residents

The number of foreign nationals residing in South Korea approached 1.7 million as of May last year, government data showed Tuesday.

The total number came to 1.69 million as of last May, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The figure refers to foreigners aged 15 and older who have resided in the country for more than 91 days.

By category, overseas Koreans with foreign nationalities accounted for the largest share, at 24.2 percent, followed by non-professional employment visa holders, at 19 percent, the data showed. International students accounted for 14 percent, and permanent residents accounted for 9.6 percent.

Among foreign nationals, ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality accounted for 29.9 percent of the total, followed by those from Vietnam with 16 percent, the data showed.

The data also showed that 65.5 percent of foreign nationals had jobs as of May.

Among those employed, 10.8 percent of foreign workers said they were seeking new jobs, with most citing low income as the main reason.

About 32 percent of foreign nationals reported earning a monthly income between 2 million won (US$1,362) and 3 million won, the data showed.

The data also showed 12.9 percent of foreigners said they experienced financial difficulties over the past year.

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Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 people in Lebanon as Israel issued more leave-or-die threats to the suburbs of Beirut, and across vast areas of the country’s south.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday that the death toll from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict has reached 102, with 638 wounded since Monday.

New strikes hit Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, with AFPTV footage showing smoke rising from the area.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli drone strike on an apartment in the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli killed senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.

On Thursday, Israel expanded its forced evacuation threats to residents across hundreds of square kilometres of southern Lebanon, citing imminent military action.

The escalating conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 83,000 people within Lebanon. According to Syrian authorities and the UN refugee agency, at least 38,000 people, primarily Syrians, have fled Lebanon for Syria.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X: “Urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon: you must immediately continue evacuating to the north of the Litani river.” The warning specifically mentioned the cities of Tyre and Bint Jbeil.

Israel’s military announced on Tuesday it was establishing a buffer zone inside Lebanon to protect Israeli citizens. By Wednesday, it confirmed that three divisions comprising infantry, armoured and engineering units were operating inside Lebanese territory.

“Across the Middle East and beyond, a troubling displacement picture is emerging in the aftermath of the ongoing conflicts in the region,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said Thursday.

On Thursday, the Israeli military extended forced evacuation orders to Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing residents to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” indicating potential intensified bombardment amid the widening of the Iranian conflict.

While previous forced evacuation threats focused on southern Lebanon below the Litani River, this marks the first comprehensive evacuation threat for areas near the capital since hostilities resumed.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians are leaving areas in Beirut following Israeli strikes and forced displacement orders. Earlier Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on Israel. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr is amid the heavy traffic.

Writer Becky Ward followed the Blue Zone principles for living a healthy life on a trip to the northern region of the Italian island of Sardinia

If you’re not familiar with the world’s Blue Zones, they are regions where life expectancy is higher due to the diet and lifestyle habits of the locals. Exercise, stress management and social connections are all thought to play a part, with many residents living beyond 100 years.

One such region is in Sardinia, the Italian island often referred to as the Jewel of the Mediterranean thanks to its glorious beaches and lush landscape. The Nuoro province in the mountainous centre of the island is known for its high concentration of centenarians and was at one point home to the oldest women in the world, who lived to 113. While that record has since been surpassed, Sardinia is still a place where you can embrace a healthy lifestyle, and we headed to the 7Pines Resort in the north of the island to do exactly that.

The five-star resort has that laid-back vibe that makes you relax from the moment you arrive and are handed a welcome glass of prosecco. At its centre is a double layered pool with ambient house music playing softly in the background. There are floor-to-ceiling windows in the two restaurants and the gym to give the impression of the outside flowing in.

The rooms blend seamlessly into the landscape and are decorated with natural wood and textured stone tiles, and the little extras in our deluxe room, such as complimentary flip flops and a mini freezer filled with ice to chill our drinks, made our stay here feel even more special.

Get active

We started our days with an early morning swim. As well as the main pool, there’s an adults-only pool and a sandy beach with calm waters where you can go for a dip. The resort offers an activity such as a stretch class or Pilates each morning. We were initially wary of using the gym owing to the fact that everyone can see you through the glass walls, but we quickly realised what this actually means is you have a wonderful view to accompany your workout.

Keen to stretch our legs some more, we headed out of the resort for a two-hour walk around neighbouring Baja Sardinia. Along the way – which is part roadside path and part trail – we stopped off at five beaches, ranging from small sandy coves that we had all to ourselves to the large stretch of golden sand in the heart of the resort town. Here the water is crystal clear and not too deep, and when you’re ready for refreshments there are restaurants and bars on the concourse where you can enjoy a cool drink and a snack in the sunshine.

Further afield, the Pevero Health trail is a network of paths through aromatic scrubland with viewpoints to climb to and accessible beaches. It’s a 20-minute drive from the resort and it’s worth considering car hire as taxis here are expensive.

Eat well

The breakfast buffet at 7Pines will set you up for the day. As well as the usual fresh fruit and pastries, you’ll find cooked meats, grilled vegetables and a choice of egg dishes, including Uova Frattau, a typical Sardinian dish combining traditional bread, tomato purée, pecorino cheese and a poached egg.

The poolside Spazio by Franco Pepe restaurant boldly claims to serve the world’s best pizza and you’ll find unique offerings such as the delicious Spazio Mare, a fried pizza with buffalo mozzarella, red prawn, green salad and lime. We also tried the trattoria menu here, which includes catch of the day, pasta dishes and Italy’s best (in our opinion) dessert: tiramisu.

At the fine dining restaurant Capogiro, we enjoyed the Le Nostre Storie (our stories) tasting menu, a delightful mix of theatre and flavour using fresh herbs from the resort’s kitchen garden. From the amuse bouche served on ceramic sea creatures to the delicate lobster ravioli in a crab broth, every dish was beautifully presented and made our taste buds dance.

Pamper yourself

The spa at 7Pines has five treatment rooms named after flowers and plants found on the island. They face into an open-air relaxation area from where you can also access the sauna, steam room, ice bath and experience showers. To maintain the intimate feel of the area the resort allows a maximum of five guests at a time, so you’re advised to book a time slot.

Our personalised body massage somehow managed to be both relaxing and invigorating. While we almost dozed off during the treatment as our therapist worked the tension out of our back and shoulders, we felt full of renewed energy afterwards. Other pampering treats on offer include body scrubs, facials, manicures and reflexology.

Have fun

Being social and having fun are key components of living well. The resort’s beachside bar Cone Club was closed during our visit, but has DJs and party vibes throughout the summer. It’s the perfect spot to watch the sunset too. Over in Baja Sardinia, Phi Club is another popular beach club during the summer months.

The swim-up bar at 7Pines attracts a crowd towards the end of the afternoons. Our favourite tipple was the Bellavista sparkling wine – a crisp and fresh Italian fizz that became our daily sundowner.

If you’re a wine lover, the hotel can organise for you to go wine tasting at a local vineyard. Capichera Vineyard is a 20-minute drive from 7Pines and offers a golf buggy tour of the estate followed by a tasting of five wines. Watersports and boat trips (half and full day) are also bookable at the concierge desk. Of course if all you want to do is lounge around on the uber comfy sunbeds, that’s perfectly okay too!

How much does it cost?

Rooms at 7Pines Resort Sardinia start from €350 per night based on two people sharing. See BA or Ryanair for flights from the UK to Olbia, which is a 30-minute drive from the resort.

Residents of Kabul, Afghanistan are cleaning up broken glass and describing how they tried to run to safety when Pakistan attacked in the middle of the night. Meanwhile in Karachi, Pakistan, people are celebrating the offensive as a “positive development”.

Feb. 26 (UPI) — A new Kansas law requiring transgender residents’ state-issued identification to reflect their “sex at birth” went into effect Thursday, immediately invalidating hundreds of driver’s licenses and birth certificates.

KCUR-TV in Kansas City, Kan., reported that people began receiving notices this week from the Kansas Department of Revenue instructing them to request new identification cards and birth certificates if they had ever updated the gender marker on the documents.

The requirement is a result of legislation known as SD 244 going into effect Thursday. It bans transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. It also gives citizens the ability to sue transgender people for $1,000 if they encounter them breaking that law.

Other states ban transgender people from changing the gender marker on their IDs, but Kansas’ new law also nullifies any changes previously made legally.

State Rep. Abi Boatman, a transgender woman, shared a copy of the KDOR letter dated Monday on Facebook on Wednesday. It said those receiving the letter will have their identification records nullified.

“Additionally, please note that the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials,” the letter reads. “This means that once the law is officially enacted, your current credential will be invalid immediately, and you may be subject to additional penalties if you are operating a vehicle without a valid credential.”

In a separate Facebook post Monday, Boatman said each person who must change their license will have to pay a $26 fee for a standard license.

“Be sure to thank your Republican representatives for not only cancelling the driver’s licenses of 1,700 transgender Kansans but also making them pay for a new one,” she wrote.

“It’s a wild time when Kansas can erase human beings while simultaneously making $45,000 off of them.”

Kansas’ Republican-majority Legislature used a process known as “gut and go” to pass SB 244 earlier this month, The Guardian reported. It allowed lawmakers to replace the text of one bill with entirely new language and to bypass committee review and expedite the voting process.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill, calling it “poorly drafted legislation,” but the Legislature overrode her veto with a supermajority vote.

Attorney General Kris Kobach, who supported SB 244, said in a Facebook post about the signing of the legislation that he was “thankful for Kansas lawmakers who stand firm on this.”

“No more confusion on official IDs — biology matters, and truth wins.”

After the passage, Anthony Alvarez, who works for Loud Light Civic Action and is a transgender man, said the new law deputizes citizens and gives them financial incentive to turn against transgender Kansans.

“Every aspect of my public life will be subject to policing — from when I show my ID to vote or go to the bank to when I want to visit my friends in their dorm room or when I was my hands before I eat,” he said in a statement shared by the American Civil Liberties Union in Kansas.

The ACLU said it plans to challenge the law in court.

Official Fadi al-Qassem says all residents have left al-Hol camp, which long housed relatives of alleged ISIL (ISIS) members.

Syrian authorities say they have fully evacuated and shut down a remote camp that once kept thousands of relatives of alleged members of the armed group ISIL (ISIS).

The last residents were sent out in a convoy Sunday morning, according to Fadi al-Qassem, the Syrian government official overseeing the camp.

“All Syrian and non-Syrian families were relocated,” al-Qassem told Agence France-Presse.

Al-Hol, located in a desert region of the northeastern Hasakah province, had long kept huge numbers of relatives of suspected ISIL fighters.

At its peak in 2019, the camp held some 73,000 people. Last month, there were about 24,000 residents, mostly Syrians but also Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreigners of around 40 nationalities.

While the camp’s residents were not technically prisoners and most have not been accused of crimes, they had been held in de facto detention at the heavily guarded facility for years.

Last month, Syria’s government took control of the camp from Kurdish authorities, as Damascus extended its reach across northeastern Syria.

Since then, thousands of its detainees, including family members of suspected ISIL members, have left for unknown destinations. Hundreds have been sent to the Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province, while others have been repatriated to Iraq.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in the United Kingdom, reported an unspecified number of residents “left the camp individually, without waiting for the organised convoys”. Sources on the ground told Al Jazeera many Syrian nationals left al-Hol for their hometowns, while many of the foreigners travelled west to government strongholds of Idlib or Aleppo governorates.

Al-Qassem said residents who have been relocated are children and women who will “need support for their reintegration”.

The future of the smaller Roj camp in northeastern Syria, which also houses relatives of alleged ISIL members but remains under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), remains to be seen.

Most of its inhabitants are foreigners whose home countries have largely refused to receive them.

Syrian authorities turned back buses carrying 34 Australian women and children on February 16 after they left the Roj camp, headed toward Damascus with plans to travel on to Australia. Australian authorities later said they would not repatriate the families.

“We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who travelled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a caliphate to undermine and destroy our way of life,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, explaining his country’s stance.

While it is “unfortunate” that children have been affected, Australia is “not providing any support”, Albanese added.