SYDNEY: A new round of sanctions were imposed on Moscow Saturday by the United States over the 2018 poisoning of former double-agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
Russian spies have been blamed for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in March last year using the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok.
The two survived the attack but a British woman later died after her partner picked up a discarded perfume bottle investigators believe was used to carry the Novichok.
Washington said Saturday it will oppose "the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to Russia" by international financial institutions and put limits on US banks from purchasing Russian sovereign debt, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
The US will also limit the export of goods and technology to Russia that could be used in the country's chemical and biological arms programmes, Ortagus said.
She added that the measures could prevent Russia from accessing "billions of dollars of bilateral commercial activity with the United States".
The sanctions will come into effect following a 15 day congressional notification period -- around August 19 -- and will remain in place for a minimum 12 months, according to the US State Department.
The Salisbury attack, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, caused an international outcry and prompted a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western nations including the US.
London says the attempted assassination was "almost certainly" approved by Moscow and that Russians Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun were behind the killing.
However the pair have never been tried and Lugovoi has since become a lawmaker in Russia.
Moscow denies involvement in the poisoning and has offered numerous and varied alternative explanations and counter-accusations.
In January the European Union imposed chemical weapons sanctions on nine Russian and Syrian officials, including the chief of the powerful GRU military intelligence agency.
Skripal, a former officer with the GRU, was found guilty in 2006 of "high treason" before being traded in a spy exchange between Moscow, London and Washington.
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US announces new sanctions against Russia over Skripal affair
US announces new sanctions against Russia over Skripal affair
- Washington said it will oppose "the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to Russia"
- The US will also limit the export of goods and technology to Russia
Emails to Chinese dancers allegedly threatened Australian PM
SYDNEY: A security scare at the Australian prime minister’s residence this week was sparked by a bomb threat against an anti-Beijing Chinese dance troupe, the act’s hosts said Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
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