Iran knows it, China knows it and apparently, so does the US government: despite existing sanctions against the oil industry of the Islamic Republic, oil from Iran is being shipped to China in record volumes. Javier Blas, an opinion columnist who covers energy and commodities for Bloomberg, recently described how Iranian oil ends up in China. “If you believe the Chinese government, the country doesn’t import any oil from Iran. Zero. Not a barrel. Instead, it imports lots of Malaysian crude. According to official Chinese customs data, it somehow buys more than twice as much Malaysian oil as Malaysia actually produces.” By rebranding Iranian oil, Malaysia became China’s fourth-largest foreign oil supplier last year, behind Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq. For many years, Iran has used the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a hub for circumventing sanctions. Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the UAE, is the gateway of banned goods other than oil that enter Iran. Tehran has long modified its supply chains so that virtually everything embargoed by the United States or the European Union can be obtained through trading and financial hubs like Dubai. Central Asia: Russia’s new trading hub Following Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine, Russia has had to establish similar trade routes to ensure a steady supply of vital goods for its economy. The former Soviet republics in Central Asia have been proving ideal for circumventing the embargoes, because countries like Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan are part of a customs union with Moscow. Moreover, the vast distances — Kazakhstan alone shares a border with Russia of more than 7,500 kilometers — make sanctions control virtually impossible. Due to Russia’s sanctions-busting strategy, Armenia, for example, saw imports of German cars and components rise by almost 1000% last year. Russia is the most embargoed country globally, according to the latest data provided by Castellum.AI, a global sanctions-tracking database. However, the Russian economy is far from collapsing. It posted strong growth of 3.6% last year, and the Kremlin is expecting the 2024 growth rate to be “at the same level,” according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The International Monetary Fund shares the Russians’ growth expectations, setting the rate of GDP expansion at 3.2%, and noting that high state spending and investments related to the war against Ukraine would be driving growth. Strong revenue from oil exports would continue to support Moscow’s finances, it said. Sanctions galore, to little effect Russia is subject to more than 5,000 different targeted sanctions — more than have been imposed on Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar and Cuba combined. They are targeted at politicians and officials in Putin’s government, as well as at Russian oligarchs, large companies, financial institutions and the military-industrial complex. Financial sanctions have restricted Russian banks’ access to international financial markets, excluding them from the crucially important SWIFT banking system, which powers most international money and security transfers. Additionally, the Russian central bank is denied access to its vast reserves located in G7 countries. The catch is that only sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council are legally binding for all countries of the world. And there are indeed several countries like India, Brazil and China that have not adhered to these sanctions. What’s the alternative? So, why are Western nations still imposing sanctions they cannot enforce? “If no sanctions were imposed, it would almost be like tacit support. Or as if one were not responding to this [Russia’s] illegal attack,” said Christian von Soest, sanctions expert at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies. Author of the 2023 book titled “Sanctions: Powerful Weapon or Helpless Maneuver?”, von Soest told DW that the US and Europe needed to “sharpen their measures to force Russia and Iran to change their behavior.”  According to a report by US business daily The Wall Street Journal, Washington is planning to target several Chinese banks to ensure Western sanctions bite. US President Joe Biden’s administration wants to exclude Beijing from the global financial system in order to stop the flow of finance funding the Russian war machinery, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources. In the EU, a so-called sanctions envoy — David O’Sullivan from Ireland — was named in January last year to engage in diplomatic efforts to enforce the bloc’s sanctions regime.  “His task is also to travel to the post-Soviet states neighboring Russia, for example, and persuade governments there to enforce the sanctions more rigorously,” von Soest told DW. “The general problem has been recognized that there are ways for both Russia and Iran to circumvent the sanctions,” he said, adding that now one has to see what the various measures bring. Some impact is already being felt: in Turkey, for example, where a US threat to impose sanctions on financial firms doing business with Russia has led to a steep decline in Turkey’s exports to Russia, which had boomed last year.

The White House insisted Sunday that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked US universities in recent weeks must remain peaceful, after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend. “We certainly respect the right of peaceful protests,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week.” But, he added, “we absolutely condemn the anti-Semitism language that we’ve heard of late and certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there.” The wave of demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York but they have since spread rapidly across the country. While peace has prevailed in many campuses, the number of protesters detained -- at times by police in riot gear using chemical irritants and tasers -- is rising fast. They include 100 at Northeastern University in Boston, 80 at Washington University in St Louis, 72 at Arizona State University and 23 at Indiana University. Among those arrested at Washington University was Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who faulted police for aggressive tactics she said provoked the sort of trouble they are meant to quell. “This is about freedom of speech... on a very critical issue,” she told CNN shortly before her arrest Saturday. “And there they are, sending in the riot police and basically creating a riot.” College administrators have struggled to find the best response, caught between the need to respect free-speech rights and the imperative of containing inflammatory and sometimes violently anti-Semitic calls by protesters. At the University of Southern California, school officials late Saturday closed the main campus to the public after pro-Palestinian groups again set up an encampment that had been cleared earlier, the school announced on X. With final exams coming in the next few weeks, some campuses -- including the Humboldt campus of California State Polytechnic University, have closed and instructed students to complete their classes online. The activists behind the campus protests -- not all of them students -- are calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, and want colleges to sever ties with Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,454 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Staff Correspondent Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and ARTICLE 19 have expressed concerns about the draft Personal Information Protection Act, 2024, which, like the now-replaced Digital Security Act, has the potential to reveal personal data under the guise of protecting it. TIB urged the government to take into account the recommendations made by the anti-graft watchdog, which include upholding fundamental rights, focusing only on personal data, reevaluating or doing away with data localization requirements, creating an independent authority for data protection, putting judicial oversight in place for access to personal data, limiting exemptions for actions judged to be in the public interest, and instituting a phased enforcement schedule. The call came at a press conference jointly organized by TIB and ARTICLE 19, a British international human rights organization, in the capital`s Dhanmondi on Sunday. Dr Iftekharuzzaman, TIB executive director, attended the event, which was moderated by Towhidul Islam, director of Outreach and Communication. Sheikh Manjur-E-Alam, ARTICLE 19 regional director for Bangladesh and South Asia, delivered the keynote address. Dr Iftekharuzzaman said: “It is outstanding that the government discussed with numerous stakeholders before creating this law. This draft is improved over the previous one, but the issue of regulation in the name of personal data protection persists. “The draft is anticipated to be presented in parliament soon, and stakeholders such as ourselves and other civil society organizations are concerned that the act would be used as a control instrument. We ask the government to consider our advice before adopting this bill." Sheikh Manjur-E-Alam said: “This might erode transparency and accountability while reducing individual control over personal information. The PDPA should relate to current constitutional provisions for privacy and freedom of expression." “There should be judicial scrutiny of what constitutes national security and what constitutes public interest. We further recommend that an independent data protection commission be established under this act to ensure adequate enforcement of data protection standards,” he added.

Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen on Sunday said the government will not tolerate attacks on doctors and will also take action for medical negligence by professionals. In reference to the recent incidents of doctors being assaulted in Chittagong, the minister said doctors should give their full effort to treat their patients, and the rest will be taken care of by the ministry. “It has been three months of my new role as a minister. Wherever I have gone in this short time, everyone has told me that I am a minister for the doctors. I am also a minister for the patients,” the minister said while speaking at an orientation program of the newly appointed doctors at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital. Samanta Lal said: “I will extend my full cooperation for the well-being of the medical professionals simultaneously; I am expecting good behaviours from doctors towards service-seeking people in the country.” He said: “Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of providing healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of the common people. I think you (doctors) are the main architects to fulfil the dream of Bangabandhu by ensuring treatment facilities for all.” The director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Md Khurshid Alam, and the DG of the Directorate of Family Welfare, Sahan Ara Banu, among others, were present at the program. Earlier, on-duty doctor Raktim Das was badly beaten up at the Patiya General Hospital in Chittagong, for his alleged delay in treating a patient on April 10. Four days later, an attack was carried out on another doctor of Chittagong Medical Centre Hospital, Riaz Uddin Shiblu, in connection with the death of a patient suffering from pneumonia. On April 18, the minister said that the government is considering enacting a law to ensure the security and safety of doctors across the country. The Doctors’ Protection Act will be placed in Parliament and passed at any cost. Condemning recent attacks and assaults on doctors in several areas of the country, he said beating up service providers cannot bring any good to anyone. In another instance, the minister said that strikes called by doctors cannot be ethical in any way. “I never want my doctors to go on strikes. I am working to keep them happy,” he said.