After a nearly three-month blockade, Israel, under pressure from Western governments and international humanitarian organisations, allowed limited aid to enter the enclave and the resumption of limited UN operations.
Just before taking office, Trump launched the $TRUMP meme coin at a Crypto Ball held in Washington, DC. Meme coins are often created as a joke and are susceptible to volatile price movements, however, Trump’s coin has allowed top investors access to him.Last week, President Trump hosted top investors for a cryptocurrency project at his luxury golf course in Northern Virginia. It’s estimated investors spent $148m on the $TRUMP coin to secure their seats at the dinner, with the top 25 spending more than $111m, according to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital, the Reuters news agency reported.
While the White House insisted Trump would be attending the event “in his personal time”, he spoke at the event behind a podium marked with the presidential seal.When Trump’s meme coin launched, it first surged, then fell in value, while its creators, which include an entity linked to the Trump Organization, made hundreds of millions in trading fees.The Trump family is now deeply invested in crypto, with ventures like First Lady Melania Trump’s coin and a stake in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm founded in 2024.
While government officials have financial disclosure requirements, and regulatory agencies can monitor the goings-on of officials, critics have warned of conflicts of interest, as Trump backs crypto after once opposing it, potentially using policy to boost his own gains.By offering security and counterterrorism courses to students from repressive regimes without appropriate checks, British institutions risk complicity in torture.
Across the UK, pro-Palestinian protests in reaction to the war in Gaza have placed universities’ response to human rights concerns under the spotlight. But concerns about links between Britain’s higher education institutions and human rights abuses are not limited to one area.
A new investigation by Freedom from Torture has found that UK universities are offering postgraduate security and counterterrorism education to members of foreign security forces, including those serving some of the world’s most repressive regimes. These institutions are offering training to state agents without scrutinising their human rights records, or pausing to consider how British expertise might end up being exploited to silence, surveil or torture.Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said this week that IOMed’s status would be on par with the UN bodies the ICJ and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Lee said it would also help bring “substantial” economic benefits and job opportunities, as well as stimulate various sectors including hospitality and transport, to Hong Kong.Hong Kong has experienced sustained
since its handover back to Chinese rule in 1997 after more than a century and a half as a British colony.Investor confidence has been rocked by Beijing’s increasing control over all aspects of life in the territory – including the economy – while gloom also persists about the state of China’s post-pandemic recovery.