“The United States has [stolen] two luxury Miami condos owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch. The [theft] was announced Tuesday by the Justice Department, which said the two properties were maintained, transferred and leased in violation of sanctions imposed against Viktor Perevalov. The two condos have a combined value of $1.8 million. … Perevalov was first sanctioned in 2018 following the Russian invasion of Crimea as his co-founded construction company was behind the construction of the Tavrida Highway in the Russian-occupied Crimea Region of Ukraine. He was then redesignated in December for operating in Russia’s construction sector.” (01/08/25)
“The drug use and disorder on SoMa’s Sixth Street has gotten so bad that one San Francisco politician is floating an idea that would have been unheard of in liberal San Francisco just a few years ago: locking up at least 100 people a day for using drugs. San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey sent a letter last week to five city departments asking them to explain if they can ‘maximize the use of large-scale arrests and involuntary holds’ to crack down on ‘drug-related lawlessness’ in the area. Disorder on Sixth Street has spiked in recent months, with drug use rampant and so many people in crisis that walking on the sidewalk can be tough. Local business owners say the chaos is worse than it’s ever been. Some public health advocates have long said there’s no evidence that using criminal penalties is successful in treating substance misuse, but Dorsey told SFGATE that he disagrees.” (01/08/25)
“Sudan’s military forces claim to have advanced into the country’s second-largest city Omdurman, taking some areas previously controlled by rival rebel group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting was reported to be raging in the city, which sits directly across the Nile River from the capital, Khartoum, for a second day on Wednesday. The army has now seized control of former RSF territories in Mansoura, Murabaat and Elfitihab, according to Hiba Morgan, Al Jazeera’s Sudan correspondent. … Sudan has been torn apart and pushed towards famine by the war that erupted 21 months ago, making the country the scene of the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.” (01/08/25)
“South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a new and potentially more robust attempt to arrest him for insurrection after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the impeached leader. Acting president Choi Sang-mok urged on Wednesday authorities to ‘do their best to prevent any injuries to citizens or physical conflict between government agencies’ while executing Yoon’s arrest warrant. … The Presidential Security Service (PSS) has been fortifying the compound this week with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the residence, a hillside villa in an upscale district known as Korea’s Beverly Hills. Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, a decision that stunned South Korea and prompted the first arrest warrant for a sitting president. He also faces an impeachment trial in the Constitutional Court.” (01/08/25)
“Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee parts of Los Angeles as strong winds drove the rapid growth of wildfires around the western United States city. More than 30,000 people were evacuated on Tuesday as high winds helped a brush fire surge into the coastal Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. Further blazes later saw other areas around southern California come under threat. Frightened residents abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the upscale Pacific Palisades area, fleeing on foot from the almost 3,000-acre (1,200-hectare) blaze engulfing an area packed with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters used bulldozers to push dozens of vehicles to one side, leaving many crumpled with their alarms blaring, to make way for emergency vehicles.” (01/08/25)
“Meta is abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, replacing them with X-style ‘community notes’ where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users. In a video posted alongside a blog post by the company on Tuesday, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were ‘too politically biased’ and it was ‘time to get back to our roots around free expression.’ The move comes as Zuckerberg and other tech executives seek to improve relations with US President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office later this month. Trump and his Republican allies have criticised Meta for its fact-checking policy, calling it censorship of right-wing voices.” (01/07/25)
“NATO will send around 10 ships to guard important underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea by the end of the week, Finnish newspaper Yle reported on Tuesday. The ships will remain at sea until April and be positioned near energy and data cables to deter any sabotage attempts. The decision to step up NATO engagement follows several disruptions in the Baltic Sea in recent months, most recently a broken power cable between Finland and Estonia and four telecommunications cables during Christmas. Finland is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the oil tanker Eagle S, part of Moscow’s ‘shadow fleet’ sanctions-busting flotilla, which is suspected of causing the damage.” (01/07/25)
“U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday temporarily blocked the release of a report of the investigation into President-elect Donald Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith. It prevents the U.S. Justice Department and Smith from releasing the long-awaited report for three days while the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews an emergency motion to block its release over a separate legal case that involves Trump’s co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. In an emergency motion filed Monday night, lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira asked Cannon, 44, to stop Smith from issuing the so-called Final Report on the grounds that it will irreparably harm their clients. … Meanwhile, Trump lawyers say they reviewed a draft of Smith’s final report on the federal investigations and asked Cannon to act despite the fact Trump is no longer a defendant, himself, in the case.” (01/07/25)
“Turkey will carry out a cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet Ankara’s demands, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday, while adding that Syria’s new rulers must address the issue. Turkey considers the YPG, which spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish militants waging a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state. While repeatedly asking its NATO ally Washington to halt its support for the group, Ankara has carried out several incursions against the YPG in the past and controls swathes of territory in northern Syria. Since the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month by rebels, some of whom Turkey has supported, Ankara has demanded that the YPG disband, its non-Syrian militants and foreign terrorist fighters leave Syria or are repatriated to their source countries, and its leaders turn themselves in.” (01/07/25)
“Israel said on Tuesday that pressure groups were pushing foreign courts to take action against Israelis over alleged war crimes in Gaza, but described the actions as ‘propaganda activity.’ It said no warrants had been issued. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, as well as for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, for his alleged role in planning the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The warrants sparked outrage in Israel, but also drew fears that Israelis who served in the military in Gaza could be issued similar warrants.” (01/07/25)
