SOUTH KOREA
Rains kill 24, 10 missing
After two days of heavy rain, at least 24 people have died and 10 are missing after heavy rain caused flooding and landslides, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday, citing local disaster relief officials. “According to rescue authorities, an initial count indicated 24 people have died due to heavy rain so far,” Yonhap reported, adding that the missing people were mostly buried by landslides or after falling into a flooded reservoir. Heavy rains have pounded the country since Sunday last week. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the rainfall forced about 1,570 people to flee and left thousands of households without electricity in the past several days.
HONG KONG
Government condemns bill
The government has condemned a US Senate Committee for passing a bill that could shut down the territory’s three economic and trade offices in the US if Hong Kong is not deemed significantly autonomous from Beijing. The legislation amounts to “gross interference in the affairs of Hong Kong,” the government said in a statement late on Friday. The offices would continue to “tell the good stories” and “refute erroneous reports and clarify misconceptions without fear or favor,” it added. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act could lead to the end of immunities and exemptions for the territory’s US-based trade offices, or have their operations shut down altogether. US Republican lawmakers have accused the agencies of serving as a “mouthpiece” for the Chinese Communist Party.
UNITED STATES
Territory sues over Epstein
The US Virgin Islands in a Friday filing in federal court in Manhattan said it wants JPMorgan Chase to pay a US$150 million civil fine, and give up at least US$40 million to resolve its lawsuit accusing the largest US bank of ignoring the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking. It also wants the bank to pay damages to compensate Epstein’s victims, pay punitive damages, separate its business and compliance functions, and hire a compliance consultant. “Financial penalties, as well as conduct changes, are important to make sure that JPMorgan Chase knows the cost of putting its own profits ahead of public safety,” US Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith said in a statement.
UNITED STATES
Cornfield coin haul to be sold
A trove of more than 700 gold coins dating back to the US Civil War found buried in a cornfield in Kentucky is being put up for sale and is expected to reap millions. The “Great Kentucky Hoard” was discovered on a farm earlier this year, the firm that graded the coins and the company selling them said. The exact location of the find and the identity of the man who found the coins have not been revealed. In a video posted on GovMint.com, which is selling the hoard, the man is seen digging up the coins in the dirt and heard saying “this is the most insane thing ever.” Among them are 18 extremely rare US$20 Gold Libertys minted in 1863 in Philadelphia, which GovMint.com said fetch six-figure sums from collectors. “The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated,” said Jeff Garrett, a rare coin dealer who was contacted by the anonymous finder several months ago. Garrett said the haul “represents a virtual time capsule of Civil War-era coinage.”
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
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