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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol denied wrongdoing on Thursday in a burgeoning influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife that is severely hurting his approval ratings and providing political munition to his rivals. The political firestorm coincides with South Korea facing a slew of critical foreign policy issues, such as Donald Trump ’s election win to become the next president of the United States and North Korea ’s reported entry into the Russia-Ukraine war . The scandal centers around allegations that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee exerted inappropriate influence on the conservative governing People Power Party to pick a certain candidate to run for a parliamentary by-election in 2022 at the request of Myung...

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named co-campaign chair Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, one of the most important nonelected posts in Washington. She will be the first woman in that role. Wiles, 67, a Florida native, is one of the most respected operatives in Republican politics. Along with helping helm Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, she was his state director in Florida during the previous two contests. “Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in a statement Thursday. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative and is universally admired and respected.” Trump called his 2020 campaign “successful,” even tho...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s dramatic victory has scrambled next week’s three-way contest to replace Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s longest-serving leader who is stepping down at the end of the year. Two of McConnell’s trusted lieutenants — Senate Minority Whip John Thune, of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican leader, and Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, who previously held that role — as well as Sen. Rick Scott, a conservative from Trump’s home state of Florida, are all running to be Senate leader after Republicans recaptured the majority in Tuesday’s election. A third John who was considered a potential candidate, GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso, of Wyoming, decided not to run for the top job and will run for the No. 2 majority wh...

Mubi has scrapped an entire festival it had planned in Turkey after local authorities banned a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” The arthouse distributor and streamer was due to hold the annual Mubi Fest Istanbul between Nov. 7-10 with “Queer” — based on the William S. Burroughs novel and starring Daniel Craig as a gay expat living in Mexico — set as the opener. But when it was told to pull the screening at the last minute by authorities who deemed it to contain “provocative content,” the company opted to cancel the festival altogether, saying that the ban targeted the “very essence and purpose” of the event. “Queer” — releasing in the U.S. with A24 — world premiered in Venice to positive reviews. After the festival, Mubi acquired the film for multiple territories, inclu...

An engine failure forced pilots on a Quantas flight to make an emergency landing shortly after it took from an airport in Sydney, Australia . Passengers heard a loud bang shortly after flight 520 from Sydney to Brisbane left the runway on Friday afternoon, the airline said in a statement, adding that it was not an explosion. Engineers concluded after a preliminary inspection and confirmed the Boeing 737 jet suffered a contained engine failure, the statement added. “A really jolting shudder went through the plane,” passenger Mark Willacy, a journalist with the Australian broadcaster ABC News, told his network , adding that he heard the loud bang just after the jet pulled up from Sydney Airport. “We knew immediately something was wrong,” he added. “Tha...

HONG KONG — We must find a way to “get along,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told President-elect Donald Trump in a congratulatory message Thursday — an immediate nod to the long-frayed relations between the rival superpowers as well as the disruption Trump’s return to the White House might bring. Trump could inject new levels of volatility into what is often described as the world’s most important bilateral relationship, after an election win that comes at a critical moment for the globe’s two largest economies. Ties have been at their lowest point in decades amid disputes over trade, technology, Taiwan and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea . But since last year, the Biden administration has taken steps to improve relations with Beijing, which is o...

China ’s new J-35A stealth fighter jet will be displayed for the first time next week at the country’s biggest civil and military airshow, a biennial event where Beijing showcases its expanding aerospace industry . The six-day China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition begins Tuesday in the southern Greater Bay city of Zhuhai. The 2022 edition of the event led to about $40 billion in “cooperation agreements” being signed, according to its organizers. Developing domestic aerospace design and manufacturing capabilities is a major strategic priority for Beijing as it vies for regional military dominance with the U.S. amid escalating tensions around Taiwan and the South China Sea . China also seeks to reduce its reliance on foreign imports, a conce...

PROVO, Utah — A small herd of domestic llamas was spotted taking an evening stroll on the train tracks in Provo, Utah, on Thursday after the woolen creatures escaped from their owner, according to the Utah Transit Authority. Several emergency responders were dispatched to round up the five llamas after transit officials received reports of the animals wandering the Union Pacific line. The llama search did not delay train service, transit authority spokesperson Gavin Gustafson said. Whether the llamas had been caught was unknown as of 10 p.m. local time, about three and a half hours after crews were called to the area 43 miles south of Salt Lake City, Gustafson said. Details about how the llamas escaped and where they came from were not immediately available. Note: Thank you for vi...

BEIJING — China on Friday announced the central government would allocate an additional 6 trillion yuan ($840 billion) to local governments for tackling hidden debt issues. The program takes effect this year and will run through the end of 2026, Chinese Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an told reporters. That breaks down to around 2 trillion yuan a year. More from CNBC American interest in moving abroad skyrockets after Trump’s win — here’s how many would actually leave How Elon Musk stands to cash in on Trump’s presidential victory What Trump’s historic election victory means for the global economy Lan added that starting this year, central authorities would issue 800 billion yuan a year in local government special bonds over five years, for a total ...