NEW YORK — A fleet of 2,977 illuminated drones rose over New York Harbor Wednesday night, forming a helix before assembling into a full-scale recreation of the Twin Towers, in a striking new public art tribute marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The display, titled “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor,” used one drone-generated light for each person killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, encompassing victims from the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the hijacked flights, including United Airlines Flight 93. The free public installation, produced by Texas-based drone operator Sky Elements with creative direction from Addison Mehr, was designed in close collaboration with members of the 9/11 community, including family members, survivors and first responders.

Among those involved in shaping the tribute’s design were Terry Strada, widow of Tom Strada and president of 9/11 Families United; Jim Smith, husband of NYPD Officer Moira Smith, who was killed in the attacks; Tim Brown, an FDNY first responder who worked at the World Trade Center following both the 1993 bombing and the 2001 attacks; Genevieve Siller, daughter of firefighter Stephen Siller; and Brenda Berkman, a former FDNY responder and artist.

Mehr, the project’s creative director and executive producer, explained the deliberate choice to represent each individual victim through a single point of light.

“The purpose of 2,977 Lights is to acknowledge individual loss within the collective history and memory of September 11th,” Mehr said. “We light the exact number to hold witness for each individual life.”

The drones initially rose into a spiraling helix formation before assembling into the outline of the Twin Towers at full architectural scale, a visual choice that organizers said referenced an unbuilt proposal for a World Cultural Center once envisioned for the World Trade Center site, a design that had called for open latticework towers extending public space skyward around the original towers’ footprints rather than housing another office development.

The tribute’s accompanying score featured music from composers John Adams, Philip Glass and Max Richter, including Adams’s “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a piece originally composed specifically to honor the victims of the attacks.

Sky Elements CEO Rick Boss offered a brief but pointed reflection on the significance of the display taking place in New York’s skies.

“Everything in the sky over New York is for them,” Boss said.

The drone show did not replace the city’s traditional Tribute in Light installation, the twin beams of light that have illuminated the night sky over Lower Manhattan each Sept. 11 since shortly after the attacks. Instead, the new drone tribute stood alongside the long-running Tribute in Light display, offering what organizers described as a complementary, technologically distinct way of representing the towers’ silhouette through movement and light rather than through fixed beams alone.

The project’s timing and location were shaped in part by security considerations tied to New York City officials. According to DroneXL, the city initially declined to approve the drone show for Sept. 10, the eve of the actual anniversary, citing security concerns, with the flight ultimately cleared instead for Sept. 9. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch had separately announced $6.5 million in counter-drone mitigation equipment on May 21, a capability historically reserved for a limited number of federal agencies, underscoring the heightened security planning surrounding large-scale drone operations over the city, even for a commemorative artistic tribute of this kind.

The installation was sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts and funded entirely through private philanthropy and in-kind contributions, with major support from the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, an organization tied to the financial services firm that lost 658 employees, more than two-thirds of its workforce present that day, when the World Trade Center’s North Tower was struck. No public funding was used to produce the display, according to DroneXL’s reporting.

The drone tribute arrives against the backdrop of an anniversary organizers have specifically framed around generational memory, given that more than 100 million Americans have now been born after the 2001 attacks and have no direct personal recollection of that day. IDEKO chief executive Korn, whose company was involved in the project, noted that the installation was intended to ensure the memory of 9/11 continues to resonate with new generations who did not experience the attacks firsthand, while Jim Smith separately said the gesture served as a reminder of the unity that emerged across New York City in the aftermath of the attacks.

The tribute also unfolds alongside an ongoing public health reality connected to that day, with the World Trade Center Health Program continuing to provide medical monitoring and treatment for first responders, survivors and residents affected by exposure to toxins at Ground Zero, a population that has seen thousands of additional deaths from related illnesses in the 25 years since the attacks themselves.

Wednesday’s drone display preceded Friday’s official 25th anniversary commemoration at the National September 11 Memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan, where families gathered to read aloud the names of the 2,983 victims of both the 2001 attacks and the earlier 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Commemorations were also held Friday at the Pentagon and at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, rounding out a day of remembrance across all three sites forever connected to the attacks.

With the “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” installation now completed, organizers said the tribute was intended as a singular, one-time event rather than an annual fixture, offering New Yorkers and visitors a rare and technologically ambitious new way to mark the 25th anniversary before the city’s ceremonies moved into their more traditional forms Friday, including the continuation of the annual Tribute in Light, which remained scheduled to illuminate the Lower Manhattan skyline from dusk on Sept. 11 through dawn the following morning, as it has every year since shortly after the attacks first occurred.

By Ivan Castano

​When SpaceX (SPCX) launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in mid-June, the so-called FAB 10 and MANGOS stock baskets that have been taking over Wall Street drew unprecedented amounts of capital.

Roughly $370 million flowed into the space company’s stock, with the bulk of that sum rotating out of the Magnificent 7 mega-cap group, according to Vanda Research. During that same period, investors were net sellers of Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) and bought only $88 million of Nvidia (NVDA), added the London-based firm.

​SpaceX’s $75 billion debut triggered “the longest streak of retail net selling in the Magnificent 7 since March 2020,” with the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF falling over 4.73% in the month prior to the world’s biggest IPO, Vanda Research analyst Viraj Patel wrote in a note.

​The Vanda-coined FAB 10 (Frontier AI & Big Tech 10) acronym expands on the Magnificent 7 to include Elon Musk’s space exploration and next-gen AI entity as well as conversational AI favorites Anthropic and OpenAI, which are expected to launch their own IPOs in coming months.

Meanwhile, MANGOS has gradually emerged to reflect the latest shift from consumer media and internet services to AI infrastructure and advanced computing. It stands for Meta (META), Anthropic (ANTHRO), Nvidia, Google/Alphabet (GOOGL), OpenAI (OPENAI) and SpaceX, seemingly serving as the next iteration of the FAANGs group (Meta, Amazon (AMZN), Apple, Netflix (NFLX) and Google/Alphabet).

​All Eyes on Anthropic, OpenAI

Strategists say the new super-tech cohort is here to stay and may trigger major capital rotations out of the Magnificent 7 and other legacy tech groups in the coming year.

​The next shift could come from Anthropic and OpenAI’s potential listings, which could arrive in the next six months at $1.13 trillion and $847.96 billion respective valuations. Anthropic’s tentative timeline is October this year. OpenAI, meanwhile, is expected to float later this year or in early 2027.

​A protracted decline in SpaceX’s shares, however, as well as a possible deterioration in technology sentiment for the rest of the year, could cast a shadow or postpone the listings, some strategists said.

​”The SpaceX IPO has not performed as expected. Anthropic and OpenAI are not a slam dunk,” said Jane Edmondson, head of indexing design at ETF index provider TMX VettaFi. “People are starting to question whether to go into these listings, and this will drive market rotations going forward.”

​Other AI firms are also planning IPOs in the near-to-medium term, with Chinese platform DeepSeek potentially launching in early 2027, possibly followed by Canadian enterprise AI entity Cohere and U.S. chatbot company Perplexity.

​AI Spending Woes

​Rising AI spending – and whether it will translate into higher corporate profits – is also a mounting concern that could fuel volatility.

​Tech giants such as Alphabet, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon, Meta and Oracle are pouring over $800 billion into AI data centers this year, with the ‘hyperscalers’ planning to add more than $1.2 trillion next year, according to Morgan Stanley. In 2027, that’s expected to outpace their free cash flow (net cash after operations and capital expenditures), meaning “data centers are increasingly running on borrowed money,” wrote New York Times columnist Jeff Sommer.

​”Everyone is getting a little concerned about all the money that’s being spent on AI,” added Edmondson. “Is it an overbuild? And now many of these companies are going to the credit markets,” amid rising bond yields, which makes fixed-income capital raising more expensive.

​While interest rates and geopolitical risks will also likely drive shifts, future earnings will be the main driver, said Daniel Alpert, executive chairman at Westwood Capital.

​”All of these companies are so overvalued right now that what’s really going to drive the market is performance, more than monetary policy or any wars,” he said.

​Alpert also expects M&A to be a big catalyst, with a hyperscaler possibly mounting a takeover bid for Anthropic, OpenAI or Perplexity to scale up their business.

​”Google is facing an existential threat and they need to win the AI game,” said Alpert. “They don’t need to build out Gemini. They can just buy one of the big three chatbot companies.”

​New Single Stock Futures

​To help traders manage risks from potential market rotations, CME Group recently launched Single Stock futures (SSFs) for over 50 top U.S. companies. The futures, which began trading on July 27, are offered as 55 larger-sized and 22 micro-sized contracts, providing investors with greater flexibility to manage their equity exposure.

​”Clients want to manage equity price risk with more precision and with the capital efficiencies of a centralized marketplace,” said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equities, FX, and Alternative Products at CME Group. “Our new Single Stock futures simplify access to the most liquid U.S. stocks and enable traders to easily transition between broad market index hedging and targeted single-name exposure.”

The offering enables investors to trade a broad range of Big Tech, semiconductor and software companies such as Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Micron, Palantir and Oracle.

“We have a diverse offering from day one,” said ​Paul Woolman, CME Group’s Global Head of Delta One Equity Products and Head of International. “Many of the 55 names are in the technology sector, which is where a lot of big-cap names are and where much of the market’s growth has been.”

Added Woolman: “We also have representation across many other sectors, whether that be financials, healthcare, energy, consumer discretionary and more. So depending on your interest, you should be able to find Single Stock futures on the sectors you care about.”

​Meanwhile, as AI continues to develop, the market will begin to separate the winners from the losers, leading to massive industry shakeouts in the medium to longer-term future, analysts said.

​”The rotation out of pure speculation and into more of a winner category will happen over the next several years and big chunks could happen all at once,” said Kim Forrest, founder of Bokeh Capital, adding that these events will spark major liquidity shifts.

Original Post

CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — The 20th Solheim Cup gets underway Friday at Bernardus Golf, where the United States will try to become the first American team to win back-to-back editions since 2017 while Europe looks to reclaim the trophy on home soil for the first time on Dutch turf.

The biennial team match-play competition, pitting the top 12 professionals from the U.S. against their European counterparts, runs from Friday, Sept. 11, through Sunday, Sept. 13, following practice rounds that began the week of Sept. 7. It marks the first time the event has been staged in the Netherlands, with the course set in North Brabant near Eindhoven and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Schedule and format

Play unfolds over three days using the same match-play format as the men’s Ryder Cup, with 28 total points up for grabs.

Friday, Sept. 11 opens with four foursomes, or alternate-shot, matches in the morning session, followed by four fourball, or better-ball, matches in the afternoon. Eight players from each 12-woman roster compete in every session.

Saturday, Sept. 12 repeats the structure — four foursomes matches in the morning and four fourball matches in the afternoon.

Sunday, Sept. 13 concludes with 12 singles matches, sending every player from both teams out in head-to-head competition to settle the cup. A team needs 14½ points to win outright; 14-14 would allow the defending U.S. side to retain the trophy.

Defending champions look to make history

The United States enters as the defending champion after a 15½-12½ victory at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia in 2024, a win that snapped a run in which Europe won the Cup outright in 2019 and 2021 and retained it with a 14-14 tie in 2023. Should the Americans prevail again this week, it would be their first repeat title since 2015 and 2017.

Standing in their way is a Europe side chasing a different piece of history. Europe has not lost the Solheim Cup on home soil since 2015, and the continent’s players will be looking to draw on raucous home galleries for the first time in a country that has never hosted the event.

The United States holds an 11-8 advantage in the overall Solheim Cup series, though the margin has tightened as Europe has controlled much of the past decade. In 2024, a birdie from Lilia Vu on the 18th hole at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club ultimately clinched the Cup for the U.S. team.

Team USA: Korda headlines a mix of veterans and rookies

Angela Stanford, in her first year as U.S. captain, finalized her 12-player roster after the CPKC Women’s Open concluded the American qualification period. World No. 1 Nelly Korda headlined the nine automatic qualifiers, a group that also includes Angel Yin, Jennifer Kupcho, Yealimi Noh, Auston Kim, Lauren Coughlin, Allisen Corpuz, and both Andrea Lee and Alison Lee, who claimed spots via the world rankings.

Stanford rounded out the side with three captain’s picks: Solheim veterans Rose Zhang and Megan Khang, along with 35-year-old rookie Lindy Duncan. Zhang, despite slipping outside the top 60 in the world rankings this year, went unbeaten across four matches in 2024, and Stanford is banking on her tapping back into that form under pressure.

Reflecting on the difficulty of trimming her roster, Stanford said, “It’s been so much fun. Of course, we had our tough times, and it’s about getting down to the moment that we have to tell people they did not make it.”

Team Europe: Home continent, new captain, four debutants

Anna Nordqvist, a nine-time Solheim Cup player now leading the European side for the first time, filled out her roster with eight automatic qualifiers and four captain’s picks. Charley Hull topped the LET Solheim Cup points list to secure her an eighth consecutive Solheim Cup appearance, while Esther Henseleit finished second on that list. Lottie Woad, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant and Nanna Koerstz Madsen rounded out the automatic qualifiers via the world rankings.

For her wild cards, Nordqvist turned to experience and fresh talent alike. Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez, France’s Nastasia Nadaud and England’s Mimi Rhodes were named as her four picks, giving the European side four Solheim Cup debutants overall, according to team trackers. England’s Lottie Woad will make her debut as the highest-ranked European in the world rankings, having won on both the Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour since turning professional roughly 13 months ago. Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant are back for a third consecutive Solheim Cup appearance.

Nordqvist’s backroom staff includes vice-captains Caroline Hedwall, Mel Reid and Dutchwoman Anne van Dam, with Hedwall bringing five prior playing appearances and Reid four, plus prior vice-captain experience.

The venue

Bernardus Golf, a course that has previously hosted the Dutch Open on the DP World Tour, was named the host site in a deal that runs well beyond this year’s matches. The 2026 edition is the first Solheim Cup to be run by IMG, appointed by the Ladies European Tour as the delivery partner for the European-hosted competition from 2026 through 2038, signaling a long-term commitment to expanding the event’s footprint on the continent.

What’s at stake

Beyond the trophy, Sunday’s singles session carries extra weight for both captains. A strong American start could put the U.S. within reach of consecutive titles for the first time in nearly a decade, while a European statement in the opening foursomes would set the tone for a raucous home crowd looking to reclaim bragging rights on Dutch soil for the first time in the event’s history.

Play begins Friday morning at Bernardus Golf, with all three days of foursomes, fourballs and singles matches expected to draw large galleries to North Brabant.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed reviewing certain aspects of the Closing Auction Session (CAS), market timings and the settlement methodology for derivatives contracts, including two options for determining expiry-day settlement prices for index and single-stock derivatives.

The CAS framework was introduced in the equity cash segment of stock exchanges for stocks on which derivatives contracts are available, with effect from August 3, 2026, with the objective of facilitating efficient and transparent price discovery of the closing price of securities.

SEBI said the framework was preceded by two rounds of public consultation, on December 5, 2024 and August 22, 2025, along with discussions with stock exchanges, broker associations, institutional investors, market participants and other stakeholders.

Before CAS was introduced, the closing price of stocks was determined based on the Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of trades executed during the last 30 minutes of the Continuous Trading Session (CTS). Under CAS, the closing price is determined through an equilibrium price discovery mechanism based on the aggregate of buy and sell orders in the order book during the auction.

SEBI said the initial experience with CAS and feedback from stakeholders had highlighted the need to review certain aspects of CAS and the settlement methodology for derivatives.

“The initial experience with CAS and feedback received from various stakeholders and market participants have accordingly highlighted the need to review a few aspects related to CAS and settlement methodology for derivatives,” SEBI said.
The consultation paper seeks comments on the methodology for determining derivatives settlement prices, the relative timing and duration of CTS, CAS and derivatives trading, and certain operational aspects of CAS and information dissemination.

Derivatives activity around the closing period

SEBI said derivatives trading activity continued to remain significant during the period immediately preceding and around CAS, including during the transition period between the cessation of CTS and commencement of the order-entry phase of CAS.

The consultation paper compares the premium traded in expiring benchmark index options on expiry days during the pre-CAS period from February 2026 to July 2026, covering 26 expiries, with the post-CAS period from August 3 to September 3, 2026, covering five expiries.

During the pre-CAS period, the average premium traded per minute between 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM was ₹126.31 crore on NSE and ₹141.48 crore on BSE.

During the post-CAS period, the average premium traded per minute between 3:20 PM and 3:30 PM, the CAS period, was ₹189.82 crore on NSE and ₹288.94 crore on BSE.

SEBI said the data indicated that derivatives activity remained concentrated towards the close of the trading session.

“The period relevant for determining the settlement prices under CAS is much shorter than the comparable pre-CAS period,” SEBI said.

Activity was also observed during the five-minute transition period. Average premium turnover during the transition period represented 1.72% of the day’s premium turnover on NSE and 1.57% on BSE.

The average amount of premium traded on an expiry day during the five-minute transition period was ₹791.50 crore on NSE and ₹668.38 crore on BSE.

SEBI said this concentration of derivatives activity towards the end of the trading session assumes particular significance on expiry days because the underlying securities are either approaching or undergoing their closing price discovery process while derivatives contracts continue to trade.

Two options for derivatives settlement

SEBI has proposed two options for reviewing the settlement methodology for both index and stock derivatives contracts on expiry days.

Option 1: Blended VWAP

Under Option 1, the settlement price on the expiry day of both index derivatives and stock derivatives would be based on trades executed during the last 30 minutes of CTS and 10 minutes of CAS.

SEBI has referred to this as the “Blended VWAP”.

For index derivatives, the relative contribution of transactions executed during CTS and CAS would be determined based on the actual traded value during the respective periods.

“No separate or predetermined weight would be assigned to CTS or CAS to determine the settlement price of derivatives contracts,” SEBI said.

For stock derivatives, the blended price would be determined on the basis of VWAP across exchanges, considering the actual traded value during the last 30 minutes of CTS and the 10 minutes of CAS.

SEBI said the proposed framework would incorporate actual transactions from both periods and allow their relative contribution to emerge from actual market activity.

In an illustration provided in the consultation paper, total traded value during the relevant period is ₹10,000 crore, comprising ₹9,000 crore during the last 30 minutes of CTS and ₹1,000 crore during CAS. CAS therefore accounts for 10% of the total traded value in the illustration.

SEBI clarified that no separate or predetermined 10% weight would be assigned to CAS.

Option 2: CTS VWAP

Under Option 2, the expiry-day settlement price for both index derivatives and single-stock derivatives would comprise only trades executed during the last 30 minutes of CTS.

This would represent the settlement methodology applicable before the implementation of CAS.

Transactions executed during CAS would not form part of the settlement calculation during the interim period.

SEBI has proposed that, following a sufficient period of experience with CAS, the settlement price for derivatives contracts on expiry day may be transitioned to include transactions executed during both the last 30 minutes of CTS and 10 minutes of CAS, as contemplated under Option 1.

Any such transition would be considered only after a period of not less than one year from the commencement of the revised settlement methodology.

SEBI said the transition would not be automatic after one year and would be considered based on the experience and evidence available at that stage, including whether sufficient liquidity and participation had developed in CAS, whether market participants had gained familiarity with the auction mechanism and how CAS functioned across different market conditions.

IEP and IIV during CAS

The consultation paper also examines the distinction between the Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP), the final closing price determined at the end of CAS and the settlement price of derivatives contracts.

SEBI said the IEP during CAS is different from an executed traded price during CTS.

During CTS, compatible buy and sell orders are matched and a transaction is executed at the corresponding price.

During CAS, buy and sell orders are accumulated in the auction book and the exchange calculates the price at which the maximum possible quantity could currently be executed under the auction methodology.

As further orders are entered or existing orders are modified or cancelled, the IEP may change.

“The IEP is therefore indicative and evolving during CAS and does not denote a price at which transactions have taken place,” SEBI said.

The final CAS price is the price at which transactions are executed pursuant to the auction.

SEBI has also examined the Indicative Index Value (IIV) during CAS. The index itself is not subject to an auction. Its indicative value during CAS is derived from the continuously evolving IEPs of its constituent securities.

The final value of the index is established only after the auction concludes and the final prices of the relevant constituent securities have been determined.

SEBI said movement in the IEP-derived IIV during CAS should not be interpreted as the index having actually reached the corresponding level.

For instance, if an index has a pre-CAS value of 50,000 and the IIV during CAS is displayed at 48,500 points, this does not mean the index has actually traded or reached 48,500 points.

SEBI said such values “may be misconstrued by market participants as actual levels reached by the index”.

The consultation paper therefore proposes continuing dissemination of security-level IEPs while stopping dissemination of the IEP-derived IIV during CAS.

Market timing options

SEBI has proposed two alternatives for the relative timing of CTS, CAS and derivatives trading.

Under Option A, CTS for CAS stocks would continue until 3:30 PM, CAS would run from 3:31 PM to 3:40 PM and F&O trading would continue until 3:45 PM.

Under Option B, CTS for CAS stocks would continue until 3:15 PM, CAS would run from 3:15 PM to 3:25 PM and F&O trading would end at 3:30 PM.

SEBI has also proposed reducing the transition period between CTS and CAS from five minutes to up to one minute.

The post-CAS F&O trading window would be reduced from 10 minutes to five minutes.

CAS orders and Iceberg orders

The existing ±3% price band for CAS would continue under the proposal.

However, orders placed beyond ±1% of the reference price would not be permitted to be cancelled during CAS. Only price-improving modifications would be permitted.

SEBI has also proposed that unexecuted Iceberg quantities at the end of CTS could be converted into normal limit orders.

The entire pending quantity would then be disclosed in the CAS order book.

Public comments invited

SEBI said the consultation paper seeks to provide greater clarity regarding the distinction between the IEP emerging during CAS, the final closing price determined at the conclusion of CAS and the settlement price of derivatives contracts determined under the proposed settlement methodology.

The regulator has invited public comments, views and suggestions on the proposals. Comments may be submitted to SEBI until October 3, 2026.

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback is calling on the Trump administration to intervene on behalf of Morse H. Tan, a former State Department colleague who has been barred from leaving South Korea for months amid a criminal defamation case.

Tan, who served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice during President Donald Trump’s first term, has been under an exit ban since June. He is scheduled to face his first trial hearing in South Korea on Friday over allegations that he defamed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during remarks made on American soil last year.

Brownback, who led the religious freedom post from 2018 to 2021 and previously served as governor of Kansas, told The Christian Post he was stunned when he learned of the case against Tan, a legal scholar and professor.

“I was shocked, I really was,” Brownback said.

He argued that the treatment would be unsurprising from an authoritarian government but is jarring coming from South Korea, a longtime U.S. ally and democracy.

“Here’s a former U.S. diplomat, a respected legal scholar and professor who’s being arrested and persecuted in a democracy,” Brownback said. “If he were traveling to North Korea or Russia, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. But he’s not. It’s South Korea, and so I was really stunned when I first heard about it.”

How the case began

Tan was swept into a reopened South Korean criminal investigation after traveling to the country in late May to observe local elections amid allegations of irregularities and Chinese interference. He was formally charged without detention in July over comments he made in June 2025 at a National Press Club event in Washington focused on Korean election integrity.

During that event, Tan referenced rumors and reports that Lee had been involved in a sexual assault and murder as a teenager, remarks that circulated widely online at the time. Tan has said he remains skeptical of South Korean court findings and fact-checks that have dismissed those allegations, and he has cast his exit ban as a broader violation of his rights as a U.S. citizen tied to what he describes as the erosion of civil liberties in South Korea.

In social media posts, Tan has said he has been hit with three successive travel bans, which he attributed to his opposition to what he calls a “counterrevolutionary movement against the communizing coup d’état and the subsequent purge” he says is underway in the country. Those bans have reportedly been extended until at least November.

Tan, a Christian, has also suggested he may be targeted in part because of his faith, and he has described South Korea’s current government as “a rising dictatorship,” alleging the country faces “massive infiltration” by Chinese Communist Party and North Korean operatives.

Wider concerns about religious freedom

Brownback pointed to South Korea’s broader political climate as cause for alarm, noting that former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year over his December 2024 declaration of martial law, an order Yoon said was necessary to counter pro-North Korean elements before he was impeached and removed from office in 2025.

Brownback also cited the detainment of religious figures, including Pastor Son Hyun-bo, who met with Trump at the White House last month after months in South Korean custody. Son leads the conservative Christian movement “Save Korea” and has organized rallies against Yoon’s impeachment; he faced allegations of illegal electioneering tied to the country’s presidential election.

“I’m really concerned about the trend right now, particularly toward religious leaders or religious-affiliated people,” Brownback said. “They’ve arrested a number of religious leaders, tried them and are certainly trying to intimidate religious figures and leaders. And I think it’s a horrible trend line for that democracy. I don’t understand it.”

Brownback warned the approach carries long-term risk, saying such tactics “will not play well for them long-term.”

“It’s against history. It’s against what South Korea has historically done,” he said. “And I understand maybe there’s some near-term political benefits potentially, but this is not the way for a democracy to be trending, and particularly such a key ally of the United States in that region.”

He further raised concerns about Chinese Communist Party influence reaching into South Korean institutions, describing it as part of a broader pattern.

“That’s their playbook in democracies. They use our system against us. They use these open systems to infiltrate, to push us, to really try to ride the system,” Brownback said, adding that he believes the same dynamic is unfolding “in South Korea, Japan and other relatively open societies in the world.”

A delicate diplomatic balance

Brownback acknowledged the difficult position facing the Trump administration, which relies on South Korea as a strategic partner amid rising competition with China, but he urged officials to push back against Seoul’s conduct.

“We’re at a tough time, and you play one game at a time, as the football saying is. And right now, the game is China. We need South Korea. We need Japan. We need these allies,” he said. “And so I’m sure there’s some hesitancy about pushing back too aggressively. But this is just not the way democracy should operate.”

He drew a comparison to India, which he said presents a similar challenge as a key ally accused of persecuting Christians and other religious minorities, and argued that religious liberty underpins other civil freedoms.

“Religious freedom is that human right that can really pull the other ones along, or it also can be used to stymie the other ones,” Brownback said. “If you stymie religious freedom, it’s going to hurt your freedom of speech, your freedom of assembly, your other basics. This is the human right that can be the engine for pulling the others, but if that engine is stalled, it’s going to hurt the others, too.”

Congressional and State Department response

Last month, a group of congressional Republicans sent a letter to South Korean Ambassador Kang Kyung-hwa condemning what they called Tan’s “remarkably unfair treatment” over statements made in the United States.

The State Department has said it is aware of Tan’s situation, telling The Christian Post that the administration “has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans” and “takes seriously any concerns that U.S. citizens are subject to exit bans without a fair and transparent process to resolve them.” A department spokesperson added that, “due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time.”

Tan’s trial hearing is scheduled for Friday in South Korea.

While doomsday prophets continue to raise the alarm and spook investors about negative implications for equity markets and interest rate scenarios if the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield crosses 5%, some analysts feel the fears are overblown.

The 10-year US Treasury yield has risen above 4.9% and is marching towards the crucial 5% level that it had last hit briefly in 2023. Yes Securities issued a contrarian bet, saying the rise in global yields increasingly reflects stronger nominal growth, a structurally higher equilibrium real rate and synchronised global monetary normalisation, rather than deteriorating economic fundamentals or an imminent fiscal crisis.

US nominal growth, resilient consumption and robust corporate earnings provide sufficient cash flow growth to absorb a higher discount rate, while the rise in US r-star to 1.65% supports a structurally higher cost of capital, the brokerage said. It added that markets are already pricing two to three Fed rate hikes over the next year, but this should represent monetary normalisation rather than a financial accident, particularly with credit markets and Treasury demand remaining well behaved.

Also read | Bigger market crash ahead? Analysts weigh how Sensex, Nifty may react if US 10-year bond yield touches 5%

How current environment differs from 2008 financial crisis

Artificial intelligence-led investment in data centres, semiconductors, power and digital infrastructure represents a genuine capex and productivity catalyst, distinguishing the current cycle from the post-Great Financial Crisis period of predominantly liquidity-driven asset inflation, Yes Securities said.

It further noted that strong interest-coverage ratios across major technology companies and contained credit spreads provide additional balance-sheet resilience, while synchronised rate increases globally reduce the risk of a destabilising dollar or emerging market shock.

Will rising bond yields cause a big market crash?

In this background, the domestic brokerage feels a 5% Treasury yield need not be restrictive for equities if corporate revenues and earnings continue to grow, as stronger cash flows can offset a higher discount rate.The domestic brokerage’s base expectation is for the US 10-year Treasury yield to remain within a 4.7-5.2% range, which it views as tolerable cost of capital in a higher growth economy, rather than an equity-market breaking point. The risk profile changes materially only if yields sustainably move towards 6-7%, which would likely signal de-anchored inflation expectations, deteriorating fiscal credibility or a significant increase in rstar, potentially overwhelming earnings and nominal GDP growth, it warned.

Also read |Aswath Damodaran calls Fed rate debate pointless, says stock market adapts quickly to higher rates

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.

Ben Shelton outlasted fellow American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on Friday night to reach his first career Grand Slam final, putting the 23-year-old within one victory of becoming the first American man to win a major singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.

The No. 8 seed’s win over No. 11 Tiafoe in front of a capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium came on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, adding an emotional backdrop to an already charged all-American semifinal between two close friends and longtime rivals. Shelton will face top-seeded Alexander Zverev, who beat Karen Khachanov earlier in the day, in Sunday’s final.

A back-and-forth battle between friends

Tiafoe claimed the opening set 6-4, marking the third time in his career he has taken the first set of a US Open semifinal. Once again, it wasn’t enough to get him over the hump. Shelton responded by breaking early in the second set, and though Tiafoe broke right back, Shelton settled in to take the set 6-3 and level the match.

The turning point came in the third set. With Tiafoe serving to stay in the set at 3-5, the two men played an epic 15-minute game that finally ended when Tiafoe netted a forehand, handing Shelton the break and the set 6-3. Shelton landed 82% of his first serves during that stretch, a number that helped fuel his surge through the middle of the match.

The fourth set proved just as tense. Shelton and Tiafoe traded holds deep into the set before Shelton finally broke through, closing it out 7-5. In the final game, with Tiafoe serving at 5-6, Shelton won the first three points to earn three match points. Tiafoe saved the first, but his second serve on the next point floated into the net, sending Shelton into his first Grand Slam final.

Shelton finished the match with 20 aces and 47 winners, converting five of his break-point opportunities against Tiafoe. At one point during the third set, Shelton’s serve was clocked at a stunning 158 mph, which would have set an ATP record, though it was later corrected to 144 mph.

Two friends, one shot at history

Shelton and Tiafoe — teammates on the U.S. Davis Cup squad and friends off the court — shared a long embrace at the net once the match ended. Both had arrived at Friday’s semifinal on the back of grueling five-set quarterfinal wins: Shelton upset defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a match that didn’t finish until 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, the latest conclusion in US Open history, while Tiafoe rallied from two sets down to beat fellow American Alex Michelsen in a four-hour, 38-minute marathon.

Speaking earlier in the tournament about the depth of American men’s tennis heading into this year’s Open, Tiafoe framed the run by him and Shelton as part of a broader trend rather than an isolated bright spot.

“I think U.S. tennis is in a great place,” Tiafoe said. “So whatever they’re doing aboveboard is great and continue to do so.”

He pointed to a wider group of American contenders carrying the sport forward. “But the guys, we’ve been doing pretty well,” Tiafoe said. “Someone is always going deep in majors. Fritz has been playing great for a long time, Ben and myself. We have Learner. Obviously you have Alex Michelsen, Tommy. There’s a good group of us that are playing really g—” he continued, listing off a roster of young American talent that includes Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien and Tommy Paul.

A milestone beyond the scoreline

Shelton’s win carries significance well beyond the immediate stakes of Sunday’s final. He is the first Black American man to reach a US Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972, and a win over Zverev would make him the first American man to capture a Grand Slam singles title in 23 years. Shelton is already guaranteed to rise to No. 4 in the world once the tournament concludes, regardless of Sunday’s outcome.

Shelton has now reached the semifinals of a major three times — the 2023 US Open, the 2025 Australian Open and this year’s tournament — but had never previously advanced past that stage. Tiafoe, meanwhile, has now fallen in the semifinals of the US Open on multiple occasions, including a loss to Taylor Fritz at the same stage in 2024, without yet breaking through to a Grand Slam final of his own.

Looking ahead to Sunday

Zverev, the tournament’s top seed, will be playing in his first US Open final since 2020 and is looking to add to a résumé that already includes his first Grand Slam title, won at the French Open in June. Sunday’s final will mark a clash between a proven Grand Slam champion in Zverev and an American crowd favorite chasing a milestone that has eluded the country’s men’s game for more than two decades.

Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was visibly split in its loyalties Friday given the all-American matchup, is expected to fully rally behind Shelton on Sunday. The atmosphere inside the stadium during Friday’s semifinal was already heightened by a string of celebrity appearances, with Shelton noting after the match that the star power in the crowd occasionally pulled his focus mid-match.

For now, the drought remains intact — but for the first time since Roddick’s title run in 2003, an American man stands one match away from ending it on home soil at Flushing Meadows.