BusinessReutersRevolut to offer returns on crypto holdings via 'staking'
Revolut is giving customers the chance to earn cryptocurrency rewards if they allow the lender to "stake" their coins to verify blockchain transactions, in a sign the digital bank is embracing crypto after a series of industry crashes. The feature will be available to customers in Britain and around 30 other European countries as part of Revolut's plan to expand its crypto-related services, it said in a statement. Revolut was valued at around $33 billion in the last known funding round in 2021, making it then Britain's most valuable startup.
PoliticsHuffPostJoe Biden Takes Aim At Two Of The Biggest Killers Of Americans
The president’s State of the Union speech will highlight new plans to combat cancer and fentanyl abuse.
NewsReutersU.S. judge rejects new bail conditions for FTX founder Bankman-Fried
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
NewsAFP News'Silence!': Hushed search for Turkey's quake survivors
"Silence please!""We need silence," he stressed.
NewsAFP NewsUNESCO sounds alarm over quake damage to Turkey, Syria heritage
The UN's cultural agency UNESCO said two sites listed on its World Heritage list in Syria and Turkey sustained damage in the devastating earthquake and warned several others may also have been hit.We are also deeply saddened by the damage to cultural heritage sites in Turkey and Syria," said the NGO Blue Shield International which monitors the protection of heritage sites around the world.
PoliticsAFP NewsFrench, German ministers to tackle green subsidies with US
The French and German economy ministers, Bruno Le Maire and Robert Habeck, kicked off high-stakes talks with US officials Tuesday to underscore European concerns over President Joe Biden's ambitious climate action plan."We are here in Washington... to defend the interest of the European industry and to ensure fair competition between the European industry and the American industry," Le Maire told reporters Tuesday before the talks.
NewsHuffPostComing Food Benefit Cut Could Affect Older Americans Most
Congress canceled a pandemic boost to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, setting up a major benefit reduction for March.
NewsAFP NewsUK's PM creates four ministries with new energy drive
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed Tuesday to slash sky-high power bills as he reshuffled his government with a focus on energy, climate net zero targets and scientific innovation."It's government policy and underinvestment that is holding back real action on the climate and energy crises, not the departments or ministers in place," he said in a statement.
NewsAFP NewsSyria quake relief a headache for Western nations and aid groups
An earthquake that has killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and its southern neighbour Syria is proving a diplomatic headache for those seeking to channel aid to Syrians.Germany would for the moment use its "usual channels" of non-governmental organisations to reach those affected by the earthquake, a German governmental source said.
BusinessAFP NewsStocks slide on US rate-hike expectations
Stock markets mostly fell Tuesday as investors braced for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address and fresh signals from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell about the direction of interest rates.A blockbuster US jobs report last week has undercut hopes that the Fed will put the brakes on its rate-hike campaign, which it launched last year in an effort to tame decades-high inflation "A strengthening labour market theoretically makes it less likely that the Federal Reserve will halt
NewsAFP NewsUK policeman jailed for life over serial rapes
A UK judge on Tuesday sentenced a former policeman to life in jail, with a minimum term of 30 years, for dozens of rapes and sexual assaults in the latest case to shame London's Metropolitan Police force.Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb handed David Carrick 36 life sentences for a "monstrous" string of 71 sexual offences against 12 women.
NewsAFP NewsMillions of vulnerable refugees in Turkey-Syria quake zone
The devastating earthquake around the Turkish-Syrian border struck an area that is home to millions of refugees already battling desperate circumstances.In the 10 Turkish provinces affected by the quake, more than 1.7 million of the 15 million inhabitants are Syrian refugees.
BusinessReutersEx-Coinbase manager pleads guilty in insider trading case
A former Coinbase Global Inc product manager pleaded guilty on Tuesday in what U.S. prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency, his defense lawyer said in a court hearing. Ishan Wahi, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after initially pleading not guilty last year. Prosecutors said Wahi shared confidential information with his brother Nikhil and their friend Sameer Ramani about forthcoming announcements of new digital assets that Coinbase would let users trade.
BusinessAFP NewsBP posts record profit, dilutes green target
British energy giant BP on Tuesday announced record annual profit thanks to soaring oil and gas prices, as it watered down its target for cutting carbon emissions.- Emissions target - BP on Tuesday also said its carbon emissions would not fall as quickly as anticipated.
NewsAFP NewsHarmful pollution boosting superbug 'silent pandemic'
Containing and cleaning up environmental pollution, especially in waterways, is crucial to controlling increasingly bullet-proof superbugs which could kill tens of millions by mid-century, a new UN report said Tuesday.A new report Tuesday said pollution is a key driver in the "development, transmission and spread" of AMR, calling for urgent action to clean up the environment.
BusinessReutersCentral bank test lab to trial 'stablecoin' monitoring system
A global central bank test lab run out of London is designing a 'stablecoin' monitoring system aimed at giving authorities a clearer picture on how they work and how to regulate them in future. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency which aim to maintain a 1:1 peg with a fiat currency such as the dollar. The collapse last year of a widely-used stablecoin pair, Luna and TerraUSD, sparked widespread turmoil in crypto markets.
NewsAFP NewsSyria newborn pulled alive from quake rubble
Extended family members pulled a newborn baby alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after finding her still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother, who died in Monday's massive quake, a relative said."We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact) so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital."
BusinessReutersIndia's ONGC to invest $3.5 billion to boost output from western offshore assets
India's top exploration company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, will invest $3.5 billion over the next three-four years to boost output from its western offshore assets, Pankaj Kumar, head of offshore assets, said on Tuesday. These assets are currently producing 41.5 million cubic meters a day (mmscmd) of gas and about 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, he said at the India Energy Week event in Bengaluru. India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, wants its companies to quickly monetise their oil and gas reserves to cut its import bill.
BusinessReutersExclusive-AFL-CIO wants bigger say in U.S. digital trade deals for workers
The Biden administration has made digital trade the centerpiece of its trade negotiations, and the AFL-CIO wants a bigger say in how the U.S. Trade Representative's office sets goals in this area, arguing they are too often dictated by big technology companies. The largest U.S. labor organization on Tuesday issued a set of principles that it says is needed to protect workers, the public's privacy and governments' ability to regulate a rapidly evolving sector as the USTR negotiates digital trade agreements. The USTR is expected to soon propose text on the digital chapter in negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the Biden administration's signature economic agreement.
NewsAFP NewsFuneral held for Pakistan ex-president Musharraf
Pakistan's divisive former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was buried on Tuesday in a muted funeral that was never officially announced.Wajid Noor, a 71-year-old retired government official, said "thousands of people wanted to participate in the funeral but no details were provided".
CelebrityHuffPostI Thought Uncovering My Father's Deepest Secrets Would Make Us Closer. I Was Wrong.
"I thought that sharing dark confessions created more of a bond than sharing lighthearted experiences ever could."
PoliticsHuffPostChinese Balloon Flew Over Florida When Trump Was President: CNN
A Pentagon report said a Chinese balloon hovered above a location Trump knows all too well when he was in charge, the news network reported.
NewsReuters'Move away from hypocrisy': Global South demands energy justice
Rich countries should stop throwing up roadblocks to poorer ones trying to secure energy supplies and do more to help them make the green transition, officials from Global South nations told the India Energy Week conference on Tuesday. Tanzania's energy minister January Makamba called for "a move away from hypocrisy" by wealthy nations refusing to finance gas projects, while a senior official from Bangladesh said its energy security was compromised by the higher gas prices caused by Western sanctions on Russia. Makamba said Japan rejected a proposal last week to finance a gas-fired power plant in southern Tanzania because it was no longer interested in funding such projects.
NewsHuffPostWhy Earthquake Rescue Workers Are In A 'Race Against Time' In Turkey And Syria
Political pressures and changing weather could hamper the humanitarian efforts.
BusinessAFP NewsIndia's Adani inches back up after loan pledge
Shares in the flagship firm of troubled Indian conglomerate Adani rose almost 15 percent Tuesday, clawing back some of its recent huge losses after saying it would repay more than $1 billion in loans.Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship firm, soared as much as 25 percent on Tuesday, with trading suspended three times on the way up.
