Most Popular
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Korea's food inflation surges to third-highest in OECD
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W13tr cash handout likely top agenda for Yoon's 1st meeting with Lee
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Med school deans urge for freeze of 2025 quota
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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N. Korea says Kim guided simulated nuclear counterattack drill
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Culture Ministry, KTO unveil Hallyu-themed tours
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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BOK chief says won will level off if Middle East conflict eases
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'Joy of spring': Japan fetes cherry blossoms despite virus
TOKYO (AFP) -- The crowds might be thinner and parties smaller, but warnings from officials over the coronavirus have done little to stop Japanese celebrating as the country's famed cherry trees explode into bloom. Over a warm long weekend in Tokyo, people packed into traditional blossom hotspots, many not even wearing face masks, to admire the fluffy white and pink flowers hanging from delicate stems. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike admitted that taking cherry blossom parties away from Japanese
March 23, 2020
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Spain reports virus deaths up 30 percent in one day
Spain on Sunday announced 394 new deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, raising to 1,720 the official death toll in Europe's worst-hit country after Italy, a 30 percent increase over the previous day. The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 3,646, or 14.6 percent, to 28,572, according to health ministry figures, with officials warning infections will rise further in the coming days. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country's situation was now the most difficult sin
March 22, 2020
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Iran leader refuses US help, citing virus conspiracy theory
Iran's supreme leader refused US assistance Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments come as Iran faces crushing US sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets. But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have increasingly criticized those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead chose to traffic in the
March 22, 2020
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Italy's virus toll tops 4,000 after new one-day record
ROME(AFP) -- Italy reported a record 627 new coronavirus deaths Friday and saw its world-topping toll surpass 4,000, despite government efforts to stem the pandemic's spread. The Mediterranean country's daily rate of fatalities is now higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan's Hubei province. But Matteo Bassetti of Italy's prestigious San Martino clinic in Genoa said the government probably had no idea how many people rea
March 21, 2020
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WHO warns young people: ‘You’re not invincible’
GENEVA(AP) -- The head of the World Health Organization has sent a message to young people about the new coronavirus: "You're not invincible." WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says health officials are continuing to learn about the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. He said older people are hardest hit but "younger people are not spared." He said data from many countries shows people aged 50 and under make up a "significant pr
March 21, 2020
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Italy overtakes China with most virus deaths, Trump slams Beijing
PARIS (AFP) -- Italy surpassed China on Thursday as the country with the most deaths from coronavirus as the UN chief warned "millions" could die if it spreads unchecked around the globe. President Donald Trump said meanwhile that the United States is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment and lashed out at China for not informing the world earlier about the original outbreak. China for its part reported no new domestic cases for the first time since the virus appea
March 20, 2020
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Wuhan offers hope on virus front; Italy nears stark toll
BEIJING (AP) -- Thursday was a day of contrasts on the front lines of the battle against the new coronavirus. In a sign of hope, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported no new homegrown infections, but in a stark warning for the world, Italy appeared set to surpass China‘s death toll from the virus. The two milestones were a dramatic illustration of how much the global outbreak has pivoted toward Europe and the United States. They also showed how the arc of contagion can vary in d
March 19, 2020
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EU's Brexit negotiator Barnier says he has COVID-19
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU‘s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has the coronavirus, he announced on Thursday. “I tested positive yesterday for Covid-19. I’m as well as I can be, strictly confined to my home,” Barnier, 69, said in a video posted on his Twitter account. “I‘m fine, morale is good,” added the former French foreign minister, who is in France. “I naturally am following all instructions, as does my team. My message to all those
March 19, 2020
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EU to ban most foreign travelers for 30 days to curb virus
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders agreed Tuesday to immediately impose travel restrictions on most foreigners entering Europe for at least 30 days to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, and to set up fast-track transport lanes to keep vital medical equipment, food and goods flowing smoothly inside the bloc. As the virus case count in Europe climbed to over 60,000 and with more than 2,700 people dead, nervous national governments have introduced quick-fix measures such as parti
March 18, 2020
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Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS (AFP) -- Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: Border closures, checks French President Emmanuel Macron says the 27-nation European Union is to close all its external borders for 30 days. Germany implements controls at its land borders with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Spain announces it is closing its land borders. Chile closes all its land, maritime and air frontiers. Egypt will close its airports from Thursday to March 31. Greece a
March 17, 2020
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Tom Hanks released from hospital after virus quarantine
GOLD COAST (AFP) -- Tom Hanks has been released from the Australian hospital where he was in isolation since testing positive for the coronavirus last week, but his wife Rita Wilson remains hospitalised, health officials said Tuesday. The multiple Oscar-winning actor was on the Gold Coast near Brisbane to film an Elvis Presley biopic directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann when he and Wilson, both 63, came down with the disease. Wilson, a singer-songwriter, had given concerts in Sydney and Brisba
March 17, 2020
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Markets plunge as intervention fails to staunch virus panic
NEW YORK (AFP) -- Stock markets and oil prices went into freefall Monday as interest rate cuts and fresh stimulus measures by central banks failed to dampen fears amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The US Federal Reserve on Sunday slashed borrowing costs to zero -- its second emergency cut in less than two weeks -- and took action coordinated with central banks in several European countries to counteract global "dollar funding pressures." The Fed acted again on Monday, with its
March 17, 2020
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Yankees' minor league player tests positive for coronavirus
NEW YORK (AFP) -- A New York Yankees minor league player has tested positive for the coronavirus the team said Sunday, the first known case in baseball. The team did not identify the player in accordance with US medical privacy regulations, but said he was never present at the Florida spring training facility used by the Yankees' major league team and did not have known contact with any of the Yankees players. "He was never here, nor anybody who would be linked to being with him," Y
March 16, 2020
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Fed takes emergency steps to slash rates and ease bank rules
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve took massive emergency action Sunday to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed's surprise announcement signaled its worry that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in coming months and that it is prepared to do whatever it can counter the risks. It cut its key rate by a full percentage point -- to a range be
March 16, 2020
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Philippines isolates Manila to fight coronavirus outbreak
Thousands of police officers and army troops started sealing the Philippines' densely populated capital on Sunday at the start of one of Southeast Asia's most drastic containment moves against the new coronavirus. Under monthlong restrictions imposed in the entire Manila metropolis _ home to more than 12 million people _ residents are compelled to stay at home, except when they need to leave for work or go on urgent errands, including medical emergencies. Police and s
March 15, 2020
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Tokyo 2020 torch handover to take place in empty Athens stadium
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games flame handover in Athens next week will be done in an empty stadium amid the coronavirus outbreak, Greece's Olympic Committee said on Sunday. Greece on Friday cancelled the remainder of the domestic Olympic torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds a day after the Tokyo Games flame was lit in ancient Olympia. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has decided that the handover ceremony for the "Tokyo 2020" Olympic Games, on Thursday, March 19, w
March 15, 2020
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Turkey quarantines thousands of pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia
Thousands of Muslims returning to Turkey from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were being taken into quarantine on Sunday due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Turkish officials said. Television pictures showed buses transporting pilgrims along the highway from Ankara's airport to the city as part of an operation to place those returning into student dormitories. Turkey, which has only diagnozed six cases of coronavirus, has ramped up measures to halt its spread in recent days, clos
March 15, 2020
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Irish PM mulls coronavirus restrictions on pubs after outcry
The Irish government isconsidering imposing restrictions on pubs and nightclubs due tocoronavirus, after videos of singing in packed bars in thecapital on Saturday sparked a social media campaign to closethem down. Ireland, which has 129 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, closed schools and universities last week and advisedpeople to cancel all indoor gatherings of 100 people or more. But it stopped short of closing cafes, bars and restaurants, as some European states have done, citin
March 15, 2020
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US extends travel ban to UK and Ireland, reviews domestic curbs
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States said Saturday it was stepping up its fight against the coronavirus and extending a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, while acknowledging that some domestic travel curbs were also being considered. President Donald Trump has decided to "suspend all travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland" effective midnight Monday EST (0400 GMT Tuesday), Vice President Mike Pence told a White House news conference. "Americans
March 15, 2020
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Wife of Spain's prime minister tests positive for virus
MADRID (AP) -- Spain's government said Saturday that the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has tested positive for the new coronavirus. It said Begona Gomez and the prime minister are in good health and following the instructions of medical authorities at their residence in La Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the government seat. Two ministers of Sanchez's Cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, had already tested positive earlier this week. The government said b
March 15, 2020