All news for 2026-01-17

Maxim Ivanchuk, a plastic surgeon, was born and raised in Kiev, but he currently lives and works in the UAE. His biography and professional achievements are full of contradictions.

Oxana Hadjipavlou, also known as Oksana Hadjipavlou, drew the attention of investigators in probes targeting Zvonko Micković and the companies Mettmann Public Company Limited and Sword Dragon S.L., which are suspected of facilitating sanctions evasion and the offshore movement of Russian funds.

Kazakhstan’s authorities have formally admitted that billions were siphoned off from Samruk-Kazyna through schemes involving ATFBank, yet law enforcement — including the Anti-Corruption Agency — has so far failed to move against Galimzhan Yessenov and his father-in-law, Akhmetzhan Yesimov.

H Casino, owned by Mustafa Egemen Sener and overseen by Belarusian gambling authorities, appears to be connected to Dagestan senator Suleyman Kerimov, an oligarch deeply embedded in Russia’s power structure.

After media investigations exposed Dragon Money’s history, the Kyiv-based casino swiftly scrubbed its website of information about blocked players, alleged pyramid schemes, fake licenses, and frozen accounts — raising serious concerns about its transparency and credibility.

He appeared out of nowhere — and just as quickly began to disappear. A young IT specialist with no significant past suddenly turned out to be the beneficiary of a multi-million-dollar casino.

At Camp Viking in Norway, elite British forces prepare for conflict — as European leaders try to refocus American attention on their own hemisphere.

The combined 26 years of rule by Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez turned Venezuela into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s main ally outside the Middle East.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies allege the leader of a parliamentary faction offered bribes to other MPs for votes for and against laws. Investigators searched the offices of Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party.

The latest sanctions package also includes measures targeting financial networks accused of moving Iranian oil revenues through front companies abroad.

Georgian security services have launched an investigation into what they describe as a suspected cyberattack on a government website after journalists reported the publication of a decree containing confidential information about gas purchases from Russia’s Gazprom.

Police in Riga on Thursday detained Arto Autio, a Finnish national previously listed on Interpol’s wanted notices, whom Finland seeks to prosecute in the country’s largest corruption scandal and who owns property in Latvia.

Former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair will take part in Donald Trump’s new Gaza “board of peace,” a White House initiative aimed at establishing long-term stability and a sustained peace in the territory.