After riots at the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters, the Republican Party is facing defections from two camps of voters it can’t afford to lose: those saying Trump and his allies went too far in contesting the election of Democrat Joe Biden – and those saying they didn’t …
Read More »Lebanon charges Russian shipper with Beirut blast, wants Interpol help
Lebanon has asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the Russian captain and owner of the ship that brought the explosive material that detonated at Beirut port in August, killing nearly 200 people, state media reported on Thursday. About two months after the explosion that injured thousands and ravaged the …
Read More »Bulgaria finds two Lebanese guilty for terror attack
A Bulgarian court sentenced two men of Lebanese origin to life in prison on Monday over a 2012 bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver, which Bulgarian authorities have blamed on Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah. The two men were tried in absentia over the July …
Read More »Lebanese authorities still discovering more explosives deposites
Lebanon’s army said on Thursday it had found 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to Beirut port, the site of a huge blast last month caused by a large stockpile of the same highly explosive chemical. Army engineers were “dealing with it,” according to an army statement carried …
Read More »Lebanese President vehemently defends Hezbullah against Beirut blast charges
Lebanese President Michel Aoun dismissed as “impossible” the chance that a vast explosion in Beirut’s port this month was caused by a blast from a deposit of Hezbollah arms, but said that all possibilities would be investigated. Lebanese authorities are probing what caused massive amounts of ammonium nitrate warehoused unsafely …
Read More »Saudi coalition in Yemen asks UN about child death charges
A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition fighting in Yemen asked the United Nations on Tuesday to share details of its accusations that the coalition was responsible for 222 child deaths or injuries last year so it could investigate. In a statement, the coalition also said it welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ …
Read More »FBI’s top lawyer quites over Trump interference
The FBI said on Saturday that its top lawyer, Dana Boente, had announced his resignation as the agency faces scrutiny over its investigations of former staffers and supporters of President Donald Trump. As a senior Justice Department official, Boente was involved in the investigation of Trump’s former national security adviser …
Read More »OPCW team charges Syrian airforce with chemical attack
Syrian Arab Air Force pilots flying Sukhoi Su-22 military planes and a helicopter dropped bombs containing poisonous chlorine and sarin nerve gas on a village in the country’s western Hama region in March 2017, a new team at the global chemical weapons watchdog concluded in its first report. The special …
Read More »Turkey indicts Saudi suspects in Khashoggi assassination
Istanbul prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it had prepared an indictment against 20 suspects over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including the former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s general intelligence and a former royal adviser. Khashoggi’s killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 caused a …
Read More »New investigative team for Syria chemical weapons
A new team established by the global chemical weapons watchdog to attribute blame for the use of banned munitions in Syria will investigate nine alleged attacks during the country’s civil war, including in the town of Douma, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. The Organisation for the Prohibition of …
Read More »Agnes Callamard calls for universal jurisdiction in Khashoggi case
The U.N. investigator into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Wednesday called on countries to invoke universal jurisdiction for what she called the international crime and make arrests if responsibility of individuals is proven. Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, asked if universal jurisdiction meant potential …
Read More »House intelligence panel to investigate Trump-Saudi ties
Democrats on the U.S. House intelligence panel will investigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as part of a “deep dive” next year into U.S.-Saudi Arabia ties, the committee’s incoming head said in a report published on Friday. The committee will investigate the U.S. …
Read More »Who is to blame for chemical attacks in Syria, verdict pending
The global chemical weapons watchdog will in February begin to assign blame for attacks with banned munitions in Syria’s war, using new powers approved by member states but opposed by Damascus and its key allies Russia and Iran. The agency was handed the new task in response to an upsurge …
Read More »Jim Mattis insists on transparent investigation in Khashoggi murder
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that he had met Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and called for a transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Washington Post columnist Khashoggi’s murder has escalated into a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter as Saudi Arabia’s allies have reacted …
Read More »Erdogan Says Saudis Planned Khashoggi’s Killing in Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday raised the stakes in his dispute with Saudi Arabia over what he called the ‘‘premeditated murder’’ of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, demanding that Riyadh supply more answers and hand over the Saudi suspects to face justice in Turkey. After saying he would reveal …
Read More »Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special …
Read More »Who is Maria Butina and how she gained access to elite conservative circles in the US
For nearly five years, the young Russian political science student was an unusual fixture at the most important events of the US conservative movement. Maria Butina, who was indicted this week on charges of being a covert Russian agent, struck up friendships with the influential leaders of the National Rifle …
Read More »Russian woman charged with infiltrating US politics
A 29-year-old Russian woman has been arrested for conspiring to influence US politics by cultivating ties with political groups including the gun rights lobby the National Rifle Association (NRA). Mariia Butina was arrested in Washington on Saturday and appeared in court on Monday, the Justice Department said in a statement. …
Read More »EU investigates Qatar’s long-term LNG contracts
The European Commission is investigating the bloc’s biggest seaborne gas supplier Qatar Petroleum over potentially restrictive 20-year supply agreements inhibiting development of a single gas market, its latest challenge to a major gas supplier. The bloc, having just wrapped up a seven-year market abuse probe into Russian giant Gazprom, said …
Read More »In Wake of Gaza Massacre, Israeli Leaders Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes
By Marjorie Cohn On March 30, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers shot 773 unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, killing 17 and wounding 1,400. Twenty remain in critical condition. The protesters were marching to demand the internationally mandated right of return of refugees to their cities and villages in what now constitutes Israel. …
Read More »‘He had no gun, no molotov’: Gaza families call for investigation into Israeli use of fatal force
The morning after burying 19-year-old Abdul Fattah Abdul Nabi, his family gathered in a tent set up to receive mourners, watching and re-watching a video of the moment they say Israeli soldiers shot him in the back of the head. The video appears to show the teenager, dressed in black, …
Read More »SEC Probing Kushner Cos Use of Wealthy Investor Visas: WSJ
The real estate company of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its use of a federal program that grants visas to wealthy foreigners investing in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Kushner …
Read More »The FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation
The FBI has been discreetly investigating the Clinton Foundation for months, reviving a probe that was dialed back during the 2016 election amid tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents about the politically charged case, according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation is being run out of …
Read More »Former IDF soldier convicted of trying to join Islamic State
A Belarusian-Israeli convert to Islam was convicted Wednesday of attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria. Valentin Vladmir Mazlevski, 40, who was arrested nearly a year ago while trying to travel to Syria via Turkey, was convicted by the Nazareth District Court of contact with a foreign agent, attempting …
Read More »British troops breached Geneva conventions in Iraq, high court rules
Court says soldiers subjected civilians to cruel and inhuman treatment, in cases that may determine handling of further claims. British troops breached the Geneva conventions and subjected Iraqi civilians to cruel and inhuman treatment by hooding them and taking turns to run over their backs, the high court has ruled. …
Read More »France Investigates Lafarge Executives for Terrorist Financing
The former chief executive of LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest cement maker, and five other top officials are being formally investigated as part of a government inquiry into whether the company helped finance the Islamic State militant group and other armed factions while operating a factory in Syria. The expanding investigation …
Read More »A bold new legal defense for Trump: Presidents cannot obstruct justice
The brazen assertion Monday by one of President Trump’s lawyers that a president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice signaled a controversial defense strategy in the wide-ranging Russia probe, as Trump’s political advisers are increasingly concerned about the legal advice he is receiving. Trump tweeted over the weekend …
Read More »Donald Trump is shutting down his charitable foundation
President Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, which last year admitted violating federal rules on “self-dealing,” is in the process of dissolving, according to newly filed documents reviewed by NBC News. The move fulfills a promise Trump made last December, when he said he would wind down the Donald J. Trump Foundation to …
Read More »U.N. to vote on rival U.S., Russia bids to renew Syria inquiry
The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Thursday on rival U.S. and Russian bids to renew an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, diplomats said, a move that could trigger Russia’s 10th veto to block action on Syria. The mandate for the joint inquiry by …
Read More »Racist messages at Air Force Academy were written by student who claimed to be targeted
In late September, five black cadet candidates found racial slurs scrawled on message boards on their doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. One candidate found the words “go home n—” written outside his room, his mother posted on social media, according to the Air Force Times. The …
Read More »Las Vegas shooter had been losing money for two years and ‘was going in the wrong direction,’ sheriff says
The man who shot hundreds and killed 58 at the Route 91 Harvest music festival a month ago was a narcissist who may have seen his image as a high-rolling gambler declining, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said as the investigation into the Oct. 1 shooting rampage entered its second …
Read More »Brother of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock reportedly detained in child porn case
A brother of Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock has reportedly been detained in North Hollywood on suspicion of crimes related to child pornography. Bruce Paddock, 58, was taken into custody in North Hollywood on Wednesday morning, according to a source who was not authorized to speak publicly about the …
Read More »Fire destroys two Sharjah warehouses
Two warehouses were destroyed in a fire in Sharjah’s industrial area 18 on Wednesday, Civil Defence officials said. The warehouses affected by the blaze were used to store party decorations. Colonel Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence, told Gulf News that the fire started at around …
Read More »Troops Ambushed in Niger Waited an Hour to Call for Help, Pentagon Official Says
American troops who came under fire in Niger during a deadly ambush this month might have waited more than an hour before calling for help, the top United States military officer said on Monday. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did …
Read More »EU targets German carmakers in new antitrust raids
A series of raids by EU antitrust regulators against German carmakers struck a new blow Monday to one of the most important sectors of the economy which has already been hit by a string of other scandals. The EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said in a statement that it …
Read More »Pentagon investigating troubling questions after deadly Niger ambush
efense Secretary James N. Mattis, troubled by a lack of information two weeks after an ambush on a special operations patrol in Niger left four U.S. soldiers dead, is demanding a timeline of what is known about the attack, as a team of investigators sent to West Africa begins its …
Read More »Israel hacked Kaspersky, then tipped the NSA that its tools had been breached
In 2015, Israeli government hackers saw something suspicious in the computers of a Moscow-based cybersecurity firm: hacking tools that could only have come from the National Security Agency. Israel notified the NSA, where alarmed officials immediately began a hunt for the breach, according to people familiar with the matter, who …
Read More »Kim Jong-nam murder: Women plead not guilty in Malaysia trial
Two women have pleaded not guilty to murdering Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea’s leader, as their trial in Malaysia got under way. The brazen nature of his killing, using the highly toxic VX nerve agent as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpur airport in February, shocked …
Read More »Former US ambassador Dan Shapiro said set to testify in Netanyahu graft case
Former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro will reportedly give testimony to Israeli police in the coming weeks as part of an ongoing investigation into suspicions Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received bribes from an Israeli-born Hollywood mogul in exchange for advancing his interests. Netanyahu is said to have asked Shapiro …
Read More »Trump bans US government from using Russian cyber security firm Kaspersky
The Trump administration on Wednesday told U.S. government agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products from their networks, saying it was concerned the Moscow-based cyber security firm was vulnerable to Kremlin influence and that using its anti-virus software could jeopardize national security. The decision represents a sharp response to what U.S. …
Read More »Trump’s legal team debated whether Kushner should leave White House
A small group of White House lawyers this summer urged that President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner step down from his White House role amid a broadening probe into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russians in the 2016 election, according to multiple people familiar with the discussion. Some of the …
Read More »Chief executive of Israel supermarket chain arrested
The controlling shareholder of one of Israel’s largest supermarket chains was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of corruption. Rami Levy, chief executive of Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing, as well as a local politician, another businessman and a reporter were detained for questioning for alleged fraud and breach of trust involving …
Read More »Lenovo settles charges it sold laptops with compromised user security
Lenovo Inc, a major laptop maker, has agreed to pay $3.5 million and make changes in how it sells laptops in order to settle allegations it sold devices with pre-loaded software that compromised users’ security protections. The agreement with Connecticut, the Federal Trade Commission and 31 other states was announced …
Read More »In payback mode, US demands Russia close 3 facilities
Escalating a diplomatic tit-for-tat, the United States abruptly ordered Russia on Thursday to shutter its San Francisco consulate and close offices in Washington and New York, intensifying tensions between the former Cold War foes. Washington gave Moscow 48 hours to comply. The Trump administration described its action as retaliation for …
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