PM Wong congratulates new Lao PM Saleumxay Kommasith

CDC sees low plague risk, monitors Siberia arrivals after worker death

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Erica Schwartz said on Wednesday the risk to the U.S. from an unconfirmed pneumonic plague case in Siberia is extremely low, but the agency is prepared to monitor and screen travelers. "There are about 200 flights that come into the United States from Siberia, that region. We are working with Department of Homeland Security, working (with) Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States," Schwartz said at Wall Street Journal's The Future of Health event in Washington.

OpenAI says teens use ChatGPT for under 15 minutes a day as worries over risks grow

Teens spend under 15 minutes a day on average on ChatGPT, while less than 2% of them interact with the chatbot for over three straight hours, OpenAI said, as technology companies face scrutiny over the risks AI chatbots pose to children. Sam Altman's AI company released the figures in its first report on teen use on Wednesday as rapid adoption of AI platforms raises concerns about their impact on adolescent mental health and developmental safety. Such worries have been amplified by research on social media's harms to young users, with Meta in August agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and limit teens' use of Facebook and Instagram to settle claims that it designed the platforms to addict children. OpenAI said in nearly half of teen conversations where a break reminder appeared, the user either took a break or ended the chat within five minutes, aiming to show that its steps to regulate teen usage were working. The company said users with access to its dedicated teen version sent more education-related messages and used tools like learning visualizations and Study Mode. It is now looking to

Scars from Oct. 7 fuel deep divisions over Netanyahu ahead of Israeli election

JERUSALEM — As Israel gears up for its first elections since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents are putting it at the heart of their campaigns. Nearly every poster, stump speech or televised debate seems to reference the attack, which has scarred the country and remains fresh in the minds of voters. Three years on, the worst security failure in Israel’s history now threatens to end the career of its longest-serving prime minister. “October 7 is kind of a framework for the entire political discussion that is going on,” said Tamar Hermann, an expert on Israeli public opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “All of us are post-traumatic in a way.” Netanyahu’s opponents want him to pay for the failures that led to the deadliest day in Israel’s 78-year history and plunged the country into a series of inconclusive wars. His defenders say Netanyahu was betrayed by the military establishment and that he has led Israel through a dramatic rebound from its darkest hour. A loss in the Oct. 27 election woul

How closer China-US ties and more Xi-Trump summits could work in Iran's favor

China and the US — Iran's key partner and its chief adversary - found firmer common ground on Tehran at the Washington summit last month, and further head-of-state diplomacy could work in Iran's favor, according to analysts. Iran was on the agenda when the presidents of the United States and China met in Beijing in May and again in Washington in September. There was no direct reference to Tehran in Beijing's statement after the May summit, but following the September meeting China was more specific, saying it and the US agreed that Iran must uphold its commitment against developing nuclear weapons. In an eight-point consensus, the two powers also agreed that no country or organisation should impose tolls on international waterways, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. Chinese state news agency Xinhua also reported that Xi Jinping said in Washington that China hoped that the US and Iran would resolve their conflict through dialogue, prompting thanks in a social media post from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Donald Trump and Xi are expected to meet twice more this year, creati

Nepal ends search for thousands of flood victims, leaving some families angry and others relieved

KATHMANDU, Nepal — The families of thousands of people who remain missing in Nepal weeks after catastrophic floods devastated the country have expressed mixed feelings after the government said this week that it is stopping the search for victims. The office of Prime Minister Balendra Shah decided on Monday that search and rescue operations for victims of the Aug. 26 floods will cease. Instead, authorities will concentrate on rehabilitation and reconstruction including restoring roads and bridges cut off by floods, particularly in remote areas where damaged infrastructure has made aid deliveries difficult. Rescuers have so far recovered the bodies of at least 1,455 people, but 5,285 others remain missing, including hundreds of foreigners. The government estimates reconstruction and recovery will cost $4.77 billion. Nearly 33,000 people have been affected and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed. Hopes for finding survivors were briefly revived after two Nepalese workers were rescued from an underground tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower project on Sept. 4, and again two days late

Canada will not allow assisted suicide for those with only mental illness

MONTREAL — Canada will not allow medically assisted suicide for people whose only condition is mental illness, the justice minister said Wednesday, seeking to close debate on one of the country's most controversial healthcare issues. Canada legalized assisted dying for those at the end of life in 2016. The right was extended to those suffering from serious and incurable illnesses in 2021, even if death was not "reasonably foreseeable." Initially, Canada was to allow assisted death regardless of condition by 2024, but that date was pushed back three years, with the government saying it wanted to make sure that the already overwhelmed mental health system was ready. Without government action, people exclusively suffering from a mental illness would have had access to assisted suicide in March, when the exclusion was set to expire. But Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters on Wednesday that Canada's Liberal government plans to pass legislation that will prohibit assisted suicide for people whose only underlying medical condition is mental illness. "Canada has made a decision not to mo

Attacks on Saudi airports claimed by Houthi rebels kill 3 people, officials say

CAIRO — Two attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen killed three people Wednesday, Saudi officials said, as the kingdom was pulled deeper into the latest front in the Iran war. The Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation did not blame any party for the attacks at Abha and Riyadh’s King Khalid international airports, but Houthi rebels took credit earlier for the airport strikes. The attack on Abha airport killed Moroccan and Algerian residents and wounded 28 other people, while the attack on King Khalid airport killed a Sudanese national and wounded eight other people, officials said. As Riyadh has been targeted over the past week, new cage-like fences have been erected around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the capital's airport. The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has seen oil and military assets targeted in recent days, posing a threat to crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been curtailed due to the Iran war. The spokesperson for the Sa

Cornell gang-rape accuser was 'misled' about criminal investigation, her lawyer says

ITHACA, N.Y. — The woman accusing several men of raping her at a Cornell University fraternity party was “misled” about the status of the criminal investigation in the weeks after she went to police, her lawyer said Wednesday. Even as she took her allegations about a 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house through Cornell's internal disciplinary process, the university's police department gave her the impression that a criminal investigation was continuing, lawyer Thomas Giuffra told The Associated Press. In fact, the criminal inquiry ended almost as soon as it began. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, the local prosecutor, made the decision not to go forward with a criminal case within days of the woman giving her first substantial interviews to police. Van Houten has said that he asked Cornell's police department to convey the decision to the woman, who is referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, but never spoke personally to her or her lawyer. Giuffra said the woman was told that the criminal investigation was ongoing. “I think she was misled. She wa

Starlink row: Govt rubbishes Elon Musk's remarks on ‘oligarchs’ as ‘baseless’, hails India's ‘fair’ framework

'Baseless and misconceived': Govt responds to Elon Musk's remarks on Indian ‘Oligarchs’ blocking Starlink

PM Wong congratulates new Lao PM Saleumxay Kommasith

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong described Singapore-Laos relations as “very good and warm”, as the two countries mark 25 years of development cooperation.

Okinawa governor wants discipline for US military in Japan after murder linked to Marine

FDA says its review of abortion pill will continue into next year

The Food and Drug Administration says its ongoing safety review of the nation’s main abortion pill will continue into next year