By Anushree Mukherjee (Reuters) – Gold prices look set for a record-breaking 2025 as heightened economic uncertainty and inflation concern under U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term boost demand, despite dollar strength and reduced Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations. The poll of 36 analysts and traders returned a median forecast of $2,756 per troy ounce of gold in 2025, up from $2,674 predicted in a poll three months ago. Spot gold prices hit a record high … Read more…

LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin fell below $100,000 on Monday, hitting its lowest in 11 days, in a move analysts attributed to a wave of caution after the surging popularity of a Chinese artificial intelligence model sparked a selloff in Western AI-related stocks. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency struggled to make gains last week, as a rally that had seen it break above $100,000 after U.S. President Donald Trump’s election ran out of steam. At 1156 GMT, … Read more…

By Erin Banco NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Palestinian militant group Hamas has recruited between 10,000 and 15,000 members since the start of its war with Israel, according to two congressional sources briefed on U.S. intelligence, suggesting the Iran-backed fighters could remain a persistent threat to Israel. The intelligence indicates a similar number of Hamas fighters have been killed during that period, the sources said. The latest official U.S. estimates have not been previously reported. … Read more…

By Hannah Lang and Trevor Hunnicutt (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order to create a cryptocurrency working group, fulfilling a campaign promise after he courted cash from digital asset companies pledging to be a “crypto president.” The crypto advisory council is expected to advise on digital asset policy, work with Congress on crypto legislation, help establish Trump’s promised bitcoin reserve and coordinate between agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity … Read more…

By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not sure the United States should be spending anything on NATO, telling reporters the U.S. was protecting NATO members, but they were “not protecting us.” Trump earlier demanded that other members of the transatlantic alliance spend 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense – a huge increase from the current 2% goal and a level that no NATO country, … Read more…

By Ana Mano SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian beef companies do not expect to be hurt by potential new tariffs from President Donald Trump’s administration because of low inventories of cattle in the U.S. and a sizable tariff that already exists on these exports. Roberto Perosa, head of the Brazilian beef exporters association ABIEC, said in an interview on Wednesday that Brazilian beef exports outside a 65,000-ton annual quota already are slapped with a 26.4% … Read more…