1Sportsm.ajupress.com
Seoul weighs overhaul of military service benefits for elite athletes, artists
South Korea's Defense Ministry is considering reducing or abolishing the special alternative military service system for elite athletes and artists due to concerns over fairness and the dwindling pool of military personnel. The move comes amid controversy over military service benefits given to athletes following the Asian Games. Athletes who win gold medals or medals at the Olympics may be designated as arts and sports personnel rather than serving the standard period of active military duty. The ministry did not provide a specific timetable for changing the system, but said any changes would be part of its broader defense reform framework. It also expressed disappointment over recent comments from the sports community regarding the issue, calling for greater recognition of the sacrifices made by active-duty troops and reservists.
2Worldperthnow.com.au
Major parties all flag big cuts to immigration numbers
Major parties from Labor, the coalition and One Nation have proposed policies to reduce immigration numbers. The Coalition's plan includes reducing net overseas migration from 300,000 to 100,000 in the first year of a coalition government, rising to 130,000 the year after and then 160,000. The number of temporary visa holders would be reduced by 650,000 over four years, with temporary graduate visas scrapped and student visa numbers reduced from 528,000-to 456,000 respectively. Australia's humanitarian intake would also be halved to 10,000 people, with onshore applicants having 30 days to lodge an application. A new agriculture visa will come into effect from 2030. Meanwhile, One Nation plans to cut immigration by 750,000 individuals over three years and cap the number of migrants working in construction, farming, fisheries, mining and teaching as priorities.
3Sciencekulr8.com
AP Joy Wonder Discovery SummaryBrief at 12:44 a.m. EDT
California scientist Dr. Karl Deisseroth won a Nobel Prize for medicine for helping to open a new field of brain science called optogenetics. He then took a break from the attention to make school lunches for his children. A church in Manila celebrated the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi with a special blessing for animals. The Smithsonian Institution is using artificial intelligence to connect artifacts from the American Revolution, a project called Revolution Crossroads, to help the public and scholars connect objects across institutions such as the Library of Congress. Arkansas gem hunter Jack Pearadin claims a 6-carat diamond he claims could be worth $1 million. A huge gray shark named Bukangi has become an honorary mascot in South Korea's largest port city, where it has attracted thousands of tourists and become a social media sensation. In Brazil, candidates like Plínio Trump impersonate famous figures and Samurai Taxi Driver keep Brazil's tradition of joke candidates alive.
4Worldaninews.in
US picks laser, microwave weapons against drones
The US Department of War has chosen four high-energy laser and high-powered microwave weapon systems for operational evaluation as part of a directed-energy pilot initiative led by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the military command tasked with coordinating strategies against small unmanned aircraft systems. The chosen platforms include AeroVironment's Palletised High-Energy Laser, Epirus' Leonidas High-Powered Microwave system, Kord's Firefly High- Energy Laser, and Boeing's Compact Laser Weapon System. The Pentagon announced these selections as part part of the broader initiative to scale up field utilisation of directed-ener technologies. An independent directed-Energy competitive demonstration is set to take place in December at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.
5Financebusiness-standard.com
Rupee slips 4 paise to 96.39 against US dollar during early trade
The Indian rupee fell by 4 paise to 96.39 against the US dollar in early trade due to a rise in crude oil prices and sustained FII outflows. However, positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets and a weaker dollar index protected the local unit from further decline. The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points, aligning with its hawkish stance amid escalating conflict in West Asia. The last increase in the rate was in February 2023 and the RBI kept the rate unchanged through 2023-24 before beginning its rate-cut cycle in 2025. The dollar index was trading at 102.12, lower by 0.04 per cent.
6Entertainmentbluemountainsgazette.com.au
Jim Bakker, TV preacher felled by scandals, dies at 86
Jim Bakker, the founder of The PTL Club TV show and his first wife, Tammy Faye, has died at age 86 from a sex scandal and financial crimes. Bakker and his wife, Lori Bakker built an evangelical empire around their successful TV show, The Jim Bakker Show, which included a theme park and hotel in South Carolina. The cause of death was not immediately clear. At its peak in the mid-1980s, the Bakkers' ministry included the TV show's 13 million nightly viewers and a theme-park in South South Carolina, drawing up to 13 million viewers.
7Worldislandpacket.com
Vance says details of proposed Alaska LNG pipeline need to be worked out
US Vice President JD Vance has stated that a long-planned liquefied natural gas pipeline in Alaska is set to happen, but details need to be worked out with South Korea. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced plans for South Korea to invest $200 billion in US projects, but Seoul quickly suggested that the LNG project was not yet set in stone. South Korean Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said the government plans to review the investment to assess its commercial viability. South Korea Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan also noted that commercial viability is a prerequisite for the project, but there is strategic value given energy supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.
8Politicswincountry.com
Trump orders firing squad for gunman who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas
President Donald Trump has approved the use of a firing squad to execute former US Army Major Nidal Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas in a 2009 shooting spree. The move was approved by Trump at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The firing squad is one of several forms of capital punishment recently added to permissible forms of execution for federal crimes, along with electrocution and gas asphyxiation. The number of federal execution options has been expanded due to increasing difficulties in obtaining drugs for lethal injections, which have also proved challenging to carry out. If Hasan is put to death, it would mark the first military execution since 1961.
9Worldunb.com.bd
HRW points to JSD office incident to claim 'cycle of political repression' persists under BNP
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) of continuing "the cycle of political repression" in the country, despite promising to restore human rights and the rule of law. The group points to a mass arrest at a left-wing party’s meeting in Dhaka on September 26, where 290 supporters of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal were taken into custody after members of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party’�s youth wing, the Jubo Dal, claimed the gathering was a secret meeting of the Awami League, which is banned. The HRW's Asia director, Elaine Pearson, stated that the current ruling party faced severe repression under the Awam League government and that since being elected in February, the BNP has targeted its own perceived opponents with arbitrary detention and hundreds of Awami league members are currently in jail.
10Techfinance.biggo.com
South Korean Semiconductor Talent Poached by China, Then Discarded — 27 Workers Left in Under 3 Years on Average — BigGo Finance
A South Korean National Assembly investigation has revealed that 27 senior semiconductor engineers from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix defected to Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), staying an average of just 2.9 years before leaving. The findings were released by the office of Choi Soo-jin, a lawmaker from the ruling People Power Party and a member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. The engineers were likely terminated after helping CXMT complete fab construction and stabilize production lines, effectively "discarding" their technology. The terms offered by Chinese headhunters included salary increases of 60% to 100%, guaranteed employment of three to five years, and subsidies for housing and children's education. The investigation also highlighted gaps in the South Korean government's talent-protection efforts. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy spends billions annually on cultivating semiconductor professionals, yet allocates no budget whatsoever to preventing talent outflow.
11Politicsenca.com
Questions over R2.4bn SANDF charter flight bill
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has raised questions over R2.4bn spent on charter flights over a five-year period, according to the Democratic Alliance. The party alleges Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has not provided a detailed breakdown of the expenditure and has flagged a R540,000 discrepancy in figures provided by the Department of Defence. The questions are being raised about how many flights were chartered, what each flight cost, and which companies benefited from the contracts. Defence and national security analyst Ricardo Teixeira believes these concerns point to financial issues within the Department for Defence, which has been under financial pressure and is seeking more resources from National Treasury.
