30: Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday that prosecutors are proceeding with a terrorist charge against him that could add 30 years to his current 11.5-year sentence.
1: In a joint naval exercise on Wednesday, US and Philippine forces used missiles and bombs to sink an out-of-commission Philippine Navy warship meant to represent an enemy vessel in the South China Sea as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. watched. After 38 years of joint war games, this is the first time the two allies have simulated a rocket attack in the disputed waters. China, no doubt, was watching too.
600 million: The British American Tobacco subsidiary, the world's second-largest tobacco company, has pleaded guilty to violating US sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea between 2007 and 2017. The more than $600 million fine amounts to “the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice,” according to US officials.
40: On Monday, researchers in Sweden fired a rocket into the sky to carry out experiments on potential carbon-free fuels. Unfortunately, on return, the rocket landed about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from its planned landing site … and in the wrong country: Norway. No one was injured, and Sweden does not appear to have declared war on its neighbor, but Norwegian authorities are not the least bit happy about this.President Trump unveiled “Project Freedom,” an initiative to escort ships and restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, on Sunday. By Tuesday evening, he had unceremoniously suspended it by Truth Social post, shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters how committed the administration was to it.
India’s Modi consolidates grip after historic state election win, Venezuela and Guyana are back in court over border dispute, Trump administration weighs a hands-on approach to AI
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and European nations, to work together in the wake of disruption of the established world order — implicitly pointing to the United States. “It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” he told the crowd in Yerevan, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk. The country, which has the largest budget deficit in the EU, has to complete the bloc’s mandated economic reforms by August to unlock the funds. But with its country’s pro-EU government pushed out, those reforms are uncertain.