Briefly

UNITED STATES

Santos pleads not guilty to federal charges

US Congressman George Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal charges on Wednesday afternoon. The not-guilty plea at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, came hours after the unsealing of the indictment against Santos. Santos, the US representative for New York's 3rd congressional district, has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the US House of Representatives. Santos said he will not resign from Congress and plans on running for reelection.

SOUTH KOREA

2023 growth outlook revised down to 1.5%

South Korea's state-run think tank revised down the country's 2023 growth outlook by 0.3 percentage points on the back of the continued fall in exports, local media reported on Thursday. The Korea Development Institute expected the economy to grow 1.5 percent in 2023, down from its previous growth estimate of 1.8 percent in February. The KDI said the South Korean economy has recently been sluggish due to weak exports, noting that outbound shipments continued to decline amid the sharp fall in global demand for locally made semiconductors.

Agencies - Xinhua