Korean Air Lines, South Korea's national carrier, will acquire some 20 aircraft from US Boeing and procure spare engines from GE Aerospace, in a combined deal worth US$32.7 billion, Seoul's industry ministry said.

A pre-signing ceremony took place at the Department of Commerce in Washington, attended by Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, Korean Air's parent firm; Kelly Ortberg, Boeing's president and CEO; and Russell Stokes, president and CEO of GE Aerospace Commercial Engines and Services.

Also present at the event were South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, reports news agency.

Under the agreement, Korean Air will acquire 20 Boeing 777-9 and 20 Boeing 787-10 aircraft by 2033, with an option to purchase an additional 10 aircraft. The two companies agreed to swiftly proceed with the deal, valued at $24.9 billion.

The crime rate in Australia's state of Victoria surged by 13.2 per cent in 2024, marking the highest level since 2016.

The latest data released by the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) on Thursday shows that the sharpest increase was in property and deception offences, increasing by 21.9 per cent, which is largely attributed to thefts.

"The rate of theft offences being recorded per 100,000 Victorians has exceeded historical peaks, driven by record-high numbers of steal from motor vehicle, steal from retail store and motor vehicle theft offences recorded by Victoria Police in 2024," said CSA Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley.

Up to 40 migrants are believed to have died after their boat capsized in rough seas in the central Mediterranean, while another 10 were rescued, Italian authorities and the agency said on Wednesday.

The 10 survivors, including four women, were taken to the tiny island of Lampedusa in the early hours of the morning, and assisted by the Red Cross, according to the Italian coastguard.

The boat involved in the shipwreck was an inflatable rubber dinghy that had left the port of Sfax, Tunisia, on Monday with at least 56 people on board, a representative of UNHCR-Italy said on social media, news agency reported. The passengers were reportedly from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea.

A man and his wife have been confirmed dead, and another person remains missing as torrential rain from storm Laurence continues to impact southern Spain, local authorities reported on Wednesday.

Rescue services in the southwestern province of Seville recovered the bodies of the couple on Wednesday after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters near the municipality of Constantina. The pair had been reported missing earlier.

Meanwhile, a man in his seventies has been missing since Monday near the city of Cordoba.

Amid growing security concern and aggressive posturing of China, Taiwan stated on Tuesday that it has detected a number of Chinese aircraft and warships operating around the country over the past 24 hours that crossed the meridian line of the Taiwan Strait and entered air defence identification zone.

According to the Defence Ministry of Taiwan, 59 sorties of Chinese military aircraft and nine Chinese naval ships operating around Taiwan were detected on Tuesday morning. It said that 43 out of 59 sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central southwestern and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed his commitment to securing lasting peace in Ukraine as Britain hosted a virtual meeting with more than 25 political leaders on Saturday. However, no detailed or updated defence measures were announced.

At the press conference after the virtual meeting, when asked whether any concrete commitments emerged from it, Starmer said the meeting had helped build political and military momentum, with participating countries agreeing to increase collective pressure on Russia. However, he stopped short of disclosing what specific measures would be taken at the "operational phase."

Joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from Canada, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union, Starmer urged Russia to "come to the table to negotiate a deal", news reported. He also announced plans to host a military meeting next Thursday.

The passage of Tropical Cyclone Jude through northern Mozambique has claimed 14 lives and affected over 100,000 residents across several provinces, according to a preliminary report released by the Mozambican government.

Government spokesperson Inocencio Impissa presented the report at a press conference in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, saying that the fatalities were recorded mainly in the provinces of Nampula and Niassa, resulting from collapsing walls, lightning strikes, and drowning.

He said the cyclone caused damage to about 20,000 houses, with over 7,000 completely destroyed and more than 13,000 partially damaged, leaving thousands of families displaced.

In the health sector, 30 health facilities were damaged, while in education, 182 classrooms in 59 schools were destroyed, affecting 17,402 students and 264 teachers, news agency reported.

Road infrastructure also suffered significant damage, with the destruction of six access roads, particularly in Nampula province, 

Millions of people in Japan are reported to be addicted to online gambling, with the amount of money spent on illegal gambling reaching 1.2 trillion yen annually, a police survey revealed on Thursday.

According to the report of Japan's National Police Agency, about 3.37 million people in Japan are estimated to have used overseas online casinos despite the ban in the country. The findings of its first study are released following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality, local media reported

Some 40 per cent of the users were unaware online casinos are illegal, the survey by the National Police Agency showed. "There is a possibility that a lack of awareness about illegality encourages people to use online casinos," an NPA official said, leading Japanese daily, The Japan Times reported

Pakistan's financial capital Karachi continues to witness a surge in crime rate as armed robbers looted Rs 1.15 million in cash from the staff of the Peoples' Bus Service in Gulshan-e-Hadeed late Wednesday night. They later escaped with the cash, weapons and mobile phones. According to the driver, the robbery took place at the last stop of the bus service, where the staff was resting.

Elaborating on the incident, the driver of the bus said six assailants arrived in a vehicle, and four armed men forced them inside the bus at gunpoint before looting Rs 1.15 million in cash, local media reported.

Last week, three armed robbers stormed a shop and looted mobile phones, cash, and other valuables in Karachi. Despite the presence of several people at the shop, the robbers managed to escape without facing any resistance,

2025 is turning out to be no different than 2024 for residents of Karachi in terms of rampant street crime incidents, which have resulted in the death of at least 19 people since January in the provincial capital.

Two South Korean Air Force fighter jet pilots were booked on Thursday for charges related to last week's accidental bombing of a village after pilot error was found to be the cause of the accident, the Defence Ministry said.

Last Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometres north of Seoul, during live-fire drills, injuring 38 people, including 24 civilians.

"The Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed in the probe to date that the pilots' erroneous entry of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident," the Defence Ministry said in a notice to reporters.

The pilots, booked as of Thursday, have been charged with professional negligence resulting in injury, according to the ministry, news agency reported.

They were also charged for damaging military facilities, including a church, the ministry said.