered economy, after over a decade of war saw...Earlier this month, the World Bank put a "conservative best estimate" of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion.
In May, Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish and US companies as it seeks to revive its crippled power sector.
Pakistan says peace talks with Afghanistan ‘failed’
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan said Wednesday that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had "failed to bring about a...Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbours' deadliest border clashes in years
The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on October 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan
Trump says ‘nothing’ will jeopardize Gaza ceasefire after Israeli strikes kill 38 people
Trump defended Israel's actions on Wednesday, saying it "should hit back" if Israeli soldiers were killed, but added that "nothing's...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered "powerful strikes" on Gaza, after his defence minister accused Hamas of attacking Israeli troops in Gaza
While Israel Katz did not say where the troops were attacked, Hamas said its fighters had "no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah" and reaffirmed its commitment to the US
Iran proposes regional currency to boost trade
Tehran, Iran -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday proposed that Iran and its regional trading partners establish a shared...Years of international sanctions, largely imposed by the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme, have severely weakened Iran's economy.
"Even a common currency could be adopted in the region to help promote economic development," he told a meeting with Tajik Interior Minister Ramazan Rahimzada.
OpenAI says a million ChatGPT users talk about suicide
San Francisco, United States -- Data from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suggest that more than a million of the people using its...estimated that approximately 0.15 percent of users have "conversations that include explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent."
With OpenAI reporting more than 800 million people use ChatGPT every week, this translates to about 1.2 million people.
Zohran Mamdani’s rise signals new hope for US democrats searching for a winning formula
Mamdani, a 34-year-old self-described democratic socialist, has developed a plan aimed at luring working-class people and young adults, for whom...The Democrats -- shut out of power in the White House and both chambers of Congress -- are seen negatively by 63 percent of US voters, according to a July poll in the Wall Street
John Kane, a professor of political science at New York University, said the party needs to reconnect with parts of their traditional base, such as lower-income Americans and young
Erdogan hails Eurofighter jets deal as ‘new symbol’ of strategic ties with Britain
"We regard this step as a new symbol of the strategic relations between our two close allies," he said after..."We regard this step as a new symbol of the strategic relations between our two close allies," he said after signing the agreement with visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Turkey has been looking to modernise its air force and has been pushing to acquire 40 European-made fighter jet, which are jointly produced by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain
Israel insists it calls shots in Gaza despite signing up to a US-brokered ceasefire
Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire, as Israeli forces withdraw after the end of two years of brutal fighting...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide for itself where and when to strike its foes and which countries would be allowed to send troops to police the trucehe
"Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by our own means and we will continue to determine our fate," Netanyahu said. "We do not seek anyone's approval for this."
