US seeks to seize 2 luxury jets linked to Russian oligarch

US seeks to seize 2 luxury jets linked to Russian oligarch
This undated photo courtesy of the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York, shows the Gulfstream aircraft, bearing tail number LX-RAY and manufacturer serial number 6417, belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. (AFP)
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Updated 07 June 2022

US seeks to seize 2 luxury jets linked to Russian oligarch

US seeks to seize 2 luxury jets linked to Russian oligarch
  • A federal magistrate judge signed a warrant authorizing the seizure of the Gulfstream and a Boeing jet

NEW YORK: US authorities moved Monday to seize two luxury jets — a $60 million Gulfstream and a $350 million aircraft believed to be one of the world’s most expensive private airplanes — after linking both to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
A federal magistrate judge signed a warrant authorizing the seizure of the Gulfstream and a Boeing jet that authorities said was worth less than $100 million before a lavish customization.
The action takes place just days after the United States announced new sanctions and penalties on Russian oligarchs and elites, Kremlin officials, businessmen linked to President Vladimir Putin and their yachts, aircraft and firms that manage them.
President Joe Biden promised after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine to pursue Russian elites’ “ill-gotten gains.”
A representative for Abramovich did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
US Attorney Damian Williams said in a release Monday that his office was using every legal tool available to respond to “Russian’s illegal war in Ukraine.”
“Our international partners — nations devoted to the rule of law — far outnumber those jurisdictions where these aircraft can safely hide, and our investigation of illegal exports in violation of US law will continue unabated,” he said.
Matthew S. Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said the Commerce Department had made recent changes to keep its enforcement actions public regarding unprecedented export controls stemming from the invasion of Ukraine.
He said the action “provides notice to the world of our commitment to enforce those controls aggressively in a transparent way.”
Andrew Adams, a prosecutor who heads the unit pursuing the assets of Russian oligarchs, said the public nature of Monday’s action is meant to remind “members of the aviation, insurance, and financial industries that these aircraft constitute tainted property under active investigation by the United States.”
Justice Department officials say they have received strong support from companies and organizations and from countries that in the past had been viewed as safe havens for parking illegal assets.
Abramovich, who recently sold his stake in Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, is among the wealthier Russians whose assets are being watched for sanctions violations after the Ukraine invasion.
In explaining the move to seize the planes, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit that the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft and the Gulfstream G650ER plane are subject to seizure because they have been moved between March 4 and March 15 without licenses being obtained in violation of sanctions placed against Russia.
According to the affidavit, Abramovich controlled the Gulfstream through a series of shell companies. The plane, it said, is believed to have been in Moscow since March 15.
The Boeing, meanwhile, is believed to be in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, following a roundtrip March 4 flight from Dubai to Moscow, the affidavit said. 


Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks
Updated 9 sec ago

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks
TOKYO: Japan, the United States and the Philippines are preparing to establish a formal framework for high-level ministerial talks on security matters, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.
The three countries are considering holding their first meeting as early as April, Kyodo said.
The move comes as Taiwan, which lies between Japan and the Philippines, has become a focal point of intensifying Chinese military activity that Tokyo and Washington worry could escalate into war.
Japan held joint military exercises with the United States and the Philippines as recently as October.

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure
Updated 6 min 10 sec ago

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure
  • The Belarusian foreign ministry justified its decision to cooperate with Russia in a statement on Tuesday

Belarus said on Tuesday it had decided to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons after years of pressure from the United States and its allies aimed at changing its political and geopolitical direction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
said on Saturday
that Moscow would in future look to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a staunch ally, escalating a standoff with the West.
The Belarusian foreign ministry justified its decision to cooperate with Russia in a statement on Tuesday, saying Minsk was acting to protect itself from the West.
“Over the last two and a half years, the Republic of Belarus has been subjected to unprecedented political, economic and information pressure from the United States, the United Kingdom and its NATO allies, as well as the member states of the European Union,” the statement said.
“In view of these circumstances, and the legitimate concerns and risks in the sphere of national security arising from them, Belarus is forced to respond by strengthening its own security and defense capabilities.”
Minsk said the Russian nuclear plans would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus itself would not have control over the weapons.


UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul
Updated 28 March 2023

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul
  • Matiullah Wesa has for years advocated for girls’ education, particularly in conservative rural areas
  • The Taliban administration has barred most girls from high school and women from universities

KABUL: The United Nations said on Tuesday that a prominent Afghan girls’ education activist was arrested in Kabul this week and called on Taliban authorities to clarify the reason for his detention.
Spokespeople for the Taliban administration’s information ministry and intelligence agency did not immediately respond to request for comment or confirm the detention.
“Matiullah Wesa, head of (Pen Path) and advocate for girls’ education, was arrested in Kabul Monday,” the UN Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement. “UNAMA calls on the de facto authorities to clarify his whereabouts, the reasons for his arrest and to ensure his access to legal representation and contact with family.”
Wesa, who comes from the southern province of Kandahar, has for years advocated for girls’ education, particularly in conservative rural areas, including during the tenure of the previous Western-backed foreign government when he said many girls living in the countryside were not reached by education services. His organization, Pen Path, has held meetings with tribal elders, encouraged communities and authorities to open schools, and disbursed books and mobile libraries.
The Taliban administration has barred most girls from high school and women from universities saying there are perceived problems including around female Islamic dress. Officials have said they are undertaking work to reopen schools but have not given a time frame.
They say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan custom and that the improved security in the country since foreign forces left has made it safer for many young children to go to school.
Last year, Wesa said his work was free of political interference and impartial and his focus was on helping communities encourage girls’ education.


Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail
Updated 28 March 2023

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail
  • Oliver Schulz had been in custody since his arrest last week on the war crime of murder
  • Helmet camera footage allegedly shows Schulz shoot man from Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province three times

SYDNEY: A former elite soldier charged with murder for allegedly killing an unarmed man in Afghanistan was released on bail Tuesday by a magistrate who concluded he would face danger from Muslim extremists in prison.
Oliver Schulz, 41, had been in custody since his arrest in rural New South Wales state last week on the war crime of murder.
His lawyer Phillip Boulten applied for bail in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Monday, arguing the former Special Air Service Regiment trooper faced serious risks to his personal safety from Muslim extremists in the prison system and had to be segregated from other inmates.
“Wherever this man is going to be held in prison, he is likely to have to mix with people in prison who sympathize with the Taliban or with other Islamic extremist groups,” Boulten said.
Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson granted the request, agreeing the risks posed to him while behind bars were too great.
“It’s possible to infer that there may be some people being held there who may take an adverse position in relation to what was said to be the accused’s behavior both as a member of the (Australian Defense Force) and also on the day the incident allegedly occurred,” Atkinson told the court.
Schulz had been held at a maximum-security prison in Goulburn, 200 kilometers southwest of Sydney. Most of New South Wales’ worst convicted terrorists are held at Goulburn.
Helmet camera footage aired by Australian Broadcasting Corp. in 2020 that was shot in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province in 2012 will form part of the prosecution case.
The footage allegedly shows Schulz shoot local man Dad Mohammad three times as he lay on his back in a wheat field with his hands and knees raised. His father later made a complaint to the Australian Defense Force alleging his son had been shot in the head.
Atkinson said that because of the murder allegation, Schulz would be in a “very difficult if not dangerous environment” in custody and correctional staff could not be available 24 hours a day to supervise him.
“I am of the view that the position the accused finds himself in could be worse than other persons who are on remand given the particular security risks to his person,” she said.
Schulz would also have difficulties giving advice to his lawyers and accessing confidential material under strict conditions due to national security concerns surrounding the case if he were forced to do so behind bars, Atkinson said.
The court has suppressed the names of the town and region where Schulz lives to protect his family from threats.
After footage of the Afghanistan shooting was broadcast nationally, the then-Defense Minister Linda Reynolds referred the allegation to the Australian Federal Police.
Schulz was suspended from duty in 2020 and later discharged from the Australia Defense Force on medical grounds.
Schulz, who was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, is the first former or serving Australian Defense Force member to face a war crime charge of murder under domestic law.
He faces a potential life sentence in prison if convicted.
He is among 19 current and former Australian special forces soldiers who a war crimes investigation found could face charges for illegal conduct in Afghanistan.
A military report released in 2020 after a four-year investigation found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians.
More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 were killed there.


Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school
Updated 28 March 2023

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school
  • The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school
  • Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a resident of the Nashville area

NASHVILLE, Tennessee: A heavily armed 28-year-old fatally shot three children and three adult staffers on Monday at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Tennessee’s capital city before police killed the assailant, authorities said.
The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a “manifesto” and other writings that investigators were examining, Police Chief John Drake told reporters.
The latest in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has come to routinely terrorize even the most cherished of US institutions unfolded on a warm spring morning at The Covenant School, whose students consist mostly of elementary school-age children.
Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, a resident of the Nashville area, and referred to the assailant by female pronouns. The chief said the suspect identified as transgender but provided no further clarity.
The Tennessean newspaper cited a police spokesperson as saying Hale used he/him pronouns. Hale used male pronouns on a LinkedIn page that listed recent jobs in graphic design and grocery delivery.
Police later released a school video showing the assailant blasting through glass doors with gunfire and roaming the halls, pointing a semi-automatic rifle. Hale wore a black vest over a white T-shirt, camouflage pants and a backwards red baseball cap in a video that showed only the shooter in the frame.
Addressing an early evening news conference, Drake said police were working on a theory about what may have precipitated the shooting and would “put that out as soon as we can.” He said the suspect had no known prior criminal history.
In a subsequent NBC News television interview, Drake said investigators believed the shooting stemmed from “some resentment” the suspect harbored “for having to go to that school” as a younger person.
The police chief did not specify the nature of such presumed resentment, or whether it had anything to do with the suspect’s gender identity or the Christian orientation of the school. Drake said the school was singled out for attack but the individual victims were targeted at random.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10:13 a.m. of a shooter at the school, and arriving officers reported hearing gunfire coming from the building’s second floor, police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.
Two officers from a five-member team shot the assailant in a lobby area, and the suspect was pronounced dead by 10:27 a.m.
“The police department response was swift,” Aaron said.
Police said the suspect was armed with two assault-type guns and a 9 mm pistol.
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, along with staffers Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian, Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Katherine Koonce, 60, listed on the Covenant website as “head of school.”
The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school’s website. It serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.