Seven members of an alleged U.S.-Russian conspiracy were charged with procuring advanced military hardware and technology for Russia’s military, in defiance of international sanctions, to bolster its now 10-month-long invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)reported Tuesday.

Italian authorities uncovered on Monday a conspiracy involving about 50 people who allegedly tried to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination certificate but avoid inoculation with the help of a nurse in Ancona who - on multiple occasions - was caught on camera emptying the syringe containing the vaccine before administering it into the recipient’s arm.

Terrorist and organized crime groups are spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic in order to erode people’s trust in government or spread their ideology and gain more supporters, the UN warned in a report published this month.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an additional conspiracy charge as part of a years-long investigation into allegations that he received millions of euros from the regime of Libya’s late ruler Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. 

Prosecutors asked a US court to deny requests made by a Ukrainian oligarch and a Hungarian businessman to have racketeering and other charges against them dropped, calling the men "upper-echelon associates of Russian organized crime."

Japan’s largest organized criminal group has published a manual for its members on how to avoid arrest under the country’s new anti-terrorism and organized crime law, The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

The Israeli police questioned a seventh individual Tuesday related to suspect multi-million dollar purchases of three German submarines and naval boats in a developing case being called the "submarine affair."