Why North Korea is at the heart of South Korea’s strange rift with Ukraine

White House official accuses S. Korea of flooding US with subsidized steel

WASHINGTON — A White House official on Thursday accused South Korea of flooding the U.S. market with heavily subsidized steel products and Chinese steel shipped through the country, warning that Washington is taking action to crack down on such purported measures. "South Korea is inundating the U.S. with highly subsidized steel and steel transshipped from China," Peter Navarro, White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, wrote on social media platform X. "We are cracking down," he added, while sharing a video clip of him speaking with reporters earlier this week on U.S. trade. In the news video clip from Tuesday, Navarro said he wants to "call out" in particular South Korea for "inundating" the American market with highly subsidized Korean steel and transshipped steel from China. "Even though we have very high tariffs, 50 percent on steel, they are blowing past that because they cheat, and we're gonna be doing something about that." Foreign steelmakers in the U.S. face tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the U.S. president to adjust i

US freezes green card applications from Microsoft, major IT firms over alleged fraud

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration froze on Thursday some green-card filings by Microsoft, Adobe and major IT outsourcers and opened probes into nine top universities, widening a visa crackdown it says targets fraud and protects American jobs. The twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programs — potentially cutting off a common path to permanent residency for foreign tech workers — while putting some of the country's top research universities on notice. "There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft," Vice President JD Vance said. He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B temporary worker visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. The announcement about the permanent labor certification process — PERM — came hours before Trump was due to give Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Under PERM, required for most employment-based green cards, employers must show that hiring a foreign worker wi

US keeps S. Korea in Tier 1 group for human trafficking elimination efforts for 3rd straight year

The U.S. State Department has kept South Korea in the highest tier of countries in terms of anti-human trafficking efforts for the third consecutive year, while maintaining North Korea in the lowest category over state-sponsored forced labor practices, a department report showed Thursday. The department released the 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, where South Korea was listed in the Tier 1 group of 33 countries and territories, including the United States, Britain, Taiwan, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Israel and Denmark. In its tier placement, the report cited various efforts by Seoul, including increasing investigations and convictions, updating guidelines to provide potential victims with access to emergency support among other efforts. "The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period. Therefore, the ROK remained on Tier 1," the report said, referring to South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. However, the report also noted that weak sentencing undermined accountability for traffickers in South Korea, while con

Will Nobel Peace Prize pick make waves at the White House?

OSLO — The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday in Oslo, with much of the attention this year centered on how US President Donald Trump, eager to win it himself, will react. The laureate will be revealed at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) at the Nobel Institute in Oslo. In a world ravaged by conflicts and crises, 287 individuals and organizations have been nominated for the ultimate diplomatic and humanitarian accolade this year. Their identities are kept secret for 50 years, leaving Nobel watchers guessing about who will get the nod. The only thing experts agree on is that the winner will not be Trump, despite his -- unsubstantiated -- claims of having ended up to eight wars, and his assertion that he is the most deserving candidate. "They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me... and I think it would be a great discredit to them," Trump said on Wednesday. "And I'm not saying that out of scorn." In Oslo, the US president is generally considered disqualified due to his war against Iran, his territorial expansion ambitions as in Greenland, his hard line on mig

Russian strike on Ukrainian public buses kills 30 people as blackouts worsen in Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian-guided bomb exploded next to public buses filled with passengers in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Thursday, killing 30 people as part of a wave of attacks that also worsened power outages in the capital. The morning attack occurred next to a bus stop in the war-torn city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, prompting public transport to be suspended in the area. “There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians,” Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city's military administration, said, adding that the rescue effort had been hampered by subsequent Russian attacks using small drones. Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Russia has escalated its aerial attack in recent weeks, putting pressure on Ukraine as it prepares for winter and hitting the infrastructure keeping its war-battered economy afloat. Recent targets have included energy systems, key industries, railways, post offices, shopping

ICE officer shoots a man while making an arrest in New York, officials say

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal immigration officer shot a Dominican man in the neck as he drove in a car with a 5-year-old boy Thursday afternoon, officials said. The Department of Homeland Security said it was seeking to arrest the man in a “targeted enforcement operation,” but protesters and local officials decried it as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The 28-year-old man, whom city police identified as Oscar Belgal, survived and was treated at a hospital. DHS did not describe exactly what led to the shooting, saying only that “during the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon” and that the man was injured. But city Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when a federal officer in plainclothes approached with gun drawn, followed by another federal officer who also wasn't in uniform. Belgal started to pull the car forward, and then at least one of the officers fired seven rounds, hitting the man below his left ear, Tisch said at a news conference near the shooting site late Thursday. The

'Deeply Offensive': India Hits Back At JD Vance, Says 'US History Shaped By Immigrants'

The Ministry of External Affairs said Indian professionals in the US were highly educated and skilled contributors whose work had helped drive economic growth and innovation

America to livestream firing squad execution of mass killer Nidal Malik Hasan

In The Room | Can Kemi Badenoch save the Tories with Thatcherism 2.0?

Conference season is in full swing – and this week, it unfolded across two very different political stages.

Love Island star Georgia Steel announces pregnancy months after getting engaged to footballer Harry Clarke

The reality star and Championship player revealed the news in an Instagram video

'Deeply offensive': MEA on JD Vance’s ‘indentured servants’ remark on H-1B workers, clarifies impact on work visa

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the US suspension of PERM applications does not by itself affect existing H-1B visas or holders’ status, but may hinder eligible employees’ Green Card processes. It added that the move does not support the shared ambitions of India and the US.

Who is Nic Maddinson? Australia batter makes surprise Test return after recovery from testicular cancer

Maddison was diagnosed with testicular cancer in April 2025 but made a comeback late last year