WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump has brokered a coming ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the ravaged, Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians, the White House announced on Friday. The localized ceasefire is set to begin Thursday, with the American first lady saying in a written statement that the situation there is “on the brink of disaster.” The White House said Melania Trump had initiated discussions after learning about the situation during an event she held during the U.N. General Assembly session last month. It said she and a representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the ceasefire. Ukraine’s lead negotiator for the agreement thanked Melania Trump for her involvement and said the deal would be tough to accomplish. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said the agreement calls for a ceasefire, followed by the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. Lastly, civilians will be allowed to leave Oleshky, he said in a video message posted onl

WASHINGTON — A senior United Nations official expressed gratitude to South Korea on Friday for donating eight military helicopters to Kenya to support U.N. peacekeeping operations. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, U.N. under-secretary-general for peace operations, made the remarks in a post on X following a ceremony marking the handover of eight refurbished MD 500 Defender helicopters to Kenya. "Grateful to the Republic of Korea for donating eight helicopters to enhance U.N. Peacekeeping's air mobility," Lacroix wrote. "Refurbished with U.S. support, they were handed over to Kenya," he added, describing the donation as a "concrete example" of how U.N. member states invest in peace. South Korea pledged to provide choppers to U.N. peacekeeping operations across Africa during the U.N. peacekeeping ministerial meeting held in Seoul in 2021. The United States vowed to conduct maintenance work on the helicopters and help transport them to the East African country. The decommissioned helicopters underwent repairs and refurbishment in the U.S. for approximately two years before arriving in Kenya last mont

WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump has brokered an upcoming ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the war-ravaged Ukrainian city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians, the White House announced on Friday. The localized ceasefire is set to begin Thursday, with the American first lady saying in a news release that the situation there is “on the brink of disaster.” The White House said Melania Trump had initiated the discussions and that she and a representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the ceasefire. Ukraine’s lead negotiator for the agreement thanked Melania Trump for her involvement and said the deal would be “extremely challenging to implement.” “Under our agreement: first a ceasefire will be put in place; second, humanitarian aid will be delivered to Oleshky; and third, civilians will be allowed to move freely out of Oleshky,” Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said in a video message posted online. “The operation will be carried out gradually and is extremely

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department has proposed expanding restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies to include North Korea and several other countries, as Washington seeks to prevent adversaries from using U.S. capital to develop advanced military capabilities. The proposed regulations, detailed in a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, would expand the existing Outbound Investment Security Program, which currently covers China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to include North Korea, Russia, Iran and Cuba, according to the Treasury Department. The proposal seeks to implement the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, enacted in December last year as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. Under the proposal, certain investments by U.S. persons involving covered foreign entities engaged in specified sensitive technologies would be prohibited, while other transactions would be subject to notification requirements. The regulations would cover specified activities in key technology sectors, in

NAIROBI, Kenya — Many people were feared trapped as a tall building collapsed Friday in Kenya’s capital, leaving a huge mound of concrete and more than a dozen floors stacked like pancakes, with little space between them. The building was under construction when it collapsed at about 1 p.m. along a busy commercial street in Nairobi's Eastleigh area, which is often crowded with thousands of traders and residents. Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud said the building had more than 10 upper floors under construction. Rescue operations were complicated, with police firing tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops, as officers sought to clear the area and provide access to emergency response teams. Joseph Kaula made it out just in time. A plasterer working on the fifth floor, he said he heard screams and spotted other workers rushing outside, shouting that the building was collapsing. “I was the last person to walk out before it collapsed and the whole area was filled with dust,” Kaula said. Kaula suspects a few of his colleagues were trapped in the basement. One injured

NEW YORK — Stocks slipped on Wall Street Friday under increasing pressure from rising oil prices. The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent, adding to its decline from a day before. The index is on track for a second-straight week of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 541 points, or 1 percent, as of 11:12 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2 percent, bolstered by gains for several big tech stocks that also helped ease losses elsewhere. Rising oil prices weighed heavily on the broader market, where three out of every four stocks within the benchmark S&P 500 index fell. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 2.4 percent to $115.86. It has surged from less than $97 at the start of October and is now at its highest level since March. Several AI-related companies made big moves. Micron Technology jumped 3.4 percent and Microsoft rose 0.8 percent and helped ease the impact on major indexes from a broad drop for most stocks. Even a relatively small 0.3 percent gain from Nvidia went a long way to help offset losses elsewhere in the market. The tech sector's influence is also c

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make an official visit to South Korea next week for a summit with President Lee Jae Myung, Lee's office said Friday. Merz is scheduled to visit Seoul next Thursday and Friday, marking his first visit to South Korea since taking office and the first bilateral visit by a German chancellor to the country in three years, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing. Lee and Merz are scheduled to hold a summit Thursday, followed by a joint press statement and an official dinner, she added. The summit will come about four months after their previous meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France in June. It will be their third meeting since Merz took office, Kang said. Merz will also attend the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Seoul. During the upcoming talks, the leaders will hold in-depth discussions on economic cooperation; future industries, such as batteries, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI); defense and the arms industry, as well as regional and international issues. "Germany i

South Korea has donated eight decommissioned military helicopters to Kenya after an overhaul, delivering on its pledge to support the U.N. peacekeeping missions in the region, officials said Friday. A ceremony marking the donation of the eight MD 500 Defenders was held at the Kenya Army Corps of Aviation in Nairobi on Friday (local time), according to the defense ministry. The move comes as South Korea pledged to provide choppers to the U.N. peacekeeping operations across Africa during the U.N. peacekeeping ministerial meeting held in Seoul in 2021. The United States vowed to conduct maintenance work on the helicopters and help transport them to the East African country. Since late 2023, eight MD 500 Defenders have been transported to the U.S., where they underwent maintenance and repair work for about two years. The upgraded choppers arrived in Kenya last month, pending deployment after successfully completing all flight tests, according to officials. The defense ministry plans to continue to expand its contributions to U.N. peacekeeping missions. Friday's event was attended by some 200 p

The spy agency on Friday reported to a parliamentary committee that recent unverified rumors circulating social media claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might have died are false, sources said. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) delivered the assessment during a closed-door meeting with ruling and opposition lawmakers on the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, according to sources who attended the meeting. The rumors, which claimed Kim had suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, fallen into a coma and died, have spread widely on overseas social media and been picked up by several foreign media outlets earlier this week. No evidence has been provided to substantiate the claims. North Korean state media have not directly addressed the speculation but reported Tuesday that Kim visited a garment and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang a day earlier. Photos released by the state media showed him touring the exhibition with his daughter Ju-ae. During the briefing to the committee late last month, the NIS said Kim, who weighs more than 140 kilograms, was at high risk of cardiovascul

After grabbing the lead at the halfway mark of the LPGA Tour event on her home soil Friday, Ryu Hae-ran said she was pleased with the state of her game entering the weekend. Ryu carded a bogey-free round of 64 in the second round at the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul. She is at 13-under 131, two better than fellow South Korean Kim Min-sun and American veteran Lauren Coughlin. Ryu made two eagles on the front nine and four birdies on the back nine. Over the first two rounds, Ryu has not yet made a bogey. She has been dialed in with her shotmaking, having missed just two fairways and one green this week. "Today was an amazing day. I really worried about the wind, but today's wind was much better than yesterday," Ryu said. "That is why I hit a lot of greens today. Everything is good for me. I am happy right now." Her putting, though, has been a different story, as she needed 32 putts to get around each of the first two rounds. For the season, Ryu ranks among the best on the tour in advanced and conventional ball-striking stats b

Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Shin Hyun-song said Friday the central bank will adjust its monetary policy to a future environment of higher economic growth and interest rates, signaling it will maintain a hawkish stance for some time. In response to a question from Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon of the ruling Democratic Party during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly, Shin agreed with the assessment that a return to the era of ultra-low interest rates would be difficult. "We will implement policies effectively in preparation for the prospect of a future environment characterized by high growth and high interest rates," he said. The central bank has adopted a more hawkish stance in recent months amid rising inflation and solid economic growth. It raised the benchmark interest rate to 3 percent in July and August, marking the first back-to-back rate hikes since January 2023. The January 2023 hike was the seventh consecutive increase in a tightening cycle that began in April 2022. Over the 3 1/2-year period, the rate was gradually lowered to 2.5 percent from 3.5 percent before the latest round of

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber made an unannounced visit to Korea on Friday, marking his first trip to the country in about 13 years. Bieber shared his arrival on social media with the caption, "Made it to Seoul," alongside a photo taken while traveling through the Korean capital. He arrived at Incheon International Airport, located just west of Seoul, with his wife, model Hailey Bieber, in the early hours of Friday, according to local media reports. The 32-year-old singer last performed in Korea in 2013, though he made a virtual appearance at the Weverse Con Festival, a music festival hosted by K-pop powerhouse Hybe, in late 2021. While the exact purpose of Bieber's trip was not immediately disclosed, his visit coincides with a Seoul pop-up store for Skylrk, the fashion and lifestyle brand he co-founded. He later posted photos of himself at the store on social media, fueling speculation that his trip was tied to the event. The store opened Thursday in the trendy Seongsu neighborhood and runs through Sunday.

Ryu Hae-ran soared to the top of the leaderboard at the LPGA Tour event in her native Korea on Friday. Ryu fired a blistering round of eight-under 64 to seize the 36-hole lead at the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul. Ryu, the highest-ranked player in the field this week at No. 3, has yet to make a bogey in this tournament. On Friday, Ryu recorded two eagles on the front nine and added four birdies on the back nine for her second consecutive bogey-free round. Ryu, who hit every green in regulation and missed just one fairway Friday, holds a two-shot lead over two players — Kim Min-sun of Korea and Lauren Coughlin of the United States — at 13-under 131. Ryu, 25, is from the nearby town of Yeongam. Her two LPGA wins this season have both come at major championships — first at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and then at the Amundi Evian Championship. Ryu is now trying to join world No. 1 Nelly Korda and second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul as the only players to notch at least three victories in 2026. Ryu eagled the first two par-5

The Army's Ground Operations Command (GOC) has conducted an annual counterfire field training exercise (FTX) to enhance its readiness for wartime operations, the armed service said Friday. The drills were conducted from Monday through Friday, involving some 4,100 troops affiliated with the Combined Ground Component Command (CGCC), according to the Army. The GOC also serves as the ground component command of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), which was transitioned into a standing unit earlier this year. During the drills, which were held in tandem with the annual Hoguk exercise, troops trained under a simulated all-out war scenario on the Korean Peninsula. The CGCC task force, comprising intelligence and artillery units, attempted to occupy positions and detect and strike targets using their combined assets. A range of joint surveillance and strike assets, including the allies' unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), counter-battery radars, the Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile (KTSSM) and K9 self-propelled howitzer, were mobilized for the drills. The troops also practiced res

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday urged prompt and bold reform of outdated regulations that hamper the growth of new technologies or advanced industries, calling it an essential task in the country's drive for global industrial leadership. The president made the call at the second plenary meeting of the regulation rationalization committee, aimed at easing regulations to help nurture advanced industries and ensure balanced development, both of which are key initiatives of the Lee administration. "Rationalizing regulations is an essential task in establishing an irreplaceable Republic of Korea," Lee said, reiterating his administration's push to establish global leadership in advanced industries. The president said new regulations would still be needed and should even be strengthened to protect people's lives and safety, as well as social fairness and transparency, but any outdated regulations hampering growth should be promptly reformed. "Outdated, inconvenient regulations that block new technologies and the development of new industries should be reformed promptly and boldly," he said. T

Lisa of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK returned to the music scene Friday with her new solo EP, "Press Play," marking her first release in one year and eight months. The six-track album, released at midnight, serves as the singer's first solo EP and follows her debut full-length album, "Alter Ego," which came out in February last year. Fronted by the lead track "Tarantino," the EP also includes the songs "Sawadika," "V12," "Cobra," "Cut U Off" and "Sweat." "Sawadika," which was released ahead of the album in September, debuted at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart shortly after its release. It set a new record as the highest-charting song from the artist. The comeback follows a major milestone for Lisa at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles last month. She won the Best Pop award, a major category, for "Dream," a track from "Alter Ego," becoming the first Asian solo artist to claim the prize.

Woori Financial Group Inc. on Friday reported a decline in its third-quarter net profit on a one-off factor. Its net profit reached 1.04 trillion won ($784 million) in the July-September period, down 15.7 percent from a year earlier. The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 963.4 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. In the first nine months of the year, the banking group racked up 2.66 trillion won in net profit, down 4.9 percent on-year. Operating profit for the July-September period was 1.41 trillion won, up 43.6 percent from a year ago, and revenue also jumped 66.2 percent to 13.3 trillion won. Interest income rose 1.7 percent on-year to 2.37 trillion won in the third quarter. Its non-interest income, on the other hand, sank 7.6 percent on-year to 581 billion won in the July-September period, Woori said. The financial group's flagship Woori Bank, meanwhile, reported a net profit of 1.02 trillion won in the third quarter, sharply up from a net profit of 736 billion won

Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said Friday his ministry will make efforts to devise measures to address problems caused by smart glasses, vowing to speed up related guidelines already under preparation. Bae made the remarks during a parliamentary audit held at the National Assembly when a lawmaker asked whether the ministry is planning to deal with concerns over covert filming and privacy violations caused by such devices. "We will swiftly come up with response measures from a pan-ministerial level," Bae said, noting that President Lee Jae Myung pointed out the issue during a recent Cabinet meeting. "We are preparing a guideline but will speed up its progress." Smart glasses are wearable computer frames that integrate digital technology into eyewear, allowing people to film objects with a camera installed on the glasses, or show visual information on the lenses. The technology was brought to the mainstream mostly by Ray-Ban from Meta Platforms Inc. The device has recently face scrutiny in Korea, as a few people have been caught using them to cheat in academic and technical exams or ille

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Friday welcomed an appeals court's decision to acquit Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in a high-stakes political funds case linked to opinion polls ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election. Oh, who had been fined 10 million won ($7,500) by a lower court for violating the Political Funds Act and was at risk of losing his mayoral post, was acquitted on appeal. He is affiliated with the PPP. "It is a great relief and at the same time only the right thing that the city administration, entrusted to Mayor Oh Se-hoon by ten million residents of Seoul, can continue without disruption," PPP chief spokesperson Park Choong-kwon said in a commentary. "The ruling shows that the truth always prevails in the end, even if it takes time," he said. Oh had been indicted on charges of having a political supporter make payments totaling 33 million won for opinion polls he allegedly received on 10 occasions from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2021 election. Under the Political Funds Act, elected officials are stripped of their seats if they receive

Police will step up crowd safety measures in major nightlife districts across Seoul for Halloween festivities next week, officials said Friday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said it will operate a special safety management period from Friday to Nov. 1. During this period, 4,594 police personnel — including 30 riot police units, 120 regional patrol teams, 120 special task force members, 99 detectives and 765 traffic police — will be deployed to Itaewon, Hongdae, Seongsu, Myeongdong and Ikseon-dong, where large crowds are expected to gather. The heightened safety measures come as Seoul prepares for its fourth Halloween since the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, a tragic incident that claimed 159 lives in a narrow alleyway in the popular nightlife neighborhood. From Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, police will closely manage traffic control in collaboration with local district governments, restricting vehicle access in phases based on crowd density. In major crowd gathering areas like Itaewon and Hongdae, police will also carry out preventive patrols to ease public anxiety caused by a recent s