Well, the Minister of Health has said that the Covid situation has been evaluated and the Government will not suspend next year’s Carnevale, as the Sixth Wave is “under control”.
This is as the statistics for the week to Christmas Eve are released, showing 2,817 new cases (down from nearly 5,000 the previous week) and 4,076 active cases (down from 6,791). Numbers in hospital have also fallen – with 5 patients in ICU (down from 10) and 120 in other wards (down from 153 the previous week). On the other hand there were 13 new fatalities, the same as the week before.
Meanwhile, it seems that Panama has recorded its first case of Monkeypox in a woman, there being 78 cases in all now.
28 DECEMBER 2022
13 AEROFLOT AIRCRAFT SEIZED ABROAD DUE TO SANCTIONS
On 28 December, United News of India reported that the CEO of Russian airline Aeroflot had said that 13 of the airline’s fleet of 357 aircraft had been seized abroad due to sanctions.
DANGEROUS FAKE INJECTABLE HORMONES SMUGGLED INTO ISRAEL FROM TURKEY
On 27 December, the Jerusalem Post reported that Customs and Tax Authority officials have seized hundreds of counterfeit ampoules of Pregnyl 500 IU hormones at the crossing to Jordan that had been smuggled from Turkey. It is used to treat infertility in women and to increase sperm counts in men.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-725936
OVERVIEW OF THE EU’S NINTH SANCTIONS PACKAGE AND THE UK’S LATEST RESTRICTIVE MEASURES AGAINST RUSSIA
On 27 December, Pillsbury published this article on the latest measures imposed by both the EU and UK.
NEW GUIDEBOOK TO THE METAVERSE PUBLISHED
On 28 December, CMS Law reported that, in collaboration with CMS, Germany’s digital association Bitkom has recently published a guidebook to the metaverse. It provides an overview of the metaverse regarding concept, technologies, business models, impact on society and legal aspects.
https://www.bitkom.org/EN/Publications/Guidebook-Metaverse
JERSEY: SANCTIONS TARGETS ALLOWED UP TO £1 MILLION OF FROZEN FUNDS TO PAY LEGAL BILLS
On 26 December, ITV reported on a new General Licence which means that Russian oligarchs and others facing sanctions can now access up to £1 million of their Jersey-based funds to pay outstanding bills to local lawyers.
LATVIA: AFTER NEARLY 9 YEARS THE SO-CALLED DAIMLER BRIBERY CASE MAY CONCLUDE WITH A DEAL
On 23 December, the Baltic News Network reported that the prosecutor had concluded that a deal is possible if the accused pay approximately €1.5 million to the state budget. This is part of the amount of the bribes and illegally obtained funds listed in the criminal case. The prosecution office submitted the case to the court in Summer of 2013 and, according to the prosecution, the accused paid officials bribes worth more than €5 million. The case was based on suspicions of Daimler subsidiary Evo Bus having unjustifiably increased prices and had illegally acquired funds given as bribes to state officials between 2002 and 2006 to ensure procurement of 117 Mercedes Benz buses.
https://advisor.visualcapitalist.com/visual-guide-to-economic-indicators/
SPANISH MAN ARRESTED AT DUBLIN AIRPORT IN €450,000 FRAUD ‘MONEY MULE’ INVESTIGATION
On 28 December, the Sunday World reported that fraud squad detectives have arrested a suspect at Dublin Airport after he was extradited back to Ireland from the UK to face charges in relation to a €450,000 BEC invoice redirection scam. The 49-year-old Spanish national is expected to face up to 50 separate money laundering charges. The newspaper reported that that just under €450,000 was stolen in the fraud in Switzerland over 5 years ago when a Dutch pharmaceutical company which had an office there became the victim of the fraud when it was duped into believing that it was dealing with an Italian supplier.
CANADA’S BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP PROBLEM
On 19 December, this article from the Canadian Bar Association says that Canada has developed an unwanted reputation: as a corporate transparency backwater. A country struggling to fight money laundering and tax evasion because it simply lacks the tools to understand who actually owns the companies registered in Canada. It is exceedingly difficult to reveal the major owners of Canadian corporations. It goes on to say that, as with most aspects of Canadian financial regulation, Ottawa’s decisions are only one piece of the puzzle. Each province and territory has its own approach to financial and corporate disclosure, and objections to any kind of national system have already stymied efforts to build any kind of national securities regulator.
raytodd.blog 