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South Korea flips left in presidential race; Lee secures victory after conservative opponent concedes

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South Korea flips left in presidential race; Lee secures victory after conservative opponent concedes

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South Korean voters swung left in the presidential race Tuesday, and conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo conceded defeat to liberal opponent Lee Jae-myung in the snap election.

Kim, candidate of the People Power Party (PPP), said at a press conference in the early hours of Wednesday morning he “humbly accepts (the) people’s choice.”

The decision came after record early voting turnout prompted speculation Lee would secure the presidency and flip the top seat after the impeachment of predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who was booted from office after he declared martial law in December.

Incoming South Korean President Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea appeals for support during the South Korean presidential election campaign in Wonju, Gangwon State, South Korea, May 30, 2025. (The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images)

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SOUTH KOREANS CAST VOTES FOR NEW PRESIDENT TO SUCCEED YOON AFTER HIS OUSTER OVER MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION

The impeachment threw the country into political chaos after Yoon, also a member of the PPP, was removed from office two years early. 

It is unclear by what margin Lee secured the presidency, though reports had suggested for weeks that the liberal candidate was favored to win the top job. 

But Lee’s candidacy also prompted some serious concern when it came to his policy on international relations, particularly Seoul’s relationship with the U.S., China and North Korea.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, and wife Kim Hea-Kyung celebrate in front of the National Assembly June 4, 2025, in Seoul, South Korea. (Woohae Cho/Getty Images)

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SOUTH KOREA FACES HIGH-STAKES ELECTION; FEARS OVER CHINA, NORTH KOREA AND US TIES SHAPE VOTER CONCERNS

Kim challenged Lee’s policies in a presidential debate last month after the liberal candidate said he would take a “pragmatic” approach.

“There’s no need to worry. The South Korea-U.S. alliance is important and should continue to grow and strengthen,” Lee said, adding Seoul should not be “unilaterally bound” to Washington, especially when it comes to the U.S.’s adversarial rivals.

“We should not neglect ties with China or Russia,” he added. “We need to manage them appropriately, and there’s no need to have an unnecessarily hostile approach like now.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, third from left, boards the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier at the South Korean naval base in Busan, South Korea, June 25, 2024.  (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)

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This position is a shift from the previous administration, which was hawkish on China and North Korea. 

Lee has said he wants to mitigate the “North Korea risk” by easing relations with Seoul’s northern neighbor.

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Google puts AI agents at heart of its enterprise money-making push

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Google puts AI agents at heart of its enterprise money-making push
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is deepening a push into enterprise software, signaling to investors at Google’s annual ​cloud conference that AI agents — human-like digital assistants — are a lynchpin of its strategy to monetize artificial intelligence.
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Landlords allegedly posting ‘Muslim-only’ apartment ads in violation of country’s equality act: report

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Landlords allegedly posting ‘Muslim-only’ apartment ads in violation of country’s equality act: report

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Some landlords in England are apparently advertising “Muslim-only” apartments online, according to a local media report.

An investigation by The Telegraph found that alleged listings posted in London on Facebook, Gumtree and Telegram feature phrases such as “only for Muslims,” “for 2 Muslim boys or 2 Muslim girls,” and “Muslims preferred.”

Other ads appeal to Punjabi and Gujarati speakers, while some job vacancies on the platforms are advertised for men only.

Some listings specify “Hindu only,” in addition to posts that likely use religious subtext by stating: “The house should be alcohol and smoke-free.”

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On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” “one double room is available for Muslims,” and “suitable for Punjabi boy.” A Meta spokesman told Fox News Digital that Facebook then removed the company’s page “for violating the platform’s policies on discriminatory practices.”

Apartment buildings in Westminster, London, U.K. (John Keeble/Getty Images)

The ads run afoul of Britain’s Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief, race and other protected characteristics.

“These adverts are disgusting and anti-British. It goes without saying that there would be a national outrage if the tables were turned,” Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s economic spokesman, told The Telegraph. “All forms of racism are unacceptable, and no religious group should get a special exemption to discriminate in this way.”

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Houses and properties line Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London, U.K. Some landlords in the city are illegally advertising for “Muslim only” tenants across the city, an investigation by The Telegraph has found. (Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images)

One landlord told The Telegraph to “go away” when asked about an ad for a “Muslims only” room for $1,150, and whether it was available to renters of other faiths.

A spokesperson for Gumtree told the newspaper that the company has clear policies in place that prohibit unlawful discrimination.

On Facebook, a company called Roshan Properties posted dozens of listings stating “prefer Muslim boy,” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“We take reports of inappropriate listings very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The ads referenced appear to relate to private rooms within shared homes, where existing occupants may express preferences about who they live with. This is different from renting out an entire property, which is subject to stricter rules under the Equality Act.”

Telegram did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Is Europe too late to the metal recycling game?

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Is Europe too late to the metal recycling game?

Europe’s critical raw materials crisis has a partial answer sitting in the waste stream — but the continent has been too slow to see it.

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Dorota Włoch, CEO of Eneris Surowce, was direct: recycling is no longer optional.

Unlike plastics, metals can be recovered and reused indefinitely, making urban mining — the recovery of raw materials from existing products and waste — increasingly valuable, particularly for batteries.

“From recycling, we recover metallic aluminium and so-called black mass, which is a concentrate of metals, mainly cobalt-nickel. These are some of the most valuable battery metals. And batteries are crucial today, not only in the automotive sector, but also in storing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar,” she said.

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‘Europe is 25 years late’

Włoch put the scale of the problem plainly. “Deposits are critical — any machine can be bought, but natural resources are not. They are non-transferable and non-renewable. If we use them, they simply disappear,” she said.

Europe’s belated recognition of that reality has cost it dearly.

“The regulation of critical raw materials came 25 years after other regions of the world had invested heavily in deposits. Europe was too passive. Today we are catching up, but the regulations are often so demanding that countries like Poland have difficulty implementing them.”

Who benefits most from extraction?

Poland holds significant reserves of raw materials critical to the modern economy, such as copper, coking coal, nickel, platinum group metals, helium, rhenium, lead and silver.

But the minerals needed most for the energy transition, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, exist only in limited quantities, forcing imports.

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Arkadiusz Kustra, dean of the faculty of civil engineering and resource management at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, told a panel at the European Economic Congress that awareness of the full supply chain, and who profits from it, was now essential.

He pointed to Serbia as a case study.

“Serbia has lithium deposits and is already in talks with Mercedes or Stellantis,” he said. Belgrade is using that leverage to attract investment in battery factories and car plants, keeping more of the value chain at home.

The goal, Kustra argued, should be regional supply chains that retain added value locally.

“You can earn the least at the beginning and the most from the end customer,” he said.

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The bigger obstacle is Chinese dominance.

“Margins in critical raw materials largely go to the Chinese, who control more than 90% of processing and trading, even though they do not own most of the deposits,” he said.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo — among the world’s most resource-rich countries — Chinese entities control around 90% of deposits.

The panel also pointed to growing interest in new supply partnerships, with Poland eyeing assets in the Congo region and the Americas.

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