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☆ U.S., Turkey target financial network linked to Islamic State
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it was taking joint action with Turkey against a network it said played a key role in money management, transfer and distribution for the Islamic State militant group operating in Iraq and Syria. Turkey's foreign affairs ministry said on Twitter the assets of seven individuals or legal persons involved in financing for the group were frozen. The U.S. Treasury Department said four individuals and two entities in Turkey were designated under U.S. sanctions. Islamic State killed and executed thousands of people in the name of its extreme interpretation of Islam before it was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019. The United States in November blacklisted four individuals and eight companies in South Africa aiding the group and in May imposed sanctions on a network of five Islamic State financial facilitators working across Indonesia, Syria and Turkey.

☆ Burkina Faso summons Ghanaian ambassador over Wagner allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for "explanations" after Ghana's president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso's foreign ministry said. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there," Akufo-Addo said, adding that it was a distressing development for Ghana. Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment. In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso's foreign ministry said it had "expressed disapproval" about the statements made by the Ghanaian president. Burkina Faso also recalled its ambassador from Ghana for a meeting, the spokesperson said.

☆ Japan, Netherlands to join U.S. in China chip curbs - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the United States in tightening controls over the export of advanced chip-making machinery to China, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. In October, the Biden administration published a series of curbs aimed at stopping the export of chip-making technology and certain chips made through U.S. equipment anywhere in the world to China. The new curbs may be announced in the coming weeks, it added. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as well as Netherlands' foreign affairs ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

CNN —The Mexican ambassador in Lima has been summoned by Peru’s foreign ministry on complaints Mexico is interfering in its internal affairs, after top officials weighed in on the ouster earlier this week of Peru’s former President Pedro Castillo. Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard later said that Castillo requested for asylum, and Mexican President Lopez Obrador criticized Peruvian elites, calling for the protection of the ousted president’s human rights. Lopez Obrado also said he had directed Ambassador Pablo Monroy to “open the embassy’s door” to Castillo. The same day, Mexico’s leftist President Obrador told journalists that Castillo tried to go to the Mexican embassy in Lima to request asylum. I asked him to talk to the ambassador (Monroy) and to open the embassy’s door according to our asylum tradition,” the President told journalists.

☆ China operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Nina Dos Santos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Madrid-based human rights campaigner Safeguard Defenders says it found evidence China was operating 48 additional police stations abroad since the group first revealed the existence of 54 such stations in September. When approached by CNN last month about Safeguard Defenders’ original allegations, China’s foreign affairs ministry said the overseas stations were staffed by volunteers. However, the organization’s latest report claims one police network it examined had hired 135 people for its first 21 stations. The organization also sourced a three-year contract for a worker hired at an overseas station in Stockholm. The NGO determines Italy has hosted 11 Chinese police stations, including in Venice and in Prato, near Florence.

☆ Ukraine says its embassies in countries across Europe have been receiving bloodstained packages with animal eyes in them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian embassies in Europe have gotten packages with "animal eyes," in them, an official said. This comes after an apparent bomb inside an envelope exploded at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid. "The packages contained animal eyes," Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a Facebook post on Friday. The gruesome packages were received by the Ukrainian embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, and Austria, Nikolenko said. "We have reasons to consider what's going on a well-planned campaign of terror and intimidation of embassies and consulates of Ukraine," Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

☆ An apparent letter bomb exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, Spanish authorities said
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An apparent bomb concealed inside an envelope exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid. Ukraine's foreign affairs minister ordered security to be beefed up at all Ukrainian embassies. The employee was not seriously injured in the blast but was hospitalized, Reuters reported, citing Spanish police. In the aftermath of the incident, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba ordered security to be beefed up at all Ukrainian embassies. Kuleba also called on Spanish authorities to "urgently" investigate what Ukrainian officials described as an "attack."

☆ Some European officials are accusing the US of profiting from the Ukraine war, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some European officials have accused the US of profiting from the war in Ukraine, Politico reported. A White House official said high prices were caused only by "Putin's energy war against Europe." Officials told the publication that the Biden administration was making a "fortune" from Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, while European countries were left to suffer. Officials, including French president Emmanuel Macron, have called US climate legislation, and ensuing gas prices, "not friendly." "The Inflation Reduction Act has changed everything," one EU diplomat told Politico.

☆ Russian missiles struck NATO ally Poland and killed 2 people as Putin's forces barraged Ukraine, a US defense official told the AP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jake Epstein | Charles R. Davis | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two people were reportedly killed after Russian missiles landed in an eastern Polish village. The missiles landed in the village of Przewodów, which is located in eastern Poland a short distance from Ukraine's western border. The US and its Western allies have warned Russia repeatedly that an attack on NATO territory would trigger a strong response. "We are aware of the press reports alleging that two Russian missiles have struck a location inside Poland near the Ukraine border. Criminal Russian regime fired missiles which target not only Ukrainian civilians but also landed on NATO territory in Poland.

[1/2] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks at the meeting with Colombia's President Gustavo Petro (not pictured) at Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela November 1, 2022. "We are working on resuming the dialogue process in November," said one of the people familiar with the arrangements. Maduro and Colombia President Gustavo Petro said in a joint statement on Tuesday they hoped for "a successful return" to the dialogues. This makes resumption of talks crucial for the opposition coalition, which has been diminished by exile, imprisonment of leaders, internal fractures and lack of funds. The talks were abandoned by Maduro's envoys a year ago after disagreements over the extradition of an ally of the Venezuelan president who faces money laundering charges.

☆ Dutch probe 'illegal' China gov't offices in Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Netherlands is investigating offices that have been operating illegally in the country on behalf of the Chinese government, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The investigation follows reports by RTL Nieuws and website "Follow The Money" that two such offices have carried out functions, including remotely renewing Chinese citizens drivers' licences. The Chinese Embassy said in an emailed reaction to Reuters questions it "was not aware of the issue ... and not involved in it". "China`s judicial and law-enforcement authorities strictly abide by international rules and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries," it said. "What is correct is that the Chinese government never informed us about the centres via diplomatic channels so that makes them illegal to begin with," Hovenkamp said.

☆ US and UK warn of possible attack in Nigeria's capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAGOS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The United States and Britain on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in Nigeria's federal capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"The U.S. Embassy will offer reduced services until further notice," the embassy said in an alert to citizens in Nigeria. The United Kingdom government warned that its citizens in Nigeria should stay alert due to an "increased threat of terrorist attack in Abuja." "Attacks could be indiscriminate and could affect western interests, as well as places visited by tourists," it said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ethiopian army captures city from Tigray forces -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Guterres told reporters the United Nations was ready to support the bloc in every possible way to end the Ethiopian people's "nightmare". The European Union said the joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces should stop immediately and the Eritreans should withdraw from Ethiopian territory. It also urged Tigray forces to refrain from any further military operations. Spokespersons for the Ethiopian government and army, for the Eritrean government and for the Tigray forces did not respond to requests for comment on events in Shire. The Tigray authorities said on Sunday their forces would abide by an immediate truce and said a "humanitarian catastrophe" was unfolding.

☆ Mexico files a 2nd lawsuit targeting U.S. gun dealers to stem flow of weapons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government filed another U.S. gun lawsuit Monday, this time against five U.S. gun shops and distributors it claims are responsible for the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico. Mexico’s first lawsuit, which was recently dismissed, targeted U.S. gun manufacturers. The announcement comes several days after a U.S. federal judge dismissed Mexico’s first lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers; Mexico has said it will appeal that decision. The law shields gun manufacturers from damages “resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse” of a firearm. The Mexican government estimates 70% of the weapons trafficked into Mexico come from the U.S., according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

☆ Shelling hits southern Ukraine, Russia in U.N. spotlight over escalation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian service members ride atop an armoured fighting vehicles, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 24, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr RatushniakRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSept 25 (Reuters) - Shelling hit southern Ukraine late on Saturday while Russia sought to defend its seven-month old war at the United Nations even as it moves to escalate the conflict. Nearly three-quarters of countries in the assembly voted to reprimand Russia and demand it withdraw its troops shortly after the Feb. 24 invasion. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterKyiv and Moscow traded blame for shelling in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Simon Lewis; editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russia on Friday launched referendums in four eastern ukrainian regions aimed at annexing territory it has taken by force. Asked if Russia would have grounds for using nuclear weapons to defend annexed regions of Ukraine, Lavrov said Russian territory, including territory "further enshrined" in Russia's constitution in the future, "is under the full protection of the state." Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Lavrov's comments, and Putin's earlier statement when he said he was not bluffing about using nuclear weapons, were "irresponsible" and "absolutely unacceptable." The likely annexation of Ukrainian territory raises the question of how Russia might respond to the use of Western weapons in those regions. Lavrov sought to portray opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine as limited to Washington and countries under its influence.

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