“Treasuries extended losses after Chinese regulators reportedly asked the nation’s financial institutions to rein in their holdings of US bonds. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose as much as four basis points on the day to 4.25% after trading around 4.22% earlier. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.1%. Chinese officials had urged banks to limit purchases of US government bonds, and instructed those with high exposure to pare their positions, according to people familiar with the matter. The move was framed around diversifying risk rather than anything to do with geopolitical maneuvering or a fundamental loss of confidence in US creditworthiness. The directive doesn’t apply to China’s state holdings of US Treasuries.” (02/09/26)
“International war crimes prosecutors said on Monday Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaci controlled ethnic Albanian guerrillas and should be convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Thaci and three other ex-Kosovo Liberation Army commanders are charged with persecution, murder, torture and forced disappearances of people during and shortly after the 1998-99 uprising that eventually brought independence for the Albanian majority region from Serbia. … Thaci, 57, who served as prime minister, foreign minister and president of independent Kosovo between 2008 and 2020, and his co-accused deny all the charges.” (02/09/26)
“The Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez endured a major defeat on Sunday in an election in the Spanish region of Aragón, while the far right made substantial gains. The conservative People’s Party (PP), which governs the north-eastern region, came first with 34.3 percent support, but its 26 seats represented a loss of two and left it well short of a majority in the 67-seat chamber. With 99 percent of votes counted the Socialists secured 24.3 percent, good for 18 seats but representing a loss of five, equaling their worst-ever result in the region.” (02/09/26)
“San Francisco teachers went on strike on Monday for the first time in nearly half a century, closing public schools for roughly 50,000 students in the city. The teachers walked out after their union, United Educators of San Francisco, could not reach an agreement on raises and health care costs despite nearly a year of negotiations with the San Francisco Unified School District. The union represents about 6,000 educators, counselors and nurses who work in more than 100 schools in the city. The strike has no set end date. The last teachers strike in San Francisco, in 1979, lasted for nearly seven weeks, making it one of the longest in state history.” (02/09/26)
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer found broad support among lawmakers Monday, easing speculation that he will be toppled by revelations about his former ambassador’s ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In an attempt to rebuild some of his badly weakened authority, Starmer addressed Labour lawmakers in a 75-minute closed-door session, the same day his office said he does not plan to step down. All of Starmer’s Cabinet members extended public support to him in the hours before the session, and legislators gave him a round of applause when it concluded. The prime minister is facing heavy criticism for appointing in 2024 Labour politician Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his disclosed ties to the convicted sex offender. Starmer fired Mandelson in September after published emails revealed his friendship with Epstein.” (02/09/26)
“Norway’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq has resigned after an investigation was launched into her ties to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the foreign ministry said Sunday. Mona Juul, who played a key role in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, is among several high-profile Norwegian figures swept up in the latest Epstein file release. … Epstein left $10 million in his will to Juul’s two children with her husband, fellow diplomat and Oslo talks broker Terje Rod-Larsen, according to Norwegian media. … Thomas Skjelbred, Juul’s lawyer, said in a statement that she resigned because ‘the situation she now finds herself in makes it impossible for her to discharge her duties in a responsible manner.'” (02/09/26)
“The search warrants in last month’s FBI raid at the Fulton County Elections Hub have been ordered to be unsealed. Earlier this week, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts and the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections filed a motion to have the records unsealed. The night of the raid, Pitts confirmed that when FBI agents arrived at the facility, their search warrant did not include the correct location for 2020 election records. Agents had to get a new warrant signed by a judge and returned to the facility, where they seized 700 boxes of ballots and voter data from the presidential election. As of now, those warrants have not been released. Pitts reported after the raid that he had not seen the warrants himself.” (02/08/26)
“Iranian authorities have arrested four people on charges of attempting to ‘disrupt the country’s political and social order’ and working ‘for the benefit’ of Israel and the United States during the antigovernment protests last month. The arrests were made late on Sunday and early on Monday, and included prominent reformist politicians who have recently spoken critically about the theocratic establishment, according to Iranian media reports.” (02/09/26)
“Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences, a punishment his daughter said could mean ‘he will die a martyr behind bars.’ Claire Lai said the sentence was ‘heartbreakingly cruel’ given her 78-year-old father’s declining health, while her brother Sebastien Lai called the sentence ‘draconian’ and ‘devastating.’ … Lai was convicted in December on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges. … Lai is the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, a popular Hong Kong newspaper that supported the pro-democracy movement that swelled in the city in the 2010s. The movement was crushed in June 2020 by the imposition of a harsh national security law that criminalised most forms of dissent.” (02/09/26)
“The world’s largest social media companies have been accused of creating ‘addiction machines’ as a landmark trial began in California examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube. In his opening argument before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl and a jury, Mark Lanier argued that his client, plaintiff ‘K.G.M.,’ suffered from mental health issues as a result of her social media addiction. … The outcome of the trial may provide a benchmark for monetary damages [sic] that would likely impact thousands of cases brought by other plaintiffs, their families, state prosecutors, and school districts across the United States.” (02/09/26)
