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Hard Numbers: Shenzhen lockdown, anti-war spam, Bitcoin bond, Saudi mass execution
17.5 million: The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will go into lockdown and test its entire population of 17.5 million three times after logging 60 COVID infections on Sunday. Xi Jinping clearly has no plans to relax his Draconian zero-COVID policy anytime soon.
150: A Norwegian computer scientist has developed a website allowing anyone to spam 150 Russian emails at a time with messages about the war in Ukraine. Activists and hackers are getting increasingly creative with ways to circumvent Russian censorship.
1 billion: El Salvador, the only country that accepts Bitcoin as legal tender, now wants to raise $1 billion with a 10-year Bitcoin bond set to launch this week. Crypto-loving President Nayib Bukele wants to use the money to pay off debt and build a Bitcoin City.
81: Saudi Arabia executed 81 men on Saturday, its largest mass execution ever. Murder, terrorism, and holding “deviant beliefs” were among the offenses. One was Syrian and seven were from Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been fighting a long proxy war with Iran.Hard Numbers: Pakistan’s mosque mandate, Morrison banned from WeChat, Thai PM visits Saudi, Bitcoin tumbles
46: Facing an omicron wave, Pakistani authorities have announced that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to enter mosques. In Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, almost half of people tested for COVID (46 percent) are returning positive results.
76,000: Amid a deepening diplomatic row between Beijing and Canberra, Australian PM Scott Morrison has lost access to his account on the Chinese messaging app WeChat and is unable to communicate with his 76,000 followers. Beijing denies claims of interference, but appeals to restore Morrison’s account have fallen on deaf ears.
30: Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha will visit Saudi Arabia this week, marking the first visit of a Thai leader to Riyadh in 30 years. Diplomatic ties between the two states broke down in 1989 after a Thai janitor stole $20 million worth of gems from a Saudi prince. Riyadh accused Bangkok of bungling the criminal investigation.
50: The price of Bitcoin has fallen 50 percent since it peaked last November. Cryptocurrencies have fallen across the board, in part because geopolitical tensions have sparked a global flight from riskier investments and in part because many governments have tried to crack down on digital assets.
India plans to introduce law to ban cryptocurrency trading
NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) - India plans to introduce a new law banning trade in cryptocurrencies, placing it out of step with other Asian economies which have chosen to regulate the fledgling market.
Thai Navy to tow bitcoin couple's sea home to shore
BANGKOK • The Thai Navy will begin removing a "seastead" home built by an American bitcoin investor and his partner off the coast of Thailand, an official has said, as the couple remain in hiding from charges accusing them of violating the country's sovereignty.
China says it wants to eliminate bitcoin mining
SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - China's state planner wants to ban bitcoin mining, according to a draft list of industrial activities the agency is seeking to stop in a sign of growing government pressure on the cryptocurrency sector.