The US on Wednesday announced sanctions against four companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector, declaring four associated oil tankers as blocked property. In the statement released by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US government alleges that some of these vessels are part of the shadow fleet serving Venezuelan President Nicolás [...]
Indonesia enforced its new penal code on Friday, according to local media, replacing colonial-era laws that had governed the country for over a century. Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra described the move as a historic milestone that marks the beginning of a new era in Indonesia’s legal system. [...]
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vowed on Thursday to defend the island’s sovereignty, just days after Beijing concluded the “Justice Mission 2025” military drills near Taiwan. President Lai pledged in his New Year’s address to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, strengthen national defense and the resilience of the whole society, and comprehensively construct an effective deterrence and democratic [...]
Finnish police announced on Wednesday that they are investigating damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland after seizing a vessel suspected of causing the incident. According to a police statement, telecommunications authorities detected a fault in an undersea cable linking Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, on the morning of December 31. [...]
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Wednesday condemned Israel’s suspension of numerous aid agencies operating in Gaza, warning that the move worsens an already intolerable situation for the people in Gaza. Türk urged all states with influence to use their voice to press Israel to immediately allow unhindered aid to enter Gaza. Israel recently [...]
Turkish police detained 357 people on Tuesday in large-scale, coordinated operations targeting the Islamic State group, according to the country’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Authorities carried out raids across 21 provinces following a deadly clash between police and ISIS militants in Yalova, a small northwestern city, amid heightened security ahead of New Year’s celebrations. Three [...]
The Munich II Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday dropped a money laundering and sanction breach investigation into the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, after agreeing upon a €10 million settlement. The settlement will be split between the state treasury (€8.5 million) and German charities (€1.5 million.) Usmanov was under investigation for failing to declare his assets [...]
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss Israel’s announced recognition of Somaliland, a self-declared independent region of Somalia. The move drew widespread condemnation from world leaders over the weekend, and the UNSC session provided a forum for all member states to present their positions. Somalia opened the discussion, [...]
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced on Monday that it has opened a formal investigation into potential corruption in the country’s military procurement contracts. MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki announced that the investigation was launched under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act of 2009, following a complaint filed by political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin. [...]
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Sunday that the agency will send a large number of investigators and resources to Minnesota to continue investigating a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that is said to have involved theft of federal food aid from children during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Patel, the investigation has so far …exposed sham [...]
