Grayscale fancies SEC green light for Bitcoin spot ETF

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Paramount stock plummets after Shari Redstone kills Skydance deal
Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount through her family's holding company National Amusements, has ended merger talks with Skydance Media, according to the Wall Street Journal.
AFP
France's SNCF to offer high-speed passenger links in Italy
French national rail operator SNCF said Wednesday it planned to offer high-speed passenger services in neighbouring Italy from 2026, competing with rival Trenitalia on its home turf."Italy is a natural market for high speed, with 56 million passengers per year," said Alain Krakovitch, head of intercity TGV (high-speed train) services at SNCF Voyageurs.
Reuters
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus indicted in Bangladesh embezzlement case
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and 13 others were indicted by a Bangladesh court on Wednesday on charges of embezzlement of 252.2 million taka ($2 million) from the workers' welfare fund of his telecoms company. Yunus, 83, and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace prize for work to lift millions out of poverty by granting tiny loans of under $100 to the rural poor of Bangladesh, pioneering a global movement now known as microcredit.
NBC News
Biden heads to Italy to pitch world leaders on more cash for Ukraine
Amid signs that Americans are tiring of sending weapons to Ukraine after two years of war, President Joe Biden this week will huddle with other world leaders in search of new ways to get aid to the country as it struggles to fend off Russia’s invasion.
NBC News
Congress says Pentagon is not providing key info in investigation of fatal Osprey crashes
Congress says its investigation into crashes of the military’s Osprey aircraft has been stymied by Pentagon officials who won't release critical safety reports.
Reuters
Citron Research closes GameStop short position
Citron Research no longer has a short position in retail traders' favorite GameStop, the short seller said on X.com on Wednesday, days after taking a bearish position in the company. Andrew Left, Citron Research's founder, had said last week he was again betting against GameStop, although his position was "significantly lower" from 2021 when he was forced to close his position after retail traders banded together in online forums and drove an eye popping rally in the stock, squeezing hedge funds. Left told Reuters he would short GameStop again if the stock reached a $45-$50 level.
AFP
Russian nuclear-powered submarine arrives in Cuba
A Russian nuclear-powered submarine and other naval vessels arrived in Cuba Wednesday for a five-day visit to the communist island off Florida's coast in a show of force amid spiraling US-Russian tensions.The unusual deployment of the Russian military so close to the United States -- particularly the powerful submarine -- comes amid major tensions over the war in Ukraine, where the Western-backed government is fighting a Russian invasion.
AFP
EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 38%
The European Union threatened on Wednesday to hit Chinese electric car imports with tariffs of up to 38 percent from next month following an anti-subsidy probe, a move that risks triggering a trade war.The EU tariffs, while high, are lower than the 100-percent rate the United States imposed from last month on Chinese electric cars.
Associated Press
Europe wants affordable electric vehicles from China. But not at the cost of its own auto industry
The European Union moved Wednesday to hike tariffs, or import taxes, on electric vehicles made in China. EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and the Asian nation's burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc. Here are some basic facts about the EU's planned tariffs: What did the European Union do?
Reuters
Blinken says some Hamas proposals unworkable but work on ceasefire to continue
Hamas proposed "numerous changes" in its response to a ceasefire proposal to end the Gaza war including some unworkable changes, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, but he insisted Washington and mediators will press ahead to bridge gaps between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. Hamas formally responded on Tuesday to a U.S. ceasefire proposal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 31 that envisages a ceasefire and phased release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the war.
CNN
8 Tajikistan nationals arrested in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Some may have ISIS ties, sources say
US federal agents have arrested eight Tajikistan nationals located in the United States on immigration charges following the discovery of potential ties to terrorism, two sources familiar with the law enforcement operation told CNN Tuesday.
Associated Press
As Art Basel opens, buyers confront a 'cooling' but still very active market
Multi-million-dollar works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yayoi Kusama and Alberto Giacometti went on the market this week as fair Art Basel opened in Switzerland. Arriving guests strolled through a large plaza filled with stems of wheat resembling a field, a work by conceptual artist Agnes Denes that was first staged in 1982. More than 280 international galleries exhibited everything from paintings and sculpture to video installations and performance art.
AFP
US consumer inflation falls ahead of Fed interest rate decision
Fresh US consumer inflation data published Wednesday is unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve's plans to leave its key lending rate unchanged, but could alter how many rate cuts policymakers pencil in for this year.But despite the small decline, inflation remains firmly above the Fed's long-term target of two percent, raising the chances that the US central bank will vote to hold rates at a 23-year high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent later on Wednesday, and wait for additional clarity that infl
AFP
Trio jailed for up to 28 years for Dutch journalist murder
A Dutch court on Wednesday handed down lengthy jail sentences to three men for the murder of high-profile crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, a killing that shocked the country.Together with the murder of De Vries, the three killings together sparked warnings that the country was becoming a "narco-state".
Reuters
Armenian PM says peace deal with Azerbaijan needs only 'adjustments' before signing
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday that a peace treaty with Azerbaijan was close to completion but that his country would not accept Baku's demands that it change its constitution. Armenian news site CivilNet quoted Pashinyan as saying that the text of the proposed treaty was "quite mature" and that it could be signed after "adjustments". Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have repeatedly stated their intention to sign a peace deal to end one of the former Soviet Union's longest-running conflicts, which broke out between the two sides over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the late 1980s.
AFP
UN chief says global tensions threaten international trade
The international trading system is on the brink of fragmenting amid rising geopolitical tensions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday, as he cautioned the world against splitting into rival blocs."The world cannot afford splits into rival blocs.
Associated Press
Republicans echo Trump in response to Hunter Biden conviction
Republicans loyal to Donald Trump largely echoed the former president's claim that the Justice Department has treated President Joe Biden's son with kid gloves while zealously prosecuting Trump. Using the attention given to Hunter Biden's conviction for charges related to buying a gun while addicted to drugs, they pressed unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden — while vice president — acted to advance his family members’ foreign business interests. “Remember this was Joe Biden’s corrupt DOJ that tried to negotiate outside immunity unrelated to this case," said Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and a contender to be Trump's vice presidential running mate.
Associated Press
Vistas, history and a slice of rural England await hikers to the Peak District's Mam Tor
Finally, a sign I couldn’t miss or misunderstand. It read, “Mam Tor via Odin Mine.” As we followed the line of the arrow on the sign, there it was, the popular Mam Tor (Mother Hill), off in the distance, looming above the Hope Valley and beckoning hundreds of hikers to climb to the top on this warm, windy spring day.
NBC News
Jin from K-pop group BTS finishes military service in South Korea
K-pop megastar Jin, the oldest member of boy band BTS, officially completed his mandatory military service in South Korea on Wednesday.
Associated Press
Fresh off France trip, Biden heads back to Europe for G7 summit to talk Ukraine support, migration
President Joe Biden headed to Italy on Wednesday for a summit of the world's leading democracies with an urgency to get big things done, including turning frozen Russian assets into billions of dollars to help Ukraine as it fights off Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine. This year's Group of Seven summit comes three years after Biden declared at his first such gathering that America was back as a global leader following the disruptions to Western alliances that occurred when Donald Trump was president. Now, there's a chance this gathering could be the final G7 for Biden and other G7 leaders, depending on the results of elections this year.

How Biden's medical debt rule helps you, the Southwest sees triple-digit temperatures — and more

Grayscale fancies SEC green light for Bitcoin spot ETF

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Latest Stories

Paramount stock plummets after Shari Redstone kills Skydance deal

France's SNCF to offer high-speed passenger links in Italy

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus indicted in Bangladesh embezzlement case

Biden heads to Italy to pitch world leaders on more cash for Ukraine

Congress says Pentagon is not providing key info in investigation of fatal Osprey crashes

Citron Research closes GameStop short position

Russian nuclear-powered submarine arrives in Cuba

EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 38%

Europe wants affordable electric vehicles from China. But not at the cost of its own auto industry

Blinken says some Hamas proposals unworkable but work on ceasefire to continue

8 Tajikistan nationals arrested in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Some may have ISIS ties, sources say

As Art Basel opens, buyers confront a 'cooling' but still very active market

US consumer inflation falls ahead of Fed interest rate decision

Trio jailed for up to 28 years for Dutch journalist murder

Armenian PM says peace deal with Azerbaijan needs only 'adjustments' before signing

UN chief says global tensions threaten international trade

Republicans echo Trump in response to Hunter Biden conviction

Vistas, history and a slice of rural England await hikers to the Peak District's Mam Tor

Jin from K-pop group BTS finishes military service in South Korea

Fresh off France trip, Biden heads back to Europe for G7 summit to talk Ukraine support, migration