Oversight Agency

Asian countries hit by acute energy disruptions from the Gulf conflict are increasingly turning to Russia for emergency oil supplies after the United States granted a temporary sanctions waiver on Russian crude.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut on Thursday, escalating the Trump administration’s defense of prediction markets and arguing that the federal agency has exclusive authority over contracts offered by platforms such as Kalshi.

Three Greek cabinet ministers resigned on Friday as a European Union investigation into alleged farm subsidy fraud widened, in a case that has intensified political pressure on the government and added to unrest in the country’s farming sector.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he has pressed Binance for records over concerns the cryptocurrency exchange may have given Congress misleading information about reported money laundering and terrorist financing tied to Iran. 

German authorities have uncovered an alleged €300-million payments fraud that has drawn in former staff and executives at several payment companies, deepening the sector’s long-running crisis years after the collapse of Wirecard.

A U.S. judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to Bank of America’s $72.5 million settlement with women who accused the bank of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse.

Coinbase Global said it has received conditional approval from U.S. banking regulators for a national trust company charter, a move that could broaden the crypto exchange’s role in digital-asset custody and open the door to new business lines.

The Trump administration on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, removing a key barrier that had prevented Americans from doing business with her and potentially clearing the way for fresh U.S. investment in the country. 

Rwanda has threatened to withdraw its troops from northern Mozambique, where they have spent the past five years containing Islamic State-linked militants, after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Kigali over its alleged support for the M23 insurgency in neighboring Congo.

The United States has lifted sanctions on three Russian-flagged commercial vessels, but the Treasury Department says the move does not signal a broader change in Washington’s policy toward Russia.