A tanker owned by a Los Angeles-based private equity firm likely took part in the illicit trade of Iranian crude oil at sea despite American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic amid the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, an advocacy group alleges. The firm said Thursday it is cooperating with U.S. government investigators.

The group United Against Nuclear Iran raised its allegations in a letter dated Tuesday to Oaktree Capital Management, which holds assets worth over $160 billion. Satellite images and maritime tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press correspond to the group's identification of the vessels allegedly involved and showed them side-by-side off the coast of Singapore on Saturday.

Australia on Thursday said it had added the U.S.-based far-right extremist group National Socialist Order and planned to add the entirety of the Palestinian group Hamas to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations as concerns rise about radicalized children.

The National Socialist Order, formerly known as Atomwaffen Division, joins Islamist groups Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and Hurras al-Din in being added to the list, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.

Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity, while the U.S. warned that Russia had added as many as 7,000 troops near Ukraine's borders despite Kremlin declarations that forces were being pulled back from the region.

While a Russian invasion of Ukraine did not materialize as feared, the United States and its allies maintained that the threat is still strong, with Europe's security and economic stability in the balance.

American support for Israel remains "ironclad," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of Israel's parliament Wednesday, despite deep differences between the nations on Iran, peace with the Palestinians and other issues.

Pelosi stuck to what the U.S. and Israel have in common, particularly on their desires to rein in Iran's nuclear capabilities and find a path toward peace with the Palestinians.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun has said that she may sue Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman, accusing him of preventing a State Security force from bringing in for questioning the central bank governor, who is accused of corruption.

Judge Aoun told The Associated Press that Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh failed to show up for questioning for a fourth time on Tuesday. She alleged that the banker was defying judicial orders because he has political protection.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Germany's chancellor on Tuesday after the Kremlin signaled that it was still possible for diplomacy to head off what Western officials have said could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine.

In another possible sign that the Kremlin would like to lower the temperature raised by its amassing of troops bear Ukraine's border, Russia announced that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases.

A bomb attached to a bus carrying Syrian troops in Damascus exploded Tuesday morning, killing one soldier and wounding 11, state TV reported.

The blast occurred during rush hour at a customs roundabout near the capital's landmark Omayyad Square, according to the report. It gave no further details. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Ramy Shaath, who was released from an Egyptian jail last month, is an outspoken opponent of Arab dictatorships and Israeli rule over the Palestinians, and is part of a generation of activists who see them as two sides of the same coin.

He was never told why exactly Egyptian authorities confined him to a packed and filthy cell for over two and a half years. But he believes his brand of rights-based activism is clearly seen as a threat by both Israel and its growing roster of autocratic Arab allies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traveled to the United Arab Emirates, a trip signaling a further thaw in relations long strained over the two nations' approaches to Islamists in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring.

Erdogan arrived in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital, following a November visit to Turkey by the country's de facto leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Bahrain's king on a landmark visit Tuesday to the small, oil-rich Gulf country, 17 months after they ended decades of tensions to normalize ties.

It was the latest diplomatic breakthrough since several Arab states under the U.S.-brokered 2020 Abraham Accords ended their isolation of Israel, despite the fact the Israel-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.