- Brazil's top court takes on regulation of social media
- Thousands still queuing to vote after Namibia polls close
- Trump taps retired general for key Ukraine conflict role
- Canadian fund drops bid for Spanish pharma firm Grifols
- Argentine ex-president Fernandez gives statement in corruption case
- Mexico says Trump tariffs would cost 400,000 US jobs
- Car-centric Saudi to open first part of Riyadh Metro
- Brussels, not Paris, will decide EU-Mercosur trade deal: Lula
- Faeces, vomit offer clues to how dinosaurs rose to rule Earth
- Ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' up for auction
- Spain factory explosion kills three, injures seven
- US Fed's favored inflation gauge ticks up in October
- Defence lawyers plead to judges in French mass rape trial
- US says China releases three 'wrongfully detained' Americans
- New clashes in Mozambique as two reported killed
- Romania officials to meet over 'cyber risks' to elections
- Chelsea visit next stop in Heidenheim's 'unthinkable' rise
- Former England prop Marler announces retirement from rugby
- Kumara gives Sri Lanka edge on rain-hit day against South Africa
- Namibia votes with ruling party facing toughest race yet
- Spurs goalkeeper Vicario out for 'months' with broken ankle
- Moscow expels German journalists, Berlin denies closing Russia TV bureau
- Spain govt defends flood response and offers new aid
- France says Netanyahu has 'immunity' from ICC warrants
- Nigerian state visit signals shift in France's Africa strategy
- Stock markets waver as traders weigh Trump tariffs, inflation
- Tens of thousands in Lebanon head home as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes hold
- Opposition candidates killed in Tanzania local election
- Amorim eyes victory in first Man Utd home game to kickstart new era
- Fresh fury as Mozambique police mow down protester
- Defeat at Liverpool could end Man City title hopes, says Gundogan
- Indonesians vote in regional election seen as test for Prabowo
- Guardiola says no intent to 'make light' of self harm in post-match comments
- New EU commission gets green light to launch defence, economy push
- Opposition figures killed as Tanzania holds local election
- Taiwan Olympic boxing champion quits event after gender questions
- European stocks drop on Trump trade war worries
- Volkswagen to sell operations in China's Xinjiang
- FA probes referee David Coote over betting claim
- Serbia gripped by TV series about murder of prime minister
- Putin seeks to shore up ties on visit to 'friendly' Kazakhstan
- New EU commission pushes for defence and economy spending
- Plastic pollution talks must speed up, chair warns
- Pakistan web controls quash dissent and potential
- 1,000 Pakistan protesters arrested in pro-Khan capital march
- ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief
- Philippine VP's bodyguards swapped out amid investigation
- EasyJet annual profit rises 40% on package holidays
- Ukraine sees influx of Western war tourists
- Greeks finally get Thessaloniki metro after two-decade wait
Washington blocks more than $1 bn in Russian oligarch's US assets
The United States on Thursday blocked a US-based company worth more than $1 billion linked to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, saying the ally of President Vladimir Putin used it to funnel and invest shadowy funds.
The Treasury Department said that Kerimov, a billionaire active in Russian politics, secretly managed the Delaware-based Heritage Trust which put its money into a number of large public companies.
Heritage Trust, set up in 2017, brought money into the United States through shell companies and under-the-radar foundations established in Europe, Treasury Department officials said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen vowed that the United States would keep taking action "even as Russian elites hide behind proxies and complex legal arrangements."
The United States will "actively implement the multilaterally coordinated sanctions imposed on those who fund and benefit from Russia's war against Ukraine," she said in a statement.
The action comes weeks after Fiji handed to the United States a $300 million superyacht linked to Kerimov, who has been under US sanctions since 2018 over alleged money laundering and his role in the Russian government.
The United States and European nations have stepped up a crackdown on Russian oligarchs following Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which triggered a slew of Western sanctions.
Kerimov, originally from the Russian republic of Dagestan in the Caucasus, rose to become one of the world's richest people after the fall of the Soviet Union.
His family controls major gold producer Polyus. The Group of Seven industrial democracies on Sunday agreed on a ban on gold exports from Russia.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked him as the world's 190th richest person in late 2021 with a worth of $11.8 billion.
Kerimov triggered an international incident in 2017 when he was arrested by French authorities upon flying to Nice, over allegations of tax fraud and the suspicious purchases of five luxury villas.
Russia summoned a French envoy to protest and the charges were eventually dismissed but French prosecutors reopened an investigation in 2019.
BBC News in April said it had seen leaked documents showing Kerimov's elaborate efforts to hide his wealth, which allegedly included putting a Swiss tattoo artist in charge of a company that transferred more than $300 million.
M.Ouellet--BTB