Author: HeraldStar

In the spy romance series Tempest, Jun Ji-hyun, one of South Korea’s biggest stars, plays a diplomat trying to uncover the truth behind a deadly assassination. “Why does China prefer war? A nuclear bomb could fall near the border,” her character says in one episode of the new Disney+ series. This fictional scene led to real consequences over the weekend, with many Chinese social media users taking it to be a malicious mischaracterisation of China as belligerent. Many are now calling for brands to sever ties with the Korean actress. The uproar has also reignited debate over an unofficial Chinese…

Taking a page from the private insurance industry’s playbook, the Trump administration will launch a program next year to find out how much money an artificial intelligence algorithm could save the federal government by denying care to Medicare patients. The pilot program, designed to weed out wasteful, “low-value” services, amounts to a federal expansion of an unpopular process called prior authorization, which requires patients or someone on their medical team to seek insurance approval before proceeding with certain procedures, tests, and prescriptions. It will affect Medicare patients, and the doctors and hospitals who care for them, in Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma, New…

TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab has won a 4.5-billion-euro ($5.30 billion) contract from the French government to develop and build a 1.5 gigawatt wind farm off the Normandy coast in a consortium with RWE, it said on Wednesday. The French energy major expects to make a final investment decision in early 2029, with power production to begin in 2033, according to a statement. Total said the project represents an investment of 4.5 billion euros, with the tariff set by the state to be 66 euros per megawatt-hour. The wind farm would produce six terawatt-hours of electricity annually, supplying the equivalent of 1…

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), opens new tab hopes to acquire 2.5-3 gigawatt renewable energy projects by 2030, Executive Director Satyan Kumar said on Wednesday. The company already has about 2.5 GW of renewable energy capacity, Kumar told reporters. ONGC is looking to import 3 million ton per year of liquefied natural gas under long-term deals and expects some contracts to be finalised in 12 months, he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that he hopes “countless people from all over the globe” will attend the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics hosted by the United States. Overseas travel to the U.S. fell 2.9% year-on-year in August to about 3.5 million visitors, according to preliminary U.S. government data. It was the sixth month this year that travel declined from a year ago, bucking the global tourism trend and defying expectations that in 2025 annual inbound visitors would finally surpass the pre-pandemic level of 79.4 million. In a wide-ranging speech, Trump said next year…

Alexander Isak scored his first goal for Liverpool while Hugo Ekitike was sent off after bagging a late winner as the hosts beat second tier Southampton 2-1 at Anfield to reach the fourth round of the League Cup on Tuesday. The Swede, a record 125 million pounds ($169.04 million) signing from Newcastle United, found the net in the 43rd minute of a scrappy match — 38 seconds after Southampton’s Adam Armstrong had hit the crossbar. Federico Chiesa provided the assist, as he did for Ekitike, cutting the ball back for Isak to slot coolly home. Southampton hit back through Shea…

When Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, clasped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh last week, the symbolism was unmistakable. The embrace followed the signing of a “strategic mutual defence agreement”, bringing the Islamic world’s only nuclear-armed state closer to the Gulf’s most ambitious monarchy. A senior Saudi official told Reuters that the pact was merely an “institutionalisation of long-standing and deep cooperation”. But many in India see it differently. Despite Delhi’s cultivated warmth with Riyadh, the pact lands amid heightened hostility with Pakistan, including a four-day conflict earlier this year. Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars and clashes…

In a large field 45 miles (72km) from Belarus’ capital Minsk, a battle is raging. There are giant explosions as Sukhoi-34 bombers drop guided bombs. Huge plumes of smoke darken the sky. The whole area echoes to the sound of exploding mortar and artillery shells. Helicopter gunships join the attack, while surveillance drones sweep overhead to view the damage. It’s only an exercise, though. Together with other international media we’ve been brought to the Borisovsky training ground where Belarusian and Russian forces are taking part in joint manoeuvres. It’s part of the Zapad-2025 (“West 2025”) military drills. Military attachés, too,…

Malawi’s former President Peter Mutharika has taken a comfortable lead in the country’s presidential race, with two-thirds of districts having reported provisional results. The 85-year old has received around 66% of the valid votes counted so far, with his closest rival, the incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, 70, trailing on around 24%. Results declared so far indicate that Mutharika has won in areas known to be Chakwera strongholds, including the capital, Lilongwe, and Nkhotakota. But Chakwera’s camp has not given up, saying that once results are declared from other areas, his vote will increase and he could force a run-off. A candidate…

A new artificial intelligence tool designed to crack down on fraud has helped the UK government recover almost £500m over the last year, the BBC can reveal. More than a third of the money clawed back related to fraudulent activity during the Covid-19 pandemic, with other cash being recouped from unlawful council tax claims and illegal subletting of social housing. The government will announce later that a new AI tool which has helped to identify the fraud will now be licensed to other countries, including the US and Australia. Civil liberties campaigners have previously criticised the Labour government for its…