Israel-Hamas war: Border Force teams set up in Egypt to help citizens – if they can leave Gaza

Published

2 years ago

October 27, 2023

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Border Force teams are “prepared and ready” to evacuate British citizens trapped in Gaza.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday border officials are pre-positioned in Egypt so that if the Rafah border crossing opens, “we’re ready to get them in and bring them back”.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, told Sky News on Friday morning this still needs to be negotiated but the border force teams were there “in preparation”.

She said: “We’ve been in intense discussions with partners in the region, but we want the Border Force to be there to be prepared and ready if and when we can get the hostages out.

“So it’s preparation so that we can be there, so we’ve got everything available if we can get them out.

“But right now we still need to agree that and it still needs to be facilitated.”

‘Calling for a pause’

Asked if she was optimistic the Rafah Crossing could open, she said: “We’re still in the same position, we’re calling for a pause to allow for humanitarian aid in and we’re calling for the safe passage for British national passport holders to get out.”

Mr Sunak said he was pushing for a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to reach Palestinians and also create a “safer environment” for UK citizens to leave the bombarded 25-mile strip.

“It is not something we can do immediately but when the moment arises, we’ll be ready to take it quickly,” he said during an event in central London about artificial intelligence.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza is the only border point in the territory not controlled by Israel.

Israel has only in recent days agreed to allow aid into Gaza through the crossing, having besieged the Hamas-ruled area to prevent essentials such as water, food and fuel from reaching more than two million Palestinians.

The border crossing into north-east Egypt is likely to be the main exit route for those trapped in Gaza but it is currently closed other than for the aid deliveries – with Cairo reportedly blaming Israeli bombings around the area for it not being open for foreign nationals to pass through.

Backing ceasefire could ‘cross a line’

The government is calling for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting but has stopped short of backing a ceasefire.

Asked about the difference, Ms Keegan said this morning that “we don’t want to cross that line” of telling Israel it has “anything but the right to defend itself”.

Labour has backed this position despite dozens of its MPs calling for a ceasefire.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed has said he understands and empathises with Labour colleagues who disagree with the party’s stance.

However he told Sky News that if the attack Israel suffered had happened in the UK, “our state would have sought to defend ourselves to protect our citizens by dismantling the capability of a terrorist organisation that carried it out, that applies to Israel too, they have the right under international law to do that.”

Israel is conducting air strikes and raids on Gaza in its fightback against Hamas’s assault on October 7 that saw at least 1,400 people, mainly civilians, killed on Israeli soil and hundreds of people taken hostage.

Fewer than five Britons are believed to be among the hostages as officials fear that some of those missing have been killed.

However many more, including the parents-in-law of Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, are trapped in the territory.

Welfare benefits ‘without delay’

As well as stationing border force officials in Egypt, the government has also announced that British citizens fleeing the conflict will be exempt from residency tests and able to get easier access to benefits and other services after arriving in the UK.

Those fleeing the war in the wider region of Lebanon and the West Bank will also be able to claim universal credit, as well as disability and child benefits, “without delay”, and access social housing and housing assistance if needed.

The government said it would also ensure that money paid under the victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme would not be counted when working out entitlement to income-related benefits.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “We’ve been working quickly to ensure British nationals arriving from Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon can receive the support and security they need during a time of unspeakable turmoil.

“As the UK continues to step up its response to the fast-moving circumstances in the region, the regulations which come into force today will speed up access to benefits, ensuring those eligible can access the help they need.”

The government said that where arrivals do not have immediate accommodation available, local authorities may provide emergency overnight accommodation before supporting people into more secure accommodation.

Those who meet the exemption will be supported more quickly but it will not impact who local housing authorities should prioritise for social housing, the government said.

Politics

SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

Published

53 mins ago

April 30, 2025

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SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

PayPal says the US Securities and Exchange Commission has abandoned its investigation into the payment giant’s US-dollar stablecoin.

PayPal said in an April 29 regulatory filing that the SEC concluded its investigation into PayPal USD (PYUSD) and wouldn’t be taking any action.

The company said it received a subpoena from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement over its stablecoin in November 2023.

“The subpoena requests the production of documents. We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with this request,” PayPal stated at the time.

In its latest filing, the firm said the SEC notified it in February that the agency “was closing this inquiry without enforcement action.”

PayPal has said its stablecoin is 100% redeemable for US dollars and “fully backed” by dollar deposits, including short-term treasuries and cash equivalents.

However, the stablecoin has struggled to gain momentum in a crowded market dominated by rivals Tether and Circle. PYUSD has a market capitalization of just $880 million, less than 1% of Tether’s (USDT) $148.5 billion.

PayPal’s stablecoin has seen better growth this year with a 75% increase in PYUSD circulating supply since the beginning of 2025, according to CoinGecko. It remains down 14% from its peak supply of just over $1 billion in August 2024.

Earnings on PYUSD, Coinbase partnership

That growth could be bolstered by a company announcement on April 23 introducing rewards for PYUSD in a new loyalty offering that will enable US users to earn 3.7% annually for holding the asset on the platform.

Meanwhile, on April 24, PayPal announced a partnership with Coinbase to increase the adoption of PYUSD.

“We are excited to drive new, exciting, and innovative use cases together with Coinbase and the entire cryptocurrency community, putting PYUSD at the center,” said Alex Chriss, PayPal President and CEO.

The payments giant also reported robust first-quarter earnings and the completion of significant share repurchase activities.

The firm beat Wall Street estimates, earning $1.33 per share in the first quarter, topping analyst expectations of $1.16. Revenue rose 1% from a year before to $7.8 billion.

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BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

Published

1 hour ago

April 30, 2025

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BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

Asset manager BlackRock has filed to create digital ledger technology shares from one of the firm’s money market funds, which will leverage blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for investors.

The DLT shares will track BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX), which may only be purchased from BlackRock Advisors and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the firm said in its April 29 Form N-1A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money market fund holds over $150 million worth of assets, invested almost entirely in US Treasury bills and cash.

BlackRock said that the shares “are expected to be purchased and held through BNY, which intends to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers.”

Unlike the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), DLT shares won’t be tokenized but will instead be used as a transparency tool to verify ownership.

BlackRock will continue to maintain traditional book-entry records as the official ownership ledger.

BlackRock didn’t propose a ticker or set a management fee for the DLT shares in its filing.

A minimum initial investment of $3 million worth of DLT is required for institutions seeking to purchase the digital shares.

BlackRock follows Fidelity’s March 21 filing to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class, which seeks to track the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) — an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.

While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, Fidelity expects it to take effect on May 30.

Wall Street heavyweights continue to explore blockchain use cases

Asset managers have increasingly turned to blockchain to tokenize Treasury bills, bonds and private credit over the past few years.

The treasury tokenization market is currently valued at $6.16 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL at $2.55 billion, while the Franklin Templeton-issued Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI) secures over $700 million worth of real-world assets, according to rwa.xyz.

Ethereum remains the chain of choice for tokenizing treasury assets, and currently houses over $4.55 billion worth, while the Stellar network and Solana round out the top three at $474.9 million and $274.5 million, respectively.

The potential of RWA tokenization has also been championed by BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, who believes the technology could revolutionize investing.

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

Politics

US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2025

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US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control can’t restore or reimpose sanctions against the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, a US federal court has ruled.

Austin federal court judge Robert Pitman said in an April 28 judgment that OFAC’s sanctions on Tornado Cash were unlawful and that the agency was “permanently enjoined from enforcing” sanctions.

Tornado Cash users led by Joseph Van Loon had sued the Treasury, arguing that OFAC’s addition of the platform’s smart contract addresses to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list was “not in accordance with law.”

OFAC had sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, accusing the protocol of helping launder crypto stolen by the North Korean hacking collective, the Lazarus Group.

The agency dropped the platform from the sanctions list on March 21 and argued that the matter was “moot” after a court ruled in favor of Tornado Cash in January.

This latest amended ruling prevents OFAC from re-sanctioning Tornado Cash or putting it back on the blacklist.

Initially, the court denied a motion for partial summary judgment and granted in favour of the Treasury. However, the Fifth Circuit reversed the decision and instructed the lower court to grant partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, which led to the sanctions being revoked.

In March, the Treasury argued there was no need for a final court judgment in the lawsuit.

Crypto body petitions White House over Tornado Cash

On April 28, the DeFi Education Fund petitioned White House crypto czar David Sacks to have prosecutors drop charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm.

Storm was charged in August 2023 with helping launder over $1 billion in crypto through the protocol, and his trial is still set for July.

The group said that the Department of Justice was attempting to hold software developers criminally liable for how others use their code, which they argued was “not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States.”

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