CHINA
Russian official visits
A Russian defense official attended a military showcase in Zhuhai in a show of unity between the countries as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine. Russian Federation Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu viewed Chinese and Russian aircraft and other military hardware at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. Shoigu, a former defense minister, appeared to be on a mission to reaffirm ties between the countries as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely stalemated and Moscow has turned to North Korean soldiers to boost its troop numbers.
Photo: EPA-EFE
BRAZIL
Explosion rocks court
A man who attempted to break into the Supreme Court on Wednesday killed himself in explosions outside the building, authorities said. The two blasts were heard at about 7:30pm after the day’s session finished and all the justices and staff left the building safely, the court said in a statement. Local firefighters said that one man died at the scene in the capital, Brasilia, but did not identify him. Celina Leao, the lieutenant governor of the federal district, said the suspect had earlier detonated explosives in a car in a congress parking lot, which did not cause injuries. “His first action was to explode the car. Then he approached the Supreme Court and tried to get in the building. He failed and then there were the other explosions,” Leao told a news conference.
UNITED STATES
Man charged over leaks
A man who worked for the government has been charged with leaking classified information assessing Israel’s earlier plans to attack Iran, court papers filed on Wednesday said. The man, identified as Asif William Rahman, was arrested by the FBI this week in Cambodia and was due to make his first court appearance in Guam. He was indicted last week in a court in Virginia on two counts of willful transmission of national defense information. Officials said Rahman had a top-secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmented information.
UNITED STATES
Election gambler paid
A man made US$85 million in a series of wagers on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market that was a popular platform for betting on the presidential election won by Donald Trump, a blockchain analysis firm said on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal reported that the man is a French citizen and former trader whose first name is Theo, though he declined to publicize his last name. Last month, Polymarket said a French bettor had wagered a large sum on Trump winning the election on Tuesday last week. Chainanalysis, a New York-based blockchain analysis firm, said it had done cross-checking and identified 11 Polymarket accounts with similar characteristics. The accounts were fed at the same time, made bets at the same time and were emptied simultaneously, Chainanalysis said. The gambler bet US$70 million on Trump winning the election over Vice President Kamala Harris. After the election was called, he got it all back and US$85 million in winnings. Media reported that FBI agents raided the New York home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan on Wednesday. The cause and goal of the probe were not known. A Polymarket spokesperson told Axios that the raid was an “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.”
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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