Ken

• Securities analysts forecast that the KOSPI could surge to a high of 9,500 during the coming week. • This optimistic outlook is driven by upward revisions to second-quarter earnings forecasts and growing expectations for third-quarter results. • Market sentiment has been further bolstered by the strong financial performance of Micron, signaling positive trends for related sectors.

• Alan Kohler's "Weekend Briefing, Edition 24, 2026" analyzes current global trends, focusing on the competitive "AI wars" and drawing parallels from historical precedents. • The report examines critical geopolitical tensions and the latest strategic developments occurring within the Strait of Hormuz. • Kohler provides a financial assessment regarding the probability of upcoming interest rate hikes and their potential economic impact.

Floods caused by thunderstorms that have dumped inches of rain on Kentucky and Indiana, with more possibleAndy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, says four people have died as a result of flash floods from thunderstorms that have brought as much as 7in (18cm) of rain to the state.Beshear confirmed the four deaths in a social media post, noting three people were from Madison county and one was from Jackson county. “Please join Britainy and me as we pray for their families during this difficult time,” Beshear said. Continue reading...

• South Korean travel behavior is undergoing a structural shift in 2026, with travelers prioritizing "time-efficient getaways" and high entertainment density. • Japan currently dominates this trend via Tokyo and Osaka, though China is rapidly gaining market share through Shanghai and expanded connectivity. • Taipei and Hong Kong continue to serve as strong supporting destinations by offering a blend of urban experiences and nature tourism.

Plans to protect people fall ‘far short of what is needed’, government told, as MP warns of heatwave deathsUK politics live – latest updatesThe UK government is facing increasingly urgent calls for action to protect people against the intensifying effects of the climate crisis, as the highest maximum temperature record for June was broken for the third day in a row.With the country in the grip of the worst heatwave ever recorded in western Europe – a direct result of global heating – the chair of parliament’s environmental audit committee warned ministers of the urgent threat and said the UK was falling “far short of what is needed”. Continue reading...

Bodycam footage captures moment motorist pulls over to help police officer and calls: ‘Get in the back’A van driver in Kent has been praised after giving a lift to an armed police officer who was chasing down a suspect.Bodycam footage from the officer captured the moment the motorist pulled over to help the police on 16 June and called out: “Get in the back. Get in the back.” Continue reading...

Australian Labor party president says authoritarian trends must not be ‘normalised’ in AustraliaFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor must not allow increasingly authoritarian trends in Australian politics to become “normalised”, ALP president Wayne Swan has warned, likening Pauline Hanson’s attacks on multiculturalism and journalists to Donald Trump’s hostile takeover of American civic life.“A toxic seed blooms into a garden of noxious weeds when we stop gardening,” the former treasurer said on Friday. Continue reading...

• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated on Monday that the United States must reclaim its position as the global leader in medical research and innovation. • Kennedy highlighted a competitive gap, noting that China is currently conducting more early-stage clinical trials than the U.S. • This push for leadership aims to revitalize the American pharmaceutical and clinical trial landscape to ensure the U.S. remains at the forefront of medical breakthroughs.

• Afghanistan is facing a dire economic crisis nearly five years after the Taliban returned to power. • The collapse is driven by a combination of deep-rooted domestic structural failures and persistent regional geopolitical constraints. • This instability highlights the Taliban's inability to establish a functioning financial system or secure broad international legitimacy.

• AI tokenization is being utilized to enhance data security by replacing sensitive information with tokens that preserve predictive accuracy. • This innovation allows organizations to leverage high-utility data for AI training and analysis while significantly reducing the risk of data breaches. • The process is critical for balancing the need for large-scale data processing with strict privacy and security requirements.

• The Euro has weakened against the US dollar following a hawkish "dot plot" released by the Federal Reserve last week. • The Federal Reserve's updated projections reinforced a tightening bias, leading markets to aggressively reprice interest rate expectations. • This shift has strengthened the US dollar, putting downward pressure on the EUR/USD currency pair.

• Progressive candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier secured Democratic nominations in the New York primaries. • In a key New York House district, Micah Lasher, a former aide to Representative Jerry Nadler, defeated Jack Schlossberg and Alex Bores. • The results signal a strong night for the progressive wing of the party, highlighted by the defeat of high-profile heir Jack Schlossberg.

Thermometer shows 23.5C overnight in Welsh capital as climate crisis makes such extreme temperatures more severe and more likelyEurope live – latest updatesA sweltering night in Cardiff has broken another new UK heat record as brutally hot conditions continue across England and Wales. Temperatures only fell to 23.5C overnight in the Welsh capital, the Met Office said, making it the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in June.The UK’s high temperature record for June is also likely to be broken on Thursday, just a day after the previous record. The heatwave, supercharged by the climate crisis, drove the temperature to 36.1C at Gosport in Hampshire on Wednesday, beating the previous record of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976. Continue reading...

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden investigated stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths, and babies or mothers who suffered brain damage and other injuries‘Truly horrific’: five stories from the NHS maternity scandalThe report of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS is due to be published today and is expected to outline widespread failings in the care provided to women in Nottingham.As previously reported by the Guardian, the report will reveal a catalogue of appalling behaviour over many years by staff at the city’s two hospitals – Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham city hospital – including racism towards mothers. Continue reading...

Autobiographical work Free Me aims to encourage victims to speak out in country where violence against women is risingThere are audible gasps in the auditorium in Nairobi as a husband launches a volley of blows and slaps on his wife and pushes her to the floor. “I wish I could spare you this,” the wife tells the audience. “My husband beat me up as if we were in a bar fight. Except, in a bar someone fights back.”The scene comes from Free Me, an autobiographical play by Gathoni Kimuyu, a Kenyan theatre and TV producer who lived through an abusive marriage. Continue reading...

Climate Change Committee chair Nigel Topping says U-turns damage investor confidence and disrupt businessesWeakening the UK’s net zero policy would disrupt business and damage the economy, the UK’s chief climate adviser has warned.Nigel Topping, chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said: “The U-turns are really damaging to inward investor confidence. If we really want to grow the economy, then investing and getting good at building stuff is essential.” Continue reading...

Decision comes after Aden Duale was held in contempt for ignoring previous high court ruling to stop work The Kenyan health minister told a court he has ordered a halt to preparations for a US-run Ebola quarantine facility, after being held in contempt for ignoring a previous stop-work order.Kenyans have strongly opposed the plan, and deadly protests have erupted since the facility was announced in May for US citizens evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is grappling with a large-scale Ebola outbreak. Continue reading...

• Toy Story 5 has achieved a record-breaking opening weekend for the franchise, marking a significant commercial success for Disney and Pixar. • The film serves as a critical "return to form" for the studios following a period of notable operational and financial challenges in recent years. • With a production budget estimated at $250 million, the movie must earn at least $500 million to offset marketing and additional overhead costs.

Prime minister was forced to row back on some policies despite strong support among voters for climate actionKeir Starmer has faced a problem no Labour government has needed to deal with before. His energy and climate policies – core to solving the cost of living crisis – have come under attack from opposition parties, which have made dismantling the agenda one of their top priorities, second only to immigration, in their pitch to voters.This is new in British politics, where a cross-party consensus on the climate and environment has held at least since the days of Margaret Thatcher. She warned the UN of the climate crisis in 1988; David Cameron in 2006 urged voters to “vote blue, go green”; Theresa May enshrined in law the requirement to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Boris Johnson championed the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021; even Rishi Sunak only tried a partial rollback of green policies as a last desperate throw before calling an election. Continue reading...

While PM’s desire to fight was strong, time with his inner circle at Chequers sharpened his sense of the inevitableOn Friday, as the dust settled on Andy Burnham’s thumping victory in the Makerfield byelection, Keir Starmer was in defiant mood. “I have said repeatedly, I am not going to walk away,” the prime minister said, adding: “Let’s pull together as a party and a movement.”Just 48 hours later, one of his most loyal ministers was on the BBC sending a very different message. “I don’t want to come on here and be delusional that there is no process, there are no forces at work which are challenging the prime minister as leader – that is clearly the case,” said the business secretary, Peter Kyle. Continue reading...

• The weekend of 19th-21st June 2026 in Singapore is packed with activities and events. • The list includes 22 best things to do, although specific details are not provided. • Residents and visitors can look forward to exploring various options to fill their calendar.

• The traditional compact between American science and politics is fracturing, exemplified by budget hawks in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pressuring NASA to implement broad buyouts and early retirement packages. • This political interference extends to research constraints, where scientists like Christopher Reynolds face potential project cancellations and funding instability. • An NSF director warns that researchers attempting to ignore critical variables such as ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status to secure grants will face rejection from peer reviewers.

A month after the tragedy, mystery surrounds the death of the ‘cheerful’ 25-year-old who came to Australia to pursue her dreamsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was meant to be Sheila Chebii’s last shift as a housekeeper.For weeks, the 25-year-old international student had stripped linen, made beds and refilled towels in the rooms of a luxury high-rise hotel above central Sydney. Continue reading...

Charging industry and electric vehicle manufacturers say measure could cost jobs and harm UK automotive sectorThe UK government’s plans to further weaken electric car targets have provoked a furious backlash from the charging industry and the electric car brand Polestar, which would lose out from the changes.The Labour government is expected to dilute rules known as the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. Government sources have said it will reduce a target for pure electric cars from 80% of all sales by 2030 to 50%. Continue reading...

• China is aggressively expanding its "AI token economy," focusing on increasing the scale and volume of data processing to dominate the next era of artificial intelligence. • This shift aims to reshape the costs and operational scale of AI systems, though it introduces significant vulnerabilities regarding infrastructure attacks and data leakage. • Heng Wang, a law professor at Singapore Management University, warns that cybersecurity risks will increase substantially as AI systems process larger volumes of tokens.

• The 2026 FIFA World Cup has become the largest in history, featuring 48 teams and a record 1,248 registered players across 26-man squads. • For the first time, the tournament is co-hosted by three sovereign nations—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—spanning 39 days from June 11 to July 19. • The event boasts the largest prize pool in sports history at $727 million, with the winning federation earning $50 million and all participants receiving at least $10.5 million.

• The first weekend of the World Cup features a dense schedule of matches, including Qatar vs Switzerland, Australia vs Turkey, and Sweden vs Tunisia. • In the U.K., ITV has assembled a diverse broadcast team featuring Mark Pougatch, Gary Neville, Duncan Ferguson, Juan Mata, and Ange Postecoglou. • The coverage emphasizes expert analysis from former internationals and managers to provide viewers with deep tactical insights into the opening fixtures.

• On 21 May 2026, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) authorized the publication of its fourth report on climate-related financial disclosures. • The report details climate-related metrics, targets, and the governance and risk management strategies for Eurosystem assets and the ECB’s foreign reserves. • This action supports the ECB's broader mission to maintain price stability and preserve the purchasing power of the euro through transparent financial reporting.