The Council of the EU added four people to its Sudan sanctions regime and three people to its Haiti sanctions list on Dec. 16.

The Biden administration has no plans to alter its policy toward Cuba during its final weeks in office, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a congressional panel last week.

The U.S. this week sanctioned people and entities for their ties to North Korea, including financial firms, employees of U.S.-designated companies, military officials and others.

President Joe Biden renewed a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against human rights abuses and corruption, the White House said Dec. 12. The “prevalence” of human rights violations and corruption continues to threaten U.S. security, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Dec. 20.

EU ambassadors agreed to another round of Russia sanctions this week, including more designations of Russian entities and companies in third countries indirectly contributing to Russia’s “military and technological enhancement through the circumvention of export restrictions,” the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU said in a Dec. 11 post on X.

China’s Foreign Ministry this week criticized Canada’s recent sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights violations (see 2412110016), calling the announcement an “ugly, hypocritical political stunt done by some Canadian political figures under the pretext of human rights to serve an unspeakable agenda and please the U.S.”

The Treasury Department this week announced a move aimed at protecting a $20 billion disbursement for Ukraine, part of a larger effort by the Group of 7 nations to award the country $50 billion in frozen Russian assets. The agency said it transferred the $20 billion to a World Bank fund, a move that Reuters reported was designed to protect the money “from being clawed back” by the incoming Trump administration.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed a range of Latin America-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including multiple people and entities the agency had accused of having links to illegal drug trafficking.

Canada announced new sanctions against both China and Russia on Dec. 10 to mark International Human Rights Day, designating former or current officials with both countries’ governments or security services.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned China-based Sichuan Silence Information Technology Company and an employee, Guan Tianfeng, for their roles in a 2020 cyber attack against U.S. critical infrastructure companies and firewalls of thousands of businesses worldwide. OFAC said the company tried to steal sensitive data, including usernames and passwords, and infect victims’ systems with ransomware. The agency added that Sichuan Silence is a cybersecurity government contractor whose “core clients” are Chinese intelligence services.