14/12/2025

theSun on Sunday DEC 14, 2025

WORLD 8

Warrant for seized tanker unsealed WASHINGTON: A US court released a heavily redacted warrant on Friday that had authorised the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a move Caracas decried as an act of “international piracy” and “blatant theft”. US President Donald Venezuela denounces ’piracy’ on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed nearly 90 people. In a dramatic raid on Wednesday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said was aimed at Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s “regime”, Washington took control of the tanker with US forces rappelling down from a helicopter onto the vessel. The Justice Department said the vessel, dubbed the M/T Skipper and formerly called the Adisa , was used to transport the sanctioned fuel “in an oil shipping network supporting” Hezbollah and a unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, both designated by the US State Department as “foreign terrorist organisations”. Washington also imposed sanctions on Maduro’s markets and critical technology,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the seized tanker “will go to a US port and the United States does intend to seize the oil”. The tanker was expected to dock in Galveston, Texas, two unnamed US officials told NBC News, adding that the crew would be released. bridge with weapons raised. Venezuela said it “strongly denounces and condemns what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” “They kidnapped the crew, stole the ship and have inaugurated a new era, the era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean,” Maduro said. “Venezuela will secure all ships to guarantee the free trade of its oil around the world.”

The US Coast Guard carried out the warrant, signed by a magistrate on Nov 26, just as it was set to expire, according to the 32-page document that has more than half of its contents redacted.

A video released earlier this week by US Attorney General Pam Bondi showed American forces descending from a helicopter onto the tanker’s deck, then entering the ship’s

relatives and six companies shipping oil from Venezuela. “The FBI and our partners will continue to enforce US sanctions and cut off our adversaries from financial

Maduro is the political heir to Hugo Chavez and says the US is steadfast on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves. – AFP

Trump’s administration has been piling pressure on Venezuela for months, with a major naval buildup in the region accompanied by strikes

Russia sentences ICC judges, prosecutor MOSCOW: Russia on Friday sentenced top International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and its chief prosecutor to jail terms, in a retaliatory move after the court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war. In 2023, prosecutor Karim Khan charged Putin with illegally deporting children from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Moscow responded by opening a case against him. The Moscow city court found that “ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan unlawfully prosecuted Russian citizens in The Hague” and that the ICC “instructed the judges of the chamber to issue patently unlawful arrest warrants”. Russia is not a member of the ICC, and none of the defendants were present in court. Khan, 55, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in absentia, while eight ICC staff, including the former court president Piotr Hofmanski, received prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years. Khan is suspended from duties over an internal investigation following sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies. The United Nations has completed the investigation and an external panel of judicial experts will review the findings over the next 30 days. – AFP Israel bans cell phones in primary schools TEL AVIV: Israel will ban children from using mobile phones in primary schools from February, the Education Ministry said. Education Minister Yoav Kisch said the policy was “based on studies in Israel and around the world, as well as on the (ministry’s) commitment to a healthy and safe educational environment, aimed at reducing the negative effects of students’ use of phones.” “Its implementation will include educational programmes in the classroom and dialogue with parents to instil balanced phone use, prevent excessive use of social media (by children) and reduce exposure to age-inappropriate content,” he said. Until now, individual schools could decide to ban the use of mobile phones on their premises. Since the start of the school year in September, smartphones have been banned from all schools in Tel Aviv, through a decision from the municipality. – AFP

Displaced Palestinians forced to use a donkey cart to move about on a flooded street in Gaza City. – REUTERSPIC

Gaza emergency supplies blocked GENEVA: Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face flooding of their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. shelters, the IOM said. Insufficient drainage and waste management also heightened the risk of disease outbreak, the UN agency said. Materials to help reinforce shelters such as timber and plywood, as well as sandbags and water pumps to help with flooding have been delayed from entering Gaza due to access restrictions, the IOM said.

Gaza, ankle-deep water had pooled around the tents, soaking mattresses, shoes and clothes. Working with a bucket, 50-year-old Youssef Tawtah was trying to bail the water out, but it had nowhere to go and he appeared to make little progress. “All night long the children and I were on our feet,” he said. “How can the children handle it?” As his family gathered around a small open fire on a sandy bank near the tent, he hauled a sopping mattress through the floodwaters. Even cooking a meal will be difficult. “Our food is ruined,” he said. Supplies already dispatched to Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets and tarpaulins, were not able to withstand the flooding, the IOM said. – Reuters

Torrential rain swept across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, flooding tents sheltering families displaced by two years of war, and leading to the death of a baby girl due to exposure. A total of 12 people are dead or missing as a result of the storm, with at least 13 buildings having collapsed and 27,000 tents flooded, the Gaza media office said. Nearly 795,000 displaced people are at heightened risk of potentially dangerous flooding in low-lying, rubble-filled areas where families are living in unsafe

Israel says it is meeting its obligations and accuses agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft. COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said Israel had approved 100,000 pallet requests submitted by organisations of winter-related items, shelter equipment, and sanitation supplies over the past three months. In a displaced camp in Nuseirat, central

Groups condemn re-arrest of Iranian Nobel laureate TEHRAN: Rights groups condemned the reported re-arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi in Iran, with the Nobel committee calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts. suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi at his memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Mashhad Governor Hasan Hosseini said prosecutors had ordered the detention of several participants at the ceremony, but did not name Mohammadi.

Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions”. A video purportedly showing Mohammadi, 53, without the mandatory veil, standing on a car with a microphone and chanting “Long Live Iran” in front of a crowd, has been widely viewed on social media. – Reuters

Mohammadi’s French lawyer Chirine Ardakani said on X that the activist was arrested on Friday after denouncing the

The Norwegian Nobel Committee called on Iranian authorities “to clarify