The U.K. on Jan. 17 amended the sanctions listing for Domingo Antonio Hernandez Larez, the commander in chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, under its Venezuelan sanctions regime. The updated listing removed one of his job titles.

The State Department last week rescinded its Cuba Restricted List, the list of entities that were subject to certain financial restrictions because of their ties to the Cuban government. The decision took effect Jan. 16, the agency said in a Federal Register notice.

The U.S. last week sanctioned a group of people and entities under a recently revised executive order that authorizes sanctions against those threatening the sovereignty of the Western Balkans (see 2501080025). The designations target five people and one entity supporting the corruption of Milorad Dodik, the sanctioned president of the Serb Republic, and eight others who organized a “Republika Srpska Day” last year in contravention of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the 1995 accords that put an end to the yearslong Bosnian War.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Yin Kecheng, a Shanghai-based hacker, and Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., LTD., a China-based cybersecurity company, for their roles in cyber attacks against the U.S. OFAC said Yin was involved in the recent reported hacking of the Treasury Department by the Chinese government (see 2501020009) and Juxinhe Network has ties to the Salt Typhoon cyber group, which recently hacked the networks of multiple major U.S. telecommunications and internet service providers.

The U.S. last week sanctioned the Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment, a Yemeni bank that it said has given financial support to the Yemen-based Houthis. The Treasury Department said the Houthis, listed by the U.S. as a specially designated global terrorist last year (see 2401170025), use the bank to launder money, transfer funds, and create and finance front companies.

The U.K. amended the sanctions listing of Russian energy company Gazprom Neft under the Russia sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated the business registration number of the company.

President Joe Biden this week removed references to Turkey from a 2019 executive order that authorizes certain sanctions against Syria. The order had partly authorized certain sanctions against people and entities associated with “recent actions by the Government of Turkey to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria,” including former or current government officials and companies operating in certain sectors of the Turkish economy.

The U.S. this week sanctioned Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan for being the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the group locked in monthslong fighting with the country’s Rapid Support Forces that has harmed innocent civilians, the Treasury Department said. The agency also sanctioned Ahmad Abdalla, who is a Sudanese-Ukrainian national working for Defense Industries System, the primary procurement arm of the SAF, and Portex Trade Limited, which is a Hong Kong-based company controlled by Abdalla.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and four entities for helping the North Korean government earn revenue overseas, including through information technology workers stationed around the world.

The European Council on Jan. 13 extended its sanctions on those who support or enable violent actions taken by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for one year, until Jan. 20, 2026. The sanctions cover 12 people and three entities.