LONDON — Britain will start regulating crypto assets from October 2027, the finance ministry said on Monday, rules it hopes will give the industry certainty while keeping out “dodgy actors.”

The new law — the government will introduce legislation into parliament later on Monday — will extend existing financial regulation to companies involved in crypto, aligning Britain with the US rather than the European Union (EU), which has built rules tailored to the industry.

A draft bill giving effect to regulation has undergone only minor changes since it was published earlier this year, a ministry spokesperson said.

Globally, interest in crypto assets has surged since US President Donald J. Trump came to power promising to embrace the industry, although the price of the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has fallen sharply in recent months after hitting a record high.

The US is pursuing what is perceived by the industry to be a more crypto-friendly approach than Britain, while the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Asset rules took effect in 2024.

Britain has said it would collaborate with the US on the best approach to digital assets through a “transatlantic taskforce.”

Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the rules would provide “clear rules of the road,” strengthen consumer protections and keep “dodgy actors” out of the market.

Natalie Lewis, a partner at Travers Smith, told Reuters she hoped the changes in the final legislation would be “more than minor” as there were “quite a few technical legal problems with the original draft.”

Britain’s regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies is taking shape, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) planning bespoke rules for trading and market abuse, custody and issuance, and the Bank of England (BoE) last month unveiling its proposals for regulating stablecoins — a type of cryptocurrency — that are used for everyday payments.

At the same time, regulators continue to warn about the risks, including that investors in cryptocurrencies should be prepared to lose all of their money.

Both the BoE and the FCA have promised to finalize their rules by end-2026.

Daniel Slutzkin, head of UK at crypto exchange Gemini, said firms had “long awaited regulatory clarity” and could now start preparing to meet the new requirements. — Reuters

TOKYO — With her health failing and an information vacuum around Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her son worries that he may not even know if she passed away.

Kim Aris told Reuters he has not heard from his 80-year-old mother in years, and has received only sporadic, secondhand details about her heart, bone, and gum problems since a 2021 military coup that deposed her government.

And while he rejects attempts by Myanmar’s junta to hold elections later this month, dismissed by many foreign governments as a sham aimed at legitimizing military rule, he says it could provide an opening to ease his mother’s plight.

“She’s got ongoing health issues. Nobody has seen her in over two years. She hasn’t been allowed contact with her legal team, never mind her family,” he said in an interview in Tokyo. “For all I know, she could be dead already.”

“I imagine (Myanmar junta leader) Min Aung Hlaing has his own agenda when it comes to my mother. If he does want to use her to try and appease the general population before or after the elections by either releasing her or moving her to house arrest, then at least that would be something,” he added.

A Myanmar junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Myanmar’s military has a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events.

Nobel Peace Laureate Ms. Suu Kyi was freed in 2010 days after an election, ending a previous long period of detention largely spent at her colonial-style family home on Yangon’s Inya Lake.

She went on to become Myanmar’s de-facto leader after elections in 2015, the first openly contested vote in a quarter century, though her international image was later tarnished by accusations of genocide committed against her country’s Muslim Rohingya minority.

‘SMALL WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY’
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 coup, which triggered an armed rebellion that has captured swathes of territory across the country.

Ms. Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence for offenses including incitement, corruption, and election fraud, all of which she denies.

Mr. Aris said he believes she is being held in the capital Naypyitaw, and in the last letter he received from his mother two years ago she complained about the extreme temperatures in her cell during the summer and winter months.

With conflicts erupting all over the world, Mr. Aris worries that people are forgetting about Myanmar.

He is trying to capitalize on the upcoming elections – the first since the coup which are set to be held in phases from December 28 – to get foreign governments like Japan to exert more pressure on the junta and call for his mother’s release.

“Because of the upcoming elections that the military are trying to stage, which we all know are completely unfair, and so far from being free that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so lamentable, I need to use this small window of opportunity,” he said.

“In the past, when my mother was held in higher regard by the international community, then it was much harder for people to ignore what’s happening in Burma. But since her position was undermined through the crisis in Rakhine, that’s no longer the case,” he added, using the country’s former name.

Mr. Aris, a British national who kept a low profile until a few years ago, maintains his mother was “not complicit” in what the United Nations called a genocidal campaign by the military against the Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2016-17.

While she was de-facto leader, Myanmar’s constitution limited Ms. Suu Kyi’s power over the military. She admitted that war crimes may have been committed at an international tribunal in The Hague in 2020 but denied genocide.

During his trip to Japan, Mr. Aris said he met with various Japanese politicians and government officials to press them to take a stronger stand against the junta and reject the elections.

Asked what his mother would think of his efforts, he said: “I think she’d be incredibly sad that I’ve had to do this. She’s always wanted me to not have to get involved. But I don’t really have a choice at the moment. I am her son after all. And if I’m not doing it, I can’t expect anybody else to do it.” — Reuters

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH — Thailand’s military said on Monday that it has stopped fuel shipments passing through a border checkpoint with Laos because of fears they were being diverted to Cambodia, with which it is fighting a fierce border conflict.

The Thai and Cambodian militaries are clashing at multiple locations along their 817 kilometer (508 mile) land border, both sides said, with no signs of the fighting abating despite international efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, including calls by US President Donald Trump.

A special meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers – where top diplomats from both sides could have met – that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday had been pushed back to December 22 at Thailand’s request, the Malaysian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The neighbors have long disputed sections of the frontier, but the scale and intensity of the latest clashes – that stretch from forested inland areas near the Laos border to coastal provinces – are unprecedented in recent history.

Over half a million people have been displaced by the fighting, which has killed at least 38 on both sides over the past eight days, according to national authorities, who mounted a round of evacuations in July when the neighbors clashed for five days before Mr. Trump helped broker a truce.

RESTRICTIONS AT LAOS BORDER CROSSING
Thailand’s military has restricted the movement of all fuel supplies through the Chong Mek border crossing into Laos after receiving intelligence that these were being routed to Cambodian troops, said Thai defense ministry spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri.

“Our intention is not to cause impacts on the Lao people or government,” he said at a press conference.

The Laotian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The military is also considering limiting the movement of Thai vessels into “high-risk areas” in Cambodian waters where they could be fired upon, a navy official said, adding that any such measures would not impact shipments from other countries.

A sizeable portion of Cambodia’s refined fuel imports such as gasoline, gasoil, and jet fuel comes via the sea route, according to multiple trade sources, though an exact percentage of market share could not be confirmed.

Singapore is currently the largest supplier of these fuels to Cambodia, Kpler ship-tracking data showed, with volumes so far this year totaling around 915,000 metric tons.

Volumes from Thailand have fallen to around 30,000 tons this year, from less than 180,000 tons last year, the data showed.

In a statement issued on Friday, Thailand’s energy ministry said there had been no exports of oil to Cambodia after July.

DRONE ATTACKS AND AIRSTRIKES
Fighting is continuing at least nine locations along the frontier, with heavy exchanges of firing across four border provinces, including at the coast, Thai defense ministry spokesperson Mr. Surasant said.

Cambodia said Thai forces had used drones and heavy artillery at multiple areas, alongside deploying its F-16 fighter jets for airstrikes in Siem Reap Province, which houses the country’s second-largest city and the major tourist center of Angkor Wat.

“It is also noteworthy that the number of fighter jets and cluster bombs used by the Thai military to attack Cambodia has been increasing significantly,” Maly Socheata, Cambodia Defense Ministry spokesperson, said in a briefing.

Thailand’s military is vastly superior to that of its neighbor, including a much larger navy and one of the best-equipped and trained air forces in Southeast Asia that has a fleet of 28 F-16s and 11 Swedish Gripen fighter jets.

Thailand and Cambodia accuse each other of moves that led to a breakdown of July’s Trump-brokered truce, which was expanded into a wider agreement to help settle the conflict in October.

Bangkok insists that any end to the current fighting must start with a cessation of hostilities by the other side and a clear ceasefire proposal, even as Phnom Penh maintains that it is defending itself against military actions by its neighbors. — Reuters

SYDNEY — Two alleged gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach were a father and son, police said on Monday, as Australia began mourning victims of its worst gun violence in almost 30 years.

The father, a 50-year-old, was killed at the scene, taking the number of dead to 16, while his 24-year-old son was in a critical condition in hospital, police said at a press conference on Monday. The father and son were identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, respectively, by state broadcaster ABC and other local media outlets.

Officials have described Sunday’s shooting as a targeted antisemitic attack.

Forty people remain in hospital following the attack, including two police officers who are in a serious but stable condition, police said. The victims were aged between 10 and 87.

Witnesses said the attack at the famed beach, which was packed on a hot evening, lasted about 10 minutes, sending hundreds of people scattering along the sand and into nearby streets.

Police said around 1,000 people had attended the targeted Hanukkah event, which was held in a small park off the beach.

A bystander captured on video tackling and disarming an armed man during the attack has been hailed as a hero whose actions saved lives. 7News Australia named him as Ahmed al Ahmed, citing a relative, who said the 43-year-old fruit shop owner had been shot twice and had undergone surgery.

A fundraising page for the man had raised more than A$350,000 ($233,000) by Monday afternoon.

Police did not release the shooters’ names, but said the father had held a firearms license since 2015 and had six licensed weapons.

Home Minister Tony Burke said the father arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, while his son is an Australian-born citizen.

Police did not provide details about the firearms, but videos from the scene showed the men firing what appeared to be a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun.

“We are very much working through the background of both persons. At this stage, we know very little about them,” New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters.

Bondi local Morgan Gabriel, 27, said she had been heading to a nearby cinema when she heard what she thought were fireworks, before people started running up her street.

“I sheltered about six or seven. Two of them were actually my close friends, and the rest were just people that were on the street. But people, their phones had been left down the beach, and everyone was just trying to get away,” she said.

“It’s a very sad time this morning… Normally, like on a Monday or any morning, it’s packed. People are swimming, surfing, running. So this is very, very quiet. And there’s definitely a solemn sort of vibe.”

A makeshift memorial with flowers and Israeli and Australian flags was set up at the Bondi pavilion and an online condolence book was established. Police and private Jewish security guards wearing earpieces were positioned around as mourners paid respects and laid flowers.

WORLD LEADERS CONDEMN THE ATTACK
Authorities said they were confident only two attackers were involved in the incident, after previously saying they were checking whether a third offender was involved.

At the suspects’ home in Bonnyrigg, a suburb around 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of the CBD, there was a heavy police presence on Monday, with a cordon wrapping around several neighboring houses.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Bondi Beach on Monday morning to lay flowers near the scene of the attack.

“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location,” Mr. Albanese told reporters.

“The Jewish community are hurting today. Today, all Australians wrap our arms around them and say, we stand with you. We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.”

Mr. Albanese later urged Australians to light a candle in solidarity with the Jewish community “to show that light will indeed defeat darkness – part of what Hanukkah celebrates”, he said.

Mr. Albanese said several world leaders including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached out and offered condolences and support.

Sunday’s shootings were the most serious in a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings, and cars in Australia since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned Mr. Albanese that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel antisemitism.

In August, Australia accused Iran of directing at least two antisemitic attacks and gave Tehran’s ambassador a week to leave the country.

‘SAW BODIES ON THE GROUND’
Mass shootings are rare in Australia, one of the world’s safest countries. Sunday’s attack was the worst since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in the southern island state of Tasmania.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel, whose brother-in-law Eli Schlanger was killed in Sunday’s attack, said it had been a harrowing evening.

“You can very easily become very angry and try to blame people, turn on people but that’s not what this is about. It’s about a community,” he said.

“We need to step up at a time like this, be there for each other, and come together. And we will, and we will get through this, and we know that. The Australian community will help us do it,” he added.

Local woman Danielle, who declined to give her surname, was at the beach when the shooting occurred and raced to collect her daughter, who was attending a bar mitzvah at a function center near where the alleged shooters were positioned.

“I heard there was a shooting so I bolted there to get my daughter, I could hear gunshots, I saw bodies on the ground. We are used to being scared, we have felt this way since October 7.”

Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. The attack precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Australia’s Jewish diaspora is small but deeply embedded in the wider community, with about 150,000 people who identify as Jewish in the country of 27 million. About one-third of them are estimated to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi.

Major cities including Berlin, London, and New York stepped up security around Hanukkah events on Sunday following the attack at Bondi. — Reuters

SEOUL — Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to provoke North Korea into mounting an armed aggression to create justification for the December 2024 martial law declaration and to eliminate political opponents, a special prosecutor said.

The special prosecutor, Cho Eun-seok, told a briefing on Monday his team had indicted 24 people, including Mr. Yoon and five cabinet members, for their alleged involvement during his six-month investigation on insurrection charges.

“We known well from historic experience the justification given by those in power for a coup is only a facade and the sole purpose is to monopolize and maintain power,” Mr. Cho said.

Mr. Cho said his team has confirmed an elaborate scheme allegedly masterminded by Mr. Yoon and his defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, going back to October 2023 to suspend the powers of parliament and replace it with an emergency legislative body.

“To create justification for declaring martial law, they tried to lure North Korea into mounting an armed aggression but failed as North Korea did not respond militarily,” he said.

The special prosecutor’s team has previously accused Mr. Yoon and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to inflame tensions between the neighbors.

Subsequently, Mr. Yoon conspired to brand those who are politically against him, including then-leader of his conservative People Power Party, as anti-state forces and declared martial law when he had no justification, Mr. Cho said.

Mr. Cho was among three special prosecutors appointed after President Lee Jae Myung was elected president in a snap election called after Mr. Yoon’s removal by the Constitutional Court in April.

Mr. Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection, which on conviction is punishable by life in prison or even the death penalty. His former ministers and other officials face various charges stemming from the failed martial law attempt.

Parliament controlled by the liberal Democratic Party voted to void Mr. Yoon’s decree within hours of his declaration late night on December 3 last year and later impeached him for violating the duties of his office.

His wife, Kim Keon Hee, is under a separate special prosecutor probe for corruption stemming from activities during and before Mr. Yoon’s presidency.

Mr. Yoon has said it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and he did it to sound the alarm over the opposition parties’ abuse of parliamentary control that was crippling the work of government. He said no harm was done to the country by his martial law decree.— Reuters