Briefly

UNITED STATES

FTX founder freed on bail over fraud charges

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of a Manhattan courthouse on Thursday with his parents after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform. Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said in federal court that Bankman-Fried, 30, "perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions". Roos proposed strict bail terms including the $250 million bond — which he said is believed to be the largest federal pretrial bond ever — and house arrest in Palo Alto.

DPRK

Ministry denies arms delivery to Russia

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Foreign Ministry denied reports that it offered munitions to Russia, calling it "groundless", and denounced the United States for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, the official KCNA news agency reported on Friday. "The DPRK remains unchanged in its principled stand on the issue of 'arms transaction' between the DPRK and Russia, which has never happened," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement. The White House said on Thursday that Pyongyang has completed an initial arms delivery to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group.

UNITED KINGDOM

Ambulance staff to stage more strikes

Thousands of ambulance workers will stage two further strikes on Jan 11 and 23 in an escalating dispute over pay and staffing, the Unison trade union said on Thursday, after a similar walkout by staff on Wednesday. While Wednesday's strike, which also involved workers affiliated to two other trade unions, lasted 12 hours, the two Unison strikes next month will last 24 hours each, Unison said. The strikes come as an already pressured health system faces further strain this winter, with nurses also going on strike in a separate pay dispute.

Agencies Via Xinhua