Asked by the Guardian in November in Tehran what cost benefit analysis could possibly conclude that the nuclear programme was a worthwhile project, the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, referred to Iran's sovereign right under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the medical benefits, and the blood of past assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. He suggested a compromise whereby a consortium including possibly the US could enrich uranium in Iran, but insisted the principle that uranium would be enriched inside Iran remained sacrosanct.
Keir Starmer has taken a major step towards rapprochement with China, opening the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping in a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing. During the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years a period which Starmer described as an ice age he said talks with the Chinese president had left the bilateral relationship in a stronger place.
"agreement is a long-overdue step toward dismantling one of the Kremlin's most powerful economic weapons. Every cubic meter of Russian gas kept flowing into Europe has helped finance the missiles that strike Ukrainian cities. This Regulation, if implemented without loopholes, brings Europe closer to honouring its promise to end this deadly dependency."
Venezuela and the United States have taken first steps towards restoring diplomatic ties after a dramatic US military raid led to the capture and ouster of Venezuelan ex-President Nicolas Maduroand his wife Cilia Flores last week. Venezuela said on Friday that it had launched talks with the US on reestablishing relations as a team of US diplomats and a security detail visited the South American country.
US Southern Command said in a statement that Marines and sailors, working in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and captured the tanker, Olina, "without incident." It appears to be the first time that the US has directly acknowledged the Ford's involvement in the five boarding and seizure operations that began in early December. However, the government has indicated that the carrier was used for at least one of the other missions.
Graham's Sanctioning Russia Act, drafted with Democrat Richard Blumenthal, would give Trump the authority to impose a tariff of up to 500 percent on imports from countries doing business with Russia's energy sector. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin's war machine, Graham said in a statement, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States of America is a rogue nation, run by a violent criminal who operates outside the rule of law. The bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president, Nicolás Maduro, so that he can stand for a show trial in New York, is a flagrant violation of international law. It is proof positive that the United States, under Trump, is the biggest "bad guy" on the international stage and should be treated accordingly.
German prosecutors say they will drop an investigation of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, over possible breaches of sanctions and money laundering rules after he agreed to pay a 10 million euro (about $11.8 million) fine. The Uzbekistan-born Russian billionaire and metals magnate, who was reelected as the president of the International Fencing Federation last year, has been facing European Union sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Bank of Russia has set out a new framework to regulate cryptocurrencies, proposing tiered access that would allow everyday investors to buy digital assets alongside professional market participants, while maintaining tight controls on risk and usage. In a concept paper released Tuesday and submitted to the government for review, the central bank said both qualified and non-qualified investors would be permitted to acquire crypto assets, but under different rules, limits and testing requirements.
Frozen assets are financial funds or property that the owner cannot access or use for any transaction or transfer because of restrictions imposed by a government or bloc such as the European Union. In Russia's case, sovereign assets in the form of cash, bonds and securities held abroad as well as private assets such as yachts and real estate owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires were frozen. Assets are usually frozen via sanctions.
