Tag Archives: Awaited

World

Sri Lanka protest sites calm as president’s resignation awaited

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  • President Rajapaksa on way to Singapore from Maldives-source
  • Sri Lanka interim president imposes curfew in Colombo
  • Protesters to hand back president, prime minister’s residences

COLOMBO, July 14 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s main city, Colombo, was calm on Thursday as people waited for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives to escape a popular uprising that erupted as the country struggled with an economic crisis.

Rajapaksa was on his way to Singapore from the Maldives on Thursday, a Sri Lankan government source said. His decision on Wednesday to make his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting president triggered more protests, with demonstrators storming parliament and the premier’s office demanding that he quit too. read more

Rajapaksa had repeatedly assured the speaker of parliament that he would step down on Wednesday, but his resignation letter had not arrived as of Thursday, said an aide to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

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The speaker could seek the advice of the attorney general on the next steps if the letter did not come by the end of the day, said the aide, who did not want to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.

Inside the president’s residence, ordinary Sri Lankans wandered the halls, taking in the building’s extensive art collection, luxury cars and swimming pool.

“The fight is not over,” said Terance Rodrigo, a 26-year-old student who said he has been inside the compound since it was taken over by protesters on Saturday along with the prime minister’s official residence.

“We have to make society better than this. The government is not solving people’s problems.”

The usual protest sites, however, were calm and organisers said they would hand the residences back to the government.

“With the president out of the country … holding the captured places holds no symbolic value any more,” Chameera Dedduwage, one of the organisers, told Reuters.

Wickremesinghe, nevertheless, imposed a curfew in Colombo from noon (0630 GMT) to early morning on Friday in a bid to prevent further unrest.

Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a head last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods and corruption.

HOSPITALISATIONS OVERNIGHT

Police said one person was killed and 84 injured in clashes between riot police and protesters on Wednesday near the parliament building and the prime minister’s office, as people demanded the ouster of both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe.

Police spokesman Nalin Thalduwa said the man who died was a 26-year-old protester who succumbed after he was injured near the prime minister’s office.

The area around parliament was deserted on Thursday morning. Police manned a barricade on the approach road. Nearby, life returned to normal, with shops open and plenty of cars on the road.

The night before, an intersection there was packed with several hundred protesters and ambulances regularly ferried the injured out of the area.

“We want Ranil to go home,” Malik Perera, a 29-year-old rickshaw driver who said he took part in the protests, said on Thursday. “They have sold the country, we want a good person to take over, until then we won’t stop.”

Sitting in a park opposite the entrance to parliament, he showed bruising on his back that he said he received during the clashes.

Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left the main international airport near Colombo on an air force plane early on Wednesday. Maldives media said he was now waiting to fly to Singapore.

Government sources and aides said the president’s brothers, former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, were still in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s parliament is expected to name a new full-time president on July 20, and a top ruling party source told Reuters Wickremesinghe was the party’s first choice, although no decision had been taken. The opposition’s choice is their main leader Sajith Premadasa, the son of a former president.

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Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan and Waruna Karunatilake; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Terra LUNA 2.0 Price Plunge 60% Following The Much Awaited Airdrop

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Terra’s Airdrop brings the month of May to a close, which began with the collapse of Terra’s LUNA 2.0 and TerraUSD (UST). However, after only a few hours of circulation, the new renamed Terra prices plummeted.

LUNA Airdrop Is Live

In order to restore Terra, DO Kwon, the founder, and the community came up with a few ideas. The majority of the vote went in favor of rebranding the former chain Tera Classic and creating a new chain called Terra (LUNA) (LUNC). Fresh tokens will be distributed to specific sorts of holders as part of the approach.

Today was the day when Block 1 of the new Terra blockchain was created, as per Terra. Meanwhile, just hours after the new token’s introduction, its value plummeted by 60%. As per the sources, Terra (LUNA) 2.0 started the trade between $17 and $18. Then the price rallied towards the $20 level.

At the moment, Terra’s pricing has bottomed at $6.30. The company’s trading volume has increased by 2408% to $97.5 million. On the other hand, the Terra Classic price hit $0.

1 Billion People To Receive The Airdrop

Terra already informed that customers who are eligible for the LUNA airdrop can look into their wallets for the new Chain and they must pick the Phoenix-1 network. However, it’s only the 1 billion people who will be receiving the Airdrop.

Pre-attack LUNA holders will receive 35% of the total, with 30% going to the community pool. Next, the UST holders will gain 15% of the airdrop after the post-attachment period.

Further, Terra states that users can put their liquid LUNA in a variety of products. It can be staked on the Terra station in exchange for incentives and a say in governance choices.

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Technology

Google quietly launches its awaited ‘Switch to Android’ app on iOS – TechCrunch

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Last year, reports began circulating that Google was developing a “Switch to Android” app for iOS users looking to make the jump from iPhone to a smartphone running Google’s Android OS. Now that app has arrived. On Monday, Google quietly launched the Switch to Android app on the App Store in a number of global markets, including the U.S. As expected, the app promises to make the transition between mobile platforms easier to manage by helping users import their contacts, calendar, photos, and videos to their new Android phone.

The app also instructs users how to turn off Apple’s iMessage in order to get text messages on their new device and has them connect with iCloud to migrate their photo and video library to Android.

Image Credits: Google

Google’s Switch to Android website has not yet been updated to indicate the new app is available and the company hasn’t officially announced its launch. The app is also not appearing on Google’s developer page on the App Store or in App Store search results. It can only be found when clicking the direct link.

Currently, the Switch to Android website guides users through the standard process for moving to Android which involves users backing up their contacts, calendar, photos, and videos via the Google Drive iOS app before changing devices.

The company’s plan to develop a standalone app for iPhone-to-Android switchers was first uncovered last year, when the website 9to5Google dug into the code within Android’s official Data Restore Tool and spotted a reference to a Google-developed Switch to Android app for iOS. The site just last month noted the app appeared to have gained the ability automatically migrate a users’ photos and videos from iCloud to Google Photos, also based on mentions in another Android app’s code.

There have been other hints that Google has been working to make it easier for users to shift their media content to its own platform and services through backend developments. Recently, Google announced an update to the Google Photos app that offered a way for mobile device owners to copy over photos from rival cloud storage services, including iCloud, Facebook and others. Before, transfers had to originate from Facebook or iCloud, not from Google’s app itself.

Unfortunately, one thing Google’s new Switch to Android iOS app doesn’t help with is migrating a users’ applications. This is likely due to limitations as to what third-party apps can access on the user’s device. Apps aren’t supposed to scan the user’s iPhone to extract a list of all the other apps a user has installed, that is.

In its App Store description, the new app promotes its ability to handle moving users’ content between devices without the use of “fussy cables,” meaning the two phones don’t have to be physically linked together to complete the process, as an added perk.

Google’s app is arriving many years after Apple’s app that helped switch Android users to iPhone. Back in September 2015, Apple launched its Move to iOS app for Android users which, notably, was its first app on Google Play (besides those from its acquisition Beats.). Similarly, its app helped to migrate users’ data including their Camera Roll, Messages, Google Account, Contacts, and Bookmarks.

The app is publicly available from the URL here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1581816143.

Google didn’t provide comment ahead of publication, but later reached out to alert us to the fact that the app is not currently available for download in the iOS app store — as we had already noted in our original story above.

Updated 4/13/22, 3:50 PM ET with Google’s comment.  

 

 

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Business

What Are The Possibilities Of U.S. Getting The Long Awaited Bitcoin ETF?

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The crypto market topped $2 trillion this week, a month after Bitcoin went below $30,000. Speculation rises again when the U.S. will get a Bitcoin ETF, 8 years after the Winklevoss twins tried to gain SECs approval. The ETF is expected to hold the first global digital asset and also track its price tag.

Towards ending of July, ProFunds took a remarkable step in the direction of the SEC-approved Bitcoin ETF. They are the asset manager and have launched the initial Bitcoin futures mutual funds. The funds are to hold only Bitcoin futures contracts, maybe Canadian money market instruments and ETFs.

Related Reading | Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Seek To Introduce Bitcoin Funds

Notably, SEC chair Gary Gensler stated a week after that SEC would appreciate a Bitcoin ETF with a related strategy. This is a statement that can increase the rate of ETF application.

Major Firms To Introduce Crypto ETFs

With the increasing popularity of ETFs among institutions and retail investors, many asset managers wish to launch a cryptocurrency ETF. The crypto ETF is diversified, simplified, accessible, and cheap to gain market exposure in some aspects.

The assets are pooled, and investors can pay small amounts to the fund and spread it across the market. The key feature is that investors pay taxes on capital gains when they make sales, and liquidation is instant.

Undoubtedly, Bitcoin has gained a lot of attention due to its return on investment which has been astronomical though volatile. Additionally, with the increased inflation rates, some companies and investors now use cryptos to hedge risk.

BTC has maintained an upward momentum and seeks to climb above $50k | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Mishra, during research, revealed investors’ opinions on Bitcoin and Gold maintaining their value even when the dollar value depreciates. Neena is the ETF research director at Zacks Investment Research.

The Bitcoin ETF proposed shows the investors’ interest in accessing the product; it was later approved in February. Within two months of its trading, the ETF rolled in over 1billion Canadian dollars.

Possibilities of Bitcoin ETF

There are deliberations that the U.S. lags far behind in crypto and Bitcoin ETF regulation, including those within the SEC ranks. However, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and other countries have legalized crypto ETPs (exchange-traded products). An ETP is simply an investment tool that trades on any (crypto) exchange; it must not be an ETF.

Related Reading | Ethereum Founder States Token-Based Decentralized Governance Stops DeFi Sector From Growing

Canada has recorded a boom in cryptocurrency funds after approving its initial crypto ETF this year. Such funds include the ETF (BTCQ), the 3iQ CoinShares, and the Evolve Bitcoin ETF (EBIT).

The CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCX) is the ETF having the lowest available fees with 0.95% annual fees. It was launched in March and had an asset worth $254 million.

The regulators in Canada have always surpassed the U.S in approving various kinds of ETFs, Mishra stated. In addition, they are faster in approving futures-based psychedelic and marijuana investment products, she added. Lastly, Mishra notes that the U.S seems to be very conservative.

Featured image from Pixabay, and chart from TradingView.com

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US

Oath Keepers Plotting Before Capitol Riot Awaited ‘Direction’ From Trump, Prosecutors Say

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Days before the riot, prosecutors say, Mr. Caldwell reached out to a contact associated with another group, the Three Percenters, an extremist gun rights militia that takes its name from the supposed three percent of the U.S. colonial population that fought the British Army. In a text message, Mr. Caldwell suggested finding a boat that “could handle a Potomac crossing” and could carry a “Quick Response Team” with “heavy weapons” to militia members already at the Capitol.

Mr. Caldwell asked a federal judge to release him from custody this week, saying he was an injured Navy veteran with more than 30 years of experience with top-secret matters. He also noted that while he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, he was not part of the “stack” of Oath Keepers in tactical military gear that physically breached the building.

In the papers filed on Thursday, prosecutors countered that that hardly mattered given that Mr. Caldwell was “a key figure who put into motion the violence that overwhelmed the Capitol.” They noted that in his text messages he described killing and mutilating people who held views that opposed his and referred to political adversaries as “socialists,” “savages,” “maggots” and “cockroaches.”

When federal agents searched Mr. Caldwell’s house in Virginia last month, they discovered a document titled “Death List” that contained the name of an unidentified election official from another state, prosecutors said. The agents also found a pistol that was “intentionally built to look like a cellphone,” prosecutors say.

In a search of Ms. Watkins’s home, court papers say, agents discovered numerous firearms, a paintball gun, pool cues cut down to “baton size,” plastic zip ties and a recipe for making “a destructive device.”

Prosecutors say Ms. Watkins may have had this arsenal because she believed the prospect of Joseph R. Biden Jr. becoming president was “an existential threat.”

“Biden may still be our president,” she wrote in a text message on Nov. 17. “If he is, our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights.”

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