Liverpool boss Arne Slot reveals he withdrew Alexander Isak at half-time against Eintracht Frankfurt because the striker had felt discomfort in his groin.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) — Federal employee union leaders and members say being furloughed or still working, but without pay, has created personal hardships as the government sits largely idle during the second week of a shutdown.
And for many, the shutdown over funding has deepened concerns about the long-term erosion of the federal workforce. Agencies already operating with limited staffing could face additional strain as employees decide public service is not worth the stress and leave.
“It’s my opinion that we have functionally been in a shutdown, or at least a partial shutdown, for eight months now,” said James Kirwan, legislative affairs director of the National Labor Relations Board Union.
“Since January, one-eighth of the federal workforce is gone. That’s over 300,000 federal workers who were either fired or pressured to take the deferred resignation program. As a result, a lot of programs are dealing with much smaller capacities.”
Kirwan, who is furloughed, spends his days meeting with congressional representatives to advocate for federal worker protections in future budgets. The National Labor Relations Board, where he works overseeing private-sector union disputes, is almost entirely shuttered.
“I think 99.8% of the National Labor Relations Board is furloughed,” he said. “If you are an employee claiming you’ve been fired because of anti-union discrimination, there’s nothing you can do right now. There’s no legal mechanism at your disposal to get your job back.”
Kirwan said he remains committed to his role at the NLRB, but fears for the future of federal service, noting that while government jobs have never been the highest paying, they historically offered stability, union protections and flexibility. But now these benefits are eroding as collective bargaining agreements lapse and layoffs continue.
“Twenty percent of the federal workforce is GS-7 or below, which basically means that they make less than $30,000 or $35,000 a year. We’re talking upward of 200,000 federal employees,” he said.
“For them, not receiving a paycheck is potentially devastating because it means that they have to take out more credit card debt, loans — things that can put them in financial jeopardy.”
While Kirwan is grounded in Washington, others feel the effects of the shutdown across the country.
James Jones, based in Boone, N.C., a representative of Local 446 with the American Federation of Government Employees, works for the National Park Service. He said the shutdown hit at one of the worst possible times — the fall season in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“It’s the fall color season. Our park gets very busy during this time of year, probably the busiest time of the year for us. We don’t have enough maintenance folks to really keep up with the amount of traffic that is coming into the park each day,” he said.
Jones told UPI that one or two Park Service workers visit the parks each day to clean the bathrooms and take out trash, but it’s not enough. With parks remaining open without proper staffing, he said a bigger mess will await them when they eventually return — if they do.
“We work for Americans, we serve the American public, and the longer we’re out of work, the larger the toll it’s going to take on these public services,” Jones said.
An Army veteran, Jones has been through several shutdowns and shared frustrations regarding the constant political gridlock and its wear on morale.
“It kind of makes me angry because I’d rather be at work. Not just collecting a paycheck, but I’m pretty committed to the National Park Service and its ideas and mission, and I’d like to be there doing my job,” he said.
He added that the frustrations lie deeper than just financial uncertainty, but it affects other means of living, as well.
“It’s not just the back pay, it’s all your benefits. It’s the longer the shutdown lasts, we’re losing annual leave, we’re losing sick leave, we’re losing retirement benefits, our health care premiums aren’t being paid,” Jones said.
While in Chicago at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Colin Smalley, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 777, described a similar sense of exhaustion. Even before the shutdown, he said, agencies were grappling with what he called a “brain drain.”
“We have people who are in their field, people in the design of a project from 20 to 25 years ago, and they still are around to inspect these federal projects. We do levees, flood control, reservoirs and other things that protect our communities,” he said.
Smalley added: “We have people who have that long-reaching expertise and institutional knowledge who are walking out the door, and that really puts a stress on our ability to deliver the project.”
Despite assurances that workers wouldn’t be expected to handle more work to compensate for staffing losses, Smalley said they are still under pressure to meet the same deadlines with fewer people.
Although he expressed frustration with political leadership, he said this crisis has only deepened his commitment to the work.
“This whole episode is reinforcing my commitment to public service,” he said. “It reinforces the way I feel about serving my own communities. … My biggest fear is a slow descent into loss — of expertise, resources and the sense of common good that holds us together.”
It’s not only European tourists traveling in the United States and finding themselves in front of closed museum doors or national park gates.
Because the US is so central to the global economy, European businesses could feel negative effects of a US government shutdown too.
In fact, they should get ready for a rough ride that will only become more painful the longer the gridlock in Washington lasts.
So, why should corporate Europe be worried about public employees on the other side of the Atlantic not being able to work?
Well, the shutdown halts or scales back many federal operations like providing loans or permits and disrupts the work of government agencies that provide oversight, slowing down economic activity.
What makes this more significant is its timing. This year, the US economy is already navigating slower growth, persistent inflation pressures and increasing financial insecurity.
The shutdown is adding to this insecurity and has the potential to trigger a chain reaction of economic consequences.
Take European trade businesses. Already rattled by the tariff chaos, they rely on consistent and predictable market conditions to plan their production, allocate resources and meet their customers’ needs.
Even a slight slowdown in economic activity would lead to lower US imports, which would reduce demand for European companies, whose growth, revenue and profitability would in turn be affected.
European imports arriving in America will meet less government staff in ports and customs who handle administrative and regulatory tasks associated with importing and exporting goods.
As a result, there will be delays which can extend the time it takes for goods to reach their destinations, disrupting delivery schedules.
The delays can have cascading effects on supply chains that rely on precise timing to function efficiently. This may lead to unexpected costs for expedited shipping and penalties for missed delivery deadlines.
In addition, there is the danger from a potential halt in export license approvals.
European companies need these approvals – or their renewals – to conduct their business operations in the US altogether.
“Companies will be frozen, they can’t get anything approved, no permits or licenses, can’t sell corporate debt in the US,” a lawyer in the business of negotiating transatlantic deals for multinational corporate clients told Euronews.
“A government shutdown sends home the people who execute regulations, but the regulations themselves remain – and remain to be complied with.”
This regulatory uncertainty can leave European exporters in a state of limbo, unsure of their ability to continue their activities with the US market in the short-term.
Look especially for sectors that rely on US demand such as machinery, automotive components or chemicals.
Those companies might see downward stock market swings as investors react to uncertainty in the US.
Speaking of financial markets. Prolonged uncertainty in the US could lead to rising interest rates on US government bonds, as investors would consider them to be higher risk.
That would lead to higher rates elsewhere in the world.
In Europe, for example, this could depress stock markets, increase the cost of financing public deficits, and reduce overall demand due to the higher cost of credit.
The rise in rates would increase the risk of default by over-indebted borrowers, and therefore of a financial crisis.
As the lack of a budget agreement in Washington would compromise the financing of US support for certain countries, the risks of geopolitical instability would increase, which would depress business investment and intensify the decline in demand already affected by inflation.
Economists estimate that a two-week US government shutdown would have a negative impact on EU GDP of €4 billion. If the shutdown lasted for 8 weeks, the impact would increase to €16 billion.
Whether it will really come to this is in the hands of politicians in Washington.
What is at stake is nothing less than America’s reputation as a global economic anchor of stability.
EUROPE were forced to make a late change to the line-up for Saturday’s foursomes after an injury concern.
Tyrrell Hatton was drafted in as a replacement by captain European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.
2
Tyrrell Hatton was drafted into the Saturday afternoon fourballs as a late replacementCredit: PA
2
Viktor Hovland suffered a neck injury and was forced to pull outCredit: EPA
The 33-year-old took part in the final game of Saturday afternoon alongside Matt Fitzpatrick.
He replaced Viktor Hovland, who suffered a neck injury.
Hovland played in the morning foursomes on Saturday as Europe extended their lead.
But his withdrawal was announced just minutes before the fourth and final Saturday afternoon tee off.
READ MORE ON THE RYDER CUP
More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
In traditional terms, a political crisis in a neighboring country is often seen as a direct challenge to that country’s national security and regional strategic interests. For most countries around the world, the situation in Nepal following the bloody mass protests, sectarian strife, and successive government crises in recent years seems to have reinforced that perception.
Moreover, Nepal is the southern gateway to Tibet, a pivot country between China and India, and a link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in South Asia. Instability here would naturally make Beijing worry about the risk of losing influence, broken investment commitments, or even challenges to border security.
However, this is not necessarily a threat to China, and it can even take advantage of this crisis. This is reflected in the saying “When the world is in chaos, the situation is wonderful”; the power of the ruling party is further consolidated. Former Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong used this argument to explain why he launched the Great Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s. If we apply this logic to Nepal today, political instability is not necessarily a risk for China but can become an opportunity to expand its influence, reorder the region, and test its diplomatic capabilities.
Chaos is not always a risk; it can be an opportunity.
Mao looked at the turbulent periods in Chinese history, such as the Five Barbarians and the warlord wars of the early 20th century, and concluded that the collapse of order does not mean the end of opportunities for development. Instability can open up a power vacuum for new forces. Nepal today reflects exactly that.
Faced with a divided political landscape, Nepal’s various parties and factions have sought international support to maintain their positions. This has enabled China to engage more strongly through aid, credit, infrastructure investment, or party-to-party diplomacy, which is Beijing’s strong point. An unstable government is more likely to make concessions in its dealings with international partners, as long as it receives timely recognition and support.
Furthermore, as Nepal’s factions compete for power, they tend to maintain good relations with China so as not to be pushed off the board. This strengthens Beijing’s position in the long term: rather than fearing a loss of influence, China can exploit the divisions to ensure that whoever comes to power will have difficulty “breaking away” from Beijing. In Maoist logic, “great chaos” means an increase in the ability to “divide and rule,” a powerful tool for maintaining lasting influence.
The old order being shaken up will create opportunities to build new influence.
Another key point of Mao’s thesis is that when the old order weakens, the force of stability and abundant resources becomes more prominent and can easily shape the new order. Nepal is in such a situation today. Political parties have taken turns in power but have failed to maintain stability, causing the state apparatus to lose credibility. In this context, China—with its economic potential, ability to deploy aid quickly, and stable position internally—has emerged as an “alternative pillar.”
More importantly, the collapse or restructuring of the Nepalese government does not mean the end of all engagement with China. In fact, the BRI, the trans-Himalayan railway, or energy cooperation can be renegotiated in Beijing’s favor if China offers an attractive package. In a situation where Nepal needs capital and technology to recover, Beijing can completely reshape the rules of the game.
In addition, instability has reduced Nepal’s dependence on India, which is often criticized by the Nepalese people for interfering deeply in domestic politics. As trust in New Delhi declines, strategic space opens up for Beijing. In other words, “great turmoil” in Nepal could be a factor in accelerating the shift in the balance of power in South Asia, tilting further towards China.
Instability is a test of the sustainability of regional strategy.
Mao once asserted, “The more chaos, the easier it is to recognize who is friend and who is foe.” Instability is not only a risk but also an opportunity to classify forces, measure loyalty, and adjust strategy accordingly. With Nepal, China can observe how parties behave in crisis: which factions seek help from Beijing and which side leans towards New Delhi or the West. These signals are real data that help China adjust policies, choose suitable partners, and strengthen the “security net” in the border region.
At the same time, the crisis in Nepal can be seen as a “practice” for China’s crisis diplomacy. Handling Nepal will provide valuable experience for Beijing in the event of instability in Myanmar, Pakistan, or even Central Asia. If handled successfully, China will demonstrate its ability to engage flexibly in the region, both protecting its core interests and avoiding falling into a US-style “quagmire” in the Middle East.
Nepal is in chaos, but China is fine.
The key point in Mao’s thinking is that the issue is not whether the world is in chaos, but whether China is stable internally. Because if it maintains domestic stability, has a strong economic foundation, and has a flexible foreign policy system, then external instability can hardly shake core strategic interests.
Nepal is just one link in China’s overall South Asia and Himalayan subregional strategy. Its spiral of instability does not directly threaten Beijing’s border security or overall power. In fact, the contrast between a stable China and an unstable Nepal reinforces Beijing’s image as a “guarantor of stability” in the region. This has a dual benefit: it both enhances China’s prestige in the eyes of its neighbors and counterbalances the role of India and Western powers.
In fact, China has skillfully used humanitarian diplomacy, such as COVID-19 vaccine support, disaster aid, and infrastructure investment, to demonstrate its role as a “pillar of stability.” In the chaotic Nepalese context, this image is even more prominent. Beijing does not need to worry too much about short-term losses; instead, it can exploit the instability to assert its long-term position.
Viewed through a conventional realist lens, the political crisis in Nepal inevitably poses many risks for China, from lost investment to instability on the border. But if we apply Mao Zedong’s thinking about “great chaos,” where chaos is a prerequisite for a new order, then Nepal now represents an opportunity for Beijing to increase its engagement, consolidate its influence, and test its regional strategy. The key is not whether Nepal is in chaos, but whether China can maintain internal stability and exploit the gaps of the times. In this logic, Nepal’s instability does not cause China to lose sleep; on the contrary, it could become a catalyst for Beijing to consolidate its power and influence in the Himalayan subregion.
No reset necessary. No reason to make more of some rare misfires.
After 16-plus seasons, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford knows how to put less-than-efficient performances behind.
So the passes he missed in last Sunday’s defeat by the Philadelphia Eagles are not cause for concern as he prepares for Sunday’s game against the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium.
“It happens,” Stafford said Wednesday before practice. “I’m not too worried about it.”
Stafford completed 19 of 33 passes (57.6%) for 198 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Despite missing on some passes he usually completes, he finished the game by directing a two-minute drive that positioned the Rams to win the game. The Eagles blocked a last-second field-goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown.
Stafford compared a rare off day to those sometimes experienced by NBA players.
“You go to an NBA game, you watch guys shoot the ball, the best shooters in the world, the guys that can make it every time,” Stafford said, “and sometimes they have nights where it doesn’t go down.”
On Sunday, Stafford will go against a surprising Colts team led by quarterback Daniel Jones.
Stafford, 37, has completed 63 of 95 passes (66.3%) for 739 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. He has been sacked five times. Stafford’s longest touchdown pass play covered 44 yards.
Jones, 28, has completed 63 of 88 passes (71.6%) for 816 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He has been sacked twice. Jones’ longest touchdown pass play covered 44 yards.
It has been a renaissance of sorts for Jones, the sixth pick in the 2019 NFL draft, after six-plus seasons with the New York Giants and a short late-season stint with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024.
In two losses to the Rams when he played for the Giants, Jones passed for zero touchdowns with four interceptions.
But he has not committed a turnover this season.
“He’s seeing the field well,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “He’s playing in rhythm. He’s playing on time. … He’s obviously got the mobility to make you pay as a runner, but I think he’s reading well. … He throws the ball with great accuracy and anticipation.”
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) scrambles for yardage during a victory over the Titans last week.
(George Walker IV / Associated Press)
That has been Stafford’s trademark during his four-plus seasons with the Rams.
Despite being sidelined all of training camp and most preseason practices because of a back issue, Stafford opened the season strong. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown in a 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium. He also eclipsed 60,000 career yards passing in the win.
The next week, he completed 23 of 33 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a 33-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
But Stafford’s ball placement and efficiency fell off against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field as the Rams converted only three of 10 third downs.
“Those kind of days are going to happen,” Stafford said. “Frustrating when it happens, but was able to kind of get it going. … That two-minute drive, was putting the ball right where I wanted to every time for the most part.
“So just continue to throw, trust the process.”
Jones has thrived with the Colts since beating out Anthony Richardson for the starting role.
In the season opener against the Miami Dolphins, Jones led scoring drives on all seven of his team’s possessions. He passed for 272 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for two touchdowns in a 33-8 victory.
The next week, he passed for 316 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown in a 29-28 victory over the Denver Broncos.
And last week, he passed for 228 yards and a touchdown in a 41-20 victory over the Titans.
The Colts, with star running back Jonathan Taylor and receiver Michael Pittman Jr. among others, rank second in the NFL in total offense.
“It’s been impressive to watch their overall operation,”’McVay said, “with Daniel leading the way.”
American Express is testing Web3 without shouting about it. The feature is pitched as valueless keepsakes, not tradable NFTs.
Financial services giant American Express (AXP 1.47%) is dipping its toes into digital waters. I mean next-generation digital stuff, adding blockchain tokens and Web3 features to its new app for high-end travel experiences.
But the company isn’t leaning into that detail. The marketing around the just-released AmEx Travel App is all about convenience and simplicity. The specific feature that relies on the Ethereum(ETH) is called AmEx Passport, designed to preserve memories for easy access after the trip. Most travelers miss getting stamps in their physical passport books these days, according to the press materials — so here are some digital stamps from AmEx instead.
And you’ll barely notice if you skim through the press release. The presence of blockchain tokens is easy to miss entirely when you use the app.
Is American Express approaching the newfangled blockchain and Web3 stuff in exactly the right way? I think so, and here’s why.
Inside the digital stamp
To find out exactly what’s happening in those digital Amex Passport stamps, I had to look at other sources. Crypto news site CoinDesk got some more detail directly from American Express.
Amex Digital Labs VP Colin Marlowe explained that the stamps are technically non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. They don’t hold any value and can’t be traded or transferred. They add some keepsake details every time you use your Amex card while traveling, creating an everlasting memory collection on the public blockchain. That’s all. But again, American Express isn’t pushing the crypto connection in your face.
“We wanted to speak to it in a way that was natural for the travel experience itself, and so we talk about these things as stamps, and they’re represented as tokens,” Marlowe told CoinDesk. “We weren’t trying to sell these or sort of generate any like short term revenue. The angle is to make a travel experience with Amex feel really rich, really different, and kind of set it apart.”
How Amex keeps travelers happy (and still pays the bills)
That tracks. I’ve been an American Express cardholder since 2000 (yeah, I’m old) and the company always bends over backward to keep traveling cardholders happy. The company makes plenty of money. It charges above-average transaction fees from retailers, which is why some shops refuse to support these cards in favor of lower-cost Visa(V -1.22%) or Mastercard (MA -1.28%) options. High-end cards like The Platinum Card and Blue Cash Preferred come with beefy annual fees, too. But the customer can still come out ahead by taking advantage of generous American Express features like the rewards program, airport lounges, and included rental car insurance.
I’m not trying to sell American Express cards here. This is just how the company tends to work. Using American Express isn’t supposed to feel cheap or complicated. It’s meant to be a rewarding premium experience. The blockchain-based memory-making tools fit snugly in that broader approach to the credit card business.
Base, ERC‑721, and the nerdy bits you can skip
And it’s also a perfect fit for early Web3 apps.
The AmEx Travel App hides its crypto-ness under a warm blanket, easy to miss or ignore. As long as the memory-keeping features work, nobody really cares where the digital passport stamps and personal notes are stored. It’s a valueless ERC-721 NFT, but you shouldn’t really care about that geekery.
The trick is that the tokens really work for this purpose. Diving one more layer into the nerdy depths, Ethereum tokens can hold all sorts of data, making that stuff available worldwide, for as long as Ethereum exists.
Access and ownership are managed by Ethereum itself, by way of the Base network. Sorry for bringing in another technical quirk that won’t matter to most app users or Amex investors, but there’s a point to this connection. Working with Base makes an Amex partner out of its creator, crypto giant Coinbase Global(COIN 8.85%), while speeding up the Amex app’s Ethereum access.
All in all, that’s a professional crypto package — not too shabby for an early swing by an old-school financial giant.
Image source: Getty Images.
The quiet way to test Web3 at scale
I don’t know about you, but I think American Express is checking all the right boxes on the Web3 checklist.
The new app meshes nicely with the card issuer’s brand, offers simple data storage functions to its users, and lets you forget how the whole thing works. I can talk until I’m blue in the face about Web3 ideals like personalization, decentralized networks, and direct money flows from consumers to creators — but Amex can get your attention without saying a word.
It’s showing how Web3 should work, in a very simple format. The Passport could evolve into a customer loyalty program later on, but it’s a bare-bones memory helper for now.
Great job, American Express. Years from now, I just might remember this app as the start of mass-market Web3 launches.
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Anders Bylund has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Seoul/Mokpo, South Korea – In 2018 when Kim Ji-ung lived in the South Korean capital, Seoul, he felt alone all the time. Single and in his early 30s, the salesman spent most of his day at work or holed up in his apartment.
“I pondered about dying during my morning commute,” Kim told Al Jazeera.
“The most difficult thing was that I had no one to talk to. After work, I would be at home scrolling through TV channels or playing video games,” he said.
Finding it difficult to make connections at work, Kim was feeling increasingly desperate and isolated. Then a close friend of his collapsed at their workplace and died.
“That’s when I really started to ask myself, ‘Will I be next?’” he said.
It was then that Kim made one of the toughest decisions of his life – to pack his bags and move away from Seoul, a city of 9.6 million people that offered him the best chance of a career and a stable salary.
The capital’s population, which peaked at 10.97 million in 1992, has been decreasing steadily in recent decades, sparking alarm among officials. The city’s population of those aged 19 to 39 has been on the decline as well, falling from 3.18 million in 2016 to 2.86 million in 2023.
While Seoul continues to draw people with its promise of high-paying corporate jobs, census figures show the city is failing to retain its young population with nearly as many leaving it as moving to it over the past decade.
‘Hell Joseon’
This trend comes despite South Korea’s capital becoming a technological and cultural powerhouse that is consistently ranked among the world’s most exciting cities by international travellers.
Fortune 500 companies such as LG, Hyundai Motors and SK Group employ thousands of young professionals in their headquarters in the bustling downtown. The ultra-fashionable Gangnam district hosts one of the premier art fairs in the world, Frieze Seoul, and the country’s cosmetics and beauty industry, pop culture and cuisine are popular worldwide.
Seoul’s international allure is also evident in the hip bars, eateries and clubs in the Hongdae and Seongsu neighbourhoods, where foreign tourists flood the streets seven days a week.
But Seoul’s young adults – disillusioned by a housing bubble that has made homes unaffordable and a competitive work culture marked by long hours and low pay – have branded the capital’s work-to-survive lifestyle “Hell Joseon”. The term references the ancient kingdom that was once based where Seoul is today.
“Our society is known for its infamous jobs that force employees to work long hours, cut off the careers of women who give birth and make it hard for men to apply for paternity leave,” said Yoo Hye-jeong of the think tank Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future.
“Seoul’s abnormally high costs for housing and child education translate to difficulty in creating a stable economic foundation for families,” Yoo said, describing an incompatibility between work and having a family life in the capital.
Located in Mokpo, ‘Don’t Worry Village got its start from a deserter of Seoul [David D Lee/Al Jazeera]
‘Don’t Worry Village’
For Kim, his chance to move away from Seoul came by coincidence when he spotted an online ad for a getaway programme at Don’t Worry Village.
Located in Mokpo, a city tucked away in the southwestern corner of the country with a population of 210,000 and an abundance of abandoned buildings, the village got its start from another deserter from Seoul, Hong Dong-joo.
After receiving his high school education in Seoul’s upmarket Daechi-dong neighbourhood, Hong was destined to enter a top university in the capital and work for a major corporation – a direct route to the upper echelons of South Korean society.
But when he turned 20, he knew that “life in Seoul, working at a high-paying job was not the life I wanted,” the 38-year-old told Al Jazeera. “I didn’t want to spend long hours at the office every day.” And so, when Hong became a mechanical engineering major at a Seoul university, he did the improbable: He moved away from the city.
He came up with the plan to create Don’t Worry Village after setting up a travel agency and meeting hundreds of young adults who shared stories of isolation and struggling with corporate and social life in Seoul and elsewhere.
“The blueprint for our village was to make a hometown that would act as a community – something that so many people in our country lack in their lives,” he said.
“In some ways, I was in the business of providing protection for people in our society who needed it.”
Hong Dong-joo says he set up Don’t Worry Village to give young people a sense of community[David D Lee/Al Jazeera]
‘National emergency’
Analysts describe the situation for many young people in the country as a “national emergency” that is being largely overlooked.
“In the process of becoming a developed nation really fast, our society forgot to establish a support net for our young population,” said Kim Seong-a, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA),
“The side effects of a society going through extreme industrialisation in a very short amount of time was the gradual disappearing roles of families” in the modern lifestyle and work becoming its primary focus, she said.
Findings from a 2021 Pew Research Center survey support her assessment. Participants from 17 advanced economies were asked: “What makes life meaningful?” The most common answer for people from 14 of the 17 nations – which included Japan, the United States and New Zealand – was family. South Korean respondents, however, chose material wellbeing as their top answer. For them, family came in third place.
Kim, the KIHASA researcher, said South Korean society now prioritises “money over people”.
“We’ve seen significant improvements in the country’s GDP, life expectancy and other areas that can be improved through policy changes,” she said. “But social factors like faith in others, trust in society and generosity towards others have relatively been less developed in our country.”
In surveys of satisfaction with life, South Korea ranked 33 among 38 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), scoring 6.4 on a 10-point scale in 2023. It also has the highest number of suicides among OECD countries with a suicide rate of 24.3 per 100,000 people. Compare that with Lithuania, which came in at a distant second place with 18.5 per 100,000 people.
In the ensuing years, the South Korean suicide rate has only increased, reaching 28.3 per 100,000 people in 2024, a 13-year high.
Young people account for a significant number of the suicides. Of the 14,439 cases of suicide reported last year, 13.4 percent of the cases were people in their 30s.
“In our country, there are many young people who bear all the social risks that they accumulate from failing to get a job, struggling in school and going through family troubles,” Kim Seong-a said.
“They’re by themselves, so there’s a great chance that they can become isolated. They need someone around to talk to or ask for help when they’re going through a setback. This way, they can deal with it or overcome it,” she said.
Official figures, however, show the number of young people living alone in Seoul is on the rise. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, more than a third of the city’s population lives alone with young people accounting for 64 percent of single-person households, up from 51.3 percent a decade ago.
A recent survey of 3,000 single-person households in the city by The Seoul Institute, a leading think tank, found that 62.1 percent of respondents experienced persistent loneliness. Another 13.6 percent were identified as socially isolated, a term that refers to individuals with no support network during times of emotional distress, physical illness or sudden financial problems.
‘Seoul Without Loneliness’
South Korea’s government is well aware of the issues of social isolation and a punishing work culture in Seoul and has moved to address the issue in recent years.
Last year, it launched its “Seoul Without Loneliness” plan, which is investing 451.3 billion won ($322m) over five years in initiatives such as a 24-hour emotional support hotline and community centres called Seoul Maeum Convenience Stores, where people can seek counselling and drop in for free bowls of ramen noodles.
Authorities in Seoul have also promoted special date nights for singles in the city, and the government has introduced numerous stimulus packages for newlyweds and new parents to address South Korea’s declining birthrate, which is currently ranked the lowest in the world.
The government is also looking for solutions outside Seoul’s gates.
In fact, Don’t Worry Village was one of the first prototypes for inclusive communities outside Seoul that could potentially develop into youth-centred regions that create homes and jobs for young adults while populating rural regions.
With sponsorship from the Ministry of Interior and Safety, applicants to Don’t Worry Village receive financial assistance to relocate to Mokpo and attend workshops organised by Hong on useful skills required in the local community and networking with fellow residents.
Kim Ji-ung, the former salesman from Seoul, attended one such workshop in 2018 and then eventually moved there. After he did so, he said he was surprised by how easy it was to form social connections.
“Because the city is quite small, it’s likely that you’ll meet other young people through one way or another,” Kim said. “People ask favours to each other, and you make friends here by just saying ‘hi’ to them.”
That was such a stark contrast to Seoul, where people do not have time to greet each other and do not want to become involved in other people’s businesses, he said.
Kim worked various jobs in Mokpo until 2022 when he put his university degree to use and started a one-person interior design company. Hong is his neighbour, and the pair frequently grab lunch together. In addition to doing what he loves, Kim said the biggest change he has experienced is starting to enjoy leisure time.
“On random nights, I’ll just go down to the ferry terminal and get on a midnight boat to Jeju Island,” he said. “I’ll just stay there for the morning, but it’s the small things like this that tell me that I’m having a good time here.”
Looking outside Seoul
Hong’s life, too, has changed dramatically.
Back in his days in Seoul, he did not think too much about getting married. But he soon met the woman who became his wife in Mokpo and is now a father as well.
“In Seoul, the individual has to sacrifice so much of their own lives for their companies, to make a living and for the good of society as a whole,” Hong said. “But in Mokpo, I have control over my time. I’m able to do what I want for work, and money is not that intimidating to me any more.”
Two other residents in Don’t Worry Village, husband and wife Park Myung-ho and Kim Min-jee, also gave up lucrative careers in Seoul for what they described as a more “relaxed life” in Mokpo.
Park, 38, worked for one of South Korea’s biggest arms manufacturers while Kim was an employee at the country’s largest advertising company.
The couple married after meeting in Don’t Worry Village.
“There’s just too much competition in Seoul. It seemed like only people who possessed a lot of capital succeeded in starting a business,” Park said. “As someone who wanted to start my own business, it was more reasonable to look outside of Seoul.”
Park is now the CEO of a local property development company while Kim runs a guesthouse in downtown Mokpo that was developed by her husband’s company.
Kim, 35, also gave birth to a son more than a year ago whom she did not expect to have so soon.
“I always pictured having a child late in my years or being married without kids,” she said.
“Working for a major company meant nearly no time at home and weekends spent in the office. It’s almost impossible to raise kids in Seoul without the help of parents or childcare services, and finding an affordable housing arrangement is even harder,” she said.
Park Myung-ho, now a father, gave up a lucrative career in Seoul for a more relaxed life in Mokpo [David D Lee/Al Jazeera]
‘You’re judged for literally everything’
While Don’t Worry Village has become a prototype for more than 50 youth-centred communities around the country that the government has created in recent years, the reality for young adults moving away from Seoul to live in rural regions has proven to be difficult.
Workplaces, jobs and key infrastructure are still concentrated in Seoul.
And that is why, despite Hong hosting more than 21 workshops for people considering moving to Don’t Worry Village and attracting more than 2,000 visitors, only 20 people have remained there.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety, which helped start the youth villages, said about 10,000 people have participated in workshops at youth-centred communities across the country, but only about 900 ended up moving to them.
For many South Korean youth, starting a second chapter in life outside the country has become increasingly popular.
Brianna Lee is one of the tens of thousands of young adults who apply every year for working holiday visas to live and work abroad for a set time.
“Life in South Korea is just too intensive,” 30-year-old Lee said.
“You’re expected to get a job, get married, buy a house and have an amount of money at a certain age. And you’re judged for literally everything,” she said.
Working as a nurse in Ilsan, a city just north of Seoul, Lee said there is widespread discrimination inside hospitals, where people are critical towards nurses and view them as socially inferior.
“On top of working 11-hour shifts, we would be asked to do tasks that we weren’t required to perform,” she said.
After facing burnout, Lee applied for a working holiday in Canada, where she worked at restaurants and attended classes at an English-language academy for about a year.
Today, she is back home preparing to take a test to become a nurse in the US.
“They pay much better, and people give a lot of respect towards nurses in the US,” Lee said.
“Most importantly, people aren’t nosy,” she said.
“I think people care less about what you do for work and how you choose to live your life there.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is leaving transgender children and their parents uncertain and anxious about the future.
The court on Wednesday handed President Trump’s administration and Republican-led states a significant victory by effectively protecting them from at least some of the legal challenges against many efforts to repeal safeguards for transgender people.
The case stems from a Tennessee law banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender minors. Opponents of gender-affirming care say people who transition when they’re young could later regret it.
Families of transgender children argue the ban amounts to unlawful sex discrimination and violates the constitutional rights of vulnerable Americans.
Student says ruling creates an unwelcome world
Eli Givens, who is transgender and testified against Tennessee’s gender-affirming care bill in 2023, said it’s devastating that lawmakers “who have called us degenerates, have told us that we’re living in fiction” are celebrating the court’s ruling.
The nonbinary college student from Spring Hill received mastectomy surgery in 2022 at age 17. They said the legislation inspired their advocacy, and they attended the Supreme Court arguments in the case last December, on their 20th birthday.
“We’re not making a world that trans youth are welcomed or allowed to be a part of,” Givens said. “And so, it’s just a really scary kind of future we might have.”
Jennifer Solomon, who supports parents and families at the LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, called the ruling a decision “that one day will embarrass the courts.”
“This is a decision that every parent should be concerned about,” she said. “When politicians are able to make a decision that overrides your ability to medically make decisions for your children, every family should worry.”
Conservative activists take credit
Chloe Cole, a conservative activist known for speaking about her gender-transition reversal, posted on social media after the court’s decision that “every child in America is now safer.”
Cole was cited as an example by Tennessee Republicans as one of the reasons the law was needed.
Matt Walsh, an activist who was one of the early backers of Tennessee’s law, applauded the high court. Three years ago, Walsh shared videos on social media of a doctor saying gender-affirming procedures are “huge moneymakers” for hospitals and a staffer saying anyone with a religious objection should quit.
“This is a truly historic victory and I’m grateful to be a part of it, along with so many others who have fought relentlessly for years,” Walsh posted on social media.
Fears of what’s next after Supreme Court decision
Rosie Emrich is worried the court decision will embolden legislators in New Hampshire, where legislation banning hormone treatments and puberty blockers for children is expected to reach the governor’s desk.
Lawmakers are weighing whether to block the treatments from minors already receiving them, like Emrich’s 9-year-old child.
“It’s definitely disappointing, and I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to talk to my kid about it,” Emrich said.
Emrich said she and her husband have considered moving from New Hampshire and are waiting to see what will happen.
“The hard part is, like, I’ve grown up here, my husband has grown up here, we very much want to raise our family here,” she said. “And we don’t want to leave if we don t have to.”
A move across the country and other hurdles
Erica Barker and her family moved from Jackson, Mississippi, to North Las Vegas, Nevada, a little over two years ago so one of her children could start receiving gender-affirming care.
Barker’s transgender daughter, then 12, had been in therapy for three years, and the family agreed it was time for medical treatments.
Mississippi passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors the next year, which Barker said she saw coming.
Barker said the move was complicated, involving a new job for her husband and two mortgages when their Mississippi home was slow to sell, but it also brought access to care for her daughter, now 14.
“Our hearts are hurting for folks who are not having the same experience,” Barker said.
In another state with a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, Oklahoma resident Erika Dubose said finding care for her 17-year-old nonbinary child, Sydney Gebhardt, involves a four-hour drive to Kansas and getting prescriptions filled in Oregon and mailed to their home.
“I just wish the younger folks wouldn’t have to go through this,” Gebhardt said. “These folks deserve to be focusing on their academics and hanging out with their friends and making memories with their families and planning out a safe and happy future.”
Mother says gender-affirming care saves lives
Sarah Moskanos, who lives near Milwaukee, said her 14-year-old transgender daughter went through nearly a decade of counseling before she started medical gender-affirming care but has been sure since the age of 4 that she identified as a girl.
“I would say that there is decades of research on this very thing,” she said. “And we know what works and we know what will save trans kids’ lives is gender-affirming care.”
Wisconsin doesn’t have a gender-affirming care ban, but Moskanos said getting her daughter that care has not been easy. She now worries about what the future holds.
“We are but one election cycle away from disaster for my kid,” she said.
Vowing not to disappear
Mo Jenkins, a 26-year-old transgender Texas native and legislative staffer at the state Capitol, said she began taking hormone therapy at 16 years old and has been on and off treatment since then.
“My transition was out of survival,” Jenkins said.
Texas outlawed gender-affirming care for minors two years ago, and in May, the Legislature passed a bill tightly defining a man and a woman by their sex characteristics.
“I’m not surprised at the ruling. I am disheartened,” Jenkins said. “Trans people are not going to disappear.”
Mattise, Mulvihill and Seewer write for the Associated Press. Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, N.J., and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. AP journalists Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn.; Kenya Hunter in Atlanta; Laura Bargfeld in Chicago; Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas; and Daniel Kozin in Pinecrest, Fla., contributed to this report.
A study of 2,000 UK holidaymakers found health emergencies are the top worry when in a different country, with theft also being a big concern.
Travellers regularly use unsecure networks when abroad(Image: undefined via Getty Images)
Holidaymakers are more concerned about misplacing luggage and missing flights than they are about being pickpocketed or losing their passport. A survey of 2,000 travellers revealed that health emergencies top the list of worries when abroad, with theft also a significant concern. Meanwhile, a third are apprehensive about getting lost, and a quarter worry about their accommodation not being safe.
However, only 8% are anxious about falling victim to online threats while overseas – a risk that is particularly prevalent on unsecured networks in foreign countries. With the most frequent activities carried out by those who connect to Wi-Fi when abroad include online banking, shopping with a credit card, streaming TV or music, and checking work emails.
Some have even been scammed when booking their trip(Image: undefined via Getty Images)
Melissa Voeller, a cyber safety advocate for Norton, which conducted the study, stated: “When we travel, we often focus on physical safety, like guarding our belongings or catching our flight, but digital threats don’t take a holiday.
“From public Wi-Fi risks to phishing scams disguised as hotel confirmations, cybercriminals target travellers when their guard is down. That’s why it’s just as important to secure your digital life as it is to secure important documents like your passport.”
The research discovered that 86% of travellers believe they are cautious when arranging travel. However, 29% have been scammed or targeted, either during the trip or while planning it, with 23% confessing they’re not particularly knowledge about online safety.
It was revealed that 14% are uncertain about the risks associated with connecting to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, which commonly include malware distribution; where unsecured networks can be used to distribute malicious software to your device.
Holidaymakers regularly use their bank apps (Image: undefined via Getty Images)
To gain access to this Wi-Fi whilst travelling, 45% have provided their email address, 30% have entered their first and last name – and 28% even revealed their hotel room number. After connecting many encountered suspicious pop-ups, data breach alerts and even online scams.
Melissa commented: “Public Wi-Fi might be convenient for checking maps or posting on social media, but it can be a hotspot for cybercriminals, too. Logging into banking apps or entering personal information on an unsecured connection abroad can be just as risky as losing your wallet.”
She cautioned: “A few clicks in the wrong place could give hackers access to everything from your email to your banking details, making you more vulnerable to threats.” It was revealed that only 26% say they have used a VPN while travelling, yet Melissa says it’s a key way to safeguard privacy whilst away.
Travel expert Simon Calder said: “Staying connected while travelling is second nature these days, whether it’s checking flight details, finding directions or booking last-minute tickets. But public Wi-Fi, especially in places like airports or hotels, isn’t always as safe as it seems.
“That’s why using a VPN is a smart move. It gives you added peace of mind that your online activity stays private and for your eyes only, no matter where your travels take you.”
