MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged P242.358 million worth of idle medical equipment in 2025 mainly because recipient government hospitals and health centers were not operationally ready yet. The agency observed the deficiencies yet again in the implementation of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), one of the banner programs of

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) said it found P397.45 million worth of “duplicate, multiple and overlapping” payments to beneficiaries of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). In its 2025 annual audit report, the COA noted that some beneficiaries of the

MANILA, Philippines — At least P467 billion in disputed funding increases in the 2024 and 2025 national budgets will not be returned to government coffers, even as the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring the increases unconstitutional prompted lawmakers to demand greater transparency and tighter scrutiny of the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for next year. Supreme Court

Women in handbag stores often say, “I do not have anything like this.” And so, the collection grows. But when does it become too much?

TAGBILARAN CITY, BOHOL, Philippines — Bohol has launched cloud-seeding operations to help farmers cope with drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon, as initial agricultural damage in the province approaches P300 million. The aircraft conducted its first cloud-seeding flight on Monday, followed by a second operation on Tuesday, as the provincial government intensified efforts to

VALENCIA CITY, BUKIDNON, Philippines — A key leader of the sugar sector in Bukidnon province on Wednesday urged industry regulators to peg raw sugar prices to at least P2,800 per 50-kilogram bag for farmers “to earn fairly” as the province prepares for an early milling season amid fears of a severe impact of the El

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines — More than 8,000 endangered fruit bats have been recorded at a roosting site in Aurora Memorial National Park in the Sierra Madre mountain range, highlighting the importance of protecting the park’s forest habitats to help ensure their survival and sustain natural forest regeneration. In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of

A Catholic priest in his 60s who has spent his life serving others is embarking on a new educational journey after decades away from the classroom, hoping to continue his service to the elderly after retirement. Father Carlo Yoon Haeng-do, 65, is head of the Wolyeong Catholic Church in the Diocese of Masan. Yoon enrolled in a master's program in social welfare at Kyungnam University in South Gyeongsang Province in March. He returned to his studies after nearly 30 years to prepare for a new chapter of service to the elderly after retirement. Although priests step down from active ministry at 70, Yoon believes that “there is no retirement from serving one's neighbors.” “As the elderly population grows, someone has to work for older people, and older people themselves should also take part in that work,” he said with a broad smile. Yoon begins each day by rising around 3 a.m. and praying for about two hours before cleaning the church and nearby alleyways. He has maintained this routine since taking up his post at Wolyeong Catholic Church in 2024. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings,

SINGAPORE, LONDON, SEOUL — Korea reached its goal of attracting 300,000 international students ahead of schedule. Now comes the harder part. As the government shifts its focus from quantity to quality, universities face a tougher test of whether they can turn rising enrollment into quality education, meaningful career opportunities and long-term talent retention. Under its Study Korea 300K initiative launched in 2023, the government set a target of attracting 300,000 international students by 2027. It reached that milestone early, with enrollment climbing to 307,464 this year, according to the Ministry of Education. Yet the gap between recruitment and retention remains wide, raising questions about whether universities are equipped to deliver on the government's new priorities. Despite a surge in international enrollment, Korea continues to struggle to retain foreign graduates. Of the 36,271 international students who graduated from Korean universities between August 2023 and February 2024, 42.9 percent left Korea, while fewer than 5,000 secured employment in the country. The problem is

Korean publishers are calling for stronger copyright protections and compensation as bulk book purchase requests suspected of being linked to artificial intelligence (AI) training raise concerns over intellectual property theft. Publishing groups are investigating suspicious orders and seeking a coordinated response. However, authors and publishers face a fundamental obstacle: they often cannot know for sure whether their books are being used to train AI systems. Kyobo Book Centre, a bookstore chain in Korea, said on Wednesday that 10 overseas companies, including businesses in the United States and Britain, had approached it since early this year, each seeking only one copy of roughly 100,000 titles. “Many introduced themselves as book wholesalers,” a Kyobo official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency Tuesday. The official added that some denied an AI training purpose but identified data-related companies as the final recipients. The bookseller declined the request because it could not rule out the use of AI training. Yes24, another bookstore, also reportedly received an inqui

WASHINGTON — South Korea and the United States have concluded a multinational maritime mine warfare exercise off Korea's southeastern port city of Busan with 15 partner nations, according to the U.S. Navy. The ninth Multi-National Mine Warfare Exercise 2026 concluded Friday after bringing together mine countermeasures vessels, explosive ordnance disposal personnel, clearance divers and autonomous underwater vehicles, the U.S. Navy said in a press release. The exercise was aimed at strengthening mine warfare capabilities and interoperability among participating navies through combined maritime operations. It included mine-hunting operations, harbor clearance and port-entry scenarios, mine detection and neutralization, and seabed surveys using unmanned underwater systems. The U.S. Navy deployed USS Chief, an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship, alongside expeditionary mine countermeasures companies and diving detachments. The South Korean Navy participated with mine laying and hunting vessels, supported by specialized clearance divers and underwater disposal teams. The exercise also i

The air forces of Korea and the United States will sign a letter of intent (LOI) on autonomous combat platform cooperation Thursday to bolster collaboration in the manned-unmanned combat systems, the Korean Air Force said. The LOI will be signed during a meeting between the chiefs of staff of the two countries' air forces — Gen. Son Sug-rag and U.S. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the South's armed force said in a statement. The autonomous collaborative platform (ACP) refers to an autonomous system designed to collaborate with manned aircraft and other unmanned assets to execute air missions. Such manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) is regarded as a cornerstone of next-generation air operations, reducing risks to pilots and significantly boosting the operational range and survival chances for airmen. The collaboration comes as the U.S. Air Force is pushing for the development and operational integration of the unmanned combat aircraft systems. Korea's Air Force is also working to lay the groundwork to secure operational capabilities for the MUM-T systems. Building on the collaboration, the two air fo

The commander of the U.S. Eighth Army in South Korea said his troops must be ready for deployment outside the Korean peninsula if ordered, arguing that it would be "irresponsible" to focus "myopically" on threats there. Lt. Gen. Joe Hilbert said that while his command's focus was on fulfilling U.S. commitments under its mutual defense treaty with Seoul, the Eighth Army's location did not limit the missions it could undertake. It would be "irresponsible to focus myopically" on threats on the Korean peninsula alone, he told the South China Morning Post by email, or to "suggest that we cannot do other things simply because we are in Korea." Describing the Eighth Army as part of a "global force" that trains for "readiness so that we can deploy where needed by our national command authority," Hilbert cited the Eighth Army's participation in multinational exercises across the Asia-Pacific as an example of its activities beyond the peninsula. "We view readiness as largely threat-agnostic. If we have a trained, ready force capable of executing the Army's assigned missions, we can apply that forc

Personal information belonging to about 10,000 Yonsei University students and graduates has been leaked in a hacking of the university's portal service, the university said Thursday. Yonsei University's information and communications office said it has confirmed unauthorized access to the portal by an external party, resulting in the exposure of personal information of some members of the university community. It apologized for the concern and inconvenience caused by the breach. The exposed data includes student ID numbers, mobile phone numbers and email addresses of current students and graduates, as well as certain system management information, the university said. However, sensitive personal information, such as resident registration numbers, was not compromised, it said. After discovering the hack, the university took steps to block the point of intrusion and requested a police investigation. The university said details of the breach, including the specific types of personal information exposed for each affected individual, will be available on its website from 1 p.m. Thursday.

BUSAN — Bukang-i the shark, which was guided out of a canal in South Korea's southeastern city of Busan after more than a month there, has returned to the waterway. The shark was seen swimming Thursday morning in a narrow space between a flat floating platform installed near the canal's exit to prevent it from coming back and a net set up as a second backstop, a day after it was successfully guided out of the canal. Observers say the fish could have swum its way into the canal under the floating platform, known as a pontoon. The shark -- named Bukang-i after Bukhang, Korean for North Port -- was first spotted in the canal Sept. 18. Since then, the canal park, located about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, has turned into a major attraction, drawing over 1.6 million visitors as of Sunday. After two previous attempts to guide the fish to the open sea failed, officials had waited for it to exit the canal on its own. But after it didn't, the officials made a third attempt over concern it could die if water temperatures fell further. On Wednesday, a joint team involving municipal and Coast

Veterans Minister Kwon Oh-eul will visit the graves of two former presidents, including controversial former dictator Park Chung-hee, the veterans ministry said Thursday, following through on his pledge to honor past leaders regardless of political differences. Kwon was set to attend a memorial ceremony later in the day marking the 20th anniversary of the death of Choi Kyu-hah, the 10th president, from December 1979 to August 1980, at the Daejeon National Cemetery and pay his respects, according to the ministry. Choi assumed office following the assassination of Park in October 1979 and resigned under pressure from then Army Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who took power through a military coup. Choi is the shortest-serving president in post-Korean War history. Kwon plans to visit the Seoul National Cemetery on Monday and pay tribute to Park, the ministry said. Kwon's moves are considered rare, as paying respects to controversial past leaders like Park has often drawn criticism, especially from the liberal bloc. Kwon, a Cabinet member in the liberal Lee Jae Myung government, has expressed a commitmen

Korea welcomed 17.11 million foreign visitors in the first nine months of this year, marking a 21.5 percent increase from the same period in 2025 and puts the country on track to pass last year's full-year total by October, the government said Thursday. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2.06 million foreign tourists arrived in September alone, up 21.1 percent from a year earlier, keeping monthly arrivals above the 2 million mark. The January-September total compares with 14.08 million a year earlier and 18.94 million for all of 2025. China remained the largest source market with 5.47 million visitors, up 29.2 percent. Japan followed with 3.12 million, up 16.9 percent, while visitors from Taiwan were recorded at 1.86 million, up 32.4 percent. Arrivals from the Americas rose 12 percent to 1.62 million and those from Europe climbed 20 percent to 1.19 million. Spending grew even faster. Foreigners’ card spending in tourism-related sectors, including online purchases, reached 15.94 trillion won ($12 billion) through September. That was up 47.7 percent from 10.79 tril

The presidential office on Thursday refuted media criticism that the chief of the new investigative body attending Cabinet meetings could compromise impartiality and independence in investigations. The response came amid growing media criticism after Kim Ji-yong, chief of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA), attended Tuesday's Cabinet meeting for the first time since taking office, despite the long-held practice of investigation chiefs not attending such meetings. In a social media post the previous day, President Lee Jae Myung said chiefs of all government institutions under his command could attend Cabinet meetings, but many media outlets pointed out that such a move could compromise the investigation chief's independence and impartiality in conducting investigations. "The government is strenuously working toward maintaining fairness and political neutrality in investigations and independence in indictments. This principle will remain unwavering going forward," Lee's senior secretary for the press, Seong Ghi-hong, told reporters. The official also made clear that no individua

A joint research team from Soongsil University and Chung-Ang University has developed a technology to disrupt lip synchronization in deepfake videos that use artificial intelligence (AI) to make a person's lip movements match an audio track. Soongsil University said Tuesday that the team, led by professor Choi Dae-sun of its AI Security Center and professor Kwon Jun-seok of Chung-Ang University, developed the technology, dubbed MUTE. According to the team, MUTE is the first technology to disrupt lip synchronization in deepfake videos using audio protection alone. The paper, titled “MUTE: Multi-Level Alignment Uncoupling Against Talking-Head Exploitation for Voice Protection,” was accepted for presentation at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) 2026, one of the world’s leading AI conferences. The study was conducted as part of a research and development project supported by the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The research team included doctoral student Kim Dong-hyun, master’s student Kim Seung

Seoul has secured third place overall — and claimed the top spot worldwide in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and implementation — in the newly released 2026 AI Cities Index compiled by Britain’s The Observer, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The benchmark evaluation, built on Tortoise Media’s established Global AI Index, assessed 57 major metropolitan centers across 36 countries using 50 indicators split into three core pillars: investment, innovation and implementation. San Francisco and New York claimed the top two global spots, while Seoul finished third, outranking major international hubs including Beijing, Paris and London, which filled out the fourth through sixth positions. The Observer, founded in 1791 as the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, introduced city-level rankings for the first time this year, capturing a fundamental shift as AI power increasingly concentrates in urban centers. Seoul’s standout performance came in the implementation category, where it ranked first globally ahead of Tokyo (third) and Singapore (fifth). This metric measu

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) held a two-day training program Oct. 19-20 to help newly hired employees at local semiconductor materials, parts and equipment companies develop practical skills. The university said Wednesday that its G-Anchor Project Group organized the program in cooperation with Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province. The G-Anchor Project is a provincial initiative designed to support universities in promoting regional innovation. Twenty-five newly hired employees from six semiconductor-related companies in Yongin — including Rorze Systems, BMI Tech, GnG InTech, SurplusGlobal, Justem and Appletree — participated in the training. They worked in a range of fields, including manufacturing, design, sales, research and development, and quality control. The training program aimed to deepen participants’ understanding of the semiconductor industry and develop the practical skills and workplace adaptability needed to perform their jobs effectively. Lim Ju-won, a professor in HUFS’ Division of Semiconductor and Electronics Engineering, oversaw the program. Faculty me

INCHEON — The suspect behind last week's stabbing spree in Incheon has tested negative for psychopathy, police and legal sources said Thursday. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency conducted a psychopathy test on the 59-year-old suspect, Choi Choong-rak, but his score fell below the 25 out of 40 points needed to classify him as a psychopath. Choi is accused of attempting to kill 10 people at a commercial complex in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Oct. 13, by wielding knives in both hands. The rampage left eight people injured, including one who remains unconscious after suffering cardiac arrest. The two others escaped without harm. During police questioning, Choi said he carried out the attack out of anger over medical treatment he received at a local hospital. He also told police that he did not target specific people but chose those who looked weaker than him. Choi has 10 prior convictions, including two for attempted murder. Police said they are analyzing evidence and conducting further investigations to determine his motive and whether the attack was premeditated.

A single leading-role performance can rekindle the fading embers of one dancer’s dream and give another the confidence to discover his potential. The Korea National Ballet’s first regular production of "Giselle" since Kim Joo-won took over as artistic director, staged from Oct. 13-18, drew praise for casting a host of new faces in leading roles. Among them, corps de ballet members Na Dae-han, 34, and Kim Yoon, 19, stood out for their distinct interpretations of Albrecht, Giselle’s love interest. Their performances impressed audiences so much that some viewers said they had attended multiple performances to appreciate each male dancer’s individual style. The two dancers met on Tuesday at the rehearsal building for the National Arts Companies at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul, after completing their first full-length ballet performances in leading roles. Na, who stands 182 centimeters tall, and Kim, at 190 centimeters, are striking figures even before they begin to dance. “My recent health checkup put my height at 191.1 centimeters,” Kim said with a

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said Thursday it would seek clarification and partial reconsideration of certain parts of the Supreme Court (SC) decision which declared as unconstitutional the national budget laws in 2024 and 2025, and legislated provisions relating to unprogrammed funds.

The social unrest roiling France is being closely watched for a possible spillover effect beyond the country’s borders that could reshape European politics, Chinese analysts said. The crisis is a major stress test for French politicians as they navigate deep-seated economic and societal tensions in the run-up to the country’s presidential election in April next year, according to the analysts. A critical question was whether the riots would subside quickly or escalate into prolonged instability,...

Kevin Lai, head mixologist at The St Regis Bar in Macau, is originally from Taiwan. Meng Shu, a glass artist and lecturer who is also based in the city, grew up in mainland China. Inspired by their current home, these two individuals recently combined their talents to create a cocktail and accompanying piece of glass art that represent what Macau means to them as expats – mirroring the way in which parts of the local cultural heritage were shaped over the years by people who came to the port...

Because a fix is now public and artificial intelligence tools are able to reverse engineer the bug with little effort, experts say they are bracing for a wave of intrusions as hackers jump to get ahead of the updates

Electronic Arts (EA) is shutting down its subsidiary BioWare, marking the end of the studio behind popular video game franchises such as “Dragon Age,” “Mass Effect,” and “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.”

Malaysian police have arrested a 16-year-old student after he live-streamed an attack on a teacher with an axe at a private school in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state. CCTV footage shows the teenager entering a classroom at around 7.50am on Wednesday, hitting the female teacher once with an axe before leaving. He re-enters through a second door and swings the axe at a student as others flee the room. As the teacher tries to intervene, he attempts to hack at her again but is subdued by two...

A prosecution witness on Thursday said he delivered "commitment fees" or kickbacks amounting to over P1 billion to former House appropriations panel chairperson Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list in eight instances.