Spain arrests 4 accused of shipping possible precursors for chemical weapons to Russia, breaching sanctions
CBSN
Madrid — Spanish authorities on Tuesday said they had arrested four people suspected of orchestrating a sanctions-busting commercial network after intercepting more than 14 tons of chemical products bound for Russia.
"During the investigation, it was proven that internationally sanctioned chemicals, some of them possible precursors for chemical weapons or nerve agents, had been exported in the past using this company structure," Spain's national police force and its tax authority said in a joint statement, according to the Reuters news agency. The agencies did not say what chemicals had been seized.
The chemicals were discovered in a shipping container at the port in Barcelona, on Spain's northeast coast, the authorities said, while the suspects were taken into custody in three villages near the city. A video posted on the National Police's social media account showed officers unloading dozens of drums of unidentified chemicals at the port.
A U.S. Navy warship arrived Monday in Cambodia, the first such visit in eight years to a nation that is a close ally of China in Southeast Asia. Cambodia's government has suggested the port call reflects an upgrade in often-strained relations.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was discharged from the hospital Sunday after undergoing surgery to stop a brain bleed.
A U.N. envoy on Sunday called for a quick end to Western sanctions against Syria as the country's new leaders and regional and global powers begin to chart a path forward following the fall of President Bashar Assad.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's government but is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
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