Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

AYODHYA, India (Reuters) - The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among...

Pakistan condemns deadly Iranian missile strike on its territory as an ‘unprovoked violation’

CNN —  Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned an Iranian airstrike inside its borders that killed two children, calling it an “unprovoked violation of its airspace” and warning of retaliation. Iran said it used “precision missile and drone strikes,” to destroy two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, known in Iran as Jaish al-Dhulm, in the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan’s...

Pantera Capital expects altcoins with proven protocols to outperform in upcoming cycle

Crypto investment firm Pantera Capital says tokens with promising underlying protocols and product market fit are set to outperform in the upcoming cycle. According to a new report from Pantera Capital, tokens with promising underlying protocols and a demonstrated product-market fit are expected to outperform in the upcoming cycle “just as one would expect across other asset...

Binance and Gulf Energy launch crypto exchange services in Thailand

Gulf Binance, a collaborative venture between global cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Thailand’s Gulf Innova, has officially launched its exchange services in Thailand. On Jan. 16, Binance TH announced that its exchange is now open to all eligible users. According to reports, it features a dedicated order book for Thai baht trading pairs. Additionally, the platform boasts seamless integration...

Trend Micro reveals new malware targeting crypto wallets on Windows

A new strain of info stealer Phemedrone Stealer appears to be targeting crypto wallets and messaging apps, analysts say. Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro recently uncovered a previously unknown malware strain, which was exploiting a now-patched security flaw in Microsoft Windows. According to a report from the Texas-headquartered firm, Phemedrone Stealer focuses on web browsers and extracts data from crypto...

Woman accused of killing Russian war blogger says handler lied about bomb

(Reuters) - A Russian woman accused of assassinating a prominent pro-war blogger told a court on Tuesday she had thought the package she handed to him in a St Petersburg cafe contained a listening device, not a bomb. Darya Trepova said she was acting under orders from a man in Ukraine whom she knew as "Gestalt"...

Congo police break up small protest over parliamentary election results

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday dispersed a small protest in the capital Kinshasa against the provisional results of the December legislative election, the latest flare-up in tensions over the disputed poll. Around 50 supporters of the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC) party briefly took to the streets...

Putin says Ukraine’s statehood at risk if pattern of war continues

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine's statehood could suffer an "irreparable blow" if the pattern of the war continued, and Russia would never be forced to abandon the gains it had made. Putin made his televised comments a day after Switzerland agreed to host a global summit at the request...

Russia’s Medvedev says any UK troop deployment to Ukraine would be a declaration of war

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that Moscow would regard any move by Britain to deploy a military contingent to Ukraine as a declaration of war against Russia. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, made the comments in response to a visit by...

US lawmakers urge SEC to fix cybersecurity after X account hack

U.S. lawmakers have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review its cyber security preparedness after the financial regulator's X account posted market material information earlier in the week due to a hack. Someone briefly accessed its X, formerly called Twitter, account on Tuesday, the agency had confirmed, and posted a fake message saying it...