عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Russian Oligarch's Yacht Seized in Fiji on US Request

The $300 million megayacht Amadea of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov was seized by local authorities in Lautoka, Fiji on a US Justice Department request, for allegedly being tied to sanctions violations and money laundering. Leon LORD FIJI SUN/AFP
The $300 million megayacht Amadea of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov was seized by local authorities in Lautoka, Fiji on a US Justice Department request, for allegedly being tied to sanctions violations and money laundering. Leon LORD FIJI SUN/AFP
TT
TT

Russian Oligarch's Yacht Seized in Fiji on US Request

The $300 million megayacht Amadea of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov was seized by local authorities in Lautoka, Fiji on a US Justice Department request, for allegedly being tied to sanctions violations and money laundering. Leon LORD FIJI SUN/AFP
The $300 million megayacht Amadea of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov was seized by local authorities in Lautoka, Fiji on a US Justice Department request, for allegedly being tied to sanctions violations and money laundering. Leon LORD FIJI SUN/AFP

Authorities in Fiji have seized the $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov after the US Justice Department requested the vessel be held for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption, the department said Thursday.

The five-year-old, 348-foot (106 meter) "Amadea" was berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific when local authorities took control of it based on a US warrant and a Justice Department request, AFP reported.

"The Amadea is subject to forfeiture based on probable cause of violations of US law, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, money laundering and conspiracy," the department said in a statement.

Kerimov is among a group of Russian oligarchs "who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe, including the occupation of Crimea," it said.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin as part of a wave of economic punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.

Kerimov, who has made a fortune as part owner of major Russian energy and financial companies including Gazprom and Sberbank, is also an official of the Russian government and a member of the Russian Federation Council, it said.

- 'No hiding place' -
"There is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

"The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine," Garland said.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the department had its eyes "on every yacht purchased with dirty money".

"This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide -– not even in the remotest part of the world," she said.

"We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine."

Fijian lawyers acting on behalf of Millemarin Investment Ltd, the registered owner of the Amadea, have filed an application for the vessel to be kept in Lautoka where it has been berthed since its arrival in Fiji in the middle of last month.

The Amadea is worth $325 million and boasts a pool, jacuzzi, helipad, and "winter garden" on the sun deck, according to the website superyachtfan.com, which tracks the vessels of the rich.

Millemarin Investment applied at Fiji's High Court this week to prevent its seizure under the US warrant, pending an appeal against the move.

Fiji's director of public prosecutions said the court would rule on the company's application by Friday.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran Holds Massive Drills in Gulf

A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
TT
TT

Iran Holds Massive Drills in Gulf

A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT
A handout photo made available on 05 December 2025 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a missile being launched during a military drill in the waters off southern Iran coast. EPA/IRGC HANDOUT

Iran launched massive missiles in the Sea of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz during the second day of a naval drill, state TV reported Friday.

The report said the Revolutionary Guard launched the missiles from the depth of Iran's mainland, hitting targets in the Oman Sea and neighboring area near Strait of Hormuz in a drill that began on Thursday.

It identified the missiles as cruise Qadr-110, Qadr-380 and Ghadir that have a range of up to 2,000 kilometers. It said the Guard also launched a ballistic missile identified as 303, without elaborating.

The drill is the second one following the Israel-Iran war in June that killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. Missile attacks by Iran killed 28 in Israel.

Earlier, Iran hosted an anti-terrorism drill in its northwestern province of East Azerbaijan with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which, according to state Press TV, was intended to signal both “peace and friendship” to neighboring states and warn enemies that “any miscalculation would meet a decisive response.”

The SCO, a Eurasian security and economic bloc founded in 2001 to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, often conducts joint military exercises among its members.

The organization includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries, with observer and dialogue partners such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and others participating in selected operations.

World

Taiwan Says China Deploys Warships in ‘Military Operations’

A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Taiwan Says China Deploys Warships in ‘Military Operations’

A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Chinese PLA navy ship monitors an area during a maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines, Australia and Canadian navy near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sep 3, 2025. (AFP)

Taiwan said Friday that China had deployed warships for “military operations” stretching hundreds of kilometers from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, posing a “threat” to the region.

Beijing, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, neither confirmed nor denied the maneuvers.

Taiwan’s defense ministry and other security agencies were monitoring China’s activities and had a “complete grasp of the situation,” presidential office spokeswoman Karen Kuo told reporters.

She did not say how many Chinese ships were involved in the deployment, but a security source told AFP the number was “significant.” The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The operations were not limited to the Taiwan Strait, but extended from the southern Yellow Sea, to the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyu Islands and on into the South China Sea and even the Western Pacific, Kuo said.

“This indeed poses a threat and impact on the Indo-Pacific and the entire region,” she said.

Taiwan urged China to “exercise restraint,” Kuo said, adding: “We are also confident that we can handle this matter well.”

Neither China’s armed forces nor state media have announced any increased military activity in the region where Taiwan said Chinese ships had been detected.

Beijing’s defense ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said Friday that the navy’s training on the high seas complies with international law and “is not directed at any specific country or target.”

He was responding to a question about a Chinese naval flotilla that reportedly may be heading toward Australia.

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said Beijing “has consistently followed a defensive policy” and urged “relevant parties” not to “overreact or... engage in groundless hype.”

China has refused to rule out using force to take Taiwan, and also contentiously claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea.

Taiwan’s intelligence chief Tsai Ming-yen said Wednesday that October to December was the “peak season” for China’s “annual evaluation exercises.”

There was a possibility that China’s ruling Communist Party could turn seemingly routine military activities into drills targeting Taiwan, Tsai warned.

Last December, Taiwan said about 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels took part in vast exercises including simulating attacks on foreign ships and practicing blockading sea routes in Beijing’s biggest maritime drills in years.

Beijing did not confirm the drills at that time.

The United States has historically been Taiwan’s main security backer.

But President Donald Trump’s administration signaled a potential shift in that policy on Friday, saying in a strategy document that its Asian allies Japan and South Korea should take on more of the burden of defending the region.

World

France Investigates Reports of Drones Over Nuclear Sub Base

A picture taken on December 5, 2016 shows a nuclear submarine at the naval base in Ile Longue, western of France. (AFP)
A picture taken on December 5, 2016 shows a nuclear submarine at the naval base in Ile Longue, western of France. (AFP)
TT
TT

France Investigates Reports of Drones Over Nuclear Sub Base

A picture taken on December 5, 2016 shows a nuclear submarine at the naval base in Ile Longue, western of France. (AFP)
A picture taken on December 5, 2016 shows a nuclear submarine at the naval base in Ile Longue, western of France. (AFP)

French prosecutors are investigating after drones were suspected to have flown over a nuclear submarine base on the Atlantic coast late on Thursday, a prosecutor in charge of military affairs in the city of Rennes said on Friday.

Jean-Marie Blin said overflights had been reported from around 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Thursday until 1 a.m. (midnight GMT) on Friday morning, with the bulk of the sightings occurring during the first couple of hours.

He denied press reports that gendarmes had fired at the suspected drones, but said they had taken "precautionary measures".

Drone flights, mostly of unknown origin, have been disrupting Europe's airspace in the past few months. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the incursions "hybrid warfare". Russia regularly denies accusations that it is responsible.

The Ile Longue base in northwest France houses nuclear-powered submarines, according to the navy's website. Each is equipped with 16 ballistic missiles carrying several nuclear warheads.

Blin said the investigation was for now focused on verifying whether there really had been drones in the sky. "Some of the reports may be completely fanciful, others are much more serious."

He said the reports had come from different people on site, including gendarmes and military officers.