The Kremlin has approved the sale of Rinat Akhmetov’s former coal properties
Ukraine’s richest man to lose assets in Russia
A Russian conglomerate will be allowed to buy out the coal-mining companies previously owned by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, the Kremlin confirmed on Thursday. President Vladimir Putin approved the sale in line with the standing anti-sanctions measures.
The joint stock company ‘Best Solution’ will acquire 100% of the shares of Don Anthracite and Obukhovsky Mine Management, located in the Rostov Region, from the Cyprus-based Fabcell Limited.
Putin signed off on the sale under his August 2022 decree on “applying special economic measures in the financial, fuel and energy sectors in connection with the unfriendly actions of certain foreign states and international organizations.”
Akhmetov’s energy holding company DTEK originally bought the two enterprises in 2012, for $39 million. By 2021, however, DTEK announced that it would be selling them to pay off the debts it owed Sberbank. According to the Russian outlet Kommersant, Don Anthracite and Obukhovsky Mine Management were sold in August 2021 to the Cyprus-based Valleyton Investments for $230 million, while their outstanding debt was estimated at almost $447 million......more below
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
