As demonstrators flood Iranian streets in ongoing protests which started late last month, United States President Donald Trump has threatened military intervention, arguing that he wants to help protesters. He wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday: Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!! He has since echoed those sentiments in other public statements.
Driving the news: The protests have grown and spread over the past 12 nights, with Thursday night's being the largest so far. They are driven mainly by the country's economic turmoil, which has deepened amid President Trump's renewed push to tighten sanctions and after the damage inflicted during the 12-day war in June. Some of the crowds on Thursday were openly chanting for the downfall of the regime, according to various media reports.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
The oil sector's decline has been blamed on the combined effects of US sanctions and years of underinvestment, mismanagement and corruption under Maduro and his left-wing predecessor, Hugo Chavez. While the Trump administration could boost supply in the short term by lifting sanctions, restoring Venezuela's output to anything near peak levels would require huge investment and likely take years, according to energy analysts.
Banning people because you disagree with what they say undermines the free speech the administration claims to seek. We desperately need a wide ranging debate on whether and how social media should be regulated in the interests of the people. Imran Ahmed gave evidence to the select committee's inquiry into social media, algorithms and harmful content, and he was an articulate advocate for greater regulation and accountability.
The U.S. Treasury Department took a swipe at the Mexican prison system on Wednesday, disguised as a sanctions announcement against a criminal leader one of many it reports each year. The Treasury explained that it has decided to sanction Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, alias El Marro, head of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), for his industrial-scale fuel theft operation in the state of Guanajuato, in central Mexico.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, increasing the pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government. Trump has not disclosed how his administration would block the sanctioned oil vessels, nor whether he will ask the Coast Guard to intercept vessels like last week. The US has already deployed thousands of troops, nearly a dozen warships and an aircraft carrier in the Carribean.
Once in the East African country, the former soldiers are allegedly used to train the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been locked in a power struggle against Sudan's government forces. The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians including infants and young children. Its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow, Treasury official John K Hurley said in a statement.
Vladimir Putin has told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, that Russia is ready to continue uninterrupted shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were resilient to external pressure.
Meeting to boost ties comes as India seeks reprieve from US oil sanctions related to war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have kicked off a daylong summit in the capital of India, where trade and Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine were set to loom large. Friday's summit is the first time Putin has visited India since the start of Russia's full-fledged war on Ukraine in 2022, and comes as India is seeking a reprieve from United States sanctions related to its purchase of Russian oil.
In late October, the US Treasury announced sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producers. The changes sent seaborne shipments from these companies down 42%, to about 1.7 million barrels a day. However, Russia's total oil exports slipped by just 100,000 barrels per day after the sanctions came into effect. This means that Russia rapidly rerouted shipments through smaller, non-sanctioned producers.
The United States ramped up pressure on Venezuela on Monday by designating the so-called "Cartel de los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns) group as a terrorist organization. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month the US would announce the designation of the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) for its alleged role in importing illegal drugs into the United States.
