White House teleprompter operator fined, forfeits winnings for betting on Trump’s words
SCMP •

White House teleprompter operator fined, forfeits winnings for betting on Trump’s words

A former White House teleprompter operator accused of using inside knowledge to make bets on the prediction market Kalshi has been ordered to turn over more than US$100,000 in profits and pay a US$65,000 fine as part of a settlement with federal authorities. The settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced on Friday, also dealt Gabriel Perez a three-year trading ban. Perez w...

CBS News •

Judge throws out confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, man accused of plotting 9/11 attack

Coming up on 25 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the effort to bring to justice the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has hit a major obstacle. CBS News has learned a military judge ruled this week that his confessions made to FBI agents at Guantanamo Bay were not voluntary and cannot be used at his trial, now set for June of 2028. Those FBI agents are featured in an upc...

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; bodies recovered down rivers in India – latest updates
The Guardian •

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing rises to 2,478; bodies recovered down rivers in India – latest updates

Nepal reverses earlier decision and says foreign teams will be allowed to help with rescue efforts‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower ...

China hospital joins nightclubs in offering marriage services to fight low wedding rates

China hospital joins nightclubs in offering marriage services to fight low wedding rates

SCMP •

Following temples and nightclubs, a Chinese bank and a hospital have recently begun offering marriage registration services, igniting discussions on the Chinese government’s commitment to promoting nuptials. In August, a branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China, located in the northern municipality of Tianjin, became the country’s first bank to provide marriage registration services. While onlin...

Hong Kong’s long-term wealth hub status safe from mainland investment curbs: JPMorgan exec

Hong Kong’s long-term wealth hub status safe from mainland investment curbs: JPMorgan exec

SCMP •

Beijing’s recent curbs on cross-border investment and a tax shift targeting overseas insurance gains may create short-term uncertainty, but they will not undermine Hong Kong’s long-term competitiveness as a major wealth management hub, according to a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase. Kwang Kam-shing, Hong Kong CEO and chairwoman of North Asia at the biggest bank by assets in the United States, s...

National Park Service supports Trump’s arch even though it would have ‘adverse effects’ on other DC monuments, report says – as it happened

National Park Service supports Trump’s arch even though it would have ‘adverse effects’ on other DC monuments, report says – as it happened

The Guardian •

This live blog is now closed.Trump arch will alter sightlines of many Washington DC landmarks, report saysSign up for the US Breaking News emailA reminder that we are covering the latest out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Kevin Warsh – the new chair of the Federal Reserve – will deliver his first speech as the head of the US central bank at the annual economic policy symposium.As my col...

Indians turn to AI gurus for answers: ‘ChatGPT is not judging you’

Indians turn to AI gurus for answers: ‘ChatGPT is not judging you’

SCMP •

When Kripa Vaidyanathan’s 27-year-old niece died in an Alaska car crash in 2024, her family in Chennai, India, felt shell-shocked. They questioned why this tragedy would befall them when they had such “immense faith in God”. Vaidyanathan, a yoga instructor, helped her grieving sister get face time with a high-profile guru whom she hoped would help. “But he told her this was the work of karma and s...

Taipei’s debt hardball carries a clear warning for its remaining allies

Taipei’s debt hardball carries a clear warning for its remaining allies

SCMP •

In contemporary discourse, the bogeyman of “debt traps” is almost exclusively tied to Beijing. Western media, think tanks, NGOs and policymakers from Washington to Brussels frequently warn developing nations of the perils of bilateral loans from China. Yet, Grenada’s debt dispute from a decade ago and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG) current troubles offer a starkly different, and often ignore...

Visa policy brings in more foreigners on short-term jobs and HK$20,000 salaries

Visa policy brings in more foreigners on short-term jobs and HK$20,000 salaries

SCMP •

About 80 per cent of the foreign nationals granted working visas under Hong Kong’s General Employment Policy (GEP) last year were hired on short-term contracts, while nearly half of successful applicants earned less than HK$20,000 (US$2,564) a month. According to the latest Immigration Department data, 31,278 GEP working visas for foreigners were approved last year. Mainland Chinese residents cann...

Trump administration faces backlash over Yosemite park giveaway

Trump administration faces backlash over Yosemite park giveaway

SCMP •

US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering giving away a section of the renowned Yosemite National Park to a private developer. An investigation published on Friday by NOTUS, a news outlet, said the government had spent over a year quietly working to transfer a roughly 400-metre (0.25-mile) strip of the park to a company linked through a web of other entities to Nevada-based Kingsba...

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing people rises to 2,478 – latest updates

Nepal-Tibet flash flood: number of missing people rises to 2,478 – latest updates

The Guardian •

Nepal reverses earlier decision and says foreign teams will be allowed to help with rescue efforts‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in NepalVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedTell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower ...

Japan to convert car park near Tokyo Station into missile shelter

Japan to convert car park near Tokyo Station into missile shelter

SCMP •

The Tokyo metropolitan government has unveiled a plan to use an underground facility near Tokyo Station as a shelter for residents and tourists in the event of a ballistic missile attack. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a press conference earlier this month that a survey would begin in the current financial year through March in preparation for revamping Yaesu car park, which is located about two...