Law

In the world of Bitcoin, recent court rulings against Craig Wright over copyright claims and developers' fiduciary duties highlight the intricate intersection of law and cryptocurrency.

Failed crypto firm FTX has been granted court approval to issue subpoenas to its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other members of his family as part of an investigation into misappropriated and stolen funds.

Judge to consider whether a court-supervised investigation into the collapse of crypto exchange FTX should be allowed to proceed, with implications for the future of the sector.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has made a bail application before The Bahamas Supreme Court, after a magistrate judge on Tuesday rejected his request for bail.

In a late-night vote, politicians failed to stop the government from snatching power from the Electoral Commission, taking any notion of democracy with it.

A court case in Florida pits two pretenders to the title of Bitcoin creator Satoshi against one another? Could one or both of them be the real Bitcoin pioneer?

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON/SEATTLE -Boeing Co current and former company directors have reached a $237.5 million proposed settlement with shareholders to settle a lawsuit over the safety oversight of the 737 MAX aircraft, documents seen by show. Following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in the space of five months in 2018-19 that killed 346 people, Boeing's best selling plane was grounded for 20 months and returned to service after the company made significant software and training improvements. The proposed agreement, which is being filed in Delaware Chancery Court late on Friday and was confirmed by Boeing, will require the election of an additional board director with aviation/aerospace, engineering, or product safety oversight expertise within one year. Boeing's board would always be required to have at least three directors with safety-related experience, according to the proposal, which must be approved by a judge to become final. Under the settlement, Boeing would amend its bylaw...

By Lidia Kelly MELBOURNE - Melbourne, which has spent more time under COVID-19 lockdowns than any other city in the world, is set to lift its stay-at-home orders this week, officials said on Sunday. By Friday, when some curbs will be lifted, the Australian city of 5 million people will have been under six lockdowns totalling 262 days, or nearly nine months, since March 2020. Australian and other media say this is the longest in the world, exceeding a 234-day lockdown in Buenos Aires https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-03/melbourne-longest-lockdown/100510710. While coronavirus cases keep rising in Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital, the state's double-vaccination rate is set to reach 70% this week, allowing for the ease in restrictions. "Today is a great day," said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews in announcing the lockdown. "Today is a day when Victorians can be proud of what they have achieved." When hospitality venues and some businesses reopen, their capacity will rem...

By Aradhana Aravindan and Chen Lin SINGAPORE - Singapore's reimposition of coronavirus restrictions to buy time to prepare to live with the disease has been met with some rare frustration as the government walks a fine line between reopening and preventing hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Singapore has largely kept the virus at bay since last year with masks, contact tracing and a closed border. Now infections are surging to new daily records of more than 2,000 but with 82% of its 5.4 million people fully vaccinated, 98.1% of cases over the past month have been asymptomatic or involved only mild symptoms. Singapore relaxed restrictions in August, after 18 months of largely successful mitigation efforts, with a plan for more easing after reaching the 80% vaccination target in early September. But instead, with the Delta variant spreading, the reimposition of restrictions, with dining out and other social interactions limited to groups of just two people, has dashed hopes. "We hit ou...

By Marcelo Rochabrun and Roxanne Liu LIMA/BEIJING - A two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinopharm was 50.4% effective in preventing infections in health workers in Peru when it was seeing a surge in cases fuelled by virus variants, and booster shots can be considered, a study found. The study https://repositorio.ins.gob.pe/xmlui/bitstream/handle/INS/1318/Efectividad%20de%20la.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y involving Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV vaccine, which looked at data from February through June at a time when Peru was fighting a brutal second-wave of infections fuelled by the Lambda and Gamma variants of the coronavirus, was conducted on nearly 400,000 frontline health workers in live conditions. Most of the health workers received two doses of the vaccine. "The efficacy to prevent infection is not high and this is something to consider once a high percentage of the population receives its two doses, (the) moment when boosters can be considered to optimize the protection of front...

By Junko Fujita and Ece Toksabay TOKYO - There aren't any fans to watch the Olympic weightlifting in Tokyo this year, so that job effectively falls to the bored volunteers with little else to do after spectators were banned from venues. Clad in matching blue polo shirts emblazoned with the Olympics logo and grey waist pouches, volunteers of all ages stood around the cavernous Tokyo International Forum chatting and taking photos. When not watching the weightlifting, others sat on chairs in the corridor, playing with their phones. "I wanted to be a volunteer because I was born in the year of Tokyo's first Olympics. But to be honest, I don't have much to do here," said one 57-year-old woman who was supposed to be offering translation services. She applied for the position three years ago and went through a series of interviews and tests. "Without fans, maybe we can serve as fake spectators. In any case it is a good opportunity to see how things work at the Olympics and enjoy the events f...

ROME -Italy reported just three coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 13 the day before, the lowest toll since last August, however, the daily tally of new infections edged up to 3,127 from 3,121. Sundays normally see a fall in cases because only limited testing is done at weekends, so although the rise in infections was minimal it still represented a sixth consecutive daily increase, underscoring concerns of a fresh wave of contagion. Health experts believe the surge was fuelled by celebrations during the recent European soccer championships, which Italy won and which triggered street parties and a total breakdown in social distancing in many cities and towns. The head of Italy's health institute, Franco Locatelli, said the average age of those infected was 28. "The gatherings and crowds have helped the spread of the virus," he told La Republica newspaper on Sunday. Patients in hospital with COVID-19, not including those in intensive care, stood at 1,136 on Sunday, up from 1,1...

The man who claims to be the author of the Bitcoin white paper has won his case for copyright infringement against the website Bitcoin.org.

- England fast bowler Ollie Robinson has been cleared to resume playing, after he was deemed to have served a ban over racist and sexist comments he made on social media as a teenager, a Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) said on Saturday. The 27-year-old was fined 3,200 pounds ($4,400) and handed an eight-game ban, five of which are suspended for two years. He missed England's second test against New Zealand and two T20 Blast games for his county during an investigation over the comments on Twitter. The initial one-game suspension was imposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), before Robinson withdrew himself from selection for his county side Sussex for the T20 games. Robinson has admitted to breaching two ECB directives in relation to a number of offensive comments he made on Twitter in 2012-14 that came to light during his England debut in the drawn first test against New Zealand in June. "I fully accept the CDC's decision. As I have said previously, I'm incredibly emb...

ROTTERDAM -A Dutch court on Friday approved an Australian request to hand over the alleged leader of an Asian drug syndicate who has been compared to Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian national, was arrested in January at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at the request of Australian police while in transit from Taiwan to Canada. The defence said it would appeal, and the matter will be decided by the Dutch Supreme Court. A final decision on extradition will be taken by the Dutch government. Tse has denied wrongdoing and contested his arrest, saying the Australian authorities in effect engineered his expulsion from Taiwan to Canada on a flight with a stopover in the Netherlands so that he could be detained there. The defendant is alleged to have led a drug syndicate which is dominant in the Asia-Pacific crystal methamphetamine trade, which increased fourfold in the five years to 2019, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. J...

By Kirstin Ridley LONDON - A former top Dechert lawyer on Monday dismissed as "bonkers" allegations he had conspired not to tell mining company ENRC, his former client, that the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) wanted to compel a senior employee to attend an interview. Neil Gerrard, accused by ENRC in a London High Court trial of plotting with senior SFO officers to damage his client, milking ENRC for unnecessary fees and leaking privileged material, said it was ridiculous to suggest he and his team had witheld information from ENRC after an SFO meeting in 2012. "I think it's bonkers," he told the court on the first day of an expected six-day cross-examination. "Complete bonkers." Gerrard, hired by ENRC in 2010 to carry out an internal investigation into a whistleblowing report, denied allegations that he had leaked sensitive information or that he "terrorised" ENRC by suggesting they could be raided by the authorities. "Raid procedures or dealing with unannounced visits were, in our vie...

NEW DELHI - India's daily COVID-19 infections rose by 50,040 on Sunday, official data showed, as concerns grew about the detection of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus in some states. The COVID-19 death toll in the country rose by 1,258, including 511 deaths reported from the state of Maharashtra, the health ministry data showed. New variants are a particular concern in India, where more than half the population has not been vaccinated. Less than 6% of India's adult population of 950 million has received two doses. At least 20 cases have been found linked to the Delta variant, which India last week designated a variant of concern last week, according to the health ministry. India's official death count is now 395,751, but experts and global health agencies such as the World Health Organisation believe the toll may be much higher. Of the 35.51 million people infected, 29.25 million have recovered. State governments eased lockdown restrictions earlier this month aft...

LONDON - British retail sales fell unexpectedly last month as a lifting of lockdown restrictions encouraged spending in restaurants rather than shops, according to official data. Retail sales fell 1.4% between April and May, the Office for National Statistics said. A poll of economists had pointed to an 1.6% month-on-month increase in retail sales volumes for May.   (Reporting by Andy Bruce and William Schomberg; editing by Sarah Young)...

LONDON - The voluminous ivory dress Princess Diana wore to marry Prince Charles in 1981 has gone on display at her former London home, as part of a new exhibition showcasing a selection of gowns worn by members of Britain's royal family. "Royal Style in the Making" looks at the works of designers and their royal clients, and features outfits created for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Diana, as well as sketches, fabric swatches and photographs from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. Among the most recognisable frocks is Diana's taffeta and lace wedding gown, made up of a bodice, full skirt, puffed sleeves and 25-foot train. Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the dress is on loan from Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry. "Now we're all familiar with that iconic shape, so typical of early 80s fashion, big puff sleeves, very romantic and vintage inspired," said Matthew Storey, curator of the exhibition. "But when you come to the exhibition what you a...

By Kirstin Ridley LONDON - A London lawsuit brought against the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by ENRC, a mining company at the centre of an eight-year corruption investigation, lacks evidence and should never have been brought, a lawyer for the agency told a court on Wednesday. Simon Colton told London's High Court that ENRC may now regret sharing information with prosecutors as it sought to avoid a criminal investigation by committing to being open and transparent about an internal inquiry around seven years ago. "But a change of policy and regret do not justify the present claim," he said, as the SFO began its defence in the high-profile trial, which is scheduled to run for 11 weeks. The SFO opened an investigation into ENRC in 2013 over allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption relating to the acquisition of mineral assets in Africa. The investigation is still open, but no charges have been filed against the company or current or former employees. ENRC is seeking public vindic...