Reuters: World

U.S. lawmakers unveil bipartisan bid to ban China's TikTok Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced bipartisan legislation to ban China's popular social media app TikTok, ratcheting up pressure on owner ByteDance Ltd amid U.S. fears the app could be used to spy on Americans and censure content. The legislation would block all transactions from any social media company in or under the influence of China and Russia, Rubio's office said in a news release, adding that a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives was sponsored by Republican congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi. read more

Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas after U.S. files charges FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas at the behest of U.S. prosecutors on Monday, the day before he was due to testify before Congress about the abrupt failure last month of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The arrest marks a stunning fall from grace for the 30-year-old entrepreneur widely known by his initials SBF, who rode a boom in bitcoin and other digital assets to become a billionaire many times over until FTX's rapid demise. The exchange, launched in 2019 and based in the Bahamas, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 11 after it struggled to raise money to stave off collapse as traders rushed to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours. Since then it emerged Bankman-Fried secretly used $10 billion in customer funds to prop up his trading business. read more

Saudi foreign minister: 'All bets off' if Iran gets nuclear weapon Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Sunday that Iran's Gulf Arab neighbours would act to shore up their security if Tehran were to obtain nuclear weapons. Indirect U.S.-Iranian talks to salvage a 2015 nuclear pact between global powers and Iran, which Washington exited in 2018, stalled in September. The U.N. nuclear chief has voiced concern over a recent announcement by Tehran that it was boosting enrichment capacity. "If Iran gets an operational nuclear weapon, all bets are off," Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said in an on-stage interview at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi when asked about such a scenario. read more

China's Xi calls for oil trade in yuan at Gulf summit in Riyadh President Xi Jinping told Gulf Arab leaders on Friday that China would work to buy oil and gas in yuan, a move that would support Beijing's goal to establish its currency internationally and weaken the U.S. dollar's grip on world trade. Xi was speaking in Saudi Arabia where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted two "milestone" Arab summits with the Chinese leader which showcased the powerful prince's regional heft as he courts partnerships beyond close historic ties with the West. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and economic giant China both sent strong messages during Xi's visit on "non-interference" at a time when Riyadh's relationship with Washington has been tested over human rights, energy policy and Russia. read more

Factbox: Paul Whelan, ex-U.S. Marine jailed in Russia on spying charges Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony on espionage charges, did not figure in a prisoner exchange on Thursday involving U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, despite months of speculation that he would be included. Whelan was detained by agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room in Moscow's Metropol Hotel, near the Kremlin, on Dec. 28, 2018. Investigators said he was a spy for military intelligence with a rank of colonel or higher, and had been caught red-handed with a computer flash drive containing classified information. read more

Heinrich XIII: the prince suspected of plotting to be German kaiser in coup Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is one of the last descendents of a dynasty that once ruled over swathes of eastern Germany. He is suspected of hoping to become the country's new leader in a violent coup to overthrow the democratic order. The 71-year-old was one of 25 members and supporters of a far-right group planning the alleged putsch who were arrested early on Wednesday in nationwide raids, according to the authorities. The real estate developer has for years publicly advocated the theory life was better worldwide under monarchy. He stems from House of Reuss, which for centuries ruled over parts of present-day Thueringen state until Germany's 1918 revolution that led to the establishment of the Weimar Republic. read more

Germany arrests 25 suspected of violent far-right plot to install prince Germany on Wednesday detained 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that prosecutors said were preparing a violent overthrow of the state, with some members suspected of plotting an armed attack on the parliament. Prosecutors said the group was inspired by the deep state conspiracy theories of QAnon and the Reichsbuerger, who do not recognise the legitimacy of modern Germany, insisting the far larger "Deutsche Reich" still existed despite the Nazis' defeat in World War Two. The plot envisaged a former member of a German royal family, identified as Heinrich XIII P. R. under Germany's privacy law, as the leader in a future state while another suspect, Ruediger v. P., was the head of the military arm, the prosecutors' office said. read more

Khamenei calls for overhaul of Iran's cultural system Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday called for "revolutionary reconstruction of the country's cultural system", state media reported, as nationwide protests kept up pressure on the authorities. "It is necessary to revolutionise the country's cultural structure... the supreme council should observe the weaknesses of culture in different fields of the country," Khamenei said during his meeting with a state cultural council. Iran has been rocked by unrest since the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in police custody after her arrest for “inappropriate Islamic attire”. read more

Russia deploys defence missile system on Kuril island near Japan Russia's defence ministry has said it has deployed mobile coastal defence missile systems on a northern Kuril island, part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates to the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The Russian Bastion systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km (310 miles), were deployed on the island of Paramushir, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday. read more

Putin drives across Crimea bridge in a Mercedes President Vladimir Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months since an explosion tore through one of the Kremlin chief's showcase infrastructure projects. The 12-mile (19 km) road and rail bridge, which was personally opened by Putin in 2018, was bombed on Oct. 8 in an attack Russia said was carried out by Ukraine. Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, was shown on state television behind the wheel of a Mercedes, asking questions about where the attack took place. Putin also walked along parts of the bridge, Europe's largest, to inspect sections that are still visibly scorched. read more

U.S. railroad investor resolutions urge paid sick leave for workers Investors have proposed shareholder resolutions at two U.S. railroads calling for paid sick leave for workers, an issue that nearly caused a national rail strike, and they could go to an advisory vote at shareholder meetings in the spring. On Friday President Joe Biden signed legislation to block a rail shutdown that could have devastated the American economy. But the deal he approved did not include paid sick days for workers, a key sticking point for unions in contract talks with five major U.S. railroads. read more

Protests in Malta as parliament debates abortion amendment The protest, the biggest in years, attracted several thousand people including Malta's top Catholic bishop and the leader of the conservative opposition, but was led by a former centre-left president, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. "We are here to be the voice of the unborn child," said 19-year-old university student Maria Formosa, one of the speakers at the rally. “Through abortion, life is always lost.” Some of those present carried placards reading slogans such as "Keep abortion out of Malta" and "Protect our children". They also chanted "No to abortion, yes to life". read more