Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (on display) addresses the Dutch Home of Representatives in The Hague on March 31, in hopes of getting help in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Bart Maat/ANP/AFP/Getty Photographs)
The Netherlands has detained 14 super-yachts with Russian possession, frozen 516 million euros ($563 million) property and blocked 155 million euros ($169 million) in transactions as a part of the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Dutch Overseas Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra stated Wednesday.
In a letter to the Dutch Parliament, Hoekstra defined 12 yachts have been presently below building at 5 shipyards within the Netherlands for “so-called Russian ‘final helpful house owners.’”
Whereas a few of the house owners don’t seem on the European sanctions listing, “because of the present export measures, these vessels usually are not allowed to be delivered for the time being,” he stated, including that “the possession buildings of those yachts are below additional investigation.”
Along with these 12, Hoekstra stated two yachts below upkeep at Dutch yards had been positioned below stricter customs supervision, and “the connection of certainly one of these yachts to an individual named on the European sanction lists is being investigated.”
Because the first sanctions have been launched, “nearly 30,000 containers in transit to Russia/Belarus have been stopped,” on the Port of Rotterdam, they usually have been investigated to “decide whether or not they fall below the sanctions measures,” he added.
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Of these investigations roughly 5,500 containers have been held on suspicion of containing luxurious items with a worth of 300 euros ($350) per merchandise. “If that’s the case, these items will not be despatched to Russia/Belarus,” stated Hoekstra.
Dutch customs officers have additionally made 3,300 checks on cargo shipments. Following investigations, 9 shipments have been held as they included, “elements for diesel engines, gear for the oil trade and cryptographic items (information safety),” famous Hoekstra, including that, “these items are returned to the exporter and due to this fact to not the initially specified vacation spot.”
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Stellantis has named its North American boss Antonio Filosa as chief executive, picking an internal candidate to rebuild its US business and navigate an industry upended by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The board chose the 51-year-old Italian and former boss of its Jeep brand to replace Carlos Tavares, who resigned abruptly in December following a sharp decline in sales in the US and Europe.
“Antonio’s deep understanding of our company, including its people who he views as our core strength, and of our industry equip him perfectly for the role of chief executive officer in the next and crucial phase of Stellantis’ development,” chair John Elkann said on Wednesday.
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The owner of the Peugeot, Fiat and Opel brands last month pulled its full-year forecasts owing to the uncertainty unleashed by the US president’s trade war.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican whose Senate seat is up in the 2026 election, announced Tuesday that he’s seeking the state’s governor’s mansion after one term in the Senate.
“Today I will announce that I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville said in an interview with Fox News’ Will Cain. “I’m doing this to help this country and the great state of Alabama. I’m a football coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter. And we’re going to grow Alabama.”
Tuberville also launched the website coachforgovernor.com.
Tuberville, 70, was elected to the Senate in 2020. The former Auburn University football coach, who had never held public office before coming to the Senate, is a strong ally of President Trump, and has served as a staunch defender of Mr. Trump in the upper chamber.
In his 2020 Senate race, Tuberville defeated Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, flipping the seat back for Republicans after Jones had become the first Democrat elected to the Senate in Alabama in 25 years. In the primary, Mr. Trump endorsed Tuberville over former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had previously held the seat for two decades and who had left the Senate to serve in the first Trump administration.
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Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Tierney L. Cross / Getty Images
During the Biden administration, Tuberville in 2023 delayed the promotions of hundreds of military officers in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy. After 10 months of blocking the Senate from approving the nominations en masse, Tuberville dropped the bulk of his holds without a change to the policy, amid pressure from his GOP colleagues to change course.
The Alabama Republican’s announcement Tuesday comes as other senators are pursuing gubernatorial bids or have expressed interest in leaving Washington to lead their home states in recent months. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado announced he’s running for governor in April, and GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has said she’s considering a bid for governor, as well. Former Sen. Mike Braun opted to leave the Senate, too, after winning his 2024 bid for Indiana governor. The developments defy what’s been a more traditional progression from the governor’s mansion to the Senate. Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Rick Scott of Florida were all governors, and former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was also governor before he served in the Senate.
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The 2026 Alabama governor’s race will decide who will succeed term-limited Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican.
Kaia Hubbard
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Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
Re: Review for Termination or Transition of Harvard University Contracts
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is assisting all federal agencies in a review for termination or transition of their federal government contracts with Harvard University and affiliates. This review aligns with the Administration’s directive that all federal contracted services steadfastly uphold and advance agency strategic priorities.
As you know, being a counterparty with the federal government comes with the deep responsibility and commitment to abide by all federal laws and ensure the safeguarding of taxpayer money. As fiduciaries to the taxpayer, the government has a duty to ensure that procurement dollars are directed to vendors and contractors who promote and champion principles of nondiscrimination and the national interest.
As relevant here, GSA understands that Harvard continues to engage in race discrimination, including in its admissions process and in other areas of student life. The statistical evidence of Harvard’s racial discrimination in their admissions – as revealed in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard – is shocking, to say the least. For applicants in the top academic decile, admissions rates varied significantly by race. In this decile, admissions rates were: 56% for African Americans; 31% for Hispanics; 15% for Whites; 13% for Asians. The Supreme Court, in its decision on the case, rebuked Harvard’s long-standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race. Harvard has shown no indication of reforming their admissions process – to the contrary, Harvard now has to offer a remedial math course, which has been described as “middle school math”, for incoming freshmen. These are the direct results of employing discriminatory factors, instead of merit, in admission decisions.
Since then, troubling revelations have come to light regarding Harvard and its affiliates’ potential discriminatory hiring practices and possible violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Harvard is suspected of engaging in a pattern or practice of disparate treatment in hiring, promotion, compensation, and other personnel related actions.
Additionally, discriminatory practices have been exposed at the Harvard Law Review, where internal documents that have been made public detail the pervasive and explicit racial discrimination in the publication’s article selection and editor appointment process.
GSA is also aware of recent events at Harvard University involving anti-Semitic action that suggest the institution has a disturbing lack of concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students. Harvard’s ongoing inaction in the face of repeated and severe harassment and targeting of its students has at times grounded day-to-day campus operations to a halt, deprived Jewish students of learning and research opportunities to which they are entitled, and profoundly alarmed the general public.
