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US Imposes Sanctions on 4 Russians Linked to FSB

FILED - 21 April 2021, Berlin: Pro-Navalny demonstrators stand with a banner in front of the Russian embassy as they protest to demand the release of the imprisoned leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
FILED - 21 April 2021, Berlin: Pro-Navalny demonstrators stand with a banner in front of the Russian embassy as they protest to demand the release of the imprisoned leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
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US Imposes Sanctions on 4 Russians Linked to FSB

FILED - 21 April 2021, Berlin: Pro-Navalny demonstrators stand with a banner in front of the Russian embassy as they protest to demand the release of the imprisoned leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
FILED - 21 April 2021, Berlin: Pro-Navalny demonstrators stand with a banner in front of the Russian embassy as they protest to demand the release of the imprisoned leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four Russians it accused of being involved in the 2020 poisoning of now jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the four hit with sanctions are linked to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and included two it said are among the main reported perpetrators of Navalny's poisoning.

“Today we remind Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people,” Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.

“The assassination attempt against Aleksey Navalny in 2020 represents the Kremlin’s contempt for human rights, and we will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to hold the Kremlin’s willing would-be executioners to account.”

Thursday's sanctions were levied under a 2012 act which authorizes the US government to sanction those connected to gross violations of human rights in Russia, freezing their assets and banning them from entering the United States.

Those targeted on Thursday are FSB Criminalistics Institute operatives Alexey Alexandrovich Alexandrov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev and Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov, as well as FSB operative Vladimir Alexandrovich Panyaev.

Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Navalny, Putin's fiercest domestic critic, is already serving sentences totaling 11-1/2 years on fraud and other charges that he says are bogus. His political movement has been outlawed and declared "extremist". Navalny had an extra 19 years in a maximum security penal colony added to his jail term earlier this month.

A former lawyer, Navalny rose to prominence more than a decade ago by lampooning Putin's elite and voicing allegations of corruption on a vast scale.

Navalny, who in the 2010s brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets, was detained in 2021 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been treated for what Western doctors said was poisoning by a Soviet-era nerve agent.

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World

Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
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Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response,” again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.

The strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations to reach a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both US and Iranian diplomats met with mediators on Wednesday in Qatar, The Associated Press said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the US military's Central Command had put out a statement about having a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain that said “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels,” the Iranian statement said.

It also said the continued presence of US fighter jets over the strait “causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security.”

“Any attempt by the United States to interfere in security matters or any disruptive action in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty and will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction,” the Iranian warning added.

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions.

World

Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
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Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

Iran said on Thursday that any US interference in the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a "decisive and ‌rapid" ‌response, adding ‌that ⁠the continued presence of US ⁠air assets across the waterway endangered regional security, state media ⁠reported.

Khatam al-Anbiya ‌Central ‌Headquarters, which coordinates Iran's ‌armed forces ‌operations, said all tanker and commercial vessels must follow ‌routes designated by Tehran for ⁠safe ⁠passage through the strait, adding that deviations or failure to comply with navigation protocols would face an immediate response.

World

8 Thai Monks Killed after Boy Drives Truck into Procession

(FILES) In this photograph taken on January 10, 2024, Buddhist monks stand outside a shop at a market area in Bhutan's capital Thimphu. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)
(FILES) In this photograph taken on January 10, 2024, Buddhist monks stand outside a shop at a market area in Bhutan's capital Thimphu. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)
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8 Thai Monks Killed after Boy Drives Truck into Procession

(FILES) In this photograph taken on January 10, 2024, Buddhist monks stand outside a shop at a market area in Bhutan's capital Thimphu. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)
(FILES) In this photograph taken on January 10, 2024, Buddhist monks stand outside a shop at a market area in Bhutan's capital Thimphu. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)

An 11-year-old drove his parents' truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand on Thursday, killing eight monks and injuring 10 others, police said.

The group of 35 monks and five lay followers were walking along a roadside in the northeastern Mukdahan province during a pilgrimage when the incident occurred.

"The suspect is a child. The vehicle has been taken for forensic examination to determine the cause," Police Major General Pairoj Thaiphutsa, commander of the Mukdahan Provincial Police, told reporters.

"We've asked the child's parents to come in so we can determine who is responsible for the child's care, so we can go on with legal process," he added.

Police said the boy had taken his parents' pickup truck without permission before losing control of the vehicle and crashing into the monks.

Five monks died at the scene and three more later died in hospital, while more than 10 others are being treated.

Prayut Ruanthongkam, chief of Mukdahan City Police, told AFP by telephone that the child was a boy aged 11.

Emergency medical and rescue teams were deployed to the scene and the injured were taken to Mukdahan Hospital.

Mukdahan provincial governor Worayan Bunnarat said the case should serve as a wider warning on road safety.

"We've been very strict on road safety in recent years. This case should be a lesson not just for our province, but for the public in general when it comes to preventing road accidents," he said.

"I think everyone involved, especially parents, needs to help, because no one wants something like this to happen."