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Photo: 123rf Bitcoin has more than doubled this year Trump on Wednesday picked pro-crypto Paul Atkins to lead SEC Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, supports cryptocurrencies Crypto-related stocks have surged Bitcoin catapulted above US$100,000 (NZ$170,000) for the first time on Thursday (US time), a milestone hailed even by sceptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets as investors bet on a friendly US administration to cement the place of cryptocurrencies in financial markets. Once it broke US$100,000 in Thursday's Asian morning, boosted by US President-elect Trump's nomination of pro-crypto Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was soon at an all-time high of US$103,619 (NZ$176,000). It last fetched US$101,139 ($NZ172,000), up about 3.2 percent on the day. T...

Photo: USGS/Supplied A magnitude 7 earthquake has hit off the northern California coast, prompting a tsunami warning for a large stretch of the California and Oregon coasts, though it has since been lifted. The tsunami warning was lifted about 9am, when the possible tsunami was predicted to arrive. Some 4.7 million residents of California and Oregon were under the tsunami warning, the National Weather Service said. The quake, which hit at a shallow depth of 10 km, was centred about 39 miles west of the town of Ferndale, a sparsely populated portion of the northern California coast, the US Geological Survey said. The Zoo has closed due to national weather emergency and tsunami warning. Guests have been evacuated, animals secured and staff have moved to higher ground.— San Francisco Zoo &...

By Kirsty Needham, Reuters Five Eyes intelligence partners were being warned about the radicalisation of young "digital natives". Photo: CAIA IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY One in five priority counter-terrorism cases investigated by Australia involved youth, the country's spy chief said on Friday, as the Five Eyes intelligence partners warned about the radicalisation of young "digital natives". Mental health, education and social services needed to intervene in many cases before the behaviour of minors became a police issue, said a research paper by the Five Eyes, which also include the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand. "Around 20 percent of ASIO's priority counter-terrorism cases involve young people. In every one of the terrorist attacks, disruptions and suspected terrorist incide...

By Dominique Vidalon and Lucien Libert, Reuters Photo: AFP / POOL / JEANNE ACCORSINI French President Emmanuel Macron met allies and parliament leaders as he sought to swiftly appoint a new prime minister to replace Michel Barnier, who officially resigned a day after opposition lawmakers voted to topple his government. Barnier, a veteran conservative whom Macron appointed prime minister barely three months ago, became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history after he failed to find enough support for a budget aimed at taming a wide deficit. The Elysee Palace said Macron had asked Barnier and his government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed. Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to appoint a replacement swiftly, with one sa...