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The British government would not “hesitate to protect” UK security amid ongoing tensions with Houthi rebels, Rishi Sunak has said.

The British military joined forces with the US on Thursday night as it launched attacks against Houthi bases in Yemen – in retaliation for the targeting of international trade in the Red Sea.

The prime minister said the aim of the action was to “de-escalate tensions in the region and actually restore stability back to the area”.

However, with questions swirling around over whether further action would be taken, he added the UK “will not hesitate to protect our security where required”.

Mr Sunak is due to give a statement in the Commons about the operation at around 3.30pm.

Politics live: Ministers would consider further action against Houthis, says Shapps

The US carried out a further strike in Yemen on Friday, but reports suggest only 25% of the Houthi capability to carry out attacks on cargo ships had been damaged.

More on Grant Shapps

Earlier, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News: “We never thought that this would remove all of their facilities. That wasn’t the goal. The goal was to send a very clear message.”

An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the U.S.-led coalition from RAF Akrotiri to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen
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An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US-led air strikes in Yemen

Describing Houthi attacks on the key shipping lane as “thuggery”, Mr Shapps also said there was no planned escalation of the action, and the UK’s “intention” was not to go into Yemen.

But he insisted the government would “monitor the situation very carefully”.

A spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces in the Houthi-controlled north of the country said in a televised statement the bombardment would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.

And it linked the strikes with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, saying it would not deter their support for the Palestinians.

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‘UK would consider further action against Houthis if needed.’

On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron denied any link between the Yemen strikes and the war in Gaza to Sky News, saying the action was “completely separate”.

But experts warned those in Arab nations would be unlikely to see it in the same way.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Sunak said: “We faced an escalating series of attacks from the Houthis on commercial shipping, including an attack on a Royal Navy warship. That’s unacceptable.

“It’s right that we took proportionate, targeted action against military targets to send a strong message that that behaviour is unacceptable.

“It was a last resort, it came after the end of exhaustive diplomatic activity including a UN Security Council.”

The prime minister added: “Now, I think it is incumbent on the Houthis to recognise the international condemnation for what they are doing and desist.

“But we, of course, will not hesitate to protect our security where required.”

Read more:
Reaction to Shapps interview – politics live
UK deploying 20,000 troops in NATO drill
How UK’s tactics in Red Sea echo WWII

Mr Sunak will make a statement on the military action in the Commons later on Monday, four days after the strikes.

He briefed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the strikes on Thursday, as well as the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Sir Keir said: “The action that the government took in conjunction with the US is action that we support.

“What we now need to hear from the prime minister is the scope, the basis, the full reasoning behind the decision that he took and of course the question of whether more action may be needed, and what processes will be put in place.”

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However, some MPs are angry ministers did not bring the issue to parliament before joining the US-led operation last week, with the Liberal Democrats demanding a retrospective vote on the issue.

Asked if he would support further strikes in Yemen, Sir Keir said: “If the government is proposing further action, then it should say so and set out the case and we’re going to have to consider that on a case by case basis on the merits.”

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Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

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Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Lawmakers in the US states of Minnesota and Alabama filed companion bills to identical existing bills that if passed into law, would allow each state to buy Bitcoin.

The Minnesota Bitcoin Act, or HF 2946, was introduced to the state’s House by Republican Representative Bernie Perryman on April 1, following an identical bill introduced on March 17 by GOP state Senator Jeremy Miller.

Meanwhile, on the same day in Alabama, Republican state Senator Will Barfoot introduced Senate Bill 283, while a bi-partisan group of representatives led by Republican Mike Shaw filed the identical House Bill 482, which allows for the state to invest in crypto, but essentially limits it to Bitcoin (BTC).

Twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly name Bitcoin

Minnesota’s Bitcoin Act would allow the state’s investment board to invest state assets in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and permit state employees to add crypto to retirement accounts.

It would also exempt crypto gains from state income taxes and give residents the option to pay state taxes and fees with Bitcoin.

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Source: Bitcoin Laws

The twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly identify Bitcoin, but would limit the state’s crypto investment into assets that have a minimum market value of $750 billion, a criterion that only Bitcoin currently meets.

26 Bitcoin reserve bills now introduced in the US

Introducing identical bills is not uncommon in the US and is typically done to speed up the bicameral legislative process so laws can pass more quickly.

Bills to create a Bitcoin reserve have been introduced in 26 US states, with Arizona currently the closest to passing a law to make one, according to data from the bill tracking website Bitcoin Laws.

Alabama, Minnesota lawmakers join US states pushing for Bitcoin reserves

Arizona currently leads in the US state Bitcoin reserve race. Source: Bitcoin Laws

Pennsylvania was one of the first US states to introduce a Bitcoin reserve bill, in November 2024. However, the initiative was reportedly eventually rejected, with similar bills also killed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Related: North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system 

Law, Bitcoin Regulation, United States, Policy, Bitcoin Reserve

Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wyoming are the five states thathave rejected Bitcoin reserve initiatives. Source: Bitcoin Laws

According to a March 3 report by Barron’s, “red states” like Montana have faced setbacks to the Bitcoin reserve initiatives amid political confrontations between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Additional reporting by Helen Partz.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

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US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

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US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

Update (April 3, 5:43 am UTC): This article has been updated to add information on the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act.

The US House Financial Services Committee has passed a Republican-backed stablecoin framework bill, which will now head to the House floor for a full vote.

The Committee passed the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act, with a 32-17 vote on April 2, with six Democrats voting in favor.

The bill was introduced on Feb. 6 by committee Chair French Hill and the chair of its Digital Assets Subcommittee, Bryan Steil — reportedly drafted with the help of the world’s largest stablecoin issue, Tether.

US House committee passes stablecoin-regulating STABLE Act

Source: Financial Services GOP

The bill would provide rules around payment stablecoins, a crypto token tied to a currency such as the US dollar, and aims to ensure issuers give information about their business and how they back their tokens.

During an earlier markup session, the committee’s leading Democrat, Maxine Waters, who later voted against the bill, criticized her Republican peers for “setting an unacceptable and dangerous precedent” with the STABLE Act.

She said President Donald Trump could use the bill to allow his family’s stablecoin to be used in government payments, and argued the bill validates Trump “and his insiders’ efforts to write rules of the road that will enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.”

In late March, the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture launched a stablecoin, World Liberty Financial USD (USD1). Meanwhile, the US Housing Department, which oversees social housing, was reportedly looking to experiment with using stablecoins for some of its functions.

Stablecoin GENIUS Act also weaves through Congress 

Other stablecoin-related bills are also working their way through Congress, including the Republican-led Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, which lays out oversight and reserve rules for issuers.

Related: Crypto has a regulatory capture problem in Washington — or does it?

The US Senate Banking Committee voted through the GENIUS Act in an 18-6 vote on March 13, after Senator Bill Hagerty, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, updated it following consultation with the Committee’s Democrats.

Before the vote, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the updated GENIUS Act made “significant improvements to a number of important provisions” in areas such as consumer protections and authorized stablecoin issuers.

Both the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act will now wait until debate time on the floor of the House and Senate, respectively, before they head for a floor vote.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on X that two unnamed crypto lobbyists said there is likely to be “a coordinated push behind the scenes over the next few weeks to get the two bills to mirror each other, as there are still some differences between them.”

Doing so would “avoid having to set up a so-called conference committee which is formed so members from both chambers can negotiate to create a final version of the bill everyone agrees on,” she added.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

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‘My lawyers are ready’ for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

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'My lawyers are ready' for questions about corruption claims, ex-minister tells Sky News

Tulip Siddiq has told Sky News her “lawyers are ready” to handle any formal questions about allegations she is involved in corruption in Bangladesh.

Asked whether she regrets apparent links with the Bangladeshi Awami League political party, Ms Siddiq said “why don’t you look at my legal letter and see if I have any questions to answer… [the Bangladeshi authorities] have not once contacted me and I’m waiting to hear from them”.

The London MP resigned as a Treasury minister in January after being named in several corruption inquiries in Bangladesh.

In her first public comments since leaving government, Ms Siddiq said “there’s been allegations for months on end and no one has contacted me”.

Last month, the interim leader of Bangladesh told Sky News the MP had “wealth left behind” in the country “and should be made responsible”.

Lawyers acting for Ms Siddiq wrote to the Bangladeshi Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago saying the allegations were “false and vexatious”.

The letter said the ACC must put questions to Ms Siddiq “by no later than 25 March 2025” or “we shall presume that there are no legitimate questions to answer”.

More on Bangladesh

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Staff from the NCA visited Bangladesh as part of initial work to support the interim government in the country.

In a post online today, the former minister said the deadline had expired and the authorities had not replied.

Sky News has approached the Bangladeshi government for comment.

The allegations against Ms Siddiq are focused on links to her aunt Sheikh Hasina – who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh for 20 years.

Ms Hasina was forced to flee the country in August following weeks of deadly protests.

She is accused of becoming an autocrat, with politically-motivated arrests, extra-judicial killings and other abuses allegedly happening on her watch. Hasina claims it’s all a political witch hunt.

Electrocuted on their genitals and mouths sewn up: Inside Bangladesh’s ‘death squad’ jails

Ms Siddiq was found to have lived in several London properties that had links back to the Awami League political party that her aunt still leads.

She referred herself to the prime minister’s standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus who said he had “not identified evidence of improprieties” but added it was “regrettable” Ms Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt.

Ms Siddiq said continuing in her role would be “a distraction” for the government but insisted she had done nothing wrong.

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