Author: Anthony M. Orbison

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The writer is a novelistIn 1989, we bought a tiny house in the shadow of the medieval city walls of Carcassonne. It was the beginning of my love affair with Languedoc — the history, the arcane mysteries hidden in the landscape, the endless blue sky, the light over the mountains at dusk. It would inspire my first historical adventure novel, Labyrinth, which would go on to be translated into 38 languages and sold in more than 40 countries. Its global success is…

As many Americans get ready for holiday travel, the U.S. is facing a potential government shutdown that could put a damper on their plans. If Congress doesn’t approve a plan to fund the government by midnight Friday, federal agencies will shut down Saturday, Dec. 21. That means most federal government employees would be furloughed until the government is funded again. Related: U.S. sharpens warning to cruisers: Don’t travel to this portFederal workers who provide essential services like law enforcement, air traffic control, and customs and border protection would still be required to report to work. While the essential Travel Security…

Coinbase’s latest market outlook for 2025 identifies tokenization, DeFi resurgence, and a shift toward pro-crypto regulation in the US as key trends for the following year.Coinbase anticipates 2025 as a pivotal year for US crypto legislation after years of regulatory ambiguity. The exchange said these developments could redefine how crypto integrates with traditional finance and regulatory systems in the year ahead.  Pro-crypto regulationAccording to the exchange, a bipartisan pro-crypto majority in Congress signals a favorable shift, transforming regulatory frameworks from obstacles into catalysts for industry growth. Additionally, the push for a Strategic Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve further solidifies the evolving attitude among…

Intel’s (INTC) fall from grace seemed to happen all at once. Shares of the once iconic chipmaker plummeted 60% in 2024. The company posted the biggest loss in its 56-year history in its latest quarterly earnings report. Its market cap has dropped 80% since 2000 — when it was one of the most valuable companies in the world.But company insiders and industry analysts tell Yahoo Finance that Intel’s dramatic crash is the result of a slow deterioration spanning more than two decades.“They had a God complex; they were super arrogant,” a former high-level executive who worked at Intel for more…

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed a new process to streamline reviews of exemptions filed by automakers seeking to deploy self-driving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals.  NHTSA has authority to grant petitions to allow up to 2,500 vehicles per manufacturer to operate on U.S. roads without required human controls but the agency has spent years reviewing several petitions without taking action. Efforts in Congress to make it easier to deploy vehicles on U.S. roads without human controls have been stymied for years. Automakers have expressed frustration…

Este artículo también está disponible en español. Bitcoin has faced its first major correction since early November, dropping 13% from its all-time high of $108,364. This sudden pullback has sent shockwaves across the crypto market, shifting sentiment from extreme bullishness to uncertainty and even fear. The sell-off has been particularly brutal for altcoins, many of which are bleeding hard as Bitcoin struggles to regain momentum. Related Reading Key metrics from CryptoQuant highlight the gravity of the situation, with realized losses totaling $28.9 million—an alarming 3.2 times higher than the weekly average. This spike in realized losses suggests that some investors…

Olaf Scholz was exasperated. At a meeting of EU leaders this week to brainstorm ways to maintain support for Ukraine when Donald Trump returns as US president, the German chancellor became irate that an idea he has regularly shot down was being touted again.At the discussions at the home of Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte in Brussels on Wednesday night, Polish President Andrzej Duda called for the EU to confiscate and spend the €260bn worth of Russian sovereign assets immobilised at European financial institutions — an idea promoted by the US and UK but resisted by Germany, France and Italy. “You…

The retail sector would like to forget about 2024 as the year winds down, as several retailers have filed for bankruptcy and many have liquidated and closed their businesses.Bankrupt discount home goods chain Big Lots shocked the retail world as it revealed it will begin going-out-of-business sales at all remaining store locations in the coming days after a proposed sale agreement with stalking-horse bidder Nexus Capital Management collapsed, the company said in a Dec. 19 statement. 💸💰 Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter 💰💸The company asserted that it doesn’t expect to complete a previously announced asset…

Este artículo también está disponible en español. Recent technical analysis has revealed that the XRP price is consolidating after breaking key resistance levels to new highs. A crypto analyst has warned of an impending XRP price crash, urging investors not to get distracted as the RSI is still significantly above 50%. Discussing his predictions through short and long-term XRP price charts, the analyst shows that the cryptocurrency is firmly positioned in a bullish trend despite impending corrections.  XRP Price RSI Hints At Potential Crash On the 4-hour XRP chart, a double tap structure is highlighted in the Relative Strength Index…

A federal regulator sued JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America on Friday, claiming the banks failed to protect hundreds of thousands of consumers from rampant fraud on the popular payments network Zelle, in violation of consumer financial laws. In the federal civil complaint, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asserts that the banks rushed to get the peer-to-peer payments platform to market without effective safeguards against fraud and then, after consumers complained about being defrauded on the service, largely denied them relief. “Shortly after Zelle’s launch, significant problems, including fraud being perpetrated on consumers using Zelle, quickly became apparent.…