Tag: All Regions

WASHINGTON: The US will provide up to $250 million in arms and equipment to Ukraine in the final package of aid this year to help Kyiv in its war with Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, but Republicans are refusing to approve the assistance without an agreement with Democrats to tighten security along the U.S.-Mexico border. The White House has warned that…

The U.S. on Wednesday announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid to Ukraine unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that is stalled on Capitol Hill. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include an array of air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. The aid, provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, will be pulled from Pentagon stockpiles. In a statement, Marine Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesman said there is…

Apple has said it would suffer “irreparable harm” after the White House allowed a ban on imports on some of its watches following a dispute over the devices’ blood oxygen technology. The tech giant is filing an emergency motion asking a court to allow it to sell two of its most popular watches – the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models – until the patent dispute against medical monitoring technology company, Masimo, is resolved. It requested to pause the ban…

Latvia’s former central bank governor was sentenced to six years in prison for bribery on Wednesday after a trial over the most prominent of a series of recent financial scandals to hit the Baltic country. Ilmārs Rimšēvičs, head of the Latvian central bank from 2001 until 2019, was found guilty by the Riga district court of accepting bribes and a fishing trip to Russia from shareholders of a now defunct bank. He was sentenced to six years in jail and…

Canada Issues Travel Advisory on U.S. Trips Over Abortion, LGBTQ Rights Concerns In a notable move, Canada has issued a travel advisory for its citizens, bringing attention to concerns over state-level policies affecting abortion and LGBTQ rights in the United States. This advisory emerged after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling that has been regarded as a cornerstone of women’s rights in the country for decades. Behind the Advisory The advisory took 71…

US Targets Foreign Banks with Sanctions to Curb Russia’s War Effort In a decisive stroke designed to undermine Russia’s military capabilities, US President Joe Biden has signed a far-reaching executive order targeting the financial sinews aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. The order, enacted on December 22, 2023, sanctions foreign banks that allegedly support Russia’s defense sector, underscoring the US commitment to stymie Russia’s access to international financial networks and critical war supplies. The Financial Front of Warfare The latest…

Prague in Mourning: Charles University Mass Shooting Claims 14 Lives A Day Shrouded in Grief The Czech Republic’s storied capital city, known for its architectural beauty and cultural vibrancy, was overshadowed by grief as the national flag was lowered to half mast. St. Vitus Cathedral’s bells tolled in remembrance, and a requiem echoed through its historic walls. In Kostel sv. Martina ve zdi, an ecumenical prayer and moment of silence were observed, marking the profound loss felt throughout the nation….

An Israeli airstrike killed 76 members of an extended family, rescue officials said Saturday, a day after the UN’s chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza and that Israel’s ongoing offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to the distribution of humanitarian aid. Friday’s strike on a building in Gaza City was among the deadliest of the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 12th week, said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence Department. He provided a partial list of the names…

Student Unrest and Political Tensions Surge in Bangladesh Amidst the scenic beauty of Bangladesh’s hill tracts, a darker narrative unfolds as the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) students face a brutal attack that has shaken the core of student activism in the country. In a recent spate of student unrest, the UPDF, advocating for democratic rights, found themselves targeted in a violent confrontation. A video that captured the harrowing incident went viral, revealing the use of sticks in the assault…

For weeks, alternative news outlets like The Grayzone and The Intercept have cast major doubts on Israel’s claim that the al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza sat atop a major Hamas command center. Now, even an ultimate establishment outlet — the Washington Post — has likewise found that Israel’s claims about the hospital it besieged don’t stand up to scrutiny. Mistrust existed even before the Israeli Defense Forces first besieged the hospital before bombing a departing ambulance convoy, and then raiding…

Obama-appointed DC district judge Beryl Howell sidestepped the First Amendment by finding Rudy Giuliani guilty of defaming two Georgia election workers before trial for allegedly “not complying with his discovery obligations” and now she’s ordering him to pay $148 million in damages immediately because he’s “unlikely” to have the jury verdict overturned on appeal. Just as we saw with the Colorado Supreme Court unilaterally disqualifying Trump from the 2024 election ballot, every basic tenet of our justice system is being…

France’s Sapin II Law was created in 2016 to address corporate corruption and implement antibribery measures. The legislation took effect in 2017, marking a significant shift in the country’s regulatory compliance landscape. The law, which tracks closely with similar laws in the US, UK, and other EU countries, requires large companies [1] to implement a robust compliance program, including anti-corruption policies, monitoring procedures, and accounting controls.  The law also significantly changes the government’s prosecution strategies for white collar crime, particularly…

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 how to further enhance and develop these ties across diverse sectors. Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Diplomatic Engagements On another diplomatic front,…

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) confirmed that attackers stole the personal information of more than 45,000 individuals after breaching its cloud-based Oracle HCM HR management platform last month. INL is one of 17 U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) national laboratories, and it employs 6,100 researchers and support staff involved in national security and nuclear research. On November 20, it confirmed a “cybersecurity data breach” that impacted its off-site Oracle HCM system one day before. CISA and FBI are looking into…

Since the major data protection provisions of Quebec’s Law 25 went into effect in September, privacy professionals within the province and Canada at large now face the prospect of a more stringent enforcement regime under the provincial data protection authority, the Commission d’accès a l’information du Québec. To ease compliance burdens, Canada-based privacy tech vendors Data Sentinel and Denodo joined forces to develop a Law 25 compliance solution, now available to the market. Denodo Director, Partner and Channels Sales Robert…

Negotiators are convening this week in Nairobi for the latest round of talks aimed at creating a new scientific panel to advise the world’s governments on how to tackle chemical waste. But as the talks get underway, concerns have been voiced about potential conflicts of interest that could undermine the panel. The warning comes as efforts to agree a global treaty on plastic pollution appear to have been delayed by vested interests. The UN wants its new panel on chemical…