US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary on Tuesday, describing him as a "warrior for the troops and for the country." Trump issued a statement on the designation of Hegseth, an Army veteran with tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as America's next defense secretary, who is tasked with handling a series of tough security challenges, including North Korea's military threats, Russia's war in Uk

US President-elect Donald Trump officially named Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security advisor on Tuesday, saying the Green Beret veteran will be a "tremendous" champion of his incoming administration's pursuit of "peace through strength." Trump made the announcement a day after he was reported to have offered the White House advisor post to Waltz, a veteran who served 27 years in the US Army and National Guard with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Mi

The number of dengue fever infections has spiked this year, with a South Korean university student recently dying from the mosquito-borne infection in Pakistan. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, South Korea has recorded 170 cases of dengue fever as of Oct. 26, a 16.4 percent increase from last year, with most cases caught while abroad. By country, Indonesia has the most cases, with 64 (37.6 percent of the total), followed by the Philippines with 44 cases (25.9 perce

Bitcoin soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favorable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and of pro-crypto candidates to Congress. The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency , has now more than doubled from the year's low of $38,505 and was last at $81,991, having earlier touched a record high of $82,413. Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to

Bitcoin soared to a new record high on Sunday, as the cryptocurrency continues to rise following Donald Trump's presidential election win. The digital currency passed $80,000 for the first time shortly after 12:00 pm (1200 GMT). It reached $75,000 on Wednesday, topping its previous all-time peak of $73,797.98 achieved in March. (AFP)

US prosecutors announced charges on Friday in an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former president Donald Trump and a prominent dissident Iranian-American journalist. The foiled assassination plot on Trump was allegedly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to avenge the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in a US strike ordered by then-president Trump, the Justice Department said. Farhad Shakeri, 51, an Afghan national who is believed to be i

Microsoft-backed OpenAI said on Friday night it is facing an issue that has resulted in its popular chatbot ChatGPT being unavailable. The company said in a statement on its website that it was investigating the issue and working to restore functionality as soon as possible. Over 19,403 users had been impacted by the outage as of 7:13 p.m. ET, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)

Donald Trump claimed victory and pledged to "heal" the country Wednesday as results put him on the verge of beating Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback. His exuberant speech came despite the fact that only Fox News had declared him the winner, with no other US networks having made the call so far. As jubilant supporters cheered and chanted "USA," Trump took to the stage at his campaign headquarters in Florida along with his wife Melania and several of his childre

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump secured anticipated wins in states favoring their respective parties on Tuesday, as political attention gravitates to key battleground states that will likely decide the outcome of this year's general election. With vote counting under way, Harris won New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Delaware and other Democratic-leaning states, while Trump clinched victories in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio and oth

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office. Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered drastically different temperaments and visions for the world’s largest economy and dominant military power. Harris, the Democratic vice president,

India's capital territory of Delhi is keen to use artificial rain to fight air pollution this year, its Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday, as deteriorating air quality in the region led to an increase in respiratory illnesses. Large swathes of north India battle pollution each winter as cold air traps dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from farm fires in the breadbasket states of Punjab and Haryana, shrouding the national capital and its suburbs in a toxic haze. Cloud-seeding --

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump made their final pitch to court undecided voters and "get out the vote" on Monday, a day before the high-stakes general election that could reshape America's policy on its alliances, the economy, trade, and other key issues. Vice President Harris and former President Trump held a series of final campaign events, particularly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is seen as a must-win battleground

Microsoft topped Forbes’ World’s Best Employers list for 2024, surpassing Samsung Electronics, which had previously held the top spot for four consecutive years since 2020. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, secured second place, with Samsung ranking third. The list, based on a survey conducted by Forbes in collaboration with German polling firm Statista, polled over 300,000 employees from more than 50 countries, focusing on multinational companies with over 1,000 employees o

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday he will discuss ways to advance the EU's security and defense cooperation with South Korea during his visit to Seoul. Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on social media platform X that he arrived in Seoul to co-chair the first Strategic Dialogue with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. "Over the past years, we have become even closer partners making significant progress with t

Kyiv's defense intelligence agency has said Russia appears to have deployed more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers, armed with AK-12 rifles, mortar rounds and other assault weapons, to areas near the border with Ukraine. South Korea and the West have warned that North Korean troops in Russia may soon enter into combat against Ukraine that would pose a major security threat to both Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) said on Saturday (local time) that

Saudi Arabia is on Wednesday expected to open the first meeting of a new "international alliance" to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, state media said. The "International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution" was unveiled last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Saudi state media reported at the time, bringing together Arab and Islamic countries and European countries. This week's meeting in Riyadh is expected to last for two day

McDonald's posted a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly global sales, hurt by muted demand across key markets, including Europe and the United States where it is expected to face more weakness as the burger giant reels from a deadly E. coli outbreak. Shares of the company were down 2.4 percent before the bell on Tuesday even as it beat profit estimates. Global sales fell 1.5 percent in the third quarter, the biggest decline in four years, compared with analysts' average estimate of

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A nail-biting US presidential campaign heads into its final week Monday, with polls showing little daylight between the two candidates as they ramp up appeals to their respective bases to turn out and vote. More than 41 million Americans have already cast early ballots ahead of Election Day on November 5, in what is expected to be one of the tightest elections of modern times. Outgoing President Joe Biden will join them in casting his own vote Monday, the White House said. On

RAMAT HASHARON, Israel (AP) — Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, as the Israeli offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north entered a third week and aid groups described a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel said it targeted militants. In a separate development, a truck rammed into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, wounding 35 people, according to first responders. Israeli police described

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — US and South Korean officials said Wednesday that there’s evidence North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia in a potential escalation of the nearly 3-year-old war with Ukraine. If the soldiers’ goal is fighting with Russia in Ukraine, it would be the first time a third country puts boots on the ground in the war. Other countries on both sides of the divide have sent military aid, including weapons and training: Iran has supplied Russia with drones, and W