‘No decision pending’ on removing Syrian rebel group from banned list, PM says

Published

4 months ago

December 9, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has said it is “too early” to decide whether to remove a leading Syrian rebel group from the government’s proscribed terrorist list following its victory over Bashar al Assad’s forces.

The prime minister said “no decision is pending on this” when asked about the potential move following the defeat Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) inflicted on the decades-long Assad regime.

It comes after Sir Keir announced a further £11m in humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable in Syria following the events over the weekend, including the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced in the conflict.

Alongside the US and other Western allies, the UK is currently considering whether to remove HTS, the rebel group that led the successful offensive against Mr al Assad, from its proscribed list of terrorist organisations.

HTS used to be a wing of al Qaeda known as the Nusra Front and has long been designated a terrorist group by the US, UK and Russia.

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Its founder, Abu Mohammed al Jolani, cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016 in an effort to appear moderate and in 2021 he said he had no desire to wage war against Western countries.

On Monday Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the UK government would “consider” removing the group from its list of banned terror organisations and suggested this could be done quickly.

But speaking from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the prime minister said: “No decision is pending at all on this.

“It is far too early. At the moment, the focus has to be on talking to our allies, making sure that this is an opportunity for Syria.”

He was echoed by David Lammy, the foreign secretary, who said the government would “judge HTS by their actions”.

In an update to MPS, he said: “Thus far, HTS has offered reassurances to minorities in Aleppo, Hama and Damascus.

“They have also committed to cooperating with the international community over monitoring chemical weapons.

“We will judge HTS by their actions, monitoring closely how they and other parties to this conflict treat all civilians in areas they control.”

He added: “The UK and our allies have spent over a decade combating terrorism in Syria, Daesh [Isis] remains one of the most significant terrorist threats to the UK our allies and our interests overseas, we take seriously our duty as government to protect the public from this and other terrorist threats.”

“If we are to achieve a better future for Syrians, we should let Syrians themselves determine their future,” he added.

Mr Lammy also pointed to £36m in funding for the National Crime Agency on anti corruption, which was announced earlier today, adding: “Illicit finance was a fundamental part of Assad’s playbook, and it’s a part of [Vladimir] Putin’s playbook and the playbook of dictators and criminals around the world.

“This hurts ordinary people in our own country and people in Syria. It drives up crime, and it drives up house prices here in the UK.”

Earlier, Sir Keir – who has been visiting the Middle East to shore up ties and encourage investment – promised that the UK would play a more active role in the region for the advantage of people in Britain.

“From cutting the cost of living for hardworking British people, to building resilient supply chains or supporting communities in Britain, what happens in the Middle East matters at home,” he said.

“That is why we are strengthening our defence partnership with Saudi Arabia, protecting the most vulnerable in Syria, supporting our partners in Lebanon and working with the international community to push for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, secure the return of all hostages and accelerate aid into Gaza.

“To deliver on my plan for change, we need a strong foundation of security but that cannot just be built at home, it requires us to play our part on the world stage to support stability and protect partners from threats, both now and in the future.”

As well as vowing to play a more active role in the region, the prime minister said the UK would also seek to strengthen defence co-operation with Saudi Arabia.

The UK will also provide the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), regarded as the only legitimate military force in Lebanon, with training and equipment in order to maintain the ceasefire agreed with Israel.

Politics

Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Cryptocurrency firms felt the heat from US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout this week as market turbulence sent share prices tumbling and foiled initial public offering (IPO) plans.

From exchanges to Bitcoin (BTC) miners, crypto stocks suffered as much, if not more, than shares of other companies — despite the industry’s warm relationship with the US president.

On April 2, Trump announced he was placing tariffs of at least 10% on practically all imports into the United States and adding additional “reciprocal” tariffs on some 57 countries.

Since then, major US stock indices — including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq — tumbled by roughly 10% as traders braced for a looming trade war.

Sharp selloffs

Crypto exchange Coinbase — a prominent ally of Trump during the November US elections — experienced a similarly severe sell-off, with its stock price dropping by roughly 12% during the same period, according to data from Google Finance.

Bitcoin miners are also taking a hit. The CoinShares Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI) — which tracks a diverse basket of Bitcoin mining stocks — has lost roughly 13% of its value since immediately prior to Trump’s April 2 announcement, according to data from Morningstar.

Even Strategy, one of the best-performing stocks of 2024, wasn’t immune. Its share price has fallen by around 6% on the news, Google Finance data showed.

According to Reuters, investment bank JPMorgan has raised its estimated odds of a global economic recession in 2025 to 60% from 40% previously.

“Disruptive U.S. policies have been recognized as the biggest risk to the global outlook all year,” JP Morgan reportedly said.

“The effect … is likely to be magnified through (tariff) retaliation, a slide in U.S. business sentiment and supply-chain disruptions.”

IPO delays

The impact of US tariffs hasn’t been limited to stock price volatility. Stablecoin issuer Circle has reportedly paused plans for a 2025 IPO, citing market turbulence.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Circle is “waiting anxiously” before taking further steps after filing to take the company public on April 1.

It is among several companies — including fintech Klarna and ticketing service StubHub — reportedly considering altering or shelving IPO plans.

One exception may be Bitcoin itself, which some analysts say is finally “decoupling” from the broader market.

Bitcoin’s spot price has held above $82,000 this week, even as US equities markets collapsed.

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Politics

Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Published

2 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Brazilian judges have been authorized to seize cryptocurrency assets from debtors who owe money and are behind on their payments, signaling a growing recognition that digital assets can be both a form of payment and a store of value.

According to local media reports, the Third Panel of Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice unanimously authorized judges to send letters to cryptocurrency brokers informing them about their intent to seize an account holder’s assets to repay creditors.

The report was confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice, which issued a notice on its website.

The decision was reached unanimously by the Third Panel, which reviewed a case brought forward by a creditor.

“Although they are not legal tender, crypto assets can be used as a form of payment and as a store of value,” a translated version of the Superior Court of Justice’s memo read.

Under existing rules, Brazilian judges are allowed to freeze bank accounts and order fund withdrawals, even without a debtor’s knowledge, should they rule that a creditor is owed money.

Following the recent decision, crypto assets now fall under the same purview.

Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, who voted in the five-person panel, said cryptocurrencies still lack formal regulation in Brazil but noted certain bills have recognized the asset class as “a digital representation of value.”

Despite regulatory uncertainty, Brazil is a major hub for crypto

Although Brazil still lacks an overarching framework for digital assets, with the country’s central bank divvying up the regulatory processes into phases, crypto adoption is surging across the country.

Brazil ranks second among all Latin American countries in terms of “crypto value received,” which is a key benchmark for adoption, according to an October report by Chainalysis.

Earlier this year, crypto exchange Binance was granted approval to operate in the country after it acquired a São Paulo-based investment company.

A Binance executive told Cointelegraph at the time that Brazil was making “significant strides” in regulating the industry and expects a comprehensive framework to be finalized “by mid-year.”

Nevertheless, not all of Brazil’s regulatory proposals have been favorable for the industry.

In December, the country’s central bank proposed banning stablecoin transactions on self-custodial wallets at a time when more locals were using dollar-pegged tokens to hedge against the devaluation of the Brazilian real.

Industry observers told Cointelegraph at the time that such a ban would be difficult to enforce.

“Governments can regulate centralized exchanges, but P2P transactions and decentralized platforms are much harder to control, which means the ban would likely only affect part of the ecosystem,” said Lucien Bourdon, an analyst with Trezor.

Politics

‘Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?’: Labour peer demands action on children’s smartphone safety

Published

3 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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'Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?': Labour peer demands action on children's smartphone safety

Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it.

Sir Keir hosted a roundtable on Monday with Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson to discuss issues raised in the series, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl, and the rise of incel culture.

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The aim was to discuss how to prevent young boys being dragged into a “whirlpool of hatred and misogyny”, and the prime minister said the four-part series raises questions about how to keep young people safe from technology.

Sir Keir has backed calls for the four-part drama to be shown in all schools across the country, but Baroness Harman questioned what is going to be achieved by having young people simply watch the show.

“Two questions were raised [for me],” she said. ” Firstly – after they’ve watched it, what is going to be the discussion afterwards?

“And secondly, is he going to act to stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff to go online into smartphones without protection of children?

“Because if the tech companies wanted to do this, they could actually protect children. They can do everything they want with their tech.”

She acknowledged there are “very big public policy challenges” in this area, but added of the prime minister: “Is he going to side with parents who are terrified and want this content off their children’s phones, or is he going to accept the tech bros’ resistance to having to make changes?”

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Can parliament keep up?

The Labour peer backed the Conservative Party’s call for a ban on smartphones in schools to be mandated from Westminster, saying it would “enable all schools not to have a discussion with their parents or to battle it out, but just to say, this is the ruling” from central government, which Ofsted would then enforce.

“I’m sensitive to the idea that we shouldn’t constantly be telling schools what to do,” she continued. “And they’ve got a lot of common sense and a lot of professional experience, and they should have as much autonomy as possible.

“But perhaps it’s easier for them if it’s done top down.”

Baroness Harman also questioned the speed with which parliament is actually able to legislate to deal with the very rapid development of new technologies, and posits that it could “change its processes to be able to legislate in real time”.

She suggested that a “powerful select committee” of MPs could be established to do that, because “otherwise we talk about it, and then we’re not able to legislate for 10 years – by which time that problem has really set in, and we’ve got a whole load more problems”.

On the podcast, the trio also discussed the 10% tariffs imposed on the UK by Donald Trump and the government’s efforts to strike a trade deal with the US to mitigate the impact of the levy.

The government has refused to rule out scrapping the Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on tech giants’ revenues in the UK, as part of the negotiations with the Trump administration – a move Baroness Harman said would be “very heartbreaking”.

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