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Sept 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin isn't the only asset experiencing a late summer slump. It has shrunk by almost a tenth this year, standing at $124.4 billion as of Sept. 14. A jump in the dollar index on interest rate hikes last year was accompanied by a big rise in stablecoin volumes, he added. Yet all is not equal: Dollar-pegged Tether, the biggest stablecoin, is bucking the losing trend. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Michelle Price and Pravin CharOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: James Butterfill, CoinGecko, Paolo Ardoino, Paxos, USDC, TerraUSD, Dante Disparte, it's, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price Organizations: U.S ., New York Department of Financial Services, U.S, Silicon, Bank —, Thomson, Reuters Locations: South America, Central Asia, U.S, Washington

Aziz Umerov looks at a portrait of his sister Leniye Umerova, a Ukrainian from Russian-annexed Crimea arrested in Russia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 11, 2023. A Reuters review of Rudenko's social media account on Telegram didn't find any messages critical of the war. Russia's top investigative body, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office didn't respond to requests for comment on the phenomenon of carousel arrests or individual cases. A Reuters review of Russian court records identified seven cases of carousel arrests this year, with the suspects involved arrested and jailed between two and five times in succession. Not all "carousel" arrests lead to more serious criminal charges, and for some detainees, time spent behind bars is frightening enough.

Persons: Aziz Umerov, Leniye Umerova, Gleb Garanich, Rudenko's, Yulia Kiselyova, he'd, Kiselyova, Ivan Vtorushin, Valeriya, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Alexei Navalny, Lauren McCarthy, McCarthy, Gevorg, Dmitry Golovlyov, Aleksanyan, Rudenko, Mike Collett, White Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Investigative, Interior Ministry, First Department, PUTIN, WHO, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Federal Security Service, of Russia Legion, Russia Legion, Thomson Locations: Russian, Crimea, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Bucha, Rudenko, Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian

While breezy bitcoin has bounced back, leaping by about 55% this year, investments in crypto startups have dropped for the fifth straight quarter. VC crypto bets totaled just under $2.3 billion in April-July this year, the lowest quarterly level for over three years, according to data firm PitchBook. In the first half of 2023, investments were down by almost three-quarters from a year ago to $5 billion. Those that are raising capital now are probably doing it because they have to," said Adam Reeds, CEO of Toronto-based crypto finance company Ledn. VC crypto investments have correlated with crypto asset prices with a lag of roughly three to six months, according to PitchBook, and if current trends continue, VC investment would rise during the second half of 2023.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tal Elyashiv, Crypto, Cameron Peake, Adam Reeds, Alyse Killeen, Medha Singh, Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Tom Wilson, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Arrows Capital, Restive Ventures, LayerZero, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Toronto, Bengaluru

Hands hold the biometric imaging device, the Orb, of the identity and financial public utility Worldcoin, which aims to create a World ID digital passport, with a tradeable cryptocurrency, in Berlin, Germany August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File PhotoAug 8 (Reuters) - Worldcoin has no problem attracting eyeballs. More than 2.2 million people have signed up, getting their irises scanned in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free crypto. The new project from ChatGPT founder Sam Altman aims to create a blockchain-based "identity and financial network". PitchBook analyst Robert Le said there were several startups trying to build blockchain-based digital identity systems, but none on Worldcoin's scale.

Persons: Annegret, Sam Altman, WLD, Gordon Grant, Andreessen Horowitz, Robert Le, James Butterfill, Worldcoin, It's, Riyad Carey, Elizabeth Howcroft, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Genesis, Reuters Graphics, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Pravin Char, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Berlin, Germany, Kenya

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 29, 2023. Less than two hours after news of the charges broke, Trump's campaign blasted out an email to supporters seeking donations, titled: BREAKING: PRESIDENT TRUMP INDICTED. In the week following the indictment, the campaign sent out 34 fundraising emails directly referencing the criminal charges, according to a Reuters review of campaign communications. Following the indictment, Trump's support rose to 49% in an April 21-24 survey while DeSantis slipped to 23%. He raised much less money in the days after his second indictment, according to campaign finance disclosures.

Persons: Donald Trump, Lindsay DeDario, Ron DeSantis, Trump, speechwriters Ross Worthington, Vince Haley, Haley didn't, grapples, Attorney Alvin Bragg, TRUMP, Chris Jackson, DeSantis, Bragg, DANIELS, reimbursements, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, reimbursing Cohen, Daniels, Trump's, Adam Geller, Republican pollster, Geller, Nathan Layne, Karen Freifeld, Tim Reid, Jason Lange, Ross Colvin, Pravin Organizations: U.S, Republican, REUTERS, White, Conservative Political, Trump, Reuters, Worthington, Manhattan, Attorney, Republicans, Prosecutors, Manhattan District, Thomson Locations: Erie , Pennsylvania, U.S, Maryland, York, Georgia, East Palestine , Ohio, Florida, Manhattan, Miami, Bedminster , New Jersey

☆ Insight: Wegovy weight-loss injection factory plagued by sterile-safety failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Microbial contamination of drugs injected into the body, rather than swallowed, can be deadly, the people said - although the FDA inspectors didn't report any signs of this sort of contamination at the Brussels factory. In both visits, the FDA inspectors found Catalent staff had repeatedly failed to investigate why equipment was malfunctioning. BLINDSIDED BY BOOMING DEMANDWithin months of launching Wegovy, Novo Nordisk was overwhelmed by demand in America, and told shareholders that its initial supply would not keep pace. From December that year and throughout 2022, Novo repeatedly pushed out the timeline for when the supply constraints would end. In late December 2022, Novo announced all five dose strengths were available again in the United States.

Persons: Wegovy, Catalent, Eli Lilly, LLY.N, Susan Bain, Karsten Munk Knudsen, Ambre James, Brown, James, Knudsen didn't, Steven Lynn, Lynn, David Talmage, didn't, Novo, Maggie Fick, Vincent Flasseur, Michele Gershberg Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, FDA, Novo Nordisk, University of Southern, Novo executives, Novo, U.S, Manufacturing, Parenteral Drug Association, Thomson Locations: U.S, Brussels, Danish, University of Southern California, Wegovy, Novo, America, United States

July 25 - XRP has become the unlikely white knight of crypto, thwarting its regulatory foes and dragging the market out of the doldrums. Its market cap has ballooned to $36 billion from $25 billion and its crypto market share to 3.5% from 2% before the ruling, according to CoinMarketCap. The market cap of XRP, the token issued by Ripple, increased by more than 60% after a U.S. judge ruled in its favour. XRP VS STABLECOINSIt's certainly not all smooth sailing for Ripple, or altcoins more generally, though. Ripple Labs said last week that its pursuit of sound crypto regulation in the U.S. was far from concluded.

Persons: XRP, it's, Matteo Greco, Ben Weiss, STABLECOINS, stablecoins, Joseph Edwards, Edwards, Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Medha Singh, Pravin Organizations: Ripple Labs, Fineqia, SEC, Enigma Securities, Pravin Char, Thomson, Reuters Locations: U.S, cryptoland, altcoins, ethereum, Bengaluru

[1/5] A Domino's staff member stands next to a sign for a 49-rupee pizza at a restaurant in Noida, India, July 4, 2023. A: With the world's cheapest Domino's pizza. "You are coming to the store or open the app, because there is a 49-rupee callout," he said, adding that Domino's global team supported the plans. Domino's global HQ referred queries about India to its local franchisee. When Khetarpal visited Domino's stores in Chennai and other cities, he said he saw customers emptying out their pockets and only being able to scrape together 49 rupees.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, Sameer Khetarpal, Khetarpal, Merrill Pereyra, They'll, Akshay Jatia, Westlife, It's, Devanshu Bansal, Kiran Raj, Praveen Paramasivam, Aditya Kalra, Saurabh Sharma, Jatindra, Brenda Goh, Hilary Russ, Abhirup Roy, Miyoung Kim, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, India, Sapphire Foods, Domino's, Burger King's, Restaurant Brands, Euromonitor, Yum Brands, Global Financial Services, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Noida, India, CHENNAI, DELHI, America, Shanghai, San Francisco, Burger, zeroing, Pizza, New Delhi, Chennai, Burger King's India, United States, U.S, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, New York, Singapore

"High level, we want this to become something like your personal AI friend," said developer Div Garg, whose company MultiOn is beta-testing an AI agent. The race towards increasingly autonomous AI agents has been supercharged by the March release of GPT-4 by developer OpenAI, a powerful upgrade of the model behind ChatGPT - the chatbot that became a sensation when released last November. GPT-4 facilitates the type of strategic and adaptable thinking required to navigate the unpredictable real world, said Vivian Cheng, an investor at venture capital firm CRV who has a focus on AI agents. OpenAI itself is very interested in AI agent technology, according to four people briefed on its plans. There are at least 100 serious projects working to commercialize agents, said Matt Schlicht, who writes a newsletter on AI.

Persons: Siri, Alexa, Tony Stark's, Kanjun Qiu, Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman, Qiu, OpenAI, Vivian Cheng, CRV, Aravind Srinivas, Jarvis, Yoshua Bengio, Satya Nadella, Apple's Siri, it's, Google, Edward Grefenstette, Jason Franklin, WVV Capital, Hesam Motlagh, Matt Schlicht, Anna Tong, Jeffrey Dastin, Kenneth Li Organizations: Microsoft, Google, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Reuters, FTC, OpenAI's, Financial Times, Amazon, Alexa, Investors, WVV, Google Ventures, Entrepreneurs, Thomson Locations: Silicon, Jarvis, GPT, Cognosys, San Francisco, Palo Alto

Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance.US, two of the largest crypto exchanges by market share among those operating in America, have lost ground this year. Bitstamp's global market share among exchanges operating in the U.S. has risen to about 9%. Coinbase and LMAX declined to comment on the data, while Binance.US - the American affiliate of the world's largest crypto exchange - didn't respond to a request for comment. It may not be that simple for hungry challengers to grab market share, according to market players. In years gone by, crypto exchanges could swiftly gobble up business by offering access to a swathe of coins.

Persons: Sam Bankman, FTX, Ravi Doshi, Guy Hirsch, Bobby Zagotta, Wade Guenther, Doshi, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, LMAX, Genesis, Bitstamp, Reuters Graphics, Wilshire, Thomson, Reuters Locations: United States, America, Binance.US, U.S, Bitstamp USA, solana, Washington

"I question whether the state party has the necessary expertise to spend the money well," he said. Kristina Karamo, chair of the Michigan state party, didn't respond to a request for comment for this story. The Arizona party, meanwhile, raised roughly $139,000 in the first three months of this year, according to state and federal filings. But the state party's organizational heft will be hard to replicate, said Jeff Timmer, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. "But not having the state party well funded is detrimental to many Republican campaigns next year," he added.

Persons: Ron Weiser, Weiser, Donald Trump, Trump, Seth Masket, Kelli Ward, Joe Biden, It's, Jim Click, Kristina Karamo, Ward, Jeff DeWit, haven't, Karamo, Matt Johnson, Jason Roe, DeWit, Zlaticanin, Jeff Timmer, Timmer, Jonathan Lines, Tim Reid, Nathan Layne, Ross Colvin, Pravin Organizations: Michigan Republican Party, Republicans, White, U.S . Congress, Republican Party, Michigan, University of Denver, Arizona, Justice Department, Trump, Democratic, Reuters, Republican National Committee, Republican, Biden, Thomson Locations: Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina, Detroit, New Arizona

Some also said the tragic end, when it came, was precipitated by the actions of the Greek coastguard. after a Greek coastguard vessel attached a rope to the bow of the trawler and began to pull it while picking up speed. The shipping ministry, which oversees the coastguard, told Reuters it couldn't comment on issues that were the subject of a confidential and ongoing investigation by prosecutors. Nikos Spanos, a retired admiral in the Greek coastguard, told Reuters it was unlikely that a coastguard vessel would have attempted such a dangerous manoeuvre as towing the stricken trawler. Three survivors told authorities they paid anywhere from 50 to 200 euros ($55-220) extra for places on the outer deck, considered safer.

Persons: Stelios Misinas, Adriana, haven't, Mohamed, Nikos Spanos, Renee Maltezou, Jonathan Saul, Riham, Rachel Armstrong, Pravin Organizations: Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, Greek coastguard, coastguard, Reuters, GO, Thomson Locations: Greece, Kalamata, KALAMATA, North Africa, Italy, Greek, GO ITALY, Pylos, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Tobruk, Europe, Tunisia, Libya, Athens, London, Berlin

BlackRock filed for a prospective spot bitcoin ETF on June 15, undeterred by the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) past record of rejecting every such application. Bitcoin's market value has grown to comprise nearly half of the $1.1 trillion overall crypto market, its highest share in over two years, according to data tracker CoinMarketCap.com. Since the BlackRock filing, Invesco and WisdomTree have also reapplied for spot bitcoin ETFs after they had previous applications rejected by the regulator. Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar, said a spot bitcoin ETF could be a more cost-effective way for investors to trade. "It doesn't appear that most crypto ETF holders are institutional – assets are pretty spread out," he added.

Persons: Satoshi, Exchange Commission's, Satoshi Nakamoto's, Mikkel Morch, hasn't, Andrew Bond, Rick Meckler, Bryan Armour, I'd, David Wells, Medha Singh, Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Pravin Organizations: BlackRock, Securities, Exchange, SEC, Rosenblatt Securities, U.S, Cherry Lane Investments, Reuters Graphics Reuters, North America, Morningstar, MorningStar, TrackInsight, Morgan Asset Management, State, Enclave Markets, Pravin Char, Thomson, Reuters Locations: United States, U.S, New Vernon , New Jersey, J.P, BlackRock, Bengaluru

[1/5] Participants react with Pride rainbow flags as they attend the Badilika festival to celebrate the LGBT rights in Nairobi, Kenya, June 11, 2023. Some regional lawmakers frame the issue as an almost existential battle to save African values and sovereignty, which they say have been battered by Western pressure to capitulate on gay rights. Spokespeople for the Kenyan presidency and government didn't respond to requests for comment about the proposed bill. Several called for legislation to strengthen penalties for same-sex acts, including the deputy majority leader, who said gay sex could be punished by hanging. President William Ruto, an evangelical Christian, has criticized a February supreme court decision allowing an LGBT rights group to register as a non-governmental organization.

Persons: Mohamed Ali doesn't, Ali, Weeks, Bill, Yoweri Museveni, Annette Atieno, John Agany, Jacqueline Ngonyani, Ngonyani, Damas Ndumbaro, William Ruto, Peter Kaluma, Uganda's, Kaluma, U.S . State Department didn't, Stella Kachina, Marylize Biubwa, Lorna Dias, Dias, Nuzulack Dausen, Waakhe Simon Wudu, Daphne Psaledakis, Estelle Shirbon, Aaron Ross, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Kenyan, National Gay, Human Rights Commission, U.S . State Department, East, NAIROBI PRIDE, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of, Thomson Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, NAIROBI, East Africa, Juba, United, Africa, Entebbe, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, Ruto, Dar es, Washington

Henriette Borgund knows attackers can find weaknesses in the defences of a big renewables power company - she's found them herself. She joined Norway's Hydro (NHY.OL) as an "ethical hacker" last April, bringing years of experience in military cyberdefence to bear at a time of war in Europe and chaos in energy markets. They're nervously monitoring a hybrid war where physical energy infrastructure has already been targeted, from the Nord Stream gas pipelines to the Kakhovka dam. It said Russia had tried to destroy digital networks and cause power cuts, and that missile attacks on facilities were often accompanied by cyberattacks. "Companies in the energy space, their core business is producing energy, not cybersecurity," said Jalal Bouhdada, CEO of cybersecurity firm Applied Risk, a division of DNV.

Persons: Nora Buli, Henriette Borgund, she's, shoring, Michael Ebner, cyberattacks, didn't, Swantje Westpfahl, James Forrest, Cem Gocgoren, Stephan Gerling, Mathias Boeswetter, Leonhard Birnbaum, Jalal Bouhdada, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, America Hernandez, Paris Pavel Polityuk, Guy Faulconbridge, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Norway's Hydro, Reuters, Hydro's Oslo, Hydro, Ukraine, cyberattacks, Germany's Institute for Security, TRITON, Triton, Svenska, ICS CERT, University of Tulsa, E.ON, " Companies, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Fosen, Norway, Ukraine, OSLO, LONDON, FRANKFURT, Europe, Nord, Russia, Ukrainian, Moscow, United States, Russian, Capgemini, Saudi, Swedish, DNV, Oslo, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Kiev

Over 50 cryptocurrencies worth over $100 billion in total and making up about 10% of the overall market, are now viewed by the SEC watchdog as securities, according to CCData. Among major players, for example, solana , polygon and cardano have sunk between 23% and 32%. Bitcoin and ether weren't named in the SEC's lawsuit, nor were stablecoins such as tether and USC Coin. By contrast, bitcoin investors who have held their coins for more than five months appeared relatively calm and accounted for just 1.9% of deposit volume. Investment products tracking altcoins have seen positive - albeit small - net inflows this year, in contrast to bitcoin and ether, Coinshares data showed on Monday.

Persons: Vetle Lunde, Ryan Rasmussen, solana, Lucas Kiely, Alex Thorn, Noelle Acheson, James Butterfield, Lisa Mattackal, Medha Singh, Pravin Organizations: U.S, SEC, K33 Research, solana, Securities, Bitwise Asset Management, Reuters Global Markets, Cardano Foundation, Solana Foundation, Reuters, Polygon Labs, Reuters Graphics Reuters, USC, BTC, ETH, Firmwide Research, Galaxy Digital, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: cardano, altcoins, Bengaluru

☆ HIV alarm in Uganda as anti-gay law forces LGBT 'lockdown'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, June 8 (Reuters) - The HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on Earth. "The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now," he said. 'AFRAID TO LEAVE HOME'A rare patient visiting the Kampala clinic said he despaired at the new legislation. In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, PEPFAR provided $418.4 million in funding to Uganda, more than half of the country's HIV/AIDS treatment budget. The Ugandan bill toughened up an existing British colonial-era law, under which gay sex was already illegal.

Persons: Andrew Tendo, Yoweri Museveni, it's, Mary Borgman, Museveni, Joe Biden, PEPFAR, Borgman, Lillian Mworeko, Ugandans, Museveni didn't criminalise, Tendo, Aaron Ross, Pravin Organizations: Ice Breakers Uganda, REUTERS, Uganda AIDS Commission, US, AIDS Relief, National Security Council, East African, International, Thomson Locations: Makindye, Salaama, Kampala, Uganda, Abubaker, KAMPALA

June 6 (Reuters) - It's a tense time for bitcoin investors. The capricious cryptocurrency's been uncommonly quiet over the past four weeks, bound in the range of $28,452 and $25,800. Bitcoin's volatility index is near 64, well below the 2023 peak of 116.5 touched in January, according to CryptoCompare. "Trading volatility, buying options in the absence of a price move, that's what people might do in this market." Market positioning indicates the maximum pain level for the June 2023 options expiry for bitcoin is at around $24,000, which could act as a support or resistance level, according to analysts at Bitfinex.

Persons: CryptoCompare, Noelle Acheson, Matthew Weller, Luuk Strijers, Strijers, Thomas Kralow, Medha Singh, Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Pravin Organizations: bitcoin, BULLS, Kralow, Pravin Char, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Bengaluru

Guardia Civil/Handout via REUTERSMADRID, June 1 (Reuters) - Spanish police raided three clandestine tobacco factories early this year, seizing nearly 40 million euros ($44 million) worth of tobacco leaf and illicit cigarettes. This operation is one of dozens across the EU that regional policing and anti-fraud agencies say have driven seizures of illicit cigarettes to record levels. It may have been further accelerated by the war in Ukraine, which for years has been a production hub and transit route for illicit tobacco, OLAF added. TOBACCO INVESTIGATORSThe industry has responded by hiring investigators to research illicit operations and share intelligence with European authorities, executives at Japan Tobacco, BAT and Imperial Brands told Reuters. "A good many workers from Ukraine have been found in these illegal factories," Japan Tobacco's Byrne said about counterfeiting operations across the EU.

Persons: who'd, OLAF, Cyrille Olive, Philip Morris, Olive, Europol, Vincent Byrne, Byrne, Japan Tobacco's Winston, Alex McDonald, Ernesto Bianchi, McDonald, Japan Tobacco's Byrne, They're, they're, Richa Naidu, Emma Pinedo, Emilio Parodi, Matt Scuffham Organizations: Guardia Civil, REUTERS, Spanish, EU, BAT, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Reuters, Marlboro, America's Dunhill, Supplies, Investigators, Mobile, Thomson Locations: Seville, Spain, Guardia, REUTERS MADRID, Alfaro, Europe, Ukraine, British American, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, Japan, China, Asia, EU, Russia, Belarus, Roda de Ter, Barcelona, Spanish, Italy, Pomezia, Russian, Moldovan, London, Madrid, Milan

loadingWhile major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made efforts to prohibit and remove deepfakes, their effectiveness at policing such content varies. In total, about 500,000 video and voice deepfakes will be shared on social media sites globally in 2023, DeepMedia estimates. Jon Smith, Republican chair for Michigan's 5th Congressional district, is holding several educational meetings so his allies can learn to use AI for social media and ad generation. Political consultancies are also seeking to harness AI, further muddying the line between real and unreal. Democratic polling and strategy group Honan Strategy Group is meanwhile trying to develop an AI survey bot.

But he'll stay home on Election Day should Trump win his party's nomination to take on Joe Biden in 2024. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, the size of the Ukrainian-American community outstrips Trump's margin of victory in 2016, according to the analysis. During a CNN town hall last week, Trump refused to say if he wanted Ukraine to win its war with Russia, when questioned about the conflict. Neither politician responded to requests for comments about the Ukraine war, nor did the Republican National Committee. Democratic U.S. Representative Susan Wild, who won Stawnyczyj's district by less than 5,000 votes in 2022, said that courting the Ukrainian-American vote would be crucial.

☆ Traitor next door? Fear stalks Kherson after Russian occupation ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Elizabeth Piper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Nonetheless, her garden walls in the Ukrainian city of Kherson are covered with graffiti marking her out as a Russian collaborator. Fear and suspicion stalk the streets of Kherson, a southern port that was occupied by Russian troops for over eight months before they were driven out by Ukrainian forces in November. More than 5,300 collaboration cases have been registered across the country, according to the prosecutor general's website. Cases of collaboration can point to the tough choices people have to make when trying to survive under occupation. He left the business to his workers, who had to register with the Russians and take Russian passports, and fears they could be prosecuted once the occupation ends.

Pepe, a coin inspired by an anthropomorphized frog popular in internet memes, leapt nearly 7,000% in the 17 days after its April 16 launch, hitting a market value of $1.8 billion by May 5, according to data tracker CoinGecko. "It's almost like, if the market is not moving up fast enough, traders find these smaller tokens to trade with." Since its launch in April, the token linked to Pepe the frog has raced up the list of meme coins in terms of market value. Binance says on its website that pepe has "no utility" or "value support mechanism". The centralized listings also opened the door for derivative trading for pepe, with leveraged exposures and volatility pushing Ethereum transaction fees higher, Devens said.

☆ How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/3] Danil Yugoslavsky gets ready at Civic Council’s Warsaw office, hours before crossing into Ukraine, in Warsaw, Poland, January 15, 2023. Max Smit, who crossed into Ukraine with Yugoslavsky, had never held a weapon before he joined the RVC. And there are some who think that fighting for the motherland is their cause," said Galeotti, naming the Rusich Group and ENOT Corp among far-right paramilitary units fighting on Russia's side. That's still a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and volunteers fighting in Ukraine, and the thousands of foreigners that have been fighting Russian forces there. According to Sokolov, RVC fighters received regular salaries from the Ukrainian defence ministry.

Reuters interviews with Kar and a dozen other voters in Antakya reflected anger over what some viewed as a slow initial government response to the disaster. The voices are a small snapshot of Antakya and the wider area of southern Turkey hit by the earthquake, a region home to nine million voters and traditionally an Erdogan stronghold. Only 4.3% of voters viewed the quake as Turkey's biggest problem last month, with most more concerned by an economy racked by rampant inflation. Nearby, excavators resound as they demolish some of the 80-90% of buildings estimated to have suffered quake damage. The opposing sides present very different narratives about Erdogan and his government's response to the disaster.

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