• Federal officials have launched a probe into "mention markets," a growing category of prediction markets where users bet on specific words or phrases spoken by individuals.
• The investigation focuses on whether these markets are susceptible to manipulation, particularly following controversies surrounding the platform Kalshi.
• Because sports wagers comprise over 80% of the billions traded weekly in this category, regulatory action against sporting event mentions would significantly impact the industry.
• Federal officials have launched a probe into "mention markets," a growing category of prediction markets where users bet on specific words or phrases spoken by individuals.
• The investigation focuses on whether these markets are susceptible to manipulation, particularly following controversies surrounding the platform Kalshi.
• While sports wagers comprise over 80% of weekly trading volume on such sites, Kalshi continues to permit bets on political events, earnings calls, and live news broadcasts.
• Federal officials have launched a probe into "mention markets," a growing category of prediction sites where users bet on specific public statements.
• The investigation focuses on whether these platforms are susceptible to manipulation, following recent controversies involving the prediction market Kalshi and the White House.
• This regulatory scrutiny matters as it examines the intersection of financial speculation and the potential for actors to influence political discourse.
Trump officials say they will announce next phase of US trade policy as 10% global tariffs are due to expire on FridayDonald Trump’s administration will unveil the latest stage of his aggressive trade policy on Thursday, the White House has said, amid reports the US president is preparing a fresh wave of sweeping tariffs.Trump’s tariffs policy suffered a damaging blow in February when the US supreme court ruled that many of those tariffs were illegal. While the US replaced those tariffs with a 10% tariff regime on much of the world, these are due to expire on Friday. Continue reading...
Rise in share price adds nearly $1bn to tech giant’s market value while White continues on as a board director and chief innovation officerGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastRichard White has resigned as executive chair of WiseTech, the Australian tech company he co-founded, denying allegations he exploited a worker’s financial and visa status for sex.White will stay on as a board director and chief innovation officer, with Raelene Murphy replacing him as chair, the company announced on Tuesday. Continue reading...
• President Trump is attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner, colliding politics and media in a highly charged event.
• Flashback highlights include Stephen Colbert roasting George W. Bush and Axios reporter Alex Thompson calling out colleagues.
• The dinner underscores ongoing media-political tensions, especially post-executive orders and impeachment talks.
President also held on to record from his first term so sensitive only six people had access, says letter from leading Democrat on House judiciary committeeHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The White House says Donald Trump “did nothing wrong”, amid reports that he showed off a classified map on a 2022 flight to his New Jersey golf club.Violence continued across much of the Middle East a day after Donald Trump said the US was in “very good” talks with Iran to end the war in the region soon. Iranian barrages targeted Israel, Gulf Arab states and northern Iraq on Tuesday, while Israeli and US warplanes continued to carry out strikes across Tehran and on other targets in the Islamic Republic. More here.Democrats managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Emily Gregory, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jon Maples, who had an endorsement from the US president, in the special election in Florida’s 87th state house district. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening, with Gregory, a public health expert and small business owner, leading by more than 2 percentage points. More here.Donald Trump on Tuesday swore in Markwayne Mullin as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while Senate Republicans unveiled a compromise that would restart funding to most of the agency but appears to exclude reforms to immigration enforcement Democrats have demanded. More here.Donald Trump has described voting by mail as “cheating” at an event in Memphis, Tennessee, just days after casting a mail‑in ballot himself. “Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating, and we got to do something about it all,” the US president said on Monday, in remarks to a roundtable on his administration’s crime taskforce. More here.Workers with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are reeling from the White House’s deployment of immigration law enforcement into airports as TSA workers enter their sixth week without pay as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown continues. More than 400 TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began in February, with major US airports reporting high call-out rates among workers, leading to longer security wait times. More here.The California governor, Gavin Newsom, backtracked on earlier remarks likening Israel to an “apartheid state” in a new interview with Politico published on Tuesday. In the interview, the Democrat, who is widely expected to launch a presidential bid in 2028, said that when he used the term three weeks ago, he meant it to apply to Israel’s future should it continue on its present trajectory. More here. Continue reading...
