Pirro Warns of Prosecution for Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Vandalism Amid Renovation Issues 
US-Iran Peace Talks Show Progress as Switzerland Negotiations Continue 
Pedro Sanchez’s Wife Ordered to Stand Trial in Spain Corruption Case 
Keir Starmer Faces Growing Pressure as Andy Burnham’s Victory Sparks Labour Leadership Debate 
US-Iran De-Escalation Shifts Washington’s Focus to AI Regulation and Crypto Legislation 
Rubio Faces Gulf Skepticism Over U.S.-Iran Peace Deal 
Alan Greenspan: 7 Fascinating Facts About the Former Fed Chairman 
Rubio Gulf Tour Aims to Reassure Allies on Trump’s Iran Deal 
UNAIDS Urges U.S. to Reconsider South Africa HIV Funding Withdrawal 
China Adds MP Materials, USA Rare Earth to Export Control List Amid Escalating U.S.-China Trade Tensions 
US Delivers $13M Autonomous Maritime Drones to Philippines 
US-Iran Talks Continue in Switzerland Despite Reports of Breakdown Amid Rising Regional Tensions 
Japan, U.S. Discuss Yen Weakness as Currency Intervention Concerns Grow 
Russia-Ukraine War: Fresh Strikes Injure Civilians as Fuel Crisis Worsens in Russia 
US Waives Iran Sanctions for 60 Days as Peace Talks Advance and Lebanon Sees Calm 
US Military Strike on Suspected Drug Trafficking Vessel Leaves Two Dead in Caribbean 
In the fifth month of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its forces are seeking to take complete control of Ukraine’s eastern territory of Donbas. The UK’s defense ministry said Russian forces are likely setting anti-personnel mines in the region.
The British defense ministry said on Twitter that Russian forces are very likely deploying anti-personnel mines in its defensive lines in the Donbas region, specifically citing the use of such weapons in the areas of Donetsk and Kramatorsk.
The ministry stressed that the use of such mines is “controversial” and “indiscriminate.”
“Russia is highly likely deploying anti-personnel mines to protect and deter freedom of movement along its defensive lines in the Donbas. These mines have the potential to inflict widespread casualties amongst both the military and the local civilian population,” said the ministry.
“In Donetsk and Kramatorsk, Russia has highly likely attempted employment of PFM-1 and PFM-1S scatterable anti-personnel mines. Commonly called the ‘butterfly mine,’ the PFM-1 series are deeply controversial, indiscriminate weapons,” said the ministry, adding that there is also a chance that the Soviet-era stockpile that Russia has will have degraded over time and would now be deemed unreliable and unpredictable.
However, the ministry said the mines would still pose a threat to civilians and humanitarian de-mining operations.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the United States were granted authorization by a judge to seize a $90 million airbus plane owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch, the prosecutors announced Monday.
Skoch is a member of the Russian Duma, the lower house of its parliament, and was previously sanctioned by the US in 2018 for his alleged connections to Russian organized crime groups.
Skoch was further sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Skoch, who is a member of Vladimir Putin’s Russia United Party, owned the plane through shell companies and trusts tied to his spouse, according to the prosecutors. Court papers showed that the plane is currently in Kazakhstan.
Skoch’s yacht was seen anchored in Dubai back in June, as the nation became a refuge for Russian elites to evade the sanctions of the West on Putin’s allies.
