ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – South Korea’s customs authorities and Coast Guard have seized approximately 2 tons of smuggled cocaine on a foreign vessel docked on the country’s east coast, officials said Thursday.
At around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Donghae regional office of the Coast Guard and the Seoul Regional Customs deployed around 90 personnel to search the ship docked at a port in Gangneung after receiving a tip-off from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI had warned that a 32,000-ton carrier suspected of carrying drugs was entering Korean waters on the day, according to the officials.
The Norwegian-flagged vessel is believed to have departed from Mexico and traveled through Ecuador, Panama and China before arriving in Korea.
Authorities discovered 57 boxes containing packages with about 1 kilogramme of cocaine each, totaling 2 tons, hidden aboard the ship.
The seized drugs have an estimated market value of KRW1 trillion (USD679.6 million), equivalent to around 67 million doses.
According to the Korea Customs Service, this marks the country’s largest-ever drug bust in terms of weight.
Authorities said they are investigating the ship’s captain and crew to determine the origin and destination of the drugs. They also plan to expand the investigation into possible links to an international drug trafficking organisation in cooperation with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. – Yonhap
Coast Guard and customs authorities find boxes of suspected cocaine on a vessel docked at a port in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Wednesday. PHOTO: Donghae regional office of the Coast Guard via ANN/THE KOREA HERALD
The United States has announced a 24 per cent reciprocal tariff on exports from Brunei Darussalam as part of a sweeping tariff policy unveiled by President Donald Trump. The move follows the president’s executive order imposing new tariff rates on multiple countries, including a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all imports.
According to the list of new tariffs released by the White House and held up by President Trump during a press conference, Brunei charges 47 per cent—including currency manipulation and trade barriers—on US exports to the Sultanate. The US has now responded with a 24 per cent tariff on Brunei’s exports.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Trump said, “I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. Reciprocal means they do it to us, and we do it to them—very simple, can’t get any simpler than that.”
He added that the new tariffs would help revive domestic industries, open foreign markets, and lower prices through increased local production.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick holds a chart as President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. PHOTO: AP
The United States’ key trading partners facing higher tariffs include the European Union (20 per cent), China (54 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent), Thailand (36 per cent), Japan (24 per cent), and Cambodia (49 per cent).
Reports from the US indicate that the 10 per cent minimum tariff will take effect on April 5, while the higher reciprocal tariffs will begin on April 9. Additionally, a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made automobiles will be enforced from midnight on the same day.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) in response said it will be engaging with US counterparts to seek clarifications and better understand on US’s new tariff regime.
Concurrently, MOFE is conducting assessment on the potential impacts of the tariff regime on Brunei exports to the US and will continuously engage with the affected exporters.
Brunei’s total trade with the US stood at BND537.1 million in 2024 whereby Brunei’s export’s value was BND238.7 million while Brunei’s import from the US was BND298.4 million. Brunei’s major exports to the US are Chemicals, Mineral Fuels, and Machinery and Transport Equipment, while our main import commodities are Machinery and Transport Equipment, Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles, and Chemicals. – James Kon
PUTRAJAYA (Bernama) – As of Thursday morning, only one victim from the Putra Heights gas pipeline fire remains in intensive care at a hospital in Selangor.
Selangor Health director Dr Ummi Kalthom Shamsudin confirmed that the patient is receiving treatment at Ampang Hospital.
She also said that three patients had been transferred from Cyberjaya Hospital to Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL), and that Cyberjaya Hospital is no longer treating any victims of the incident.
Victims of the gas pipeline fire at Putra Heights at the Putrajaya Hospital following treatment on Thursday. PHOTO: BERNAMA
Cyberjaya Hospital director Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim also confirmed that all fire victims previously warded at the facility have been discharged or transferred.
The April 1 fire, which broke out at 8.10 am, caused widespread destruction within a 500-metre radius, damaging homes, vehicles, and other properties. The incident resulted in a crater approximately 9.8 metres deep and 21 by 24 metres in size.
As of 3 pm Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that 86 individuals were still receiving treatment at MOH facilities, with another 46 at private healthcare centres.
Hundreds of residents who lost their homes remain at temporary relief centres, while dozens with burn injuries continue to receive medical care.
ICHINOMIYA, Aichi (ANN/THE JAPAN NEWS) — The Aichi prefectural police arrested a 21-year-old man on suspicion of abandoning a body after a 16-year-old girl’s body was found in a closet at his house in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture.
The 16-year-old was confirmed to be a high school student from Katsushika Ward, Tokyo. According to police sources, she had many stab wounds and cuts from a sharp blade on her neck, the back of her head and other parts of her body.
The 21-year-old man was quoted as saying he stabbed her several times after they had an argument. The police are investigating the case and are considering pursuing a murder charge against him.
According to the sources, the man, who lives with his parents, is suspected of abandoning her body in his closet in Kisogawacho-Kadoma in Ichinomiya on Monday evening. The body was wrapped in fabric and taped using masking tape.
An autopsy determined that she died from hemorrhagic shock.
The high school student told her mother on Friday that she was going to stay with a man, whom she met through an online game, and return Sunday, the sources said. She took a Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo Station.
After not being able to contact her on Saturday afternoon, her mother filed a missing person’s report with the Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday evening.
The MPD asked the prefectural police to look into the situation after locating an area near the man’s house by tracking the high school student’s smartphone. Investigators from the Ichinomiya police station went to the house around 10:30 p.m. on Monday and found the body.
The police made an emergency arrest of the man, as he admitted to abandoning the body.
“He seems to do things at his own pace and doesn’t like talking to people,” said a 75-year-old woman who worked with him at a supermarket in the city until summer last year. “He told me that he plays games at home all the time. He said he was going to quit his job at the supermarket because he found a job at a construction site.”
A man in his 20s who lives near the arrested said he was quiet when he was a junior high student.
“I can’t believe he would do something like this,” he said.
Aichi prefectural police inspect the man’s house in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, on Tuesday. PHOTO: The Yomiuri Shimbun via ANN/The Japan News
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s “bodega cats” are beloved fixtures in the Big Apple — but they’re on the wrong side of the law.
The convenience store cats that live at many of the city’s bodegas and delis look innocent enough, spending their days lounging in sun-soaked storefronts or slinking between shelves of snack foods as they collect friendly pets from customers.
Officially, though, state law bars most animals from stores that sell food, with bodega owners potentially facing fines if their tabby is caught curling up near the tins of tuna and toilet paper.
The pets’ precarious legal position recently came into the spotlight again when a petition circulated online that advocated for the city to shield bodega cat owners from fines, racking up more than 10,000 signatures.
But inspecting bodegas is a state responsibility. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets said in a statement that its goal is to ensure compliance with food safety laws and regulations, though it noted that inspectors aim to offer “educational resources and corrective action timelines and options” before looking at fines.
Many fans argue that the cats actually help keep the stores clean by deterring other ubiquitous New York City creatures, like rodents and cockroaches.
However, some shopkeepers say the felines’ most important job is bringing in customers.
Elias stands briefly on the checkout counter at Stars Deli in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn borough of New York, Friday, March 14, 2025. PHOTO: APMarshmallow sits on a shelf under a display of cookies at Deli & Grill, on New York’s Upper East Side, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. PHOTO: APBodega cat Mia Garfield, lower left, naps on a box of umbrellas at Fresh Food Farm, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. PHOTO: AP
At one bodega in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a fluffy gray and white cat named Mimi has become even more of a star attraction after a customer posted a video of her to TikTok that was viewed over 9 million times.
Sydney Miller, the customer who shared the video, said the experience has helped her build a lasting rapport with Mimi’s caretaker, Asam Mohammad, a Yemeni immigrant who has only been in the U.S. for a few years.
“Ultimately, the cats are a symbol of community building and the special, unique type of connection that happens in a city like New York,” said Miller, a poet and digital content producer.
Mohammad said that one of Mimi’s offspring, a white furball named Lily, is also now a big hit with customers.
“He’ll play with anybody,” said Mohammad. “Before, it’s Mimi, but now all of them are famous.”
Another of Mimi’s kittens, Lionel, has taken up residence at a nearby bodega owned by the same family, where he is more than a salesman or a pest control technician.
On a recent evening, Mohammad’s cousin Ala Najl, who is Muslim, had been fasting for Ramadan since 5 a.m. and had another hour and 17 minutes to go. Feeling a bit restless, Najl decided to play with Lionel. He unrolled his red prayer rug, baiting the muscular cat into a friendly game of tug-of-war.
The playful tussle helped distract Najl as he fought through hunger pangs.
“Yes, he helps me with that,” Najl said.
At another Greenpoint bodega, shopkeeper Salim Yafai said his cat, Reilly, is so popular that one longtime customer even tried to buy him, asking Yafai for a price.
“I said USD10,000. He said USD1,000. I said, ‘No.’” Yafai said.
HANOI (ANN/VIET NAM NEWS) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued provisional anti-dumping duties on certain coated steel products originating from China and South Korea.
The highest provisional duty rate applied is 37.13 per cent for products from China and 15.67 per cent for those from South Korea.
The Ministry, under Decision No. 914/QĐ-BCT, dated April 1, retains the right to amend or supplement the list of HS codes subject to these provisional duties to align with product descriptions under investigation and reflect any further changes.
Among Chinese exporters, Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. and affiliated companies are subject to a 37.13 per cent duty. Meanwhile, for South Korea, Hyundai Steel Company faces a 13.7 per cent duty, with other South Korean manufacturers and exporters incurring the 15.67 per cent rate.
However, some companies are exempted and benefit from a zero per cent duty. These include Boxing Hengrui New Material Co., Ltd. and Yieh Phui (China) Technomaterial Co., Ltd. of China, and POSCO, KG Dongbu Steel and Dongkuk Coated Metal in South Korea.
Throughout the investigation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade collaborated with relevant authorities to evaluate the effect of purported dumping activities on the local industry, including the extent of dumping by Chinese and South Korean producers and exporters.
According to customs data, imports of the investigated goods reached 454,000 tonnes in the 12 months to the end of March 2024, marking a 91 per cent increase year-on-year.
Even after the launch of the investigation, imports of coated steel from China and South Korea continued to surge. In the last nine months of 2024 alone, imports rose to approximately 382,000 tonnes, a 20 per cent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.
Given the significant rise in imports, the Ministry deemed it necessary to implement provisional anti-dumping measures to avert serious damage to the domestic industry.
The Ministry will continue on-site inspections of foreign producers and exporters and domestic importers as part of its investigation before making a final decision.
The provisional duties will be in effect for 120 days from the effective date of the decision, unless extended, amended, or revoked in accordance with Vietnamese law.
Given the significant rise in imports, the Ministry of Trade and Industry deemed it necessary to apply provisional anti-dumping measures to prevent serious harm to the domestic industry. PHOTO: ANN/VNA/VIET NAM NEWS
ANN/AFP/THE STAR – It’s often said that happiness is the result of hard work on one’s self and one’s life plans.
One has to fight to achieve this state, sometimes even travel the world to find it.
But what if, paradoxically, trying to be happier actually made us sadder?
At least, that is the finding of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada and published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health And Well-Being.
The study reveals the existence of a “happiness paradox”: the more we try to be happy, the more mentally exhausted we become, to the point of reducing our ability to make choices that are truly beneficial to our well-being.
For over a decade, scientists have been interested in examining just how effective our quest for happiness is.
An increasing number of studies suggest that devoting too much energy to happiness-seeking is not only futile, but can even have the opposite effect.
Why? Because this constant search draws on our finite mental resources, weakens our self-control and makes us more vulnerable to temptations that distract us from genuine fulfilment.
Sam Maglio, marketing professor and co-author of the study, compares this dynamic to mental fatigue after a hard day’s work. When you’re exhausted, you’re more likely to give in to the easy way out: leaving dirty dishes to be washed later, scrolling endlessly on social media, or mindlessly snacking.
With his colleague Aekyoung Kim, a researcher at the University of Sydney, he had already observed in 2018 that people obsessed with their happiness experienced increased constraints of pressure on their time, which accentuated their stress and dissatisfaction.
Instead of chasing happiness at all costs, perhaps we should just let it come to us. PHOTO: ANN/AFP/THE STAR
Go with the flow
To gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, the researchers interviewed several hundred volunteers.
They found that those who actively sought happiness showed less self-control in everyday life. In other words, willpower and the pursuit of happiness draw on the same resources, which are not infinite.
The researchers then designed a series of experiments to test their hypothesis.
In one of them, participants were exposed to advertisements focusing on happiness, unconsciously triggering their desire for well-being.
Immediately afterwards, they were offered chocolates to taste and rate.
The result? Those influenced by the messages ate more, a sign of declining self-control.
But was it simply the effect of the happiness-seeking, or did any type of pursuit have the same impact?
To find out, the researchers asked two groups of volunteers to select everyday objects according to different criteria.
The first group had to choose according to what would make them happier, while the second group based their choice on personal preferences. Afterwards, they all took a test to assess their mental control.
The verdict was that those who had oriented their choices towards happiness-seeking gave up more quickly, a sign that they had already used up part of their mental resources.
“The pursuit of happiness costs mental resources. Instead of just going with the flow, you are trying to make yourself feel differently,” explains Maglio in a press release.
So instead of chasing happiness at all costs, maybe we should just let it come to us.
“Just chill. Don’t try to be super happy all the time. Instead of always trying to get more stuff you want, look at what you already have,” advises Maglio.
In the end, it seems that happiness is not a goal to be achieved at all costs, but rather a state of mind to be cultivated lightly without pressure.
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended as it is “not the season”, Kuala Lumpur’s transport minister said, more than a decade after the plane went missing.
“They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a voice recording sent to AFP on Thursday by his aide.
“Right now, it’s not the season,” Loke said in the recording, which was made during an event at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has not been found.
Loke’s comments come a little over a month after authorities said the search had resumed, following earlier failed attempts that covered vast swaths of the Indian Ocean.
An initial Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometres (46,300 square miles) in the Indian Ocean over three years, but found hardly any trace of the plane other than a few pieces of debris.
Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, led an unsuccessful hunt in 2018, before agreeing to launch a new search this year.
“Whether or not it will be found will be subject to the search, nobody can anticipate,” Loke said, referring to the wreckage of the plane.
Aviation mystery
Loke said in December that a new 15,000 square kilometre area of the southern Indian Ocean would be scoured by Ocean Infinity.
The most recent mission was conducted on the same “no find, no fee” principle as Ocean Infinity’s previous search, with the government only paying out if the firm finds the aircraft.
The plane’s disappearance has long been the subject of theories — ranging from the credible to outlandish — including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.
A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.
Investigators said in the 495-page report that they still did not know why the plane vanished, and refused to rule out that someone other than the pilots had diverted the jet.
Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, while the others were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and elsewhere.
Relatives of passengers lost on the flight have continued to demand answers from Malaysian authorities.
Family members of Chinese passengers gathered in Beijing outside government offices and the Malaysian embassy last month on the 11th anniversary of the flight’s disappearance.
Attendees of the gathering shouted, “Give us back our loved ones!”
Some held placards asking, “When will the 11 years of waiting and torment end?”
A high-level delegation from the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China had just concluded their first official visit to the security and enforcement agencies in Brunei Darussalam, according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The delegation led by Vice-Governor of Shanxi Province and Director of the Public Security Department of Shanxi Province Dai Binbin, was in Brunei Darussalam from 27 to 30 March 2025 at the invitation of the PMO.
On 29 March 2025, the delegation paid a Courtesy Call to Deputy Minister (Security and Law) at the PMO and the Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Sufian Bin Haji Sabtu.
Vice-Governor of Shanxi Province and Director of the Public Security Department of Shanxi Province Dai Binbin during the Courtesy Call to Deputy Minister (Security and Law) at the PMO and the Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Sufian Bin Haji Sabtu. PHOTOS: PMO
The Courtesy Call was a continuation of the bilateral discussions between PMO and the Ministry of Public Security which was held on 9 September 2024 at the sidelines of the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum 2024 in Lianyungang, People’s Republic of China.
During the Courtesy Call with the Deputy Minister (Security and Law) at PMO, both countries reaffirmed their commitment to explore opportunities to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of public security in the near future, especially in areas of mutual interest such as cybercrime and illicit drug smuggling. Also present at the session
was Acting Permanent Secretary (Security and Law) PMO Awang Zulhusam bin Haji Abdul Samad.
The delegation also paid a Courtesy Call to the Acting Commissioner of Police, Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Sulaiman bin Alidin. During the Courtesy Call, senior officers from the RBPF and the Ministry of Public Security had a discussion on issues and crime trends that were of mutual concern to the security and enforcement agencies in both countries. Also present was Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Yang Amat Mulia SAC Pengiran Anak Haji Mohammed Saifullah bin Pengiran Indera Setia Diraja Sahibul Karib Pengiran Anak Haji Idris.
The delegation also had the opportunity to visit the RBPF Museum.
The delegation also visited Pusat Al-Islah at Kampong Kupang, Tutong to learn more about Brunei Darussalam’s approach to handling the issue of drug abuse and addiction. During their visit to Pusat Al-Islah, Dai Binbin, and Senior Officers from the Ministry of Public Security also had a meeting withthe Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mohd Zalani bin Haji Ismail to discuss opportunities for collaboration between the Ministry of Public Security and the NCB in addressing crimes such as drug smuggling the misuse of drugs.
VIENNA (AP) — As construction crews churned up dirt to renovate a Vienna soccer field last October, they happened upon an unprecedented find: A heap of intertwined skeletal remains in a mass grave dating to the 1st-century Roman Empire, likely the bodies of warriors in a battle involving Germanic tribes.
On Wednesday, after archaeological analysis, experts at the Vienna Museum gave a first public presentation of the grave — linked to “a catastrophic event in a military context” and evidence of the first known fighting ever in that region.
The bodies of 129 people have been confirmed at the site in the Vienna neighborhood of Simmering. The excavation teams also found many dislocated bones and believe the total number of victims tops 150 — a discovery never seen before in Central Europe.
“Within the context of Roman acts of war, there are no comparable finds of fighters,” said Michaela Binder, who led the archaeological dig. “There are huge battlefields in Germany where weapons were found. But finding the dead, that is unique for the entire Roman history.”
People work on the excavation of a Roman mass grave from the end of the 1st century AD, in the Simmering district of Vienna, Austria, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. PHOTO: AP
Soldiers in the Roman Empire were typically cremated until the 3rd century.
The pit where the bodies were deposited suggests a hasty or disorganised dumping of corpses. Every skeleton examined showed signs of injury — to the head, torso and pelvis in particular.
“They have various different battle wounds, which rules out execution. It is truly a battlefield,” said Kristina Adler-Wölfl, head of Vienna city archaeological department. “There are wounds from swords, lances; wounds from blunt trauma.”
The victims were all male. Most were aged 20 to 30 years old and generally showed signs of good dental health.
Carbon-14 analysis helped date the bones to between 80 and 130 A.D. That was cross-checked against known history of relics found in the grave – armor, helmet cheek protectors, the nails used in distinctive Roman military shoes known as caligae.
An armoured shed lays between bones at an excavation of a Roman mass grave from the end of the 1st century AD, in the Simmering district of Vienna, Austria, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. PHOTO: AP
The most indicative clue came from a rusty dagger of a type in use specifically between the middle of the 1st century and the start of the second.
The research continues: Only one victim has been confirmed as a Roman warrior. Archaeologists hope DNA and strontium isotope analysis will help further identify the fighters, and whose side they were on.
“The most likely theory at the moment is that this is connected to the Danube campaigns of Emperor Domitian — that’s 86 to 96 A.D.,” Adler-Wölfl said.
City archaeologists said the discovery also reveals the early signs of the founding of a settlement that would become the Austrian capital of today.
