Dubai’s VARA Fines 19 Crypto Firms for Unlicensed Operations

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has fined 19 digital asset firms for operating without licences and breaching marketing regulations. Fines ranged from AED 100,000 to AED 600,000, with cease-and-desist orders issued. The action comes amid broader VARA policy upgrades, including enhanced risk oversight, client verification, and compliance standards for licensed crypto and Web3 service providers, reinforcing a secure and fully regulated digital asset market in Dubai.

Motorola Announces Android 16 Update Rollout in India; Edge Series Models to Receive Update First

Motorola announced the rollout of Android 16 in India on Wednesday. The latest software is first arriving on select Motorola Edge 60 series smartphones. The Android 16 introduces a wide range of design, security and connectivity enhancements to the Motorola smartphone. The update include a Notification Auto Grouping feature and Instant Hotspot feature. It offers improved compatibility with LE Audio devices.

Ican Klíma obituary

Czech novelist and playwright whose work was banned under communism

Ivan Klíma, who has died aged 94, carried into the third decade of the 21st century his memories of four years in a Nazi concentration camp. That childhood, from 10 to 14, was spent in the “model” camp at Terezín, where Jews died from malnutrition rather than extermination.

It left an indelible stamp on the Czech writer’s mind and work as it taught him that “life can be snapped like a piece of string”. As did his four decades of struggle with the repressive communist regime that blighted Czech culture until the Velvet Revolution of 1989, led by his friend and fellow-dissident Vaclav Havel.

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