Sean's Daily Digest

Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan sentenced to life in prison as Chinese court fines group 15.8bn yuan

A Shenzhen court sentenced Hui Ka Yan, founder of collapsed property developer Evergrande, to life in prison and confiscated all of his personal property on Thursday. The court fined Evergrande and its main subsidiary Hengda a combined 15.82bn yuan ($2.35bn) for crimes including falsifying records and concealing debt; 56 other people linked to the group also received sentences. Evergrande defaulted on more than $300bn in liabilities and was ordered liquidated by a Hong Kong court in 2024.

Moderna and Merck report personalised mRNA cancer vaccine cut melanoma recurrence in large phase 3 trial

Moderna and Merck said Wednesday their personalised mRNA vaccine, intismeran autogene, reduced the recurrence and spread of melanoma in a late-stage trial of more than 1,000 patients who had undergone surgery for high-risk tumours. The companies said the results were statistically significant and clinically meaningful but did not release full data, saying it would be presented at an upcoming conference. Five-year data from an earlier phase 2 trial had shown a 49% reduction in risk of recurrence or death compared with Keytruda alone. Moderna's shares surged as much as 160% on the announcement.

Ex-Meta engineer testifies Zuckerberg chose growth over child safety as 29-state trial continues

Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, told a federal court in Oakland on Wednesday that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a culture that treated child safety as secondary to user growth and engagement. Bejar, the states' first witness, said Meta used a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on under-13 users to protect profits and that a tool meant to encourage users to take breaks was 'designed to fail.' Twenty-nine states accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users and misleading consumers about platform safety; experts have called it the biggest legal test yet of social media's effects on children.

Taiwan proposes 18% increase in 2027 defence budget to record high above 3% of GDP

Ongoing · day 2

Taiwan's government has proposed an 18% increase in defence spending for 2027, raising the budget to a record high and surpassing 3% of GDP for the first time, according to Reuters and Nikkei Asia. China has slowed exports of key optical and aerospace metals to Taiwan, in a move reported exclusively by Nikkei Asia that signals potential supply-chain pressure on the island's defence and technology sectors. Taiwan's first domestically developed satellite launch vehicle failed its inaugural test after the rocket veered off course, causing nearby villagers to panic and mistake it for an incoming missile.

Canada-US tariff deal close but unfinished as Carney asks premiers to restock US alcohol ahead of Friday deadline

Ongoing · day 4

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed the two sides are in the process of finalizing the text of the tentative deal, as negotiations continue within the three-day pause window. Prime Minister Carney has asked provincial premiers to restock U.S. alcohol on shelves and end procurement bans as part of ongoing tariff negotiations. A source told Reuters that the U.S. could cut key tariffs on Canada as part of the proposed deal, suggesting American concessions may be on the table.

Gold mine collapse kills more than 100 in Central African Republic

More than 100 people were killed when an artisanal gold mine collapsed in the village of Zamboye, near the Cameroon border, on Tuesday, a local mining association official said. The death toll was expected to rise as people remained missing and trapped under rubble. A prosecutor confirmed the collapse and said an investigation would be opened.

French hacker group ZeroBytes stole tax and land-registry data from nearly 900,000 accounts in three separate breaches

French authorities confirmed that hackers using the name ZeroBytes breached the country's public finance agency in two separate attacks — stealing data from more than 678,000 individual and professional tax accounts in June and more than 200,000 land registry accounts in July — then claimed a third breach on Monday, targeting students and teachers. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered a new national cyber unit, and Budget Minister David Amiel said the government would use AI tools to test agency vulnerabilities, restricting use to 'sovereign' providers such as France's Mistral.

Zelensky fires top aide as graft probe targets presidential office; ex-defence minister's election call intensifies pressure

Ongoing · day 2

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Irina Mudra, deputy head of the presidential office, after anti-corruption agencies announced an investigation into a money-laundering network allegedly tied to his office. Fedorov, widely credited as an architect of Ukraine's drone program, issued the call for elections without addressing how voting could be conducted under martial law, which has banned elections since February 2022. Although Zelensky himself was not named as a suspect in the corruption investigation, the probe threatens to draw him into a fresh political crisis alongside the electoral pressure from Fedorov.

DRC Ebola confirmed cases reach 5,208 with a 47.5% fatality rate as M23 rebels impose movement restrictions

Ongoing · day 11

The DR Congo Ebola outbreak has now recorded 2,476 confirmed deaths, with a case-fatality rate of 47.5 percent, as the virus spreads faster beyond the original epicenter and strains the overall outbreak response. The AFC/M23 rebel alliance is introducing new movement restrictions in territory it controls in response to Ebola concerns, while touting its own capacity to tackle the virus's spread. The Guardian's editorial board argues that the Trump administration's 'America first' approach has materially contributed to the scale of the Ebola crisis unfolding in one of the world's poorest countries, making it a case study in why international aid matters.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses external power and switches to emergency generators

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine lost its last external power line on Thursday after a high-voltage line was damaged, switching to emergency diesel generators, according to reports.

Former Zambian minister killed in post-election security raid; EU observers flag transparency failures

Zambian police confirmed that Mutotwe Kafwaya, a former transport minister and sitting opposition MP, was fatally shot during a security raid on a house linked to opposition leader Brian Mundubile the day after the August 13 presidential election. Eleven people were arrested in the raid, which authorities described as targeting 'insurgency' and weapons storage; Mundubile, in hiding, rejected the allegations as 'fabrications.' The EU election observer mission said the vote tabulation process 'deteriorated significantly' after a six-hour pause, citing failures to record results on tally sheets and a heavy military presence it described as intimidating.

Stripe acquires AI model marketplace OpenRouter in deal reportedly valued above $7 billion

OpenRouter, an AI model marketplace that processes more than 10 trillion tokens per day from over 400 AI models for more than 10 million developers, announced it is joining Stripe. The company said it would continue to operate under its own name and mission. Reuters reported Stripe is buying OpenRouter in an AI push; a prior report had valued the deal at more than $7 billion.