Justice department seeks court permission to make public testimony given by witnesses over Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
A cryptocurrency working group formed by president Donald Trump will release a report on Wednesday that is expected to outline the administration’s stances on tokenization and market-defining crypto legislation, among other issues critically important to the digital asset industry, Reuters reports.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump ordered the creation of a crypto working group tasked with proposing new regulations, making good on his campaign promise to overhaul US crypto policy.
In Hawaii, waves of up to 1.7 metres (5.5 feet) affected the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reduced its warning level for the state about 08.50 GMT, saying no major tsunami was expected. Coastal residents were earlier told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the US Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours. Tsunami waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada’s province of British Columbia.
Indian exporters are bracing for higher US tariffs to kick in as prospects dim for an interim trade deal between New Delhi and Washington before the 1 August deadline. On Tuesday, US president Donald Trump said India could face a 20-25% rate since a deal had not been finalised, although he added that a final levy was yet to be decided.
A group of global civil society organizations have placed the US on a watchlist for urgent concern over the health of its civic society, alongside Turkey, Serbia, El Salvador, Indonesia and Kenya. On Wednesday, a new report released by the non-profit Civicus placed the US on its watchlist after “sustained attacks on civic freedoms” across the country, according to the group.
President Trump said on Tuesday he might skip the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in South Africa in November and send someone else to represent the United States, citing his disapproval of South African policies. “I think maybe I’ll send somebody else because I’ve had a lot of problems with South Africa. They have some very bad policies,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The United States has repatriated an American child from a large camp in northeastern Syria. The camp houses tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to the Islamic State group. The state department announced the move on Wednesday. The al-Hawl Camp holds about 30,000 people from 70 countries, mostly families and supporters of IS fighters.
Vinay Prasad, the US Food and Drug Administration’s chief medical and science officer, has left the health regulator, the US Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier news report.
The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove, a top justice department official and former defense attorney for Donald Trump, to a lifetime seat on a federal appeals court, despite claims by whistleblowers that he advocated for ignoring court orders. The vote broke nearly along party lines, with 50 Republican senators voting for his confirmation to a seat on the third circuit court of appeals overseeing New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the US Virgin Islands.
