Venezuela: Chevron sent 15 vessels to export crude
26 January, 2026
Chevron Corp. has assembled its largest fleet of vessels in almost a year to ship Venezuelan crude, after the US moved to exert control over the country’s oil sector following the capture of leader Nicolas Maduro.
The oil major, which holds a license to export US-sanctioned crude, sent 15 vessels this month to ship at least 200,000 a day of oil. That compares with nine ships in the previous month and marks the highest total since March, according to shipping reports and vessel movements compiled by Bloomberg.
“There are two groups of companies. Some of them are cautious and waiting for reforms, and even for a no-risk scenario to go there, and others are acting as if this is another ‘gold rush’,” Moshiri said. “Those who have been involved with Venezuela for a long time are trying to find a middle ground.” The infrastructure, even if run down, should be good enough, and he says the math works out. All he needs is to ramp up to 50,000 barrels per day, which could take about seven months.
[January 13 2026 to seize vessels – U.S. multiple civil forfeiture actions ]
The U.S. government has filed multiple civil forfeiture actions in district courts, primarily in Washington, D.C., linked to the Venezuelan oil trade enabling the seizure and confiscation of oil cargoes and ships that have been involved in the trade.
The exact number of seizure warrants the U.S. has filed for, and how many it has already received, is unclear, because the filings and legal orders are not public. Dozens have been filed
[January 7 2026 Marinera/Bella 1 to Murmansk? ]
RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, has continued to be a hive of activity. We can once again confirm that there are five MH-60M Black Hawks and two MH-47G Chinooks on the ground at the base
[7:40pm]
Russia has sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort an empty, rusting oil tanker that has become a new flashpoint in U.S.-Russia relations, according to a U.S. official. Two US P-8 surveillance aircraft flying from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, a British Eurofighter Typhoon from RAF Lossiemouth, an Irish Air Corps plane and a French Navy maritime patrol aircraft have flown in the direction of the tanker in recent days,
The ship is currently listed in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping as being ported out of Sochi, on Russia’s Black Sea. It is currently thought to be sailing between Scotland and Iceland.
[12:18 PM]
British and US aircraft were patrolling over the Christmas period and had travelled out from bases in Iceland and Britain to observe the vessel in recent days. Parts of Keflavík Airport remain in military use for NATO for short expeditionary detachments.
The Bella One, which has now renamed itself to the Marinera and is sailing under a Russian flag, is located 500 nautical miles off the Irish Coast.
Hyperion (IMO 9322968) departed Venezuela on January 1, flying the Russian flag, while Premier (IMO 9577082) signaled via AIS that it had changed its flag from Gambia to Russia on December 22. The vessel remains at José Terminal in Venezuela.
[January 5 2026 ]
Marinera/Bella 1 is under US military surveillance 250 miles off the coast of Ireland while about a dozen vessels with Venezuelan oil are apparently trying to evade a naval blockade in the Caribbean.
Satellite images showed at least four ships left Venezuelan waters through a route north of Isla Margarita, the country’s largest island and a popular resort. The New York Times reported that at least 16 oil tankers appeared to have tried to break out over the past two days, in part by using fake ship names and misrepresenting their positions, a tactic known as spoofing.
Four left port after the arrest of Msaduro by the U.S. without authorisation from the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez, suggesting a possible defiance of her authority.
[January 4 2026 ]
“If the U.S. Coast Guard does not take action against [Bella 1], then the big risk is that another 1,475 tankers worldwide will be able to use this scenario as a template for their next moves,”
Satellite data suggests that it will take the northern route around Ireland on its way to a Russian North Sea port. The ship that had been known as Marinera or Bella 1, which is still being tracked by the U.S. Coast Guard, is on a course that could take it between Iceland and Britain, according to data published by Pole Star Global, a ship-tracking company. From there, it is possible that the vessel could head around Scandinavia to Murmansk, Russia’s ice-free Arctic port. In some cases, ships take advantage of provisional registration systems, allowing them to move between registries before scrutiny catches up. “You can register your ship somewhere online and then you’ve got six months to give them all the documentation. But you don’t bother with that – at five months and 29 days you find another registry,”
[January 1 2026 Thousand Sunny, Xing Je, Della, Nord Star, Rosalind and Valiant ]
At least two sanctioned vessels have arrived in Venezuela in recent days. Two more unsanctioned vessels are reportedly en route, the Thousand Sunny and the Xing Ye, both Chinese-flagged. Xing Ye is reportedly loitering off the coast of French Guiana.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added four companies with links to Venezuela’s oil industry — Zhejiang-based Corniola Ltd. and Hong Kong-based Aries Global Investment Ltd., Krape Myrtle Co and Winky International Ltd. — to its specially designated nationals and blocked persons list. It also sanctioned four vessels connected with those firms: Della, Nord Star, Rosalind and Valiant.
Of the vessels identified by the Treasury Department Wednesday, only one has been anywhere close to Venezuela lately, according to ship-tracking data — the Rosalind, which typically is involved in short-haul trips known as cabotage. But it’s possible that others have traveled without sending transponder data.
[December 31 2025 Bella 1 – 3rd vessel pursued by U.S. Coast Guard ]
According to officials, the vessel also changed course toward the northwest, moving away from the Mediterranean Sea, and may be headed toward Greenland or Iceland.
[December 24 2025 ]
The Bella 1, has refused to be boarded by the Coast Guard. That means that the task will likely fall to one of just two teams of specialists – known as Maritime Security Response Teams – who can board vessels under these circumstances, including by rappelling from helicopters.
Unlike the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard can carry out law enforcement actions, including boarding and seizing vessels that are under U.S. sanctions.
[December 21 2025 seized ]
US forces did not board a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker sanctioned by the US that was en route to Venezuela to load. The vessel BELLA 1 (IMO 9230880, MMSI 750350205) is a Crude Oil Tanker built in 2002 (23 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Guyana.The Bella 1 tanker, a Panamanian-flagged vessel sanctioned by the US, was en route to Venezuela to load. Data provided by Equasis claims that the vessel is owned and managed by Istanbul-based Louis Marine Shipholding . Treasury Remarks: (Linked To: ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CORPS).
[December 20 2025 mt Centuries – 2d vessel seized by U.S. Coast Guard ]
The United States interdicted a chinese-owned tanker off the coast of Venezuela, on Dec. 20, just days after President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
The Centuries, is a Panama-flagged oil tanker. The ship is not under U.S. sanctions, the sources said. Marine traffic trackers showed the Centuries was off the coast of Venezuela in the waters of Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island.
The Centuries is a 333-meter-long oil tanker that last docked in Singapore in October, according to vessel tracker Maritime Optima
Crude Oil Tanker CENTURIES [9206310] Panama Flag Year of Build 2001
[December 11 2025 ]
The United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday that may have attempted to conceal its location by broadcasting false position data.
Data from TankerTrackers indicates that the vessel has regularly transported oil from countries subject to US sanctions. Tracking records show that over the past two years, the ship made multiple voyages to both Iran and Venezuela.
“Skipper has transported nearly 13 million barrels of Iranian and Venezuelan oil since joining the global dark fleet of tankers in 2021,” Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers, a company that monitors global oil shipping.
According to Madani, the ship delivered Iranian oil to Syria in 2024 while the country was under Bashar al-Assad’s control, aiding his government in sustaining the civil war.
Between February and July this year, it also transported nearly two million barrels of crude oil from Iran to China.
Although the vessel’s transponder indicated it was anchored in the Atlantic Ocean near Guyana and Suriname.
[December 10 2025 ]
The ship departed Venezuela around Dec. 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half of it belonging to a Cuban state-run oil importer, according to documents from the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., commonly known as PDVSA, that were provided on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.
The Skipper was previously known as the M/T Adisa, according to ship tracking data. The Adisa was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 over accusations of belonging to a sophisticated network of shadow tankers that smuggled crude oil on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.
The ship is among the vessels controlled by sanctioned Russian oil magnate Viktor Artemov. The tanker is controlled by Nigeria-based management company Thomarose Global Ventures LTD and owned by a firm linked to Artemov. Guyana’s maritime authority said Skipper was falsely flying Guyana’s flag.
[7:21]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The seizure was led by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that the seizure was conducted under U.S. law enforcement authority. It was not immediately clear Wednesday who owned the tanker or what national flag it was sailing under. The Coast Guard referred a request for comment to the White House.
[November 12 2025 ]
“My great fear, of course, is that with the release of that information, which I think will be devastating for Trump, he’s going to do everything in his power to distract,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “What does that mean? I mean, he might take us to war with Venezuela just to get a distraction in the news and take it out of the headlines.” Pritzker’s comments came as newly released documents reignited scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
WITH THE ARRIVAL of the Ford Carrier Strike Group in the area, the United States will reach a strategic decision point.
A U.S. invasion into Venezuela would mirror the Russian miscalculation in Ukraine. There is no doubt that Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s government is corrupt, but it also has dispersed command nodes into hardened or concealed locations, embedded military assets within civilian infrastructure, and empowered paramilitary groups capable of shifting into guerrilla warfare.
Venezuela is not small, not simple, and not susceptible to quick, low-cost military outcomes. In geographic and demographic terms alone, Venezuela is enormous. It covers roughly 882,000 square kilometers, making it substantially larger than Ukraine (579,000 sq km) or Texas (696,000 sq km). Its population—estimated to be above 31 million people—is roughly equivalent to current wartime Ukraine and modern Texas. It is a country of sprawling mountains, dense cities, jungles, and industrial corridors where military infrastructure sits interlaced with civilian life. Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia, and other urban centers are not “surgical strike zones”—they are vast megacities where any attempt to dismantle regime capabilities from the air risks substantial civilian casualties and cascading regional effects.
[September 5 2025 U.S. Navy nearby has 4,500 troops aboard ]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has deployed USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson, three Aegis guided-missile destroyers, to the waters off Venezuela as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels.
A total of 4,500 military personnel were reportedly deployed to the waters near Venezuela
[October 29 2020 oil from Iran yields U.S. sanctions ]
[July 19 2020]
The Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, is located in Iranian waters near Hormuz Island. It was hijacked July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The oil tanker wanted by the U.S. for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran has been hijacked – and is now anchored off the coast of the Islamic Republic.
[June 2 2020]
Action enforcing a strict sanctions regime against Caracas followed recent deliveries to Venezuela of gasoline and alkylate from Iran, another target of US sanctions, The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control named three companies based in the Marshall Islands and one in Greece. The Marshall Islands companies include Afranav Maritime, which operates the Athens Voyager; Adamant Maritime, which operates the Seahero tanker; and Sanibel Shiptrade, which operates the Voyager I. The Greece-based Seacomber, which operates the Chios I, was also sanctioned.
.
Sanctions relate to the Panamanian-flagged Athens Voyager, the Maltese-flagged Chios I, the Bahamian-flagged Seahero and the Marshall Islands-flagged Voyager I. The tanker owners are Afranav Maritime, Seacomber, Adamant Maritime and Sanibel Shiptrade.
The Seahero appears currently to be chartered by Chevron, carrying a US crude cargo to the Asia Pacific region. The tanker is listing Ningbao, China, as its current destination, based on AIS data from Fleetmon. Shipping data show the Chios I is off Italy’s coast, en route from Taranto to Milazzo. The Athens Voyager left the UAE port of Fujairah today and is heading for the Suez Canal. The Voyager I is at anchor offshore Malaysia, having traveled there from the Caribbean.
Today’s designations add to other tankers placed on the US sanctions list last year for carrying Venezuelan cargoes.
So far, five tankers carrying Iranian supplies arrived in Venezuela.
Memorandum of Understanding between Liberia, Marshall Islands and Panama offers collaboration between the four major ship registries on sharing information when a flag registry deregisters or is in process of de registering, or when it denies registration of a vessel due to engagement in a sanctionable activity. Under the MoU all four registries will now promptly notify other flags to ensure questionable vessels are not registered in line with the UNSCR regulations.
Haiti: “Gang Suppression Force” to tackle violence
23 January, 2026
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Two of Haiti’s leaders said on Friday they aimed to proceed with a plan to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, despite U.S. warnings that such a move would face consequences.
“We are the ones who appointed Didier Fils-Aime in November 2024. We are the ones who worked with him for a year, and it is up to us to issue a new decree naming a new prime minister, a new government and a new presidency,” Transitional Presidential Council member Leslie Voltaire told a press conference.
[10:50 am]
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti wrote that “The United States would consider that any person who supports such a destabilizing initiative, which favors the gangs, would be acting against the interests of the United States, the region, and the Haitian people, and will take appropriate measures accordingly.”
[August 29 2025 ]
The United States announced Thursday that it is seeking U.N. authorization for a new “Gang Suppression Force” to help tackle the escalating violence in Haiti, where armed groups have expanded their brutal activities from the capital into the countryside.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea made the announcement at a U.N. Security Council meeting. The U.S. announcement follows a report that the security firm of former U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince will soon deploy nearly 200 personnel from various countries to Haiti as part of a one-year deal to quell gang violence. The Kenya-led Multinational Security Support force now deployed arrived in Haiti in June 2024 and the force was supposed to have 2,500 troops but its current strength is below 1,000.
[August 15 2025 Vectus Global to help government of Haiti ]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The security firm of former U.S. Navy Seal Erik Prince will soon deploy nearly 200 personnel from various countries to Haiti as part of a one-year deal to quell gang violence there, a person with knowledge of the plans said Thursday.
The deployment by Vectus Global is meant to help the government of Haiti recover vast swaths of territory seized in the past year and now controlled by heavily armed gangs, said the person, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.
The company, which provides logistics, infrastructure, security and defense, is run by Prince, a major donor to U.S. President Donald Trump. Prince previously founded the controversial security firm Blackwater.
Russian warship, Boikiy, escorts tanker in English Channel
23 January, 2026
Tensions heightened between London and Moscow over the status of Russia’s shadow fleet tankers – the underinsured, often stateless, generally older vessels that carry semi-sanctioned Russian crude exports. The UK and partners in Europe have begun to show interest in a more muscular enforcement policy towards the shadow fleet, which was assembled for the purpose of sanctions evasion and is known for evading safety regulations as well.
[January 20 2026 ]
A Russian warship has escorted an oil tanker through the English Channel for the first time since Britain threatened to seize Moscow’s shadow fleet ships.
The Times disclosed last week that special forces were being lined up to storm Russian shadow fleet vessels as part of a crackdown targeting the Russian economy, after the US seized several tankers that fled the blockade on Venezuela.
On Monday night, the Russian warship, Boikiy, entered the English Channel, accompanying an oil tanker on its way back to the Baltic Sea. “The tanker General Skobelev is a regular participant on what was known as the Syria Express route delivering fuel to Russian interests in Tartus,” James Droxford, of the intelligence consultancy Droxford Maritime, said. Boikiy (Russian: Бойкий, lit. ’Brisk’) is a Steregushchy-class corvette of the Russian Navy,
Venezuela: seventh tanker seized
22 January, 2026
Two Venezuela-linked oil tankers seized by the United States, the supertanker M Sophia and the smaller Galileo, have resurfaced near Ponce, Puerto Rico.
[January 20 2026 ]
SAGITTA (IMO: 9296822) is a Crude Oil Tanker and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. Her length overall (LOA) is 243 meters and her width is 42.03 meters. Sanction Program: RUSSIA-EO14024; UKRAINE-EO13662
[January 15 2026 sixth ]
m/t Veronica
VERONICA (IMO: 9256860) is a Crude Oil Tanker and is sailing under the flag of Guyana. Her length overall (LOA) is 249 meters and her width is 44.03 meters.
Lindsey Halligan departs US justice department
21 January, 2026
Lindsey Halligan, a Trump-appointed federal attorney who led the failed prosecutions of two of the president’s political opponents, has left her position at the US justice department, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Tuesday.
The departure of Halligan, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, comes after multiple judges have sharply criticized her and cast doubts on her ability to lawfully remain in her position. Halligan served as the interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from September 2025 to January 2026.
Greenland: no one would oppose the U.S. militarily
18 January, 2026
A group of 15 German servicemen led by Rear Admiral Stefan Pauly unexpectedly and without explanation left Greenland and flew out of the island’s capital, Nuuk, reports Bild.
Just yesterday, January 17, it was announced that Bundeswehr soldiers would remain in Greenland longer than planned. Now the German armed forces have secretly left the territory without any announcements, statements, or other explanations.
[January 15 2026 ]
Troops from multiple European countries arrived in Greenland on Thursday amid President Trump’s escalating interest in acquiring the Arctic island.
[January 11 2026 ]
Nordic diplomats rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims of Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland.There have been no signs of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines around Greenland in recent years, citing two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings.
[January 6 2026 ]
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller insisted Monday that Greenland should belong to the United States and said no one would oppose the U.S. militarily should it stake a claim to the self-ruling island. “Perhaps in Anchorage or even earlier, there was a conversation about the limitation of spheres of interest in the world,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a Russia researcher with Germany’s Bremen University.
The agreement may have included joint development of hydrocarbons in Russia’s Arctic regions while Washington gains control over Greenland.
[October 9 2025 Critical Metals Corp., Greenland & UK in rare earth talks ]
The Trump administration is considering whether to spend up to $50 million in foreign aid to protect polar bears in Greenland and $25 million for snow leopards in Nepal.
[October 4 2025 ]
U.S. government reportedly is discussing an investment stake in
Critical Metals Corp, a company developing the Tanbreez rare earth project in southern Greenland, a world-class deposit of rare earth elements and gallium, essential for clean energy and future technologies. The company recently amended its agreement to acquire a controlling 92.5% stake in the project, which has access to deep-water fjords for transport.
[October 3 2025 ]
The U.K. government confirmed on Friday that it has restarted free trade talks with Greenland. It said that officials were seeking to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals, noting that U.K. firms currently hold a third of mining licences in Greenland. Once critical minerals are extracted, they will need to be refined to turn into the high-purity oxides and metals that power things like electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines.
Right now, most of that refining happens in China.
[August 30 2025 Denmark: after Trump, more aid ]
Denmark has set aside a total economic framework of DKK 1,6 billion for the period from 2026 to 2029 for investments and initiatives in Greenland, including financing of the framework agreement. Political analyst Jens Ringberg of Denmark Radio says the agreement illustrates that the cooperation between the Danish and the Greenlandic government is currently “well-oiled and well-funded”.
“If we go back a year, the situation was quite different, to put it mildly,” he writes in an analysis.
Ringberg points to how the pressure from US President Donald Trump regarding Greenland has provided good energy and momentum in the cooperation between Nuuk and Copenhagen.
[August 30 2025 Stroh summoned about influence operations in Greenland ]
But behind the scenes in Washington, the Trump administration — through an official who spoke only on condition of anonymity — had a far more casual response.
“The Danes,” the official said, “need to calm down.”
[August 28 2025 ]
Stroh had “a productive conversation and reaffirmed the strong ties among the Government of Greenland, the United States, and Denmark”, the statement said. It added that the US respects “the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future”.
However, the US State Department did not comment on the claims about the actions of US citizens. “The US government does not control or direct the actions of private citizens,” it stated.
[August 27 2025 ]
The US envoy to Denmark was summoned by the Danish foreign ministry on Wednesday, after the country’s public broadcaster reported that a number of American men have attempted to conduct “influence operations” in Greenland.
According to an investigation by Danish public broadcaster DR, at least three Americans with “ties” to US President Donald Trump are conducting active operations in Greenland, sparking concerns that they could be working to shift public opinion and push Trump’s desire to make Greenland a part of the US. A representative at the US Embassy in Copenhagen tells the broadcaster that the US government does not control or direct the actions of private citizens, and that individual Americans may have interests in Greenland.
– I note that the Americans do not clearly deny that the situation is as DR describes today, says Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to the broadcaster .
The US currently has no ambassador in Copenhagen, so Rasmussen has summoned Mark Stroh, who as charge d’affaires is the most senior diplomat in the Danish capital. The earlier May report in the Wall Street Journal also referred to learning more about Greenland’s independence movement, as well as attitudes to American mineral extraction.
At the time, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not deny the report but accused the Journal of “breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy”.
Mark Stroh joined the U.S. Embassy in Denmark as Deputy Chief of Mission in June 2025 and currently serves as the Chargé d’affaires. He has served in Kuwait City, Kuwait; Basra and Al-Hillah, Iraq; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Kabul, Afghanistan; Islamabad, Pakistan, as well as in various assignments in Washington with the National Security Council. The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
The United States currently has no ambassador to Denmark as Trump-appointed Ken Howery has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. He is a co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Sweden from 2019 to 2021 under President Donald Trump.
[June 10 2025 Pituffik: Trump makes Greenland part of US homeland defense ]
American outpost on the island at Pituffik will be transferred from the Pentagon’s European command to come under forces in charge of US and neighbouring areas
[January 23 2025 increase military capacity ]
“There is definitely a threat, especially from Russian military capacities in that region. And NATO countries are right now moving to increase their capacity,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, also of the Royal Danish Defense College, said. “The Danish government has been trying to touch on that word ‘control’ that Trump uses, which is a very ambiguous term,” he added. “What does control mean? Does it mean owning a piece of territory? Or does it mean having a certain amount of military equipment on that territory?”
[January 9 2025 Russia: Arctic was in Russia’s “sphere of influence” ]
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is closely monitoring the situation, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark.
Peskov said the Arctic was in Russia’s “sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there”.
Greenland is crucial for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
[June 2 2021 Denmark: partners with NSA ]
Germany’s own BND intelligence agency may have helped the U.S. spy on European companies and officials.
[June 1 2021]
The US National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish underwater internet cables from 2012 to 2014 to spy on top politicians in Germany, Sweden, Norway and France.
The NSA was able to access text messages, telephone calls and internet traffic including searches, chats and messaging services — including those of Merkel, then-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and then-opposition leader Peer Steinbruck, DR said.
Merkel said at the summit that she was “reassured” by statements by the Danish government, especially Defence Minister Trine Bramsen, condemning such actions.
“Apart from establishing the facts, this is a good starting point to arrive at relations that are truly based in mutual trust,” she said.
[May 31 2021]
Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service (FE) collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to gather information, officials from Germany, France, Sweden and Norway.
Similar allegations emerged in 2013.
Then, secrets leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden alleged tapping of the German chancellor’s phone by the NSA.
Following the new report, Mr Snowden accused US President Joe Biden of being “deeply involved in this scandal the first time around”. Mr Biden was US vice-president at the time the reported surveillance took place.
[January 8 2019 Parallels between Whelan and Daniloff arrests by Russians ]
[September 12 2019] S.Res.308 – A resolution calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan.
On January 5, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs affirmed that Makarenko had been arrested in the Saipan airport after landing there with his family. The influential entrepreneur collaborates closely with his apparent father-in-law Valery Fintisov, who himself has business ties with Russia’s Minister for Development in the Far East Viktor Ishayev.
https://www.postguam.com/news/cnmi/russian-indicted-in-florida-arrested-on-saipan/article_72cc9b42-0fd9-11e9-8a96-afb858a0827e.html
[December 5 2019]
The Russian foreign ministry said the United States detained Russian citizen Dmitry Makarenko on the Northern Mariana Islands on Dec. 29 and had moved him to Florida.
“… Makarenko, born in 1979, has arrived on Saipan Island with his wife, underage children and elderly parents. He was detained by FBI personnel at the airport right after his arrival,” the ministry said. The Russian ministry said in its statement Moscow diplomats had not been able to reach Makarenko in Florida and said Washington had yet to explain his detention.
On December 28 2018 retired US Marine Paul Whelan ‘received an electronic carrier in the room with a list of all employees of one of the secret Russian departments,’ said Russians..
‘Five minutes after the transfer, FSB officers broke into the room and detained a suspect of espionage.
‘On examination, they found a flash card with secret information.’
We saw, for example, in 1986, there was a Russian KGB officer was arrested in New York for spying at the United Nations. Three days later, the Russians arrested a U.S. news and World Report journalist, Nicholas Daniloff — and they arrested him in much the same way.
One of his contacts came to him, handed him a package that was in an envelope. He immediately was arrested and it turns out in the envelope was classified material that they had clearly just pushed to him so they could arrest him to try to put pressure on the United States or swap for their guy who was in jail.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/paul-whelan-s-arrest-in-russia-looks-like-a-classic-set-up-says-former-cia-spy-1.4966179
On September 2, 1986, Nicholas Daniloff was arrested in Moscow by the KGB and accused of espionage.The Reagan administration took the position that the Soviets had arrested Daniloff without cause, in retaliation for the arrest three days earlier of Gennadi Zakharov, an employee of the Soviet UN Mission.] The Soviets initially contended that Daniloff had confidential government documents on him when he was arrested.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/04/682350045/how-the-curious-case-of-paul-whelan-is-unfolding-between-the-u-s-and-russia
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/01/08/i-was-traded-russian-spy-i-know-what-paul-whelan-is-going-through/?utm_term=.ace829015245
[ 2013 Artyom Kuznetsov and Pavel Karpov related property in U.S. to be seized? ]
U.S. prosecutors said in a civil complaint filed in New York on September 10 they ask the court to seize luxury apartments and other property they say Russian companies used to launder proceeds from a $230 million tax fraud.
The scheme was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in a Russian jail.
Caribbean: mt Hyperion, mt Premier to Russian flag
12 January, 2026
Rhe Hyperion oil tanker, which is under sanction, dropped the false Gambian flag that it was operating under on December 25 and announced that it was now flagged to Russia. It then managed to travel into the Atlantic Ocean, making it seem as if it had escaped American seizure.
The oil tanker the Premier also indicated that it had reflagged in late December, going from the Gambian flag to the Russian flag. It was located in the Caribbean.
[January 9 2026 mt Olina seized in the Caribbean “without incident” ]
The pre-dawn action was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, part of the extensive force the U.S. has built up in the Caribbean in recent months. In the seizure of the tanker called the Olina, the Coast Guard then took control of the vessel, officials.
Olina had departed from Venezuela last week and was falsely flying the flag of Timor-Leste.
It’s the fifth tanker seized by the US government in recent weeks.
[January 8 2026 mt Marinera and mt Sophia seized, after 14 ]
The US is now trying to stop a cooperative between as many as 16 tankers trying to leave Venezuelan waters, with the US boarding only Marinera and a second Venezuela-linked oil tanker called the M/T Sophia.
[12:25pm ]
US seizes Russian-flagged tanker in Atlantic and second vessel linked to Venezuela in Caribbean Sea. The Marinera is around 200km (120 miles) south of Iceland and recently changed course.
“U.S. authorities informed Icelandic authorities of the possibility of action being taken against the vessel in question. Icelandic authorities emphasized the importance of international law. Iceland was prepared to provide search-and-rescue and emergency assistance if needed,” the ministry said in its response
The base, an RAF station, supports USAF units like the 501st Combat Support Wing and routinely hosts heavy bombers (like B-52s) and strategic assets (like U-2 spy planes) for NATO and global operations.
The vessel is currently located just inside the southeastern limits of Iceland’s jurisdiction and is sailing in international waters for navigational purposes.
“The Icelandic Coast Guard has been monitoring the movements of this vessel, as with other ships that appear in the Coast Guard’s surveillance systems in the waters around Iceland,” Erlendsson said.
Lindsey Vonn (USA) win in Zauchensee downhill
10 January, 2026
Lindsey Vonn scores 84th World Cup win in shortened Zauchensee downhill | FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025/26
The 41-year-old speed queen claimed her fourth downhill podium and second win of the season despite challenging conditions at the Austrian resort
[December 25 2025 41-year-old qualifies for Olympic downhill team ]
On Tuesday, U.S. Ski and Snowboard confirmed Vonn’s downhill spot on her fifth Olympic team. Vonn told The Athletic it was important to her to qualify on performance, not via discretion. The three-time medalist also confirmed to the publication she plans to finish out the World Cup season, especially since she might be in the hunt for her 21st globe.
[December 20 2025 a podium spot for third in the downhill in Val d’Isere [
U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn appeared on course for a record eighth win in Val d’Isère but she eventually skied out of the blue racing lane, losing a few crucial tenths of a second. In the end, the 41-year-old ski legend clocked the third-fastest time (+0.35), marking her 141st career World Cup podium, the third this season.
[December 13 2025 first at St. Moritz ]
In the second downhill of the weekend, she finished a strong second, narrowly edged out by Germany’s rising star Emma Aicher.
[January 13 2025 ]
[January 12 2025 41-year-old first at St. Moritz ]
Lindsey Vonn (USA/ Head) 41-year-old obliterated the field in Switzerland at the opening women’s Downhill race of the season, finishing +0.98 seconds ahead of Magdalena Egger (AUT/ Head) in second.
Vonn became the oldest winner, male or female, in Audi FIS World Cup history, on her 409th World Cup start.“I knew I was skiing fast, but you never know until the first race, and it was a little faster than I expected.” She was also returning to competition after a knee replacement.
[January 28 2025 Lindsey Vonn 13th in Super G, DNF at Garmisch downhill course ]
Lindsey Vonn finishes 13th in super-G. Vonn, who had failed to finish her previous two races, was 1.40 seconds adrift of the winner as the 40-year-old four-time overall World Cup champion continues her comeback after coming out of retirement in November having quit the sport in 2019.
For the second-straight World Cup race, earlier, Lindsey Vonn failed to get to the finish line.
The 40-year-old — who crashed in the super-G in Cortina last week — posted a DNF after skiing off the Garmisch downhill course with seven gates to go on Saturday in Germany.
“It was OK,” Vonn told The Associated Press. The 82-time World Cup winner added that she hoped to avoid taking risks in the flat light.
Harvey Weinstein moves to discard conviction
8 January, 2026
Judge Curtis Farber cited the secrecy of ongoing deliberations and reminded jurors not to disclose “the content or tenor” of them. Since the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers have talked with the first juror who openly complained and with another who didn’t. Weinstein’s attorneys are asking him to discard the conviction or, at least, conduct a hearing about the jury strains. In sworn statements, the two said they didn’t believe Weinstein was guilty, but had given in because of other jurors’ verbal aggression. Prosecutors maintain that the judge was presented with claims about “scattered instances of contentious interactions” and handled them appropriately.
[November 17 2025 Moves to set aside verdict on notes from jurors ]
Harvey Weinstein’s moved to set aside the verdict on the ground of claimed trial errors in the Court’s response to notes submitted by two jurors during jury deliberations. Assistant DA Matthew Colangelo replied
“The motion should be denied without a hearing.”
Judge Curtis Farber has said he will make a final ruling on Weinstein’s motion by December 22
[October 12 2025 Vacate Conviction Due to Threats Against Jurors ]
Arthur Aidala, who represented Weinstein, called for a mistrial more than a dozen times throughout the five-week trial, and was denied each time. In the filing this week, Aidala argues that the court “failed to conduct a sufficient inquiry when such misconduct was brought to its attention.” During the trial, Farber questioned these jurors in open court and also brought them back into chambers to continue questioning. He found that there was not juror misconduct, and allowed the trial to proceed.
[June 18 2025 Weinstein: verdict – guilty on Count 1 ]
Lawyers will meet for a status hearing on July 2, 2025.
[June 12 2025 ]
The retrial of Harvey Weinstein ended abruptly Thursday when the jury foreman refused to join the deliberations on the remaining rape charge against the disgraced movie mogul.
New York state Judge Curtis Farber declared a mistrial and prosecutors vowed to try Weinstein again on the charge the jury had been deadlocked on, the third-degree rape charge that accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting former actor Jessica Mann.
[June 11 2025 ]
Under personal and judicial duress, the jurors just informed Judge Curtis Farber that they have reached a split verdict: guilty on Count 1 of a criminal sexual act in the first degree against Miriam Haley, not guilty of the same charge involving Kaja Sokola and no verdict on Jessica Mann. In this retrial, each count of first-degree criminal sexual act carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
The jury did not reach a unanimous verdict on a charge involving Jessica Mann, who alleges that Weinstein raped her and was told to resume deliberations Thursday morning..
[June 9 2025 Weinstein: “about a situation that isn’t very good.” ]
Some jurors were trying to convince others of their point of view by bringing up parts of Weinstein’s public history,
[June 9 2025 ]
The jury asked to be reminded of the definition of reasonable doubt and rules about avoiding a hung jury, and the foreperson sent a note saying he wanted to speak to the judge “about a situation that isn’t very good.”
[June 2 2025 defense opens, closes, No Harvey ]
The trial will move on to closing arguments on Tuesday without testimony from Weinstein, his lawyer Arthur Aidala said. Prosecutors and defense lawyers plan to rest on Tuesday.
[June 1 2025 ]
Weinstein is allowed to travel to court from the prison-hospital wing of Bellevue hospital, and not Rikers Island. Weinstein has arrived in court each day in a wheelchair.
[May 29 2025 ]
Harvey Weinstein ’s Defense has started presenting its own witnesses. But it’s unclear whether the ex-studio boss himself will be one of them. Weinstein didn’t testify at his original trial. Many defendants in criminal cases don’t.
[August 22 2020 wrongful termination claim to arbitration? [
“Newly discovered information and facts, gleaned during the course of investigation and discovery in collateral matters, have yielded evidence that corroborates the wrongful termination claim that is subject of the arbitration,” Weinstein attorney Julia Klein wrote asking the judge who is presiding over The Weinstein Co. bankruptcy to lift the automatic stay that halts outside legal proceedings involving Chapter 11 debtors, so he can pursue the arbitration case he filed in 2017..
[March 1 2018 The Weinstein Co. will declare bankruptcy? ]
“We have received disappointing information about the viability of completing this transaction,” Contreras-Sweet said in a statement Tuesday, March 6. “As a result, we have decided to terminate this transaction.”
The Weinstein Co. announced Sunday February 25 that it will declare bankruptcy after a $500 million deal with Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies etc. to sell the company collapsed.
[ February 17 David Glasser fired by TWC ]
“The board of The Weinstein Company has unanimously voted to terminate David Glasser for cause,” a TWC statement said.
David Glasser
The New York AG’s office in recent days has been in “intense conversations” with Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies, which is backing the purchase.
“Burkle tried to be in the background, with Contreras-Sweet the front person, even though she has no Hollywood experience. But in reality, they are setting it up so one of Harvey’s enablers, one of the people who failed to hold Harvey accountable, would be the CEO of the new company, He is the exact wrong person to be taking control of this company.
[November 8 2010 Weinstein Co. is hiring Bladimiar A. Norman ]
Michelle Williams & Harvey Weinstein
The Weinstein Co. is hiring Bladimiar A. Norman as vice president marketing for TWC and Dimension pictures, reporting to David Glasser and the brothers.
[Bladimiar Norman, Wondery’s inventive head of global marketing. He adds he’ll be applying the tenets of his box office experience from working on franchises like Mission: Impossible and Star Trek to the audio business 2024]
Hue and Cri 