Emirates extends Tehran flight suspension until July 5
CAIRO: Emirates extended its cancellation of flights to and from Iran's capital Tehran until July 5 due to the 'regional situation', it said in a statement on Saturday.
The Dubai-based airline said it will recommence operations to Baghdad on July 1 and Basra on July 2.
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The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Tougher Singapore crypto regulations kick in
SINGAPORE: Singapore ramped up crypto exchange regulations Monday in a bid to curb money laundering and boost market confidence after a series of high-profile scandals rattled the sector. The city-state's central bank last month said digital token service providers (DTSPs) that served only overseas clients must have a licence to continue operations past June 30 -- or close up shop. The Monetary Authority of Singapore in a subsequent statement added that it has 'set the bar high for licensing and will generally not issue a licence' for such operations. Singapore, a major Asian financial hub, has taken a hit to its reputation after several high-profile recent cases dented trust in the emerging crypto sector. These included the collapse of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and Terraform Labs, which both filed for bankruptcy in 2022. 'The money laundering risks are higher in such business models and if their substantive regulated activity is outside of Singapore, the MAS is unable to effectively supervise such persons,' the central bank said, referring to firms serving solely foreign clients. Analysts welcomed the move to tighten controls on crypto exchanges. 'With the new DTSP regime, MAS is reinforcing that financial integrity is a red line,' Chengyi Ong, head of Asia Pacific policy at crypto data group Chainalysis, told AFP. 'The goal is to insulate Singapore from the reputational risk that a crypto business based in Singapore, operating without sufficient oversight, is knowingly or unknowingly involved in illicit activity.' Law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said in a comment on its website that the move will 'allow Singapore to be fully compliant' with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force, the France-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy in 2022 when its fortunes suffered a sharp decline after a massive sell-off of assets it had bet on as prices nosedived in crypto markets. Its Singaporean co-founder Su Zhu was arrested at Changi Airport while trying to leave the country and jailed for four months. A court in the British Virgin Islands later ordered a US$1.14 billion worldwide asset freeze on the company's founders. Singapore-based Terraform Labs also saw its cryptocurrencies crash dramatically in 2022, forcing it to file for bankruptcy protection in the United States. The collapse of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna wiped out around US$40 billion in investments and caused wider losses in the global crypto market estimated at more than US$400 billion. South Korean Do Kwon, who co-founded Terraform in 2018, was arrested in 2023 in Montenegro and later extradited to the United States on fraud charges related to the crash. He had been on the run after fleeing Singapore and South Korea.
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Tougher Singapore crypto regulations kick in
SINGAPORE: Singapore ramped up crypto exchange regulations Monday in a bid to curb money laundering and boost market confidence after a series of high-profile scandals rattled the sector. The city-state's central bank last month said digital token service providers (DTSPs) that served only overseas clients must have a licence to continue operations past June 30 -- or close up shop. The Monetary Authority of Singapore in a subsequent statement added that it has "set the bar high for licensing and will generally not issue a licence" for such operations. Singapore, a major Asian financial hub, has taken a hit to its reputation after several high-profile recent cases dented trust in the emerging crypto sector. These included the collapse of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and Terraform Labs, which both filed for bankruptcy in 2022. "The money laundering risks are higher in such business models and if their substantive regulated activity is outside of Singapore, the MAS is unable to effectively supervise such persons," the central bank said, referring to firms serving solely foreign clients. Analysts welcomed the move to tighten controls on crypto exchanges. "With the new DTSP regime, MAS is reinforcing that financial integrity is a red line," Chengyi Ong, head of Asia Pacific policy at crypto data group Chainalysis, told AFP. "The goal is to insulate Singapore from the reputational risk that a crypto business based in Singapore, operating without sufficient oversight, is knowingly or unknowingly involved in illicit activity." Law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said in a comment on its website that the move will "allow Singapore to be fully compliant" with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force, the France-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy in 2022 when its fortunes suffered a sharp decline after a massive sell-off of assets it had bet on as prices nosedived in crypto markets. Its Singaporean co-founder Su Zhu was arrested at Changi Airport while trying to leave the country and jailed for four months. A court in the British Virgin Islands later ordered a US$1.14 billion worldwide asset freeze on the company's founders. Singapore-based Terraform Labs also saw its cryptocurrencies crash dramatically in 2022, forcing it to file for bankruptcy protection in the United States. The collapse of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna wiped out around US$40 billion in investments and caused wider losses in the global crypto market estimated at more than US$400 billion. South Korean Do Kwon, who co-founded Terraform in 2018, was arrested in 2023 in Montenegro and later extradited to the United States on fraud charges related to the crash. He had been on the run after fleeing Singapore and South Korea. mba/jhe/dan
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Meta spending big on AI talent but will it pay off?
A few OpenAI employees have reportedly taken Meta up on the offer, joining Scale AI founder and former chief executive Alexandr Wang at the Menlo Park-based tech titan. — Reuters NEW YORK: Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions of dollars for top talent to make up ground in the generative artificial intelligence race, sparking doubt about the wisdom of the spree. OpenAI boss Sam Altman recently lamented that Meta has offered US$100mil (RM422mil) bonuses to engineers who jump to Zuckerberg's ship, where hefty salaries await. A few OpenAI employees have reportedly taken Meta up on the offer, joining Scale AI founder and former chief executive Alexandr Wang at the Menlo Park-based tech titan. Meta paid more than US$14bil (RM59bil) for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI in mid-June, bringing Wang on board as part of the deal. Scale AI labels data to better train AI models for businesses, governments and labs. "Meta has finalised our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI," a Meta spokesperson told AFP. "As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts." US media outlets have reported that Meta's recruitment effort has also targeted OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever; Google rival Perplexity AI, and hot AI video startup Runway. Meta chief Zuckerberg is reported to have sounded the charge himself due to worries Meta is lagging rivals in the generative AI race. The latest version of Meta AI model Llama finished behind its heavyweight rivals in code writing rankings at an LM Arena platform that lets users evaluate the technology. Meta is integrating recruits into a new team dedicated to developing "superintelligence," or AI that outperforms people when it comes to thinking and understanding. 'Mercenary' Tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz felt Zuckerberg had to do something about the situation, expecting Meta to succeed in attracting hot talent but questioning how well it will pay off. "There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary... and being a company with products no one wants to work on," Moshowitz told AFP. "I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less." While Meta's share price is nearing a new high with the overall value of the company approaching US$2 trillion (RM8.4 trillion), some investors have started to worry. Institutional investors are concerned about how well Meta is managing its cash flow and reserves, according to Baird strategist Ted Mortonson. "Right now, there are no checks and balances" with Zuckerberg free to do as he wishes running Meta, Mortonson noted. The potential for Meta to cash in by using AI to rev its lucrative online advertising machine has strong appeal but "people have a real big concern about spending," said Mortonson. Meta executives have laid out a vision of using AI to streamline the ad process from easy creation to smarter targeting, bypassing creative agencies and providing a turnkey solution to brands. AI talent hires are a long-term investment unlikely to impact Meta's profitability in the immediate future, according to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino. "But still, you need those people on board now and to invest aggressively to be ready for that phase" of generative AI, Zino said. According to The New York Times, Zuckerberg is considering shifting away from Meta's Llama, perhaps even using competing AI models instead. Penn State University professor Mehmet Canayaz sees potential for Meta to succeed with AI agents tailored to specific tasks at its platform, not requiring the best large language model. "Even firms without the most advanced LLMs, like Meta, can succeed as long as their models perform well within their specific market segment," Canayaz said. – AFP
