Washington Financial News

Russia said on Thursday it intended to develop ties with North Korea, while not confirming a statement by the White House that Russian President Vladimir Putin had exchanged letters with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The White House said on Wednesday it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively, and said Putin and Kim had written to each other pledging to increase their cooperation.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not answer directly when asked by reporters if the letter exchange had taken place. «Moscow and Pyongyang maintain good, mutually respectful relations. We intend to develop them further.

Grayscale Investments to create a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, in a landmark victory for the asset manager that could pave the way for the first product of its kind. A panel of judges in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington said the securities regulator's denial of Grayscale's proposal was arbitrary and capricious because the SEC failed to explain its different treatment between bitcoin futures ETFs and spot bitcoin ETFs. The price of bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, was last up 5.75% at $27,609 following the decision. The ruling could be a boon for bitcoin, as a spot bitcoin ETF would provide investors the opportunity to gain exposure to the digital asset without having to purchase bitcoin via a retail exchange or custody the asset in a separate crypto wallet.

chips hub to hedge against China-related supply risks. Semiconductors are expected to be a focal point when US President Joe Biden visits Hanoi from September 10 with the goal of formally elevating ties between the two countries. He will offer Vietnam support to boost its chips production, US administration officials said. «Friendshoring» segments of the strategic semiconductors industry has been one of Washington's key inducements to persuade Vietnam's communist leaders to agree to formally upgrade relations.

Mitch McConnell's health has come under scrutiny once again following a second instance of him freezing up during a media event. The 81-year-old Kentucky senator, who has held significant political positions since 1984, faced a similar episode in July while addressing reporters in Washington. The latest occurrence, observed in Covington, Kentucky, raises questions about McConnell's ability to fulfill his congressional duties and leadership role amidst concerns about his well-being.

Washington, D.C., on Sunday after an altercation began over a McDonald’s sweet-and-sour sauce, police said.Naima Liggon, of Waldorf, Md., was stabbed outside a McDonald’s in a busy area of D.C. known for its nightlife, according to a press release from Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.Police were called to a nearby hospital shortly after 2 a.m.

Vivek Agnihotri and movie star Pallavi Joshi. «We are not Bollywood.

India all that much. This is disheartening, especially at a time when most Indians truly believe that everyone (except maybe the Chinese and Pakistanis) love them. According to the Washington-based Pew Research Centre, while 68% of Indian adults strongly believe that India's influence has risen in the world, only a median of 28% of adults in 19 other countries seem to agree. The survey by the phoren think-tank also says that barring Nigeria and Kenya, the favourability ratings for India have dipped in most countries.

Grayscale Investments is a big boost for the cryptocurrency industry's decade-long effort to launch an exchange-traded fund that tracks bitcoin, even if it does not immediately open the floodgates for such products. A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington on Tuesday ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission was wrong to reject Grayscale's proposed bitcoin ETF without explaining its reasoning, in a case that has been closely watched by the industry. The ruling requires the SEC to review Grayscale's application, meaning there is no certainty it will reach a different conclusion and greenlight the product. And the regulatory agency, which on Tuesday said it was studying the ruling, could appeal.

By Sarah N. Lynch

Leading hard fork project Bitcoin SV (BSV) has surged +10% overnight following the bullish news that the SEC will have to abandon the current legal argument used to prevent a Bitcoin spot ETF.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.1% annual pace from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, the government said in a downgrade from its initial estimate

A plane carrying Israelis home from the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles has made an emergency stop in Saudi Arabia before flying back to Tel Aviv

Washington | Australian tactical boat builder The Whiskey Project (TWPG) is seeking to raise $20 million for an expansion into the US to buildhighly specialised craft for US defence force use in shallow waters.

According to FT's report, the surveillance system is installed on subsea cable landing stations, which allows India's security agencies to snoop on the personal data and communications of its 1.4 billion citizens. Israel-based Septier has reportedly sold its lawful interception technology to telecoms groups including Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, the Vodafone Idea, and Singapore’s Singtel. According to the promotional video of Septier, its technology extracts “voice, messaging services, web surfing and email correspondence" of targets.

President Joe Biden is touting his administration's efforts to lower medical costs

crisis hotline for the first time sent a message between the world's superpowers. Communicated by Washington to Moscow, the message dated August 30, 1963 was more about testing every letter of the English keyboard than about addressing immediate conflict: «THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK 1234567890.» But since then, the famed hotline has worked to manage tensions — or to send warnings — between Washington and Moscow, whose relations have plunged to new lows over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The hotline became reality in the wake of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with president John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreeing that the world came too close to nuclear war. Never a literal telephone as depicted in movies, the hotline was originally a clunky telegraph machine with cables under the Atlantic and Europe that each side would test every hour. The Pentagon, which managed US communications, would often send trivia such as baseball scores while the Kremlin preferred excerpts from classic Russian literature, Howard Patrick, a linguist who helped operate the first machine, said in a 2014 interview with the Pioneer Press in Minnesota. He said there was shock when the hotline was first put to actual use — a message from the United States to officially inform the Soviets that Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. The tool's first use to avert conflict took place in 1967 during the Six-Day War in the Middle East.

A plane carrying Israelis home from the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles has made an emergency stop in Saudi Arabia before flying back to Tel Aviv

A company has bid $5.6 million to lease federal waters off the Louisiana coast for wind energy generation

TikTok, Reddit, Pinterest and X, formerly Twitter. Meta said the operation, known in the security community as “Spamouflage," dated back to 2019 and was linked to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement. Meta said the China network was pushing positive commentary about the country as well as criticism of the U.S.

The Biden Administration weakened protections for wetlands on Tuesday

By Pete Schroeder