Tag: Africas

Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at…

A dual citizen of the United States and Ghana will make his initial appearance today in the Eastern District of New York to face charges related to his participation in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials to obtain and retain business from the Republic of Ghana. Asante Kwaku Berko, 50, was extradited yesterday from the United Kingdom to the United…

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans got a straighter path to potential victory Saturday in what is expected to be Minnesota’s closest congressional race when GOP-endorsed candidate Tayler Rahm dropped out of a primary fight against the better-funded Joe Teirab, who already had tacit backing from key House leaders. Rahm, a political newcomer and defense attorney, said in a statement that he…

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday slapped new sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, targeting Moscow’s shadow fleet of tankers moving liquefied natural gas through Europe as well as several companies. At a meeting in Luxembourg, where the sanctions were endorsed, EU foreign ministers also agreed on new financial support to help Ukraine defend itself. Some…

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in a series of Israeli strikes were transported out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt on Wednesday ahead of their repatriation, Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV reported. The deadly strikes have renewed criticism of Israel’s conduct in the nearly six-monthlong war with Hamas, and highlighted the perilous…

The American plane maker has been under intense pressure since early January, when a panel blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines 737 Max midflight. That’s spotlighted a lengthy series of safety and manufacturing problems that have piled up for Boeing over the years — including two devastating crashes that also involved Max jets. Leadership shakeups have arrived amid this turmoil,…

washington —  Civil liberties declined globally for the 18th consecutive year in 2023, with conflict and flawed elections the biggest factors, a new report has found. Political rights and civil liberties deteriorated for more than one-fifth of the population, the non-profit group Freedom House found. And only one-fifth of the 210 countries and territories the research group analyzed was found…

Saudi Diplomatic Exchanges and Technological Developments Amidst Political Shifts in North Africa In a recent diplomatic exchange, the Crown Prince of Morocco, Prince Hassan bin Mohammed, received a verbal message from the Saudi Arabian King and Crown Prince, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The message reiterated the robust fraternal relations between the two nations, discussing…

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and its carrier strike group transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and entered the Persian Gulf, after arriving in the waters of the Middle East earlier this month amid heightened tensions in the region stemming from the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The carrier, which departed Norfolk, Virginia, in October for a scheduled…

BEIJING: A Chinese man wanted for allegedly embezzling millions of yuan (hundreds of thousands of dollars) from his company and then fleeing to Morocco was extraditedback to China on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Security said. The man, a financial executive at the company, used passwords for its bank accounts to transfer money to his personal account, the ministry said…

November 16, 2023 WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated eight individuals and six entities pursuant to Western Balkans-related Executive Order (E.O.) 14033 and Russia-related E.O. 14024. In a coordinated action, the U.S. Department of State also designated two individuals and 12 entities pursuant to E.O. 14024. “Russia has continued to…

Malicious actors have been abusing Ethereum’s ‘Create2’ function to bypass wallet security alerts and poison cryptocurrency addresses, which led to stealing $60,000,000 worth of cryptocurrency from 99,000 people in six months. This is reported by Web3 anti-scam specialists at ‘Scam Sniffer,’ who observed several cases of in-the-wild exploitation of the function, in some cases losses incurred by one individual reaching…

  A US nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarine is in the Middle East to help prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader conflict, the Pentagon said Monday.   The US Central Command posted a picture of the submarine the day before on social media platform X that appeared to show it transiting Egypt’s Suez Canal. It is “now in the…

Israel has incurred several cyberattacks following the large-scale surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Among the recorded incidents was an attack on the country’s services and government information website, resulting in the portal’s connectivity failure. It was claimed by hacktivists called Killnet, a pro-Russian cyber group that gained notoriety after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “Israeli government, you are…

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has introduced new recommendations to streamline the reporting of cyber incidents across the Department of Defense and 32 other federal agencies. The guide is expected to further protect the country’s vital infrastructure, reduce the burden on cybersecurity partners, and decrease the downtime of associated operations in each sector covered. The recommendations will also…

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
The Departments of State and the Treasury are imposing further sanctions on over 150 individuals and entities in connection with Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine.  As part of today’s action, the U.S. government is targeting individuals and entities engaged in sanctions evasion and circumvention, those complicit in furthering Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine, and those responsible for bolstering Russia’s future energy production.
The Department of State is imposing sanctions on over 70 entities and individuals involved in expanding Russia’s energy production and export capacity, operating in Russia’s metals and mining sectors, and aiding Russian individuals and entities in evading international sanctions. The Department of State is also designating one Russian Intelligence Services officer and one Georgian-Russian oligarch whom the FSB has leveraged to influence Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia.  Additionally, the Department is designating numerous entities producing and repairing Russian weapon systems, including the Kalibr cruise missile used by Russian forces against cities and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and an individual affiliated with the Wagner Group involved in the shipment of munitions from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation.
Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is imposing nearly one hundred sanctions on Russia’s elites and its industrial base, financial institutions, and technology suppliers, including one official of the Wagner Group for advancing Russia’s malign activities in the Central African Republic.  This action comes after the Wagner Group helped ensure the passage of a July 30 constitutional referendum that undercut the country’s democracy.
The United States and its allies and partners are united in supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal war.  We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
All targets are being designated pursuant to Executive Order 14024, which authorizes sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.  For more information on today’s actions, please see the Department of State’s fact sheet and the Department of the Treasury’s press release.