Month: February 2021
Two Former Execs of Venezuelan Oil Giant PDVSA Given Five-Year Prison Terms for Leaking Data to US
Venezuela’s oil sector, the primary source of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, suffered major losses after Washington recognised opposition figure Juan Guaido as the country’s “interim president”, slapped crippling sanctions on the nation’s ability to export its black gold, and seized tens of billions in assets held abroad. …
UN Puts Sweden on ‘Shame List’, Urges to Bring ‘Home’ Daesh Children
During the rise of the so-called Daesh* “caliphate”, Sweden emerged as one of Europe’s premier “producers” of jihadists per capita. While notoriously lax at prosecuting returnees for crimes committed in warzones, Sweden also struggles to locate all of its “Daesh children”, let alone repatriate them. …
US Troops Not Involved in Guarding Syria’s Stolen Oil, Pentagon Says
In 2019, the US redeployed troops from the Syrian-Turkish border into the war-torn country’s interior, with President Donald Trump admitting freely that the forces were assigned to “take the oil.” Russia estimates that the Pentagon, the CIA, contractors and Kurdish militias make over $30 million a month smuggling the stolen oil out of the country. …
59 Vehicles in Two Convoys Reportedly Snuck Into Syria From Iraq Carrying Equipment for US Forces
The Biden administration promised to reverse course on much of Trump’s foreign policy, freezing troop withdrawals in Iraq and Afghanistan, while hinting US willingness to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal if Tehran returned to its commitments. In Syria, however, the new president appears to be continuing on the course set by his predecessor. …
