Eurasia

Houthi and Yemeni government forces have violated the rights of Taizz residents to water since the Houthis laid siege on Taizz city in 2015, creating a desperate situation, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 45-page report, “‘Death is More Merciful Than This Life’: Houthi and Yemeni …

Summary:China is leading the international rulemaking process to regulate deep-sea mining, but Washington can still blunt Beijing’s advances (and protect the environment in the process). There are still no international rules for the nascent deep-sea mining industry, which is only now gearing up to exploit the untold wealth of the …

Latest Developments The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck several Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon on December 20. “Among the targets attacked were several terrorist infrastructures and military sites where the organization’s militants operated,” the IDF said in a statement. The IDF released footage of the airstrikes, showing numerous targets attacked …

How to Restore Capacity for an Age of Crisis The world has entered a period of high crisis. Wars rage in Europe and the Middle East, and the threat of war looms in East Asia. In Russia, China, and North Korea, the United States faces three hostile states with nuclear …

ICIJ-led investigation Cyprus Confidential reveals how the EU member state powered the Kremlin’s financial machine, moving vast sums for oligarchs, including after Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion. The Mediterranean island of Cyprus has long been a geopolitical crossroads, a prize contested by empires and a meeting point of peoples, religions — …

The Register of Overseas Entities was meant to “root out corrupt oligarchs and elites” in the U.K. real estate market, but experts say it’s falling short. Leaked documents show Ukraine’s richest person was behind offshore moves to buy a luxury penthouse in London, raising questions over why he isn’t listed …

Sudanese businessman Abdelbasit Hamza — whose company holdings feature in Cyprus Confidential documents — has been accused of being “a central figure in Hamas’ investment portfolio.” An accused financier of Hamas has extensive business ties in Europe and owns a stake in a lucrative Cyprus firm that mines Egyptian gold, …

More than 270 journalists around the world collaborated on ICIJ’s latest investigation — here’s some of what they found in a trove of millions of leaked documents. A new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media and nearly 70 media partners around the world exposed how …

Latest Developments Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen vowed on December 19 to continue threatening international shipping in the Red Sea. “No matter how many alliances America mobilizes, our military operations will not stop,” said Mohammed Albukhaiti, a member of the organization’s ruling council. The statement came in response to the …

The two small European mountain countries have a deep political, economic, historical but above all human relationship, through numerous personal ties. About 250,000 people belong to the Kosovar diaspora in Switzerland. This is significantly lower than Italians living in Switzerland, for example. And yet it’s a high number. After all, …