Looking to diversify and protect your hard-earned assets, well, schedule a free consultation

with the Birchcold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text BDB to the number

989-89-89, and you'll receive a free, no-obligation information kit, and you'll learn how to convert an

existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to 989-898-8-8-8-8-8. It's Thursday, the 11th of

December.

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, we're taking a closer look at the U.S. seizure of that Venezuelan oil tanker and the legal authority behind it.

Venezuela is calling it piracy,

but the U.S. says the case is open and shut. We'll break down what the law actually says.

Later in the show, several major U.S. chipmakers, including Intel and AMD, are now facing

lawsuits, accusing them of failing to keep their technology out of Russian

missiles and drones that are used in Ukraine. We'll look at the allegations. But first, today's

afternoon spotlight. I want to return to the story of the oil tanker that was seized off the coast of

Venezuela yesterday and take a closer look at the legal justification for that operation.

But before we get to the law and the authorities behind it, Venezuela is now offering its first

public reaction, and, well, not surprisingly, they don't seem pleased.

In a statement from the Venezuelan foreign ministry, Caracas condemned the seizure as a, quote,

act of piracy and a grave international crime, as opposed to, I don't know, stealing a national

election or aiding and abetting narco-traffickers or imprisoning opposition leaders or squashing any

dissent, you know, that sort of thing. According to documents from Venezuela's

...