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.”
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
Russian hackers last year targeted a Dutch public facility in the first such an attack on the lowlands country’s infrastructure, its military intelligence services said on Monday. The Netherlands remained an “interesting target country” for Moscow due to its ongoing support for Ukraine, its Hague-based international organizations, high-tech industries and harbors such as Rotterdam, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its yearly report. Last year, the MIVD “saw a Russian hacker group carry out a cyberattack against the digital control system of a public facility in the Netherlands,” MIVD Director Vice Admiral Peter Reesink said in the 52-page
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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