‘All conditions now in place’ to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, says minister

Published

1 year ago

January 30, 2024

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The government believes “all the conditions are now in place” for a return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland following a deal reached with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he was looking forward to the “restoration of the institutions at Stormont as soon as possible” following a near two-year suspension by the DUP in protest against post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Politics latest: Stormont power-sharing deal struck

Mr Heaton-Harris, who said the deal represented a “significant development, denied the agreement was a “secret” deal in response to a question from Sky News.

Asked by deputy political editor Sam Coates what had changed, and whether there were going to be fewer checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the minister replied: “There are some significant changes but you’ll have to wait until the… all-party talks are finalised.

“And when I publish the deal in parliament, everyone will see what it is.”

Pressed on whether there could be a deal on the basis of a “secret package?”, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “It’s not a secret package.

“It’s been a negotiation, and the negotiation has been between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK government.”

The Northern Ireland secretary said all of the parties in Northern Ireland were not being briefed on the deal and that he would be in a position to reveal the details once they had been finalised.

Although he did not reveal specific details, Mr Heaton Harris confirmed a financial package of £3.3bn will be available to the incoming executive.

“I believe that all the conditions are now in place for the Assembly to return, and I look forward very much to the restoration of the institutions at Stormont as soon as possible,” he said.

He also praised DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson for his “leadership” and said it has “never been in doubt” that Sir Jeffrey’s “prime concern was to secure and reinforce Northern Ireland’s place in the union”.

In the early hours of this morning Sir Jeffrey said his party would restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, subject to the UK government tabling and passing new legislative measures as agreed in negotiations.

Ministers are walking a tightrope to get Stormont up and running

Sam Coates

Deputy political editor

@SamCoatesSky

The government is walking the wobbliest of tightropes to try and get Stormont back up and running.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has just welcomed the DUP decision to go back into Stormont.

But he has done so on the basis of a deal that the other parties in Northern Ireland, MPs and the EU haven’t seen.

Indeed the people making the decision on Monday night – the DUP executive – haven’t seen it either.

Mr Heaton-Harris simply wouldn’t be drawn on specifics – was DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson right to say there would be no checks at all on goods from NI to GB? He simply said we’d have to wait to tomorrow to see the deal.

Why the secrecy – fear of DUP having second thoughts? Fear of the EU claiming this is a breach of the Windsor Framework?

Just because they’re delaying answers to these questions doesn’t mean we won’t get them.

He said the package of measures, once delivered, would provide the basis for the return of devolved government.

Power-sharing, the mechanism by which a Stormont executive is formed under the Good Friday Agreement, was collapsed by the DUP‘s refusal to allow a speaker to be nominated in 2022.

The DUP, which won fewer seats than the republican Sinn Fein party for the first time in 2022’s election, highlighted its opposition to Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal with the EU, which it argues has created a border down the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain – a contravention of its principles.

Speaking after Mr Heaton-Harris’s conference, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly had been “a long time coming”, but added: “We are very pleased we are at this juncture.”

She went on to say she was aware there further work to be done and that “society has really suffered from the absence of government over the last two years”.

“I very much welcome the fact that the DUP have moved to explicitly recognise and respect the outcome of that Assembly election, and we look forward to getting the job done.”

When the executive is restored, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill is set to become Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister – which Ms McDonald described as “a mark, I suppose, of the extent of change that has occurred here in the north, and indeed, right across Ireland”.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long also said she had “bittersweet emotions” following the announcement of the deal.

“I am pleased that we are now potentially in a position to see the restoration of the institutions and to be able to actually start doing all of our jobs after a two-year block on that,” she said.

“I admit I am still slightly stinging from the fact that we have lost that two years, that the damage that has been done can’t simply be undone.”

Under the Good Friday agreement, Northern Ireland operates under a power-sharing model where at least two parties agree to govern together to form a government.

The executive is made up of the job of first minister and deputy first minister.

Following the 2022 election result, in which Sinn Feinn emerged as the largest party, Ms O’Neill is set to be first minister while the DUP will pick the deputy first minister.

Politics

EU could fine Elon Musk’s X $1B over illicit content, disinformation

Published

5 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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EU could fine Elon Musk’s X B over illicit content, disinformation

European Union regulators are reportedly mulling a $1 billion fine against Elon Musk’s X, taking into account revenue from his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, according to The New York Times.

EU regulators allege that X has violated the Digital Services Act and will use a section of the act to calculate a fine based on revenue that includes other companies Musk controls, according to an April 3 report by the newspaper, which cited four people with knowledge of the plan.

Under the Digital Services Act, which came into law in October 2022 to police social media companies and “prevent illegal and harmful activities online,” companies can be fined up to 6% of global revenue for violations.

A spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, declined to comment on this case to The New York Times but did say it would “continue to enforce our laws fairly and without discrimination toward all companies operating in the EU.”

In a statement, X’s Global Government Affairs team said that if the reports about the EU’s plans are accurate, it “represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech.”

“X has gone above and beyond to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe,” X’s global government affairs team said.

European Union, Elon Musk — *Source:* *Global Government Affairs*

Along with the fine, the EU regulators could reportedly demand product changes at X, with the full scope of any penalties to be announced in the coming months.

Still, a settlement could be reached if the social media platform agrees to changes that satisfy regulators, according to the Times.

One of the officials who spoke to the Times also said that X is facing a second investigation alleging the platform’s approach to policing user-generated content has made it a hub of illegal hate speech and disinformation, which could result in more penalties.

X EU investigation ongoing since 2023

The EU investigation began in 2023. A preliminary ruling in July 2024 found X had violated the Digital Services Act by refusing to provide data to outside researchers, provide adequate transparency about advertisers, or verify the authenticity of users who have a verified account.

X responded to the ruling with hundreds of points of dispute, and Musk said at the time he was offered a deal, alleging that EU regulators told him if he secretly suppressed certain content, X would escape fines.

Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner for internal market, said in a July 12 X post in 2024 that there was no secret deal and that X’s team had asked for the “Commission to explain the process for settlement and to clarify our concerns,” and its response was in line with “established regulatory procedures.”

Musk replied he was looking “forward to a very public battle in court so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

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Coinbase Institutional files for XRP futures trading with CFTC

Published

5 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Coinbase Institutional files for XRP futures trading with CFTC

US crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch futures contracts for Ripple’s XRP token.

“We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures — bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets,” stated Coinbase Institutional on April 3.

The firm added that it anticipates the contract going live on April 21.

According to the certification filing, the XRP (XRP) futures contract will be a monthly cash-settled and margined contract trading under the symbol XRL.

The contract tracks XRP’s price and is settled in US dollars. Each contract represents 10,000 XRP, currently worth about $20,000 at $2 per token.

Contracts can be traded for the current month and two months ahead, and trading will be paused as a safety measure if spot XRP prices move more than 10% in an hour.

“The exchange has spoken with FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) and market participants who support the decision to launch a XRP contract,” the firm stated.

Coinbase is not the first to launch XRP futures in the United States. In March, Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial announced the launch of the “first-ever CFTC-regulated XRP futures in the US.”

XRP futures trading is available on many of the world’s leading centralized crypto exchanges, such as Binance, OKX, Bybit and BitMEX.

Funding rates remain negative

In late March, Cointelegraph reported that XRP derivatives’ funding rates had flipped negative as investor sentiment turned bearish.

Funding rates are periodic payments between traders in perpetual futures markets that help keep the futures price aligned with the spot price. Positive funding rates mean that long traders (buyers) pay short traders, while negative funding rates mean short traders (sellers) pay long traders.

When funding rates go negative, it means short traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain their positions, indicating strong conviction from bearish derivatives traders.

XRP funding rates remained negative on major derivatives exchanges as of April 4, according to CoinGlass.

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

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Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech

Published

8 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao will begin advising the Kyrgyz Republic on blockchain and crypto-related regulation and tech after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s foreign investment agency.

“I officially and unofficially advise a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks and blockchain solutions for gov efficiency, expanding blockchain to more than trading,” the crypto entrepreneur said in an April 3 X post, adding that he finds this work “extremely meaningful.”

His comments came in response to an earlier X post from Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov announcing that Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency (NIA) had signed a memorandum with CZ to provide technical expertise and consulting services for the Central Asian country.

The NIA is responsible for promoting foreign investments and assisting international companies in identifying business opportunities within the country.

“This cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening technological infrastructure, implementing innovative solutions, and preparing highly qualified specialists in blockchain technologies, virtual asset management, and cybersecurity,” Zhaparov said.

The Kyrgyzstan president added: “such initiatives are crucial for the sustainable growth of the economy and the security of virtual assets, ultimately generating new opportunities for businesses and society as a whole.”

Kyrgyzstan, which officially changed its name from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic in 1993, is a mountainous, land-locked country.

It is considered well-suited for crypto mining operations due to its abundant renewable energy resources, much of which is underutilized.

Over 30% of Kyrgyzstan’s total energy supply comes from hydroelectric power plants, but only 10% of the country’s potential hydropower has been developed, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

CZ has met with several other state officials in Asia

Malaysia also recently tapped CZ for guidance on crypto-related matters, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meeting him personally in January.

CZ has also met with officials in the UAE and Bitcoin-stacking country Bhutan — however, it isn’t clear what those meetings entailed.

CZ’s latest pursuits come a little over six months after he was released from a four-month prison sentence in the US for violating several anti-money laundering laws.

Since being released, CZ has made investments in blockchain tech, artificial intelligence and biotechnology companies.

CZ also recently donated 1,000 BNB (BNB) — worth almost $600,000 — to support earthquake relief efforts in Thailand and Myanmar after the natural disaster in late April.

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