Britain will launch a financial market infrastructure “sandbox” next year for testing DLT projects under control of regulators. The sandbox is a testing environment for projects involving real customers. A new financial services bill currently before parliament will include the sandbox, as well as regulation for stablecoins. Britain will begin live testing of crypto blockchain … Read more
LONDON: Britain is attempting to confirm reports that Russia deployed chemical weapons in a strike on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to the country’s top ambassador on Monday. Western officials have previously expressed fear that if Russia’s February 24 invasion of its neighbour turns into a protracted confrontation, it may resort to more … Read more
BERLIN – Russia on Thursday condemned US President Joe Biden’s vow of a “severe” response to any invasion of Ukraine as “destabilising”, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened talks with key European allies for a common strategy against Moscow. The Kremlin’s reaction came after Biden in Washington assessed that Vladimir Putin will “move … Read more
BEIJING: The Beijing Winter Olympics begin one month on Tuesday with diplomatic boycotts, the coronavirus and the fate of Peng Shuai all hanging heavy over the Games. The Chinese capital on February 4-20 will become the first host of a Winter and Summer Olympics, having staged the Games in 2008, seen then as a coming-out party for … Read more
LONDON: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte have called for January’s League Cup semi-finals to be switched to one-legged ties to ease fixture congestion. Spurs have a backlog of three Premier League fixtures due to postponements for bad weather and coronavirus outbreaks among the squad, while Liverpool have also been impacted by … Read more
LIVERPOOL: Premier League fans will be subject to vaccine passport checks to enter stadiums from Wednesday, but fears are rising over how long the English top-flight can continue in front of capacity crowds as the Omicron variant sweeps across Britain. Tottenham’s trip to Brighton and Manchester United’s visit to Brentford have been postponed due to … Read more
LONDON: Manchester United’s match at Brentford on Tuesday was postponed as the English Premier League reported a record number of Covid-19 cases, with the virus threatening to disrupt the busy Christmas fixture list. It came hours after the Old Trafford club closed their Carrington training complex because of several players and staff members testing positive for coronavirus. … Read more
ABIDJAN: A ground-breaking vaccine against malaria has stoked hopes in Africa of rolling back a disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives a year, many of them youngsters. Since 2019, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have immunised more than 800,000 children under a pilot programme using the RTS,S vaccine. It is the first to show significant protection … Read more
LONDON: A British coroner will on Friday deliver the conclusions of his inquest into the 2004 sinking of a French trawler in UK waters, which killed five people. Judge Nigel Lickley heard weeks of evidence last month on how the Bugaled Breizh sank suddenly off Cornwall, southwest England, despite good weather 17 years ago. The bodies of … Read more
The Black Sea Fleet of Russia is monitoring the movement of the US-guided missile destroyer USS Ross, which entered the Black Sea on Saturday, the Russian Federation’s National Defense Administration said. He has threatened to attack and destroy the US warship if it tries to violate the Russian border. Earlier, after the incident in the … Read more
