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

Hamas delegation heads to Cairo for truce talks

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel's threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a "bloodbath." Foreign mediators have been waiting for the Palestinian militant group to respond to a proposal to halt fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners. "The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas," US Secretary of State A

May 4, 2024

Iraqi militant group claims missile attack on Tel Aviv targets, source says

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group of Iran-backed armed groups, launched multiple attacks on Israel using cruise missiles on Thursday, a source in the group said. The source told Reuters the attack was carried out with multiple Arqub-type cruise missiles and targeted the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the first time. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed dozens of rockets and drone attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria and on targets in Israel in the more than six months since the Israe

May 3, 2024

US Fed says rates will stay at 2-decade high

The Federal Reserve emphasized Wednesday that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it does not plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2 percent target. The Fed issued its decision in a statement after its latest meeting, at which it kept its key rate at a two-decade high of roughly 5.3 percent. Several hotter-than-expected reports on prices and economic growth have recently undercut

May 2, 2024

[Graphic News] 23% of US adults have used ChatGPT

The latest survey from Pew Research Center showed that artificial intelligence chatbot use is ticking up in the US. The survey showed that 23 percent of US adults have used ChatGPT, an increase from 18 percent in the previous July 2023 survey. Adults under the age of 30 stood out the most, with 43 percent of them having some type of experience in using ChatGPT. However, there was also a slight increase in older age groups as well. Despite the overall increase in usage, Americans tend still to

May 2, 2024

[Graphic News] National Museum of Korea 6th most-visited museum globally

The National Museum of Korea in Seoul ranked sixth among museums and art galleries worldwide in terms of its total number of visitors in 2023, according to the UK-based Art Newspaper. The annual number of visitors in 2023 reached 4,180,285. The number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea increased by 22.5 percent last year from 3,411,381 a year earlier. This is the largest number of visitors since its opening in 1945. The museum has a collection of 420,000 artifacts from ancient times t

May 1, 2024

Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal

JERUSALEM -- Hopes rose Monday for a long sought-after cease-fire and hostage release deal after almost seven months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Washington's top diplomat said he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the offer, which his British counterpart said could see the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. After meeting in Cairo, the Hamas delegation left Egypt and returned to Qatar "to discuss the ideas and the proposal ... and we are keen to respond as qu

April 30, 2024

Hamas reviewing Israeli proposal for cease-fire

CAIRO -- Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, as Egypt intensified efforts to broker a deal to end the monthslong war and stave off a planned Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya gave no details of Israel's offer, but said it was in response to a Hamas proposal two weeks ago. Negotiations earlier this month centered on a six-week cease-fire proposal and the release of 40 ci

April 28, 2024

[Graphic News] Exports of cosmetic products hit record high in Q1

South Korea’s exports of cosmetic goods rose more than 20 percent on-year to reach an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024, amid the growing popularity of Korean culture, data showed. Outbound shipments of cosmetics totaled $2.3 billion during the January-March period, up 21.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. It marked the highest level ever for any first-quarter figure. Overseas sales of South Korean cosmetic goods reached a yearly h

April 26, 2024

Taiwan rattled by dozens of quakes, but no major damage

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's quake-hit county of Hualien was rattled by dozens of aftershocks late on Monday and early on Tuesday, but only minor was damage reported and no casualties. Largely rural and sparsely populated Hualien was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on April 3 which killed at least 14 people and there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since. Buildings shook across large parts of northern, eastern and western Taiwan, including in the capital Taipei, swayed throughout the n

April 23, 2024

[Graphic News] Hallyu boosting image of Korea: survey

Two-thirds of overseas residents reported a positive change in their perception of Korea thanks to Korean cultural content, a government report showed. The 2024 report issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliate, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, showed that 66.1 percent of respondents who had engaged with Korean content, such as TV dramas and films, said it had a favorable impact on their perception of Korea. The report was based on an onli

April 22, 2024

Foreign Ministry denounces heightening tensions in Middle East

The Foreign Ministry expressed concerns Saturday over the escalating tensions in the Middle East, calling on all stakeholders to refrain from actions that could worsen the crisis. The ministry also said it condemns actions that led to recent explosions in Iran. "We strongly denounce any move that escalates regional tension, including the explosion that occurred in Iran on Friday," it said in a released statement. The statement comes after Israel reportedly staged attacks against Iran t

April 20, 2024

Iran fires air defense batteries in provinces as sound of explosions heard near Isfahan

Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. It remained unclear if the country was under attack. However, tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. One government official suggested sites may have been targeted by drones. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. IRNA said the defenses fi

April 19, 2024

Flights divert around western Iran as explosions and loud noise reportedly heard near Isfahan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Commercial flights began diverting their routes over western Iran without explanation early Friday as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic reported “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan. State television acknowledged “loud noise.” The incident comes as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began d

April 19, 2024

[Graphic News] French bulldog most popular breed in US, Maltese most popular in Korea

The French bulldog has been chosen as America’s most popular dog breed for the second year in a row, according to the data collected by the American Kennel Club. The Labrador retriever, which held the top place for 31 years before being dethroned by the French bulldog in 2022, came in at second place once again. The French bulldog has seen a rapid rise in popularity since 2015, when it first entered the top 10 list in 100 years. The top 5 dog breeds in 2023 remained the same as 2022 with

April 19, 2024

Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth

PARIS -- Climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions already in the atmosphere will shrink global gross domestic product in 2050 by about $38 trillion, or almost a fifth, no matter how aggressively humanity cuts carbon pollution, researchers said Wednesday. But slashing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible remains crucial to avoid even more devastating economic impacts after midcentury, they reported in the journal Nature. Economic fallout from climate change, the study shows, c

April 18, 2024

Despite weather glitch, the Paris Olympics flame is lit at the Greek cradle of ancient games

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — Even without the help of Apollo, the flame that is to burn at the Paris Olympics was kindled Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in southern Greece. Cloudy skies prevented the traditional lighting, when an actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess uses the sun to ignite a silver torch — after offering up a symbolic prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god. Instead, a backup flame was used that had been lit on the same spot Monday, during the fina

April 16, 2024

Meta 'supreme court' takes on cases of deepfake porn

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meta's oversight board said Tuesday it is scrutinizing the social media titan's deepfake porn policies, through the lens of two cases. The move by what is referred to as a Meta "supreme court" for content moderation disputes comes just months after the widespread sharing of lewd artificial intelligence-generated images of megastar Taylor Swift on X, formerly Twitter. The Meta board picked its two cases, regarding images shared on Instagram and Facebook, to &q

April 16, 2024

Guterres urges maximum restraint after Iranian assault on Israel

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned members not to further escalate tensions with reprisals against Iran, while the US warned the Security Council it would work to hold Tehran accountable at the UN. Guterres, speaking to a meeting of the UN Security Council, told member states that the UN charter bars the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state as he also condemned Iran's attack on Israel. Iran launched a swarm of

April 15, 2024