Trump promises $5,000 payment if Republicans win midterms

5 min agoThe Boston-based First US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to suspend an injunction preventing the US Postal Service from implementing tighter mail-in voting requirements ahead of November's congressional election. The US Supreme Court is separately weighing a similar request from the Trump administration.

21 min agoOpenAI on Thursday launched ChatGPT for Financial Services, powered by GPT-6 Astra and built with Morgan Stanley and Evercore as design partners. The product targets research, financial modeling and pitchbook generation traditionally handled by junior bankers and equity researchers, drawing on built-in data from LSEG, PitchBook, Daloopa and other financial data providers.

35 min agoYemen's Houthis seized the port city of Mocha this week on the Red Sea coast. Iran's Revolutionary Guards provided direct guidance, strengthening Houthi control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate attacks on Saudi Arabia and promised additional funding, weapons and senior officers.

51 min agoEngland's charge towards victory in the final Test against Pakistan was stopped by rain at Edgbaston on day two. Pakistan, batting second, had reached 52-2 when bad weather intervened, leaving the tourists 268 runs behind England's first-innings total of 453.

1 h agoPresident Donald Trump said nearly one million Americans across 30 states will receive $500 refunds drawn from a $500 million pool of excess fees paid by Affordable Care Act enrollees. Trump said the checks will arrive in mailboxes in a few weeks, citing overcharges under the previous administration.

1 h agoA cargo ship docked in the port city of Qingdao caught fire while undergoing repairs, killing at least 25 people. State media said the cause of the blaze remained unclear.

1 h agoThe Trump administration has proposed eliminating the 60-day grace period that H-1B visa holders currently receive after losing their jobs. Under the planned rule change, those with H-1B and certain other temporary work visas would have to leave the country as soon as their employment ends.

2 h agoFrance defeated China 90-61 in a quarterfinal match in Berlin on Thursday to advance to the Women's Basketball World Cup semifinals for the first time in the competition's history. The French team had failed to progress past the quarterfinal stage in six consecutive attempts before this breakthrough victory.

2 h agoDonald Trump said during a Republican convention in Dallas that every US citizen would receive a $5,000 "Trump dividend" if the party retains control of Congress in November's midterm elections. Critics called the proposal bribery, citing estimates that the cost would reach between $1.2 trillion and $1.3 trillion and add substantially to the national debt, already at a historic $40 trillion.

3 h agoNATO allies tracked and confronted Russian vessels conducting a covert exercise near Svalbard involving technology designed to disable critical undersea cables without detection. Britain, Norway, and the United States prevented the Russian submersibles from completing the operation, and no cables were damaged.