Latest news

Middle East Crisis  Strait of Hormuz
Iran and Oman at odds: “Hope for news soon”

Iran and Oman are negotiating a temporary shipping corridor through the blocked Strait of Hormuz and to clear mines in the area. No final agreement has yet been reached, according to an updated situation report from AFP.

The negotiations concern sensitive issues including sovereignty, control over shipping and possible fees.

“Oman and Iran are effectively negotiating parts of a post-war governance and security architecture for Hormuz – which explains the slow pace,” Omani researcher Abdallah Baaboud told AFP.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote earlier this week that he hoped a temporary passage and practical arrangements to restore safe shipping could be announced soon. 

Art Heists
Spanish Bronze Age Treasure Stolen: “We Are Despairing”


In yet another art heist, a gold treasure from the Bronze Age has been stolen from the museum in Villena, Spain. The Guardian reports.

– We who are from Villena are desperate. The treasure is part of our cultural heritage, our wealth, something we are proud of, says the city’s mayor Fulgencio Cerdán to Esdiario.

The museum’s alarm went off at 05.20 in the morning, and four minutes later the thieves had left the building with most of the treasure, which is around 3000 years old. It is said to be priceless, but the gold alone is worth almost 19 million kronor.

No suspect has been identified or arrested.

Recently, valuable works of art have been stolen from smaller museums and galleries in Italy, Brazil and the USA. 

Bosnian War
Ratko Mladic is dead – the “butcher” was 84

Bosnian Serb war criminal and former general Ratko Mladic has died, Serbian state broadcaster RTS reports. He was 84.

He was known as the “butcher of Bosnia” for his involvement in the Srebrenica massacre, among other things. In 2011, he was arrested and extradited to The Hague, where he stood trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison for war crimes against Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995.

No cause of death was given, but Mladic had suffered several strokes in recent months and was seriously ill.