Author: Press Room

SEOUL: A South Korean appeals court reversed on Wednesday (Mar 26) a lower court’s ruling and found main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung not guilty of violating the election law, removing a barrier that could have blocked him from running for president. Following the ruling, Lee said the decision by the Seoul High Court completely vindicated him and proved the case was politically motivated. “It is truly outrageous that all this energy and national resources were spent for what is an obvious outcome,” he said. Lee was handed a one-year prison term suspended for two years by the Seoul Central District…

Wildfires driven by strong winds have devastated parts of South Korea’s southern regions, killing at least 19 people, destroying more than 200 structures, and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. A helicopter pilot was among those killed on Wednesday when his aircraft crashed while it was attempting to contain the fires in the town of Uiseong, one of the worst-hit areas, officials said. The wildfires, which began last Friday, have consumed 43,330 acres (17,535 hectares) of land and destroyed an ancient Buddhist temple along with houses, factories, vehicles, and other property. Nineteen people have been injured, according to the government’s emergency…

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: KB Home — Shares of the homebuilder fell 5.2% after the company posted a top- and bottom-line miss in the first quarter. KB Home earned $1.49 per share on revenue of $1.39 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for earnings of $1.58 per share and revenue of $1.5 billion. The company also cut its revenue guidance for fiscal 2025. Cloudflare — Shares of the network security firm jumped more than 2% on the back of Bank of America’s double upgrade to buy from underperform. The bank said Cloudflare’s fundamentals are…

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order requiring people to provide proof of American citizenship when they register to vote and demanding that all ballots be reviewed by Election Day.The order requires government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms, directs the attorney general to enter into information-sharing agreements with state election officials to identify cases of election fraud or other election law violations and conditions federal election-related funds on states complying with federal election integrity measures.”There are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks,” Trump said just before signing the order.…

Los Angeles’ new tough-on-crime District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office will “immediately” begin seeking the death penalty — but only “in the rarest of cases” after thorough review.There is a statewide moratorium on capital punishment in California, but it remains on the books, and prosecutors can still seek to put convicts on death row.”I remain unwaveringly committed to the comprehensive and thorough evaluation of every special circumstance murder case prosecuted in Los Angeles County, in consultation with the murder victim’s survivors and with full input on the mitigating and aggravating factors of each case, to ensure that the punishment…

Western Force coach Simon Cron has talked up one returning Wallaby, but taken the cautious route with another Test-capped forward.

Wind-driven wildfires continued to rage in South Korea for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday (Mar 26), ravaging its southern regions and forcing at least 27,000 people from their homes.  At least 18 people have been killed since the blazes broke out last Friday, with more than 200 structures destroyed including a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple. The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and declared a “full-scale national response” in a bid to contain one of the country’s worst forest fires in decades. UNPRECEDENTED DAMAGE The fires, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather, have razed entire neighbourhoods,…

South Korean fire crews battled what the acting president said on Wednesday were some of the worst wildfires ever in the country. At least 18 people have died, according to the authorities, as strong winds and dry conditions helped fuel the fires.Two ancient Buddhist temples were among the more than 200 buildings damaged or destroyed since the fires began on Friday. Tens of thousands of acres have been scorched in the country’s southeast, the government said, and more than 27,000 people evacuated, including around 500 inmates from a prison.Eight fires were still burning on Wednesday morning, up from six on…

Democrat Dan Goughnour handily won a special election in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, keeping majority control of the state House in his party’s hands by a single seat.Goughnour beat Republican Chuck Davis in a district in the Mon Valley region southeast of Pittsburgh, winning a seat that became vacant in January with the death of Democratic state Rep. Matthew Gergely.Since Gergely’s death, the House had been deadlocked at 101-101. With Goughnour being elected to fill the seat, the Pennsylvania chamber will finally have some motion. Holding the majority means Democrats can keep House Speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia as the chamber’s presiding…

President Trump initiated a fresh attack on lawyers on Tuesday, singling out a firm where a former prosecutor who investigated him once worked as the White House pursues vengeance against the profession he blames for his legal troubles.An executive order from Mr. Trump focused on Jenner & Block, a prominent white-shoe firm that once employed Andrew Weissmann, a longtime deputy to Robert S. Mueller III, who as a special counsel investigated Mr. Trump in his first term over possible links to Russia.The order underscored the extent to which the president, who faced four criminal indictments after he left office in…