Tag: t-yahoo

Biden administration officials are pressing their Canadian counterparts to make a decision on whether Ottawa will lead a multinational force into Haiti to assist the crisis-racked Caribbean nation in its battle against gang control, U.S. and diplomatic sources said. They are hoping that a visit to Canada by President Joe Biden next week will settle months of debate over the…

Saudi Arabia is reportedly asking for US help to develop its civilian nuclear programme, raising fears that the kingdom may seek to develop a nuclear weapon and accelerate an arms race with Iran.

Saudi officials want US support to enrich uranium and develop their own fuel production system, while Washington is in return seeking a normalisation with another Middle East ally, Israel, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal.

The oil-dependent kingdom is looking to add nuclear power to its energy mix while, at the same time, being deeply wary of nuclear proliferation attempts by Tehran.

The Foreign Secretary is to order a crackdown on SNP ministers exceeding their powers by using meetings with overseas governments to promote Scottish independence and attack Brexit.

The Telegraph understands that James Cleverly is to write to Britain’s embassies to remind them that a UK diplomat should be present during meetings between SNP ministers and foreign governments.

Whitehall insiders highlighted concerns that the Scottish Government is using Foreign and Commonwealth Office resources and relationships to set up the meetings, only to use them to talk down Britain.

(Bloomberg) — US President Joe Biden dropped into a meeting at the last minute in the White House to see a man all of Washington wants an audience with: Sauli Niinisto, once upon a time known as the “Putin whisperer.” The impromptu get-together was thrown together as Biden joined Niinisto and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The pair of presidents have now met three times and spoken four since late 2021 — giving the Finnish head of state unprecedented access to the world’s most powerful leader.

At stake is the stalled expansion of NATO, with Turkey and Hungary holding up the biggest shift in the security landscape of western Europe in several decades.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former state House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges were convicted Thursday in a $60 million bribery scheme that federal prosecutors have called the largest corruption case in state history.

A jury in Cincinnati found the two guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering, after about 9 1/2 half hours of deliberations over two days.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker said the government’s prosecution team showed that “Householder sold the Statehouse, and thus he ultimately betrayed the people of the great state of Ohio he was elected to serve.” He called Borges “a willing co-conspirator.”

BERLIN (AP) — European countries said Thursday that they have decided to dissolve a system conceived in 2019 to enable trade with Iran and protect companies doing business with it from U.S. sanctions, but only ever processed one transaction.

The German and French foreign ministries said the 10 shareholders of INSTEX — Belgium, Germany, Finland, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. — concluded that there was no basis to keep it going after Iran persistently refused to work with the institution.

The decision comes at a time when tensions between the West and Iran have increased following Tehran’s crackdown on internal dissent, its supply of armed drones to Russia that have been used in the war in Ukraine, and the de facto breakdown of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers including Germany, France and the U.K.

A former Goldman Sachs banker was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for his role in looting a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund of billions of dollars used to finance lavish parties, a superyacht, premium real estate and even the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Roger Ng was convicted last April by a U.S. District Court jury in Brooklyn, but he continues to deny charges that he conspired to launder money and violated two anti-bribery laws. Prosecutors said Ng and his co-conspirators helped the Malaysian fund, known as 1MDB, to raise $6.5 billion through bond sales — only to participate in a scheme that siphoned off more than two-thirds of the money, some of which went to pay bribes and kickbacks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday announced more sanctions against people and firms associated with Iran and with what it said was an illicit banking network used to conceal transactions.

The U.S. said it placed the penalties on 39 firms linked to a shadow banking system that helped to obfuscate financial activity between sanctioned Iranian firms and their foreign buyers, namely for petrochemicals produced in Iran.

The Treasury Department said the companies — from Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates — made up a “significant ‘shadow banking’ network” that gave cover to sanctioned Iranian entities to disguise petrochemical sales with foreign customers.

A cellist is accused of helping Vladimir Putin channel $50 million into Swiss accounts. 4 bankers are also accused of not having checked the real source of the money. Putin is believed by some to have accrued vast wealth during his time as Russian leader. Four bankers have been accused of helping Vladimir Putin’s cellist best friend channel millions of…