The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan began voting Tuesday in general elections with parties vowing to tackle serious economic challenges, calling into question its longstanding policy of prioritising "Gross National Happiness" over growth.

The picturesque Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan holds general elections on Tuesday with serious economic challenges calling into question its longstanding policy of prioritising "Gross National Happiness" over growth.

Squeezed between giant arch-rivals India and China, the landlocked mountain kingdom of Bhutan was long isolated by icy Himalayan peaks.

The World Bank is working to slash how long it takes to get financing projects off the ground as part of a push to speed up and scale up the 79-year-old development lender, its president told AFP on Wednesday.

Ethiopia insisted on Wednesday that its controversial deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland broke no laws after Somalia accused its neighbour of a blatant attack on its sovereignty.

Somalia will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, state media said, after the breakaway region of Somaliland struck a controversial deal with Ethiopia giving Addis Ababa access to the Red Sea.

Ethiopia on Monday struck a "historic" agreement to secure a stake in the main port in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland as the landlocked country eyes more access to the sea, officials said.

Asian stocks opened cautiously on Friday, largely continuing an end-of-year rally that has been boosted by investors' expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut as early as March.

Asian stocks opened largely higher on Thursday, with Hong Kong leading the gains as investors worked on expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut rates next year.

For both fans and foes of the European project, Jacques Delors was Brussels' driving force during the EU's greatest period of integration, the creation of the single market and the euro.

Jacques Delors, a former head of the EU Commission and key figure in the creation of the euro currency, has died, his daughter Martine Aubry told AFP on Wednesday.

Like BlackRock and ARK, Grayscale also initially said it would use the in-kind creation and redemption model on its spot Bitcoin ETF. But as Wall Street giants ironed out details with the regulator – probably looking to be a part of the first wave of applications to be approved by the commission in the early part of January – almost all of them, surrendered.

Asian markets opened higher on Wednesday, tracking Christmas holiday gains on Wall Street, with investors betting on the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates as early as March.

Silbert, who is the CEO of the Digital Currency Group -- the parent company of Grayscale -- resigned from his post effective Jan. 1, 2024.

The United States said Friday it will sanction foreign banks that support Russia's war in Ukraine, in a new bid to exert economic pressure on Moscow as it diversifies from the West to China.

Lining up, they receive some rice, dried beans and other basic foodstuffs, whose soaring prices have left millions in Nigeria facing a bleak Christmas.

Angola said on Thursday it would leave OPEC over a disagreement on production quotas following the oil cartel's decision last month to further slash output next year.

Turkey's central bank announced a smaller interest rate hike than in previous months on Thursday, signalling it is nearing the end of its monetary tightening as it battles double-digit inflation.

Ghana, the world's second biggest cocoa producer, faces a growing risk to its harvest -- and blow to its crisis-hit economy -- from illegal mining and smugglers, industry officials, farmers and activists warn.

Bitcoin ended last week at around $41,400, recording a 5.5% loss from the previous week's closing value of around $43,800. It continued to dip Monday, reaching a weekly low of about $40,425.

Sonnenshein, in an interview, talked about the importance of launching a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., highlighting the magnitude of wealth held within advised assets and the significant opportunity a regulated BTC ETF could offer to tap into these vast resources.

ARK's latest move suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not budge on its preferred creations and redemptions model.

Unfortunately, the pseudonymous lead developer suppressed details of this announcement, and only teased "next week we have a VERY big announcement."

The latest movements of ETH stashes by Celsius and FTX underscore the strategic reactions of both crypto businesses to the positive movement of the market.

Asian markets built on the previous day's rally Friday as investors recalibrated their outlook for the new year after the Federal Reserve indicated it will cut interest rates.

The Bank of England held rates steady again Thursday with the European Central Bank expected to follow suit as inflation retreats, shifting investor attention to how fast policymakers will slash borrowing costs in 2024.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England were on Thursday expected to pause rates again as inflation retreats, while markets cheered the US Federal Reserve's clear signal that it would start slashing borrowing costs in 2024.

The new president of Argentina has begun a process of "shock therapy" in a bid to save the country from economic collapse.

President Javier Milei's new government will on Tuesday unveil a set of emergency measures to avoid "hyperinflation" that are expected to deliver a shock to the country's ailing economy.

Stocks tracked Wall Street higher and the dollar retreated Tuesday as traders awaited a bumper round of market-moving events, starting with the release of US inflation data later today.