A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer, after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the company to suspend some operations there. The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek's website. The port is used to ship processed products to interna

Seoul has become the 14th most visited city by foreign travelers in 2023, according to global market analyst firm, Euromonitor. It jumped 12 notches this year from 26th in 2022. Paris has once again been named the world’s most attractive city destination, followed by Dubai in second and Madrid in third. Tokyo came in fourth, while Amsterdam rounded up the top five, according to data. Seoul, ranked third in Asia after Tokyo and Singapore, is higher than competing Asian cities such as Osaka

BEIJING -- China’s population fell by 2 million people in 2023 in its second straight annual decrease, as births dropped for the seventh straight year and deaths jumped following the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the government said Wednesday. The number of deaths rose by 690,000 to 11.1 million, more than double the previous year's increase. Demographers said the rise was driven by the aging of the population and the widespread COVID-19 outbreaks that started in December 2022 and con

A Korean Air plane carrying 289 people hit a parked Cathay Pacific aircraft while taxiing to a runway at northern Japan's New Chitose Airport but caused no fire or injuries Tuesday, Japanese media reported. The incident happened only two weeks after a high profile collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard plane on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Airline passengers had to make an emergency exit due to a fire and five of the six crew members on the smaller plane w

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui on Tuesday evening, the Kremlin said, amid the two nation's deepening military cooperation. Choe is currently visiting Russia for a three-day visit at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Choe and Lavrov are to meet at noon Tuesday before briefing Putin on the results of their bilateral talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. They will also update Putin on the progress of the agre

Donald Trump secured a resounding victory in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Monday, asserting his command over the party despite facing scores of criminal charges as he seeks a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in the US presidential election slated for Nov. 5, 2024. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind in second place, edging out former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, as they battle to emerge as the chief alternative to Trump. Trump, 77, wo

Now 100 days old, the latest Israel-Hamas war is by far the longest, bloodiest and most destructive conflict between the bitter enemies. Fighting erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and a ground offensive that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, shuttered operations in nearly

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, after Taiwanese voters rebuffed China and gave the ruling party a third presidential term. Earlier in the day, the Taiwanese ruling Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate Lai Ching-te came to power, strongly rejecting Chinese pressure to spurn him, and pledged both to stand up to Beijing and seek talks. "We do not support independence..." Biden said, when asked for

TAIPEI -- Taiwan's new president-elect, Lai Ching-te, is likely to face his toughest task yet when he takes office in May and has to deal with the ire of China which has repeatedly denounced him as a dangerous separatist. Lai, who won Saturday's election, repeatedly said during the campaign that he wanted to keep the status quo with China, which claims Taiwan as its own, and offered to talk to Beijing. "We don't want to become enemies with China. We can become friends,&qu

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese are casting their votes Saturday for a new president and legislature in an election that could chart the trajectory of the self-ruled democracy’s relations with China over the next four years. At stake is the peace and stability of the island 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of China that Beijing claims as its own, to be retaken by force if necessary. Domestic issues such as the sluggish economy and expensive housing also featured prominently in t

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK -- The US securities regulator on Wednesday approved the first US-listed exchange traded funds to track bitcoin, its Chair Gary Gensler said, in a watershed for the world's largest cryptocurrency and the broader crypto industry. The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 applications, including from BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco and VanEck, among others, according to a notice on its website. Some products are expected to begin trading as ea

The presidential election in Taiwan on Saturday is being closely watched from Beijing to Washington, with the winner set to determine the future of the democratic island’s relations with an increasingly aggressive China. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and President Xi Jinping has in recent years intensified rhetoric about “unification” while refusing to rule out the use of force to bring it under Chinese control. Front-runner and current Vice President Lai Chin

Teen usage of social media hasn’t dropped much, despite rising concerns about its effects on the mental health of adolescents, a survey from the Pew Research Institute found. But the data also found that roughly one in six teens describe their use of two platforms — YouTube and TikTok — as “almost constant.” Seventy-one percent of teens said they visit YouTube at least daily; 16 percent described their usage as “almost constant” according to the survey.

Canada - the world’s largest supplier of maple syrup - saw production of the sweet, sticky stuff plummet more than 40 percent due to unfavorable weather, according to national statistics agency data. Statistics Canada blamed severe storms and big temperature swings in eastern parts of the country for the lower yields. Top producing province Quebec experienced late spring ice storms that cut its production to 35.6 million liters - its lowest level since 2018. Total national production for 2

　Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, was named as the most preferred destination for people around the world to move to, according to “The Most Popular Cities for Moving Abroad” survey released by Remitly, a US-based online remittance service. 　The study is based on Google search data over the past 12 months in 164 countries examining search volumes for the phrase, “move to (city),” Dubai topped the list with the support of 60 countries, including Cana