A new study released Wednesday by the think tank Atlantic Councilfound that 130 countries, representing 98% of the global GDP, are considering central bank digital currencies, with 49% currently in advanced development. A central bank digital currency is a digital form of a country’s current fiat currency. Instead of printing cash, central banks would issue…
June 29 (Reuters) – Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, has asked to join the BRICS bloc of emerging markets, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. The term BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001 to describe the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The BRIC powers had their first…
Pursuing other diplomatic opportunities, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he will soon visit China. Opinions are divided in Israel’s Foreign Ministry over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday announcement on traveling soon to China, with some diplomats warning that such a trip could harm the country’s relations with the United States. Meeting in Jerusalem with…
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued Tuesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration…
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s “economic miracle,” a boom in the 2000s and 2010s that saw years of state spending lift millions of people into the middle class, is creaking, a warning sign to the wider region battling high inflation, shrinking government coffers and tepid growth. For years the Andean country enjoyed one of South…
This ‘extinct’ earless dragon lizard has been spotted after 50 years missing. But researchers won’t say where. A tiny earless dragon which experts thought was extinct has been spotted for the first time in over 50 years. The Victorian grassland earless dragon – native to east Australian grasslands – was last spotted in the wild…
The leader of Russia’s 24-hour mutiny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has arrived in Belarus, three days after his Wagner mercenary group’s rebellion came to an end 200km (125 miles) south of Moscow. “Yes, indeed, he’s in Belarus today,” leader Alexander Lukashenko announced, claiming credit arranging his exile. Prigozhin’s whereabouts had been a mystery since he was filmed…
AMSTERDAM, June 27 (Reuters) – European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900 million euros ($980 million) in seized assets. The system had an estimated 60,000 users when it shut down abruptly in…
Justices overturn lower court that found it violated free speech protections The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a provision under federal criminal law aimed at punishing people who encourage illegal immigration, ruling that it should not be struck down over free speech concerns. In a 7-2 opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court…
The Pentagon’s pricing error adds surplus of funds for future security packages The Pentagon said an accounting error resulted in an overestimation of the value of weapons being sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the last two years, and as a result, there is a surplus of money available for future security packages. Pentagon…