Trust in Zombies: How the Tiny Principality of Liechtenstein Faces a Massive Crisis Because of a Distant War
NEED TO KNOW
Trust in Zombies: How the Tiny Principality of Liechtenstein Faces a Massive Crisis Because of a Distant War
LIECHTENSTEIN
It would be a pity if zombies ruined the upcoming wedding of Princess Marie Caroline and Leopoldo Maduro Vollmer, a London investment banker: Scheduled for August 30, wrote Bride magazine, the nuptials will take place in her house, Vaduz Castle, the palace of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II.
The event comes as American sanctions on Russia have caused a “zombie” trust crisis in the tiny European principality.
Nestled in the Alpine mountains between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein has long been known as a financial hub for trusts, foundations, and other entities often linked to tax shelters and tax evasion. In 2008, for instance, a bank leak exposed massive tax evasion by foreign citizens who kept their money in the country.
Today, while Liechtenstein’s leaders have worked hard to contain tax shelters, the $930 billion trusts and foundations industry is central to the microstate’s economy, noted Reuters. That largesse, incidentally, has helped turn Liechtenstein into one of the world’s wealthiest and safest countries, one where the Times of India described living conditions as “near-utopian.”
Russia and the German-speaking country, whose origins as an independent statelet trace back to the Holy Roman Empire, don’t have particularly close relations, according to the Liechtenstein Institute. But wealthy Russians have also used the country as a depository for their funds – ill-gotten or not – rather than their notoriously corrupt homeland, with a leader quick to seize oligarchs’ fortunes.
Now, fears of flouting American sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine have caused fiduciary and board directors in Liechtenstein to drop their jobs handling Russian funds, leaving around 800 entities as “zombies,” or frozen because there is no one to manage their assets or oversee their liquidation.
“We are talking about multibillion-dollar floating zombie trusts,” a Vaduz-based lawyer whose clients are among those directors, in an interview with the Financial Times. “There is no solution yet. I have never seen anything like it.”
Pro-Ukraine news outlet United 24 described Liechtenstein as the “graveyard of Russian wealth vehicles” – likely a pun on the many Russian vehicles that Ukraine has destroyed on the battlefield.
The problem for Liechtenstein is that because these zombie assets are frozen, nobody is conducting transactions or collecting fees from managing those transactions. Government officials are now attempting to appoint new managers to the trusts and deliberating other measures to make sure officials have control over the Russian funds. But it will take time.
As a result, this slowdown is likely to adversely affect the country’s economy and its 40,000 people, analysts say.
“…Liechtenstein is currently facing a significant financial crisis,” wrote the Comsure Group, a British consultancy. “This situation highlights the far-reaching impact of international sanctions and the interconnectedness of global financial systems.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Politicians And Aid Groups Push to Save $10M in USAID Contraceptives From Destruction
EUROPEAN UNION
Lawmakers and international organizations are pressuring France, Belgium, and the European Union to prevent the destruction of nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives owned by the now-defunded US Agency for International Development (USAID) currently held in Belgium, Politico reported Tuesday.
The supplies are currently stored in a warehouse in the northern Belgian town of Geel, and include 26 million condoms, hundreds of thousands of long-acting birth control implants, and other products.
The supplies were originally intended for women in war zones and refugee camps, according to the Brussels Times.
US officials said last month that the decision to destroy them follows the reinstatement in January of the Mexico City Policy, which bars funding to groups providing abortion services. They added that the stockpile includes “potentially abortifacients” – substances that can induce an abortion.
The supplies are currently set to be incinerated in France, with many items nearing their expiration dates.
However, lawmakers and women’s rights groups across the EU are urging authorities to stop their destruction, saying the move was “unjustifiable.”
French feminists and family planning organizations described the move as a “wasteful attack” on women’s rights. French Green Party leader Marine Tondelier urged President Emmanuel Macron not to be “complicit, even indirectly, in (regressive) policies.”
A French diplomatic source said France supports Belgian efforts to prevent the destruction.
Meanwhile, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot said Belgium has initiated diplomatic talks with the US Embassy in Brussels and is “exploring all possible avenues” to save the products, including their temporary relocation.
The US is “still in the process of determining the way forward” about the contraceptives, State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
Non-governmental organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, have offered to distribute the contraceptives.
The dismantling of USAID prompted calls for the EU to step up aid distribution and protect lifesaving health initiatives.
If European countries or the bloc save the contraceptives and pay for them, it will be the second time this year they have moved to step in for the US outside of military spending for Ukraine, analysts said.
In May, the EU approved an emergency $6.3 million lifeline to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty after the Trump administration cut federal funding to the Czechia-based US broadcaster and Voice of America, Euractiv noted.
School Bullying Case in China Triggers Rare Protests
CHINA
Rare protests erupted in southern China after footage of a 14-year-old girl being beaten and humiliated by three other minors went viral, sparking outrage, demands for justice, and stricter punishment, Agence France-Presse reported.
Onlookers filmed the victim, identified by her family name of Lai, being slapped, kicked, and forced to kneel by three other teenage girls in a video that went viral last week.
The assault occurred in Jiangyou in Sichuan province, but the girl had allegedly been bullied for some time before the latest incident. Her mother, who is reportedly deaf, had repeatedly appealed to the authorities for help in stopping the abuse.
The police said that the three suspects are all girls, aged 13, 14 and 15. Two of them have been sent to a “specialized schools for corrective education,” the BBC wrote.
Bystanders and the third girl who participated in the bullying were “criticized and educated,” according to the police, which added that their guardians had been “ordered to exercise strict discipline.”
In the video, one of the perpetrators says that she was not afraid of the police because in the 10 times she was taken in, she was released in less than 20 minutes.
As the video became viral, many people felt that the punishment was not enough and have expressed outrage online and in the streets, with large crowds gathering to protest outside Jiangyou city hall.
Video confirmed by AFP filmed outside the city hall showed at least two individuals being forcibly removed by police officers, while a woman is seen being dragged away by her limbs. Police also used batons and electric prods to control the crowd.
Additional footage captured after nightfall showed police in black SWAT uniforms restraining at least three individuals at a busy intersection in front of hundreds of bystanders.
Protests are very infrequent in China, and any seen as an opposition to the ruling Communist Party or a threat to the civil order is quickly suppressed.
However, bullying in the country’s extremely competitive school system has struck a nerve with the public, especially after a high-profile murder case last year sparked debate over how the legal system handles juvenile offenders.
In January, the death of a teenage boy in northwest China triggered violent protests where demonstrators hurled objects at police.
Hezbollah Supporters Protest Against Disarmament, Say Israel Must Withdraw
LEBANON
Supporters of the militant group Hezbollah gathered Monday night in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to protest against the group’s disarmament ahead of a government meeting to discuss the matter, with the group insisting it will not disarm until Israel withdraws from Lebanese territory, Al Jazeera reported.
The Iran-backed group was weakened by last year’s war with Israel, which wiped out most of its leadership, killed thousands of fighters, and displaced tens of thousands of supporters whose homes were destroyed.
In July, Lebanon agreed to a US proposal to disarm Hezbollah: The proposal called for Hezbollah to fully disarm within four months in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from five occupied positions in southern Lebanon and an end to airstrikes.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting on the topic, Hezbollah emphasized that any disarmament talks must be preceded by Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory, the release of Lebanese prisoners, and an end to hostilities, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
However, Lebanon’s political leadership is pressing ahead with the disarmament plan, even if it requires using force.
Lebanon’s Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani told NNA that the president has established a clear schedule for the disarmament process, adding that the Lebanese army has already seized control of hundreds of Hezbollah sites and weapons depots.
Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon and the question of its disarmament have long drawn debate within the country. But now, there is a growing sense of urgency amid rising international pressure and escalating military activity by Israel, which continues to target Hezbollah despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024.
Israel has repeatedly struck Lebanese targets, including Beirut.
Also protesting in the country on Monday were the loved ones of those killed in a devastating port explosion five years ago in the capital, when more than 2,700 tonnes of fertilizer exploded, killing 218 people: Hundreds gathered to mark the anniversary of the blast to demand justice, with Lebanon’s president pledging to hold those responsible accountable, according to France 24.
Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the incident earlier this year, after the war between Israel and Hezbollah altered Lebanon’s political landscape and weakened the group, which had been leading a campaign to remove him from the case.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the state was “committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions” involved.
DISCOVERIES
Old City, New Clues
Archeologists recently unveiled their discovery of an ancient city in Peru’s northern Barranca province, a find that shed light on the Americas’ oldest known civilization, the Caral.
The city, named Peñico, is 3,500 years old, and researchers think it was an important trade center linking early Pacific coastal communities with populations in the Andes and the Amazon basin.
“The (Peñico community) was situated in a strategic location for trade, for exchange with societies from the coast, the highlands and the jungle,” lead archeologist Ruth Shady told Reuters.
Peñico is about 125 miles north of Peru’s capital, Lima, at almost 2,000 feet above sea level. It was likely founded between 1,800 and 1,500 BCE. At around the same time, early civilizations were flourishing in the Middle East and Asia, the BBC explained.
After eight years of digging, the team uncovered 18 structures, ranging from ceremonial temples to living quarters.
Researchers’ drone footage captured a circular structure perched on a hillside terrace at the city’s center, encircled by remnants of stone and mud buildings.
The walls of the central plaza are notable for their sculpted reliefs, including images of the pututu, a conch shell trumpet known for its ability to project sound over long distances.
In other buildings at the site, archeologists found more ceremonial objects, clay sculptures of humans and animals, and necklaces made from beads and seashells.
Peñico is located near the city of Caral in the Supe Valley of Peru, where the Caral civilization was established 5,000 years ago.
The city of Caral contains 32 monuments, including large pyramid structures, advanced irrigation agriculture and urban settlements. The civilization likely developed on its own, without contact or influence from other early ancient civilizations like those in India, Egypt, China, Sumer in Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq.
Shady, who had already participated in the excavation on Caral in the 1990s, said that the discovery of Peñico is an important clue to what happened to the Caral civilization: Experts believe the city emerged as the Caral civilization began to abandon its major urban centers after nearly 1,000 years of habitation.
While researchers are not certain why the Caral civilization disappeared, they believe factors such as climate change and internal strife played a role in their decline, the Smithsonian Magazine noted.