US Sanctions

According to an enforcement notice from OFAC, Microsoft, Microsoft Ireland, and Microsoft Russia failed to oversee who was buying the company's software and services through third-party partners

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. Today's action demonstrates the United States' commitment to enforcing our sanctions and our ability to disrupt Iran's foreign financial networks, which it uses to launder funds, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a written statement that the U.S. will continue to disrupt attempts to evade

BGI Group, one of the world's biggest genetics analysis companies, said on Sunday it never would be involved in human rights abuses after the US government said there was a danger some of its units might contribute to Chinese surveillance. Three BGI units were among Chinese companies added to an entity list last week that limits access to US technology on security or human rights grounds. The Commerce Department cited a risk BGI technology might contribute to surveillance. Activists say Beijing is trying to create a database of genetic information from Muslims and other Chinese minorities. The Chinese government accused Washington on Friday of improperly attacking China's companies. BGI, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, said its services are only for civilian and scientific purposes. The US decision may have been impacted by misinformation and we are willing and able to clarify, BGI Group said in an emailed response to questions. It didn't mention Uyghurs or other .

American shipments to India plummeted 58% from a year earlier

The Biden administration declared its solidarity with Ukraine with fresh action as well as strong words on Friday, piling sweeping new sanctions on Moscow and approving a new USD 2 billion weapons package to re-arm Kyiv a year after Russia's invasion. Despite the US and allies' continued ambitious efforts to bolster the Ukrainians, there are no signs of an endgame in the war, which seems destined to enter an even more complicated phase in the months ahead. On the somber anniversary, Biden and fellow leaders from the Group of Seven allies that have been at the forefront of backing Ukraine stayed focused on a unified front. Our solidarity will never waver in standing with Ukraine, in supporting countries and people in need, and in upholding the international order based on the rule of law," the G-7 leaders said in a joint statement after a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As Ukraine mourned its war dead and vowed it would ultimately emerge victorious, the

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused Russian officials at the two-day Group of Twenty (G20) meeting in the Indian city of Bengaluru of being "complicit" in war atrocities

The U.S. announced a new round of sanctions on Russian firms, banks, manufacturers and people Friday, aiming them at entities that helped Russia evade sanctions earlier in the year-old war against Ukraine. Russia's metals and mining sector is among those targeted in one of the U.S. Treasury Department's "most significant sanctions actions to date, according to the agency. The action, taken in coordination with Group of Seven allies, seeks to punish 250 people and firms, puts financial blocks on banks, arms dealers and technology companies tied to weapons production, and goes after alleged sanctions evaders in countries from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland. Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia's struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a written statement. "Our actions today with our G7 partners show that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Yellen is

With these imports, India can maintain a domestic inventory of refined products like petrol and diesel

The Syrian Ministry responded in the statement on Friday that the US' decision "stipulates alleged exemptions for humanitarian purposes, and the facts on the ground proved its falsehood"

The India-Russia defence partnership will "never" be disrupted by the Western sanctions on Moscow, BrahMos Aerospace chief said on Wednesday, saying it's the "trust" that makes this partnership work. The West, led by the US, has imposed crippling sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India and Russia that specialises in nuclear-capable supersonic missiles. The company currently manufactures the BrahMos missile and is currently developing the BrahMos II, a hypersonic cruise missile. The West's attempts will not stop the Russia-India defence partnership, nor will it impact the company's operations, BrahMos Aerospace Indo-Russian Joint Venture Managing Director and CEO Atul Dinkar Rane told TASS, the official news agency of Russia. "My personal gut feeling it is never!" Rane said when asked whether Western countries could halt India-Russia defence and security cooperation. "And if someone tries, he will only f

Even before Monday's devastating earthquake, getting aid to all parts of war-battered Syria was fraught with daunting political and logistical challenges. Those hurdles have only multiplied in the wake of the disaster that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria and brought down thousands of buildings. Damage to roads and other infrastructure in southern Turkey has stalled aid from reaching northern Syria, an area already devastated by 12 years of conflict. Meanwhile, the government of Bashar Assad in Damascus is still a pariah in much of the international community, sanctioned by the US and European countries, which are reluctant to route aid directly through the government. American and EU officials have made clear the quake won't change that. Emergency workers say delays could cost lives, as local rescue crews struggle to pull families and children from the rubble and find housing for survivors amid brutal winter weather. A key issue complicating the dispersal of aid is "the w

"The volume of production amounted to 535 million tons," he said

The crisis in the memory chip market has been further exacerbated by US sanctions on some chip-related exports to China, hurting demand from some of Samsung's key clients

The price cap, unseen even in the times of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union, is aimed at crippling Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine - without upsetting markets

India abstained in the UN Security Council on a resolution that was adopted by 14 votes in favour on exempting humanitarian aid efforts from sanctions. The Council voted on the resolution presented by the US and Ireland, with 14 of the 15 Council members voting in favour and India the sole abstention. In the explanation of vote, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said India engaged constructively in the negotiations on the resolution, which provides a carve-out from sanctions in support of the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities meeting basic human needs. The resolution is also intended to ensure much needed predictability and safeguards to humanitarian agencies. However, India will call for caution and due diligence to be exercised while extending humanitarian assistance to proscribed entities under 1267, who continue to thrive with full state hospitality in territories universally acknowledged as terrorist ...

The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on a prominent Turkish businessman reportedly close to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for violations of US restrictions on the sales of Iranian oil. The Treasury Department announced Thursday it was penalizing Sitki Ayan and a number of companies he and his family and associates control for facilitating the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian oil for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Ayan and his firms have also laundered the proceeds of those sales for both the Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, both of which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US, Treasury said. The sanctions include a freeze on any assets Ayan or the targeted companies may have in US jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing any business with them. Ayan's companies have established international sales contracts for Iranian oil with foreign purchasers, arranged shipments of oil, and helped launder the proceeds, obscuring t

The Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel and allied producers, including Russia, did not change their targets for shipping oil to the global economy amid uncertainty about the impact of new Western sanctions against Russia that could take significant amounts of oil off the market. The decision at a meeting of oil ministers Sunday comes a day ahead of the planned start of two measures aimed at hitting Russia's oil earnings in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Those are: a European Union boycott of most Russian oil and a price cap of USD 60 per barrel on Russian exports imposed by the EU and the Group of Seven democracies. It is not yet clear how much Russian oil the two sanctions measures could take off the global market, which would tighten supply and drive up prices. The world's No. 2 oil producer has been able to reroute much, but not all, of its former Europe shipments to customers in India, China and Turkey. The impact of the price cap is also up in the air because Russia has said it ..

Yandex is aiming to move its new technologies outside Russia and sell established businesses, including internet browsers, food delivery apps, and tax-hailing apps

The U.S. said Monday it was imposing sanctions on a list of people and firms around the globe that it alleged are involved in supporting Russia's military as it wages war on Ukraine. Unlike recent packages of sanctions imposed on Russia-based firms and people, the latest financial and diplomatic penalties are aimed at a range of entities including French real estate companies, a group of Swiss nationals and a Taiwanese microelectronic component purchaser. They are all accused of being financial facilitators or enablers of Russia's military supply chain, which U.S. officials committed to disrupting after the invasion of Ukraine began in February. Businesses worldwide are advised to do their due diligence in order to avoid being targeted for sanctions," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. He said the U.S. will continue to crack down on Russia's attempts to evade international sanctions to fund its war machine. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Cont

The sanctions, preventing Iran from transferring money through financial channels, made it difficult for the country to import Covid-19 vaccines and the necessary medicine during that period