🇺🇸🇫🇷🛳⚡️🇵🇭🇦🇺❌🇨🇳 — 🇷🇺 Russian channel Rybar on Telegram:

"🇨🇳🇺🇸🇵🇭 Rising tensions in the South China Sea

Yesterday, the multinational exercise Balikatan 2024 kicked off in the Asia-Pacific region with the participation of the United States, the Philippines, Australia and France.

▪️The maneuvers will take place in several areas, including the islands of Palawan and Luzon, as well as the Batanes archipelago. The activities will involve land, sea and air components.

▪️As in previous Balikatan exercises, the emphasis is on joint actions of several countries at the outbreak of a full-fledged conflict, where China is the enemy.

▪️Given the growing level of escalation in the region, one should expect provocative steps by the coalition in the disputed Spratly Islands and Scarborough Reef, where various incidents regularly occur between China and the Philippines.

▪️It is characteristic that some of the events will take place not only in the territorial waters of the Philippines, but also in the exclusive economic zone, the right to which is disputed by the PRC. That is why the exercises look especially provocative.

❗️The Chinese, in turn, responded as expected: at least two WZ-7 drones operate on a regular basis along the territorial waters with the Philippines, monitoring the activities of opponents.

High resolution map"

🔗 Source:

‼️💵💸🕯📈USDJPY has reached a new high since '90, trading over 155 Yen per US Dollar!

‼️👀USDJPY monthly chart since 1970

🇺🇸❌🤠👺Founders And CEO Of Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Arrested And Charged With Money Laundering And Unlicensed Money Transmitting Offenses.

Founders and CEO of "Samourai wallet" and Bitcoin mixing service "Whirlpool" arrested and charged with money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting offenses.

Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill Are Charged with Operating Samourai Wallet, an Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business That Executed Over $2 Billion in Unlawful Transactions and Laundered Over $100 Million in Criminal Proceeds.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founders-and-ceo-cryptocurrency-mixing-service-arrested-and-charged-money-laundering

🇪🇺❌🤠👍👁👺 EU votes to ban anonymity for crypto and increase monitoring of users

➡️ The Anti-Money Laundering Regulation passed a final vote in the European Parliament.

➡️ The bill compels crypto firms to collect more data on users.

➡️ Tools providing anonymity services will be banned under the bill.

Crypto may lose some of its promise of privacy and self-banking after the European Union voted to crank up the monitoring of the industry in a bill targeting money laundering in financial institutions and risky ventures.

The bill passed by the European Parliament will force crypto firms to collect more data on users and their transactions, enforce stronger monitoring of non-custodial wallets, and ban tools bolstering anonymity such as crypto mixers and privacy tokens.

https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/eu-parliament-passes-anti-money-laundering-bill/

🇨🇳🥇📈🚀 Chinese retail investors drive gold surge on Shanghai exchange

Gold’s astonishing surge this year baffled analysts until a new player emerged: Chinese retail investors flooding the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Despite global pressures like rising Treasury yields and a strong dollar, SHFE’s volumes tripled, driving gold prices skyward. With China’s historical affinity for gold and recent market turbulence, the influx signals a significant shift in gold trading dynamics. But as prices waver, the debate over SHFE’s impact on the global gold market intensifies.

https://www.biznews.com/gold/2024/04/24/chinese-investors-drive-gold-surge

🌍📈Between November 2023 and April 10, the number of active cryptocurrency users from the Middle East and North Africa using the Bitget platform grew by more than 1,400%. Bitget’s strong performance in the Middle East and North Africa is attributed to the region’s perceived high adoption rates and the generally friendly landscape for cryptocurrencies.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitget-cites-high-adoption-rates-in-mena-following-1400-surge-in-regions-active-users/

🇺🇸❌🔷US SEC expected to deny spot ether ETFs next month, industry sources say

U.S. issuers and other firms expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to deny their applications to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the price of ether after discouraging meetings with the agency in recent weeks, four people said.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-sec-expected-deny-spot-ether-etfs-next-month-industry-sources-say-2024-04-25/

🧠 🧠TSMC unveils 1.6nm process technology with backside power delivery, rivals Intel's competing design

TSMC announced its leading-edge 1.6nm-class process technology today, a new A16 manufacturing process that will be the company's first Angstrom-class production node and promises to outperform its predecessor, N2P, by a significant margin. The technology's most important innovation will be its backside power delivery network (BSPDN).

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/tsmc-unveils-16nm-process-technology-with-backside-power-delivery-rivals-intels-competing-design

🛢🤝🇳🇦🛢OPEC excited about Namibia partnership, offers support

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is excited about a potential partnership with Namibia and ready to support the southern African country in its oil journey, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said on Wednesday.
The OPEC+ oil producers' group, having lost Angola and other players in recent years, is looking at Namibia for possible membership as it aims to start pumping oil by the next decade following a string of big discoveries.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-excited-about-namibia-partnership-sec-gen-says-2024-04-24/

🌍📊 — LATAM: The most highly rated Latin American leaders are Nayib Bukele (79%), Luis Lacalle Pou (61%), and Javier Milei (46%); and the lowest-rated is Nicolás Maduro with just 4%.

Cadem_cl (@Cadem_cl) on 𝕏 🖇

🌐📉📃 — Over the past half hour, netizens reported that the popular "Reddit" forum community is down and showing problems worldwide.