Germany may confiscate gift parcels sent from Russia ahead of this year’s festive season, the country’s Federal Customs Service announced in statement on its website this week. According to the statement, gift parcels are regulated by the same sanctions legislation as any imports, as they may contain sanctioned goods such as paper, pulp, precious stones…

Afghanistan’s poppy supply on the global market has plummeted 95% since last year’s cultivation ban, data shows Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, once the world’s top supplier, has plummeted since the Taliban outlawed cultivation of the crop last year, a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report has shown.

Britain’s military is making contingency plans for deployments to the battlefront, Kiev’s former top–diplomat in London has claimed British military leaders are making contingency plans to send troops to Ukraine to help fight Russian forces in case a disastrous turn of events on the battlefield necessitates their deployment, Kiev’s former ambassador to the UK has claimed.