After winning legislative backing for the Hong Kong Jockey Club to offer basketball betting – an initiative aimed at drawing punters away from illegal online bookmakers and capturing additional tax revenue – the government has now paused the roll-out. Officials say the rise of prediction markets has altered the landscape and warrants closer examination. So, what is it about prediction markets that unsettles officials? Prediction markets are online platforms where the menu stretches far beyond...

US President Donald Trump and the ⁠head of the Secret Service said on Thursday that the federal agent injured during the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had not been hit by friendly fire, as authorities released a video of the incident. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for Washington, posted the footage on social media, saying it showed the suspect shooting the US Secret Service officer as he ran through security towards the gala packed with journalists,...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was removing certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after this week’s White House visit by the UK’s King Charles and Queen Camilla. “The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump posted on social media. Trump said people had wanted this change, especially with regard to the wooden barrels in which the spirits of Scotch and bourbon can be aged. His post left it unclear if the tariffs were...