Author: Andrew Rogers

Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court towers have been devastated by a massive fire, leaving 44 people dead and hundreds missing. At least 45 others are in critical condition, authorities said. The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the 31-storey residential complex in Tai Po, northern New Territories. The eight towers house around 2,000 flats with roughly 4,800 residents. A special taskforce has been set up to determine the cause. Early Thursday, police arrested three men, aged 52 to 68, on suspicion of manslaughter linked to the fire. City leader John Lee said in the early hours of Thursday that…

Artificial intelligence company OpenAI projects that ChatGPT could have about 220 million paying subscribers by 2030, according to a report by The Information. This estimate would position ChatGPT among the world’s largest subscription services. The projection is based on an expected 2.6 billion weekly users of ChatGPT. OpenAI anticipates that roughly 8.5% of these users will pay for subscription plans, including “Plus” at $20 per month and “Pro” at $200 per month. As of July 2025, around 35 million users, or 5% of the weekly active base, were paying for these plans. If achieved, the growth would mark a massive…

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. saw its cloud business grow 34% in the September quarter, beating revenue expectations. However, heavy spending on AI, consumer subsidies, and new data centers caused profits to fall sharply. The company’s cloud division, home to the Qwen AI platform, helped overall revenue rise 5% to 247.8 billion yuan ($35 billion). Chinese e-commerce revenue increased 16%, showing Alibaba remains competitive against JD.com and Meituan. Despite the growth, net income fell to 20.99 billion yuan, a decline attributed to rising costs of AI development and marketing. CEO Eddie Wu dismissed concerns about an AI investment bubble, saying Alibaba…

President Trump continued the White House Thanksgiving tradition by pardoning turkeys Gobble and Waddle on Tuesday. First Lady Melania Trump joined him for the ceremony, which took place in the Rose Garden. Trump granted the turkeys a “full and unconditional pardon,” keeping with a practice that dates back decades. The event is one of his final activities at the White House before heading to Mar-a-Lago for the holiday. Gobble and Waddle spent the night at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C., before the ceremony. The alternate turkey, Waddle, was also brought to the White House briefing room ahead of…

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and other top officials could see a significant pay boost under a proposed 16% salary increase. The City Council is preparing to introduce legislation that would raise salaries for council members, the mayor, public advocate, comptroller, and borough presidents. The bill, introduced by Councilwoman Nantasha Williams of Queens, would raise council members’ pay from $148,500 to $172,500. If approved, Mamdani’s salary would rise from $258,000 to nearly $300,000, while other city officials would see similar increases. The legislation is scheduled for a hearing by the end of the year, aiming for a City Council…

Outgoing New York City Fire Department Commissioner Robert Tucker said ideological differences with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani influenced his decision to step down. Tucker, who was appointed in August 2024, announced his resignation the day after Mamdani won the mayoral election. In his first interview since leaving the post, Tucker described the decision as the right moment to depart despite leaving some unfinished work. “I don’t want to leave as much unfinished business as I am leaving, but I thought it was the right time to depart,” Tucker told CBS News. He added, “Ideologically, there’s no doubt that the mayor and…

Boeing announced on Tuesday that it has won a $2.47 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force to supply 15 additional KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tankers. This award follows a similar deal last year, when Boeing received a $2.38 billion contract for another 15 KC-46A tankers. The new order reflects the Air Force’s ongoing effort to expand and modernize its aerial refueling fleet. The KC-46A program has faced challenges in the past. The aircraft experienced issues such as foreign object debris, supplier quality problems, and other defects. Despite these setbacks, Boeing has delivered a total of 98 KC-46As to the…

New York prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they are prepared to retry Pedro Hernandez, a former Manhattan delicatessen worker, in the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz. Hernandez’s conviction for kidnapping and murder was overturned four months ago by a federal appeals court. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office stated that “available, admissible evidence supports” a renewed prosecution on the same charges. The decision effectively restores the case to pretrial status, allowing new court proceedings and legal filings. Hernandez, now in his mid-60s, was first found guilty in 2017 for Patz’s kidnapping and murder. Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, while…

In a tense meeting in Kyiv last week, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll warned Ukrainian officials that their troops face a serious threat on the battlefield. He said Ukrainian forces could soon suffer a defeat against Russian troops, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Driscoll highlighted that Russia is increasing both the scale and speed of its air attacks and could maintain its offensive indefinitely. He advised Ukraine that the situation would worsen over time, and it might be better to negotiate a peace settlement now rather than face harsher conditions later. The U.S. delegation also cautioned that America’s…

The Pentagon has opened an investigation into Arizona Senator Mark Kelly over a video in which he urged U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders. This marks a rare move against a sitting member of Congress and has sparked a political debate. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, appeared in the video last Tuesday with five other lawmakers who have military or intelligence backgrounds. In the footage, Kelly told service members, “You can refuse illegal orders.” Other participants called for troops to “stand up for our laws … our constitution.” The Pentagon’s statement on Monday cited a federal law…