1) HFT is more than just US equities. Many exchanges are open 23 hours a day. 2) Many HFT firms do not specialize in 'news-reading'. That is, they will sit out

1) HFT is more than just US equities. Many exchanges are open 23 hours a day. 2) Many HFT firms do not specialize in 'news-reading'. That is, they will sit out periods when an expected announcement is coming. You can observe this by looking at the liquidity of a product just prior to an expected relevant news release - there will be very few orders. 3) There are more events than just news events that require speed.