2024-12-08 23:03

Eric Trump to deliver keynote at Bitcoin MENA conference Attendees say Trump team appearances a key appeal Trump, family back World Liberty Financial crypto platform Special sessions planned for those who buy $9,999 'whale' pass NEW YORK/ABU DHABI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Key players in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's new cryptocurrency venture were among high-profile industry figures gathering at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as the digital currency sets record highs. Speakers at the two-day event include Trump's son Eric as well as billionaire Steve Witkoff, the new White House envoy for the Middle East and co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform launched in September that Donald Trump and his family helped set up. Attendees arriving for the Bitcoin MENA conference were greeted by displays welcoming them to the "golden age of bitcoin", alongside the live price of bitcoin, which last week smashed records when it hit $100,000, buoyed by promises from Trump that he would be the "crypto president". Nick Damico, co-founder of crypto exchange Roxom, was there, sporting one of the "Make Bitcoin Great Again" caps on sale at the conference, which is projected to draw more than 6,000 people. Nehayyan Aldhuhoori, another attendee, said he had "especially come" to hear from Eric Trump. On Tuesday, Eric Trump will deliver the keynote address of the conference and then hold a "whale-only" chat in the VIP lounge, according to the event's agenda. Witkoff spoke on Monday to that more exclusive crowd, which was closed to the press and requires a $9,999 "whale" pass, a nickname for players who have potential to move a market. The Gulf gathering comes at an inflection point for the industry. Trump, once a skeptic, has vowed to make America the new "crypto capital of the planet." The president-elect is World Liberty Financial's "chief crypto advocate", and sons Eric, Don Jr. and Barron are ambassadors, according to the WLF website. Company filings show Donald Trump is entitled to 22.5 billion WLF tokens and a share of its revenue. "The bitcoin conference carries a lot of significance for crypto as it's one of the longest-running conferences focused on bringing our industry together," said Marshall Beard of Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Trump backers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. WHITE HOUSE CRYPTO CZAR Other speakers also have close ties to World Liberty Financial, including Justin Sun, the 32-year-old Chinese founder of blockchain platform Tron. Three weeks after Trump won last month's U.S. presidential election, Sun posted on X that he bought $30 million worth of WLF tokens, making him the venture's largest investor. Sun was charged with crypto-related fraud and securities violations under the Biden administration. Last week Trump named a White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, former PayPal executive David Sacks, a close friend of Trump adviser and megadonor Elon Musk. Technology and digital asset veterans gave millions to U.S. election candidates friendly to the crypto industry, according to analytics firm Breadcrumbs. Trump's 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, will also address the conference. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month U.S. prison sentence this year for crypto-tied money-laundering law violations, is holding a whale session. Trump, his family members, other speakers and their firms did not respond to requests for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/gulf-bitcoin-gathering-trump-family-allies-bask-crypto-industrys-euphoria-2024-12-08/

2024-12-08 21:48

Dec 9 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. Attention turns to China on Monday and the release of November inflation data, with global investor sentiment broadly upbeat as the relentless rally on Wall Street continues but tempered by an increasingly volatile geopolitical backdrop. The toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the uncertainty that unleashes on an already volatile Middle East, criminal charges against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and France's political chaos are all potential reasons for investors to play it safe. If so, U.S. Treasuries and other government bonds, gold and the dollar may all see increased interest in early trading on Monday. The fast-moving events in South Korea could ripple across Asia, and the country's finance ministry and central bank are expected to do all they can to ensure financial stability and protect the won. The currency has weakened around 10% since the end of September, hitting a two-year low last week. A move through 1,445 won per dollar, which is eminently possible, will mark its weakest level since the global financial crisis in early 2009. On the other hand, the prospect of further interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve and falling Treasury bond yields, combined with solid U.S. employment figures on Friday, delivered yet another record high on Wall Street. Global FX volatility may be on the rise, but measures of U.S. equity and bond market volatility are the lowest in months. As long as that remains the case, Wall Street seems set to end a remarkable year on a firm footing. Investors in Asia on Monday have their first opportunity to react to Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls report which showed solid job growth but an uptick in the unemployment rate last month. Rates traders appeared to have put more weight on the unemployment rate - they now fully expect a quarter point rate cut from the Fed on Dec. 18, and priced in an extra 10 bps of easing over the course of next year. The main data focus on Monday in Asia will be consumer and producer price inflation from China. The pace of monthly consumer deflation is expected to have accelerated to -0.4% from -0.3%, and this would be the deepest rate of month-on-month price declines since March. Annual inflation is seen rising to 0.5% from 0.3%. Producer prices, however, are expected to remain deep in deflationary territory with factory gate prices falling at an annual rate of 2.8% in November, little changed from October's 2.9% fall. Investors will also now be looking ahead to China's upcoming Politburo meeting, where Beijing's top policymakers will set out their priorities for the coming year. For investors, the government's 2025 growth target and budget will be two of the most important. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Monday: - China producer, consumer inflation (November) - Japan GDP (Q3, revised) - Taiwan trade (November) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-2024-12-08/

2024-12-08 17:41

Prisons thrown open across Syria Many families knew little of their jailed relatives' fate Rights groups say torture was widespread under Assad dynasty Dec 8 (Reuters) - Bewildered and elated prisoners poured out of Syrian jails on Sunday, shouting with joy as they emerged from one of the world's most notorious detention systems and walked to freedom following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government. All across Syria, families wept as they were reunited with children, siblings, spouses and parents who vanished years ago into the impregnable gulag of the Assad dynasty's five-decade rule. A video verified by Reuters showed newly freed prisoners ran through the Damascus streets, holding up the fingers of both hands to show how many years they had been in prison, asking passers-by what had happened, not immediately understanding that Assad had fallen. "We toppled the regime!" a voice shouted and a prisoner yelled and skipped with delight in the same video. A man watching the prisoners rush through the dawn streets put his hands to head, exclaiming with wonder: "Oh my god, the prisoners!" Throughout the civil war that began in 2011, security forces held hundreds of thousands of people seized into detention camps where international human rights organisations say torture was universal practice. Families were often told nothing of the fate of their loved ones. As insurgents seized one city after another in a dizzying eight-day campaign, prisons were often among their first objectives. The most notorious prisons in and around Damascus itself were finally opened on the uprising's final night and the early hours of Sunday. When they reached Sednaya prison, rebels shot the lock off the gate, a video showed, using more gunfire to open closed doors leading to cells. Men poured out into corridors and a courtyard, cheering and helping them open more cells. In a video uploaded by Step News Agency, a grey-haired man leapt into the arms of relatives in a sudden, disbelieving hug, the three men clasping each other and sobbing with joy before one fell to his knees, still clutching the freed man's legs. The pan-Arab Arabiya news channel showed a family arriving in Damascus by car from Jordan to meet their newly released son, the elderly mother's voice breaking with emotion as she told the interviewer he had been freed after 14 years. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the locations of some of the videos, though no one disputed that prisons were opened across the country. RELIEF AND TERROR In what was purported to be the women's block at Sednaya prison on the Damascus outskirts, perhaps the most notorious in the country, a rebel recorded the moment he reached cells and pulled open the doors for prisoners who seemed to have had little idea they were about to be freed. "May God honour you!" a woman shouted to the men freeing her. As they left their cells a toddler could be seen walking the corridor, having apparently been held in the prison along with his mother. "He (Assad) has fallen. Don't be scared," a voice shouts, trying to reassure the prisoners that they faced no more danger. In another video, a deafening roar erupted as rebels marched down a corridor, said to be in the prison at Mezzeh air base southwest of the old centre of Damascus. Prisoners leaned through the bars at the top of doors and banged on the sides of their cells as shouts of joy echoed all around. One video showed a shaven-headed man squatting on his heels, trembling and barely able to answer the rebels asking his name and where he was from. Over the years, thousands of Syrians were brusquely informed by authorities that their relatives had been executed, sometimes years earlier. The United States said in 2017 it had evidence of a new crematorium built at Sednaya especially to dispose of bodies of thousands of inmates hanged during the war. Some of the most disturbing information about Assad's prison system came with thousands of photographs smuggled out of Syria by a military photographer codenamed Caesar who defected to the West in 2013. His photographs of thousands of killed detainees showed clear marks of torture and starvation and for many families provided the first evidence that imprisoned relatives were dead. A few miles from Sednaya early on Sunday, a stream of freed prisoners was recorded walking towards Damascus, many lugging sacks of belongings on their backs, and chanting "God is great!" Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bewildered-elated-prisoners-pour-out-assads-jails-flung-open-2024-12-08/

2024-12-07 20:44

PARIS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Iran's acceleration in its enrichment of uranium to close to bomb grade is "extremely serious", has no civilian justification and contradicts Tehran's assertions on wanting serious nuclear negotiations, a Western diplomatic source said on Saturday. Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons. Its foreign ministry said on Saturday that Tehran's nuclear programme is under continuous supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Western diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the acceleration of enrichment was "in contradiction with Iran's declarations on its willingness to return to credible negotiations". "These measures have no credible civilian justification and could, on the contrary, directly fuel a military nuclear programme if Iran were to take the decision," the source said. Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, told Reuters on Friday that Iran was accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, approaching the about 90% level that is weapons grade. The IAEA later confirmed in a confidential report to member states the accleration in enrichment, a process that refines the raw material so that it can be used as fuel in civil nuclear power generation or, potentially, nuclear weapons. Responding to Grossi's remarks and the news of the confidential report, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday Iran's nuclear programme is carried out in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and other safeguards in a "completely transparent manner and under the supervision of the IAEA". "The recent activities have also been carried out with detailed information provided to the IAEA and are under its continuous supervision," Baghaei said, according to Iranian state media. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-nuclear-leap-extremely-serious-hurts-diplomacy-western-source-says-2024-12-07/

2024-12-07 13:48

DOHA, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Igor Sechin, the head of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab, on Saturday said he approved of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposals to defend domestic energy producers. Speaking at a conference in Qatar, he said that Trump's promises during his election campaign involved "fitting" economic measures, including protecting domestic energy producers and the market. Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20 is viewed with cautious optimism by some in Russia, though others in Moscow think another U.S. president will change little. Russia's ties with the United States under the Joe Biden administration tanked to a post-Cold War low over a number of issues, including the conflict in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on winning the U.S. election, praising him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect. Last month, Trump pledged big tariffs on the United States' three largest trading partners - Canada, Mexico and China - detailing how he will implement campaign promises, which many say could trigger trade wars. "It's not surprising that Canada, Mexico, China and Europe will have to suffer. After all, Donald Trump is the president of the United States, not Mexico or Canada," Sechin said. During his election campaign, Trump also pledged to boost domestic oil and natural gas output. Sechin also said that Trump would likely lift all restrictions on hydrocarbons production, reduce taxes and divert investments to the "real" energy sector from "illusory" alternative sources. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russias-oil-tsar-says-trumps-moves-defend-us-producers-fitting-2024-12-07/

2024-12-07 13:07

RABAT, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Morocco's state-owned rail operator, ONCF, is seeking $8.8 billion from investors to finance its expansion plan, the head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has said. He told reporters late on Friday after a three-day Africa Investment Forum in Rabat that investors were ready to extend ONCF more than the required amount, with financing offers totalling over $13 billion. AfDB partners with other banks and financial institutions for some large-scale development projects it finances across the continent. During the closed-door event, the bank could garner a total financing worth $29.2 billion for African development projects including water supply, energy, transport, private equity, tourism, infrastructure and pharmaceuticals. Morocco plans to extend its high-speed train network to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup, and further south to Agadir. The operator also aims to stretch its network to double the number of cities it serves to 43, or 87% of the Moroccan population, by 2040. ONCF was not immediately available to comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/moroccan-rail-operator-seeks-88-bln-funding-expansion-plan-2024-12-07/