Foreign News
Cocaine production reaches record levels as new trafficking hubs emerge

BBC reported that global cocaine production has reached record levels as demand rebounds following Covid lockdowns.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said coca cultivation rose by 35% between 2020 and 2021 to record levels.
Findings suggest new hubs for trafficking have emerged in West and Central Africa. The report also said traffickers were using international postal services more often to get drugs to consumers.
Foreign News
US top court orders Trump to return man deported to El Salvador in ‘error’

The US Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Maryland man, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious mega-jail.
The Trump administration had conceded that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by accident, but appealed against a federal court’s order to return him to the US.
On Thursday, in a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court declined to block the lower court’s order.
The judge’s order “requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent”, the justices ruled.
(BBC)
Foreign News
Woman jailed over £39 donation to Ukraine freed in US-Russia prisoner swap

A Russian-American citizen has been released in a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, a Los Angeles resident, had been in prison in Russia for over a year, after being arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg in early 2024.
She was found guilty of treason for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine and was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony.
In exchange, the US reportedly freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023. He was accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russia for manufacturers working with the Russian military.
[BBC]
Foreign News
Nationwide strike for better pay brings Greece to standstill

A nationwide general strike disrupted public services across Greece, with ferries tied up in port, flights grounded and public transport running only part-time as labour unions press for higher wages to cope with rising living costs.
The 24-hour strike on Wednesday was called by the two main umbrella unions covering the public and private sectors, seeking a full return of collective bargaining rights which were scrapped as part of international bailouts during Greece’s financial crisis.
Greece has emerged from a 2009-18 debt crisis, which saw rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth about 290 billion euros ($319bn) and economic growth seen at 2.3 percent this year, outpacing other eurozone economies.
Tapping on the country’s progress, the conservative government increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35 percent to 880 euros ($970). But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid rising food, power and housing costs, the labour unions say.
The country braces for further global financial turmoil triggered by US tariffs.
[Aljazeera]
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