Free Republic

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A chief strategist of Venezuela's government-backed cryptocurrency is a former U.S. congressional intern who once organized protests against the same socialist administration he's now helping to circumvent U.S. financial sanctions.Gabriel Jimenez, 27, was catapulted to something of tech stardom in Venezuela last month when he stood alongside President Nicolas Maduro and two Russian businessmen on national TV signing a contract to position the petro, as the fledgling currency is known, among international investors."It's a company founded and led by young Venezuelan geniuses, boys and girls of Venezuela, who have one of the most technologically advanced blockchain...

China’s loss is India’s gain. International investors are pulling out of China and plowed $705 million into India since June 12, sending the Sensex Index 7% higher. But does India have any near-term catalysts? The buzz on Narendra Modi‘s landmark reform Goods & Taxes Bill is back. An important panel in the Upper House of the parliament, which Modi’s political party does not have majority in, already approved the GST bill. Now Modi just needs to get this bill passed in the Upper House. But worryingly, the monsoon session of the parliament, which opened on Tuesday and will end on...

Nickel prices took a severe beating in late trade at the London Metal Exchange on Monday, falling over $1,000 from Friday's kerb close. Three-months futures ended Monday's kerb at $27,600 per tonne, down $1,100, or 3.8 percent. Once selling began, the metal slipped into free-fall, traders said. "It was around $28,500, then on the next trade -- which was half an hour later -- it had gone down $300, then another $300." Volumes were tiny and support practically non-existent."It was trading one lot, then two lots, then one. There was a void underneath it," the trader said. Sellers may have...

Bush's Anti-Terrorism Record (CBS/AP) SCHENECTADY, N.Y. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, on Monday criticized the Bush administration for failing to do enough to protect the country from terrorists. Clinton's comments came after authorities in the United Kingdom last week said they thwarted a terror plot involving airplanes bound from Britain to the United States. Conspirators allegedly planned to blow up as many as 10 planes flying from Britain to the United States using liquid explosives, which the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's security equipment cannot detect in carry-on luggage. "We've done...

Senator Hillary Clinton has denounced Vice President Dick Cheney for saying terrorists would be emboldened by the results of Connecticut's Democratic Primary. REPORTER: That's where an anti-war candidate defeated Senator Joe Lieberman. CLINTON: I don't take anything he says seriously anymore. I think that he has been a very counterproductive even destructive force in our country and I am very disheartened by the failure of leadership from the president and vice president. REPORTER: During a campaign stop in the Bronx yesterday, Clinton accused the administration of shortchanging New York of its homeland security money. A spokeswoman for the vice president...