P12/L fuel subsidy on hold amid BSKE ban on social services spending

GMA Network - Sep 19, 2026

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has suspended the distribution of the P12-per-liter fuel subsidy for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers due to the election ban on public spending for social services ahead of the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

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Trump posts poll to rename 'AI,' says current name is 'inaccurate, and very ineloquent'

President Trump posted a poll on Truth Social, pitching potential new names for artificial intelligence — calling the emerging technology’s name “inaccurate.” In a Saturday Truth Social post, the president floated alternative names for AI — pitching "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence" and "Supreme Intelligence." He then asked his followers to vote on "which is the...

After Trump ban, MS NOW and CNN say their journalists were denied access to White House

Sep 19, 2026

After Trump ban, MS NOW and CNN say their journalists were denied access to White House

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Coupang turns to Taiwan as key hub for global growth

Sep 19, 2026

Coupang turns to Taiwan as key hub for global growth

Taiwan has emerged as a key strategic hub for Coupang’s global growth, as the company brings fast delivery to more regions and develops AI-powered logistics technologies. Taiwan is a relatively new market for the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which began expanding into the country in October 2022. The move came after the e-commerce giant established a strong presence in Korea, where it has operated since 2010. In just a few years, Coupang connected more than 300,000 sellers on its platform in Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Hong Kong with consumers in the Taiwanese market. Coupang recently completed its fourth fulfillment center in Taiwan, which opened in April. Located in the Bausan Guanyin Logistics Park in Taoyuan City in northwestern Taiwan, the facility was designed to accelerate exports, particularly from U.S. businesses, to the Taiwanese market. “By removing traditional barriers such as complex logistics, long shipping times and high costs, we made it easier for U.S. companies to expand internationally," the company said in a statement released after the

Who helped Samsung become chip giant

Sep 19, 2026

Who helped Samsung become chip giant

Through the 1980s, Japan pushed the United States — the birthplace and longtime leader of the semiconductor industry — out of the world memory chip market, and the damage ran deep enough that Intel gave up DRAM, the short-term memory that holds a computer's working data. American chipmakers came to believe Japan could not be beaten in memory chips, and Washington and the industry began looking for ways to counter it. Two questions followed: how to contain Japan, and where to find a viable challenger to it. The country that emerged as a memory chip powerhouse in the 1990s was Korea, and Intel had a hand in how Korea overtook Japan to dominate the world market. Chip business nearly dropped "Hey, drop it." Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul shook his head in disbelief while he sat through a report on the semiconductor company his son had bought. The son was Lee Kun-hee, former Samsung chairman. Lee, then a director at Samsung's broadcasting branch TBC, had acquired Hankook Semiconductor in 1974 after the chipmaker went bankrupt due to financial strain. Hankook Semiconductor, an early Ko

Korean Air faces mounting mileage-related liability

Sep 19, 2026

Korean Air faces mounting mileage-related liability

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[WEEKENDER] K-defense exports enter new phase

Sep 19, 2026

[WEEKENDER] K-defense exports enter new phase

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[TEST DRIVE] Renault Filante blends commanding size with agile drive

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[TEST DRIVE] Renault Filante blends commanding size with agile drive

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Woman under probe for allegedly eavesdropping on singer Cha Eun-woo

Sep 19, 2026

Woman under probe for allegedly eavesdropping on singer Cha Eun-woo

A woman is being investigated on suspicion of eavesdropping on singer-actor Cha Eun-woo by installing a recording device under a cafe table last month, police said Friday. The woman in her 50s was caught by police on Aug. 30 while removing the device from the cafe in Seoul's Yongsan Ward where Cha was meeting with an acquaintance, according to the Yongsan Police Station. She allegedly used the same method twice last month to eavesdrop on Cha's conversations. Police are reportedly determining whether she had any accomplices and how she got hold of the device by conducting a forensic analysis of her phone, among other measures.

Toxic humidifier survivors face daily struggles, discrimination

Sep 19, 2026

Toxic humidifier survivors face daily struggles, discrimination

"I want to take my shirt off and exercise like my friends do, too!" Lim Jae-i, 80, cannot forget her grandson's anguished cry years ago. Lee Hyun-seo, 25, was exposed to humidifier disinfectant — an antibacterial liquid added to humidifier water — while still in the womb and was born prematurely. He cycled in and out of hospitals with nontuberculous lung disease, a chronic lung condition unrelated to tuberculosis, and he almost never complained. Then adolescence arrived and he reached a breaking point. Facing a mirror, he saw a chest left concave by years of drug treatment and labored breathing and a body that remained thin. He realized that his life would never resemble those of his peers. The infants who bore the brunt of Korea's humidifier disinfectant disaster have reached young adulthood. A 2025 Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment survey of victims drew 1,213 responses, 321 (26.5 percent) of which came from victims in their 20s or younger. A tragedy the public still associates primarily with infant fatalities now runs through its survivors as an unfinished daily grind o

Cho, Rubio agree to work together for 'good' results from talks on US investment projects

Sep 19, 2026

Cho, Rubio agree to work together for 'good' results from talks on US investment projects

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Sep 19, 2026

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In May 2016, Kim Kang-woo, then 21 years old, risked his life crossing North Korea's border into China to defect to South Korea in search of freedom, thinking he might never be able to return to the isolated country ever again. But three years later, in May 2019, he did not hesitate to jump back into the Amnok River — also known as the Yalu River in Chinese — and smuggle himself back into the North to save his mother. "I knew that I could die or face up to five years in prison in South Korea ... But in the end, what made my determination clear was the realization that my mother had raised me for over 20 years, so sacrificing four or five years of my life in prison was the right thing to do. That very evening, I crossed over," Kim told The Korea Times in an interview marking the release of his first book in June. He was born and raised in Ryanggang Province, North Korea, a border region near China. Titled "My Hell Could Not Kill Me" (translated title), the Korean-language memoir recounts his initial defection, his extreme re-entry into North Korea to rescue his mother, his second es

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