Yearly Archives: 2025

Russia and U.S. bring spa worker and tech smuggler back home in prisoner swap

By Lucy Papachristou and Guy FaulconbridgeMOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia released a Los Angeles spa worker on Thursday sentenced to 12 years in jail for donating to a charity aiding Ukraine in exchange for a man accused of crafting a global smuggling ring to spirit sensitive U.S. electronics to Russia’s military.The exchange, which took place at Abu Dhabi airport, was confirmed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.Footage on Russian state media showed Ksenia Karelina, a dual citizen who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a U.S.-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, flying out of Russia.Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics, was shown entering a Russian plane from the tarmac at Abu Dhabi and undergoing medical check-ups.”Petrov was exchanged for U.S. citizen Ksenia Karelina, who also holds Russian citizenship and was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for treason in the form of financial assistance to a foreign state,” the FSB said in a statement.”We express our gratitude to the UAE leadership for their assistance,” the FSB said.The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the swap, said that the deal was negotiated by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and an unidentified senior Russian intelligence official. Ratcliffe confirmed the exchange to the Journal.Ratcliffe has spoken to both FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin in recent months.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Karelina was on her way home. Her lawyer confirmed that to Reuters. Representatives for the White House and the U.S. State Department could not be immediately reached for further comment on the swap.U.S. teacher Marc Fogel was released from a Russian prison in February during a visit by President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in those negotiations.In August last year, the United States and Russia carried out their biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with 24 prisoners gaining their freedom, including U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.The U.S. Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.The Justice Department said that Petrov had formed an elaborate tech-smuggling syndicate which spirited sensitive technology to Russia’s military-industrial complex through a web of shell companies. Petrov was unavailable for comment.(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Lucy Papachristou in London, Kritika Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru, and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff, Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson)

Dragonfly Energy Wins the 2025 “Battery Technology Company of the Year” CleanTech Breakthrough Award

Dragonfly Energy Wins the 2025 “Battery Technology Company of the Year” CleanTech Breakthrough Award – Technology Today – EIN Presswire

EXCEED GEO ENERGY & Peregrine Turbine Technologies Announce Collaboration to Deploy Breakthrough sCO₂ Geothermal Energy

EXCEED GEO ENERGY & Peregrine Turbine Technologies Announce Collaboration to Deploy Breakthrough sCO₂ Geothermal Energy – Technology Today – EIN Presswire

Greenland ‘Freedom City’? Rich donors push Trump for a tech hub up north

Greenland ‘Freedom City’? Rich donors push Trump for a tech hub up north

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Rachael Levy and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) – As the Trump administration intensifies efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark — or take it by force — some Silicon Valley tech investors are promoting the frozen island as a site for a so-called freedom city, a libertarian utopia with minimal corporate regulation, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. 
The discussions are in early stages, but the idea has been taken seriously by Trump’s pick for Denmark ambassador, Ken Howery, who is expected to be confirmed by Congress in the coming months and lead Greenland-acquisition negotiations, the people said. Howery, whose involvement with the idea hasn’t been previously reported, once co-founded a venture-capital firm with tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a leading advocate for such low-regulation cities. Howery is also a longtime friend of Elon Musk, a top Trump advisor.
Howery declined to comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Sources who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The vision for Greenland, one of the people said, could include a hub for artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, space launches, micro nuclear reactors and high-speed rail. 
The discussions reflect a longstanding Silicon Valley movement to establish low-regulation cities globally, including in the United States, which Trump himself promised to do in a 2023 campaign video. Proponents use different names for variations on the idea, including startup cities or charter cities, with the common goal of spurring innovation through sweeping regulatory exemptions.
The administration’s consideration of such a quixotic quest underscores the growing clout of tech magnates and Trump’s increasingly expansionist foreign policy. After campaigning on a largely isolationist platform, Trump has since his November election suggested taking back the Panama Canal, annexing Canada and redeveloping the war-torn Gaza Strip after seizing the beachfront land from displaced Palestinians. 
Greenland is about three times the size of Texas with a population of only 57,000. But the island is strategically important to the U.S. military, which has a base there, and contains substantial deposits of minerals, including rare-earths.
Trump has refused to rule out taking Greenland by military force if Denmark won’t sell it.
“We have to have Greenland,” Trump said late last month as his Vice President, J.D. Vance, visited a U.S. military base on the island.
Vance toured Greenland with his wife Usha Vance, a visit that ignited protests from Greenlanders, who overwhelmingly oppose becoming part of America, polls show. The island is owned by Denmark but governs itself. Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the U.S. visit signalled a “lack of respect.”
Speaking to troops at the U.S. military base, Vance accused Denmark of failing to protect Greenland from “very aggressive incursions from Russia, and from China and other nations,” without detailing the alleged aggression.
The government of Denmark declined to comment on the idea of U.S. tech investors founding a city there. Greenland didn’t respond.
‘NEW MANIFEST DESTINY’
The freedom-city movement reflects a fascination with settling new American frontiers, rooted in nostalgia for the nation’s 1800s western expansion. Expanding to Greenland “can be the dawn of a new Manifest Destiny,” said tech investor Shervin Pishevar, referring to the 19th-century philosophy that America was an exceptional nation with a God-given mission to conquer territory.
Thiel, a libertarian and early Trump supporter, wrote in 2009 that he no longer considered democracy compatible with freedom and has advocated escaping politics by colonizing outer space or seasteading — building communities in ungoverned oceans.
Fellow venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, an informal advisor to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is part of a tech-investor consortium seeking to build a city on grazing land outside San Francisco. Another venture capitalist and informal DOGE advisor, Joe Lonsdale, also promotes low-regulation cities. In a statement to Reuters, Lonsdale celebrated “expanding our country to Greenland” but did not comment on plans for a city there.
Thiel and Andreessen, leading proponents and financiers of the startup-city movement, are among those supportive of a Greenland outpost, two of the sources said. Reuters could not determine whether the two billionaires are actively lobbying the Trump administration for a Greenland city.
Andreessen declined to comment. Thiel spokesman Jeremiah Hall said: “Peter isn’t involved in any plans or discussions regarding Greenland.” Musk did not respond to comment requests.
Thiel has invested along with Andreessen and Pishevar in Pronomos Capital, a venture-capital firm that has launched a half dozen charter-city projects globally, according to Pronomos founder Patri Friedman, the grandson of famous free-market economist Milton Friedman. Most Pronomos projects are in development and negotiations with various governments, Friedman said, but it has helped finance one existing startup community in Honduras called Próspera.
Pronomos also invested in Praxis, a city-building venture that in October announced $525 million in financing for a new city. Praxis’ investors include Lonsdale, a fund launched by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his brothers, and Pishevar, who co-founded Hyperloop One, a defunct venture once championed by Musk.
Praxis co-founder Dryden Brown told Reuters other companies have approached Praxis about helping to establish a Greenland city. Brown flew to Greenland last year. He advocates for building a city there in part because its harsh environment could provide a test site for colonizing Mars – one of Musk’s highest ambitions.
“We must build a prototype of Terminus on Earth before departing for Mars,” Brown posted on X in November, using Musk’s term for a red-planet settlement. “I believe Greenland is the place, @elonmusk.”
(Reporting by Rachael Levy in Washington and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Anna Driver and Brian Thevenot)

Christodoulides meets tech giants in US, Amazon and NVIDIA consider Cyprus presence

President Nikos Christodoulides has concluded a successful series of meetings across the United States aimed at boosting the island’s profile as a reliable investment destination and leveraging its strategic advantages in key sectors, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.

The president’s New York meetings focused on the financial sector, with discussions held with international investment funds, banking institutions and financial firms, Letymbiotis told reporters.

Christodoulides highlighted Cyprus’s strong economic performance, pointing to a 3.4% growth rate—among the highest in the eurozone—with public debt reduced to 66% of GDP, a fiscal surplus of approximately 4%, and unemployment below 5%.

“These positive indicators, combined with the country’s upgrade to Category A by all international rating agencies and its stable, competitive tax and regulatory framework, were recognised by the president’s interlocutors as crucial factors enhancing confidence in Cyprus’s financial services sector,” Letymbiotis said.

In Houston, Texas, the president’s meetings centred on the energy sector, with discussions with executives from Chevron and Exxon confirming plans to accelerate the development of energy resources in Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Letymbiotis described as “significant” Chevron’s plans to begin underwater surveys this summer for a pipeline from the “Aphrodite” gas field to Egypt, adding that synergies to expedite natural gas exploitation were being examined.

During his visit to San Francisco’s Silicon Valley, Christodoulides met with technology leaders including OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, Oracle, Plug and Play, and Tenstorrent to showcase Cyprus’s potential as a technology hub.

The announcement of intentions by Tenstorrent and Plug and Play to establish operations in Cyprus was an immediate and encouraging outcome, confirming the attractiveness of the country’s innovation ecosystem, the spokesman said.

He added that global giants like NVIDIA and Amazon expressed interest in exploring partnerships or establishing a physical presence in Cyprus, highlighting the dynamism of the technology sector, which already contributes 14% to the country’s GDP.

Particularly noteworthy, according to the spokesman, were the president’s meetings with members of the Cypriot diaspora who hold leadership positions in global companies, primarily in the technology sector, who expressed willingness to contribute substantially to Cyprus’s development efforts by leveraging their expertise and influence networks.

The government spokesman said the president’s contacts were “successful and productive, confirming international confidence in the Republic of Cyprus, which is now positioned as a stable and reliable partner in a region of geopolitical challenges, offering a safe and sustainable environment for investments”.

The results of these contacts, he concluded, are part of a broader framework of reforms and enhanced outward orientation, aimed at transforming Cyprus into a hub for innovation and financial services.

“Over the past two years, transparency has been strengthened, reliability established, and the country’s geopolitical presence upgraded,” Letymbiotis said, adding that investor interest “is not coincidental but the result of methodical and targeted work,” with multiple benefits such as creating quality jobs, increasing competitiveness, and enhancing economic resilience.