Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participates in a Fox News town hall with Laura Ingraham in Greenville, South Carolina, US, February 20, 2024. (Reuters)

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Updated 21 February 2024

Reuters

February 21, 2024 04:16

Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

The Kremlin has denied involvement in Navalny’s death and said that Western claims that Putin was responsible are unacceptable

Updated 21 February 2024

Reuters

February 21, 2024 04:16

GREENVILLE, South Carolina: Former US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Alexei Navalny was “a very brave man” who “probably” should not have returned to Russia, without assigning any blame for the Russian opposition leader’s unexpected death.
Democratic President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s death, as has Nikki Haley, who trails far behind Trump as his sole remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination.
“Navalny is a very sad situation, and he is a very brave, he was a very brave guy because he went back. He could have stayed away,” Trump said during a town hall interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham in South Carolina.
“And, frankly, probably would have been a lot better off staying away and talking from outside of the country as opposed to having to go back in, because people thought that could happen and it did happen. And it’s a horrible thing,” he said.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in Navalny’s death and said that Western claims that Putin was responsible are unacceptable.
Trump — who has expressed admiration for Putin during his 2017-2021 White House tenure and afterward — also continued to compare himself to Navalny, implying that both men had faced unjust prosecutions due to their political beliefs.
“But it’s happening in our country too,” he said. “We are turning into a communist country in many ways. And if you look at it — I’m the leading candidate. I get indicted.”
On Sunday, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony last week had made him “more aware of what is happening” in the United States. Trump did not elaborate, but he has frequently described the 91 criminal charges against him as politically motivated, a claim prosecutors deny.
During the interview on Tuesday, which was conducted before a live audience in Greenville four days before the state’s primary contest, Trump continued to blast migrants, portraying them as a threat to public safety without offering any evidence to support his claims that they are more violent than native-born Americans.
At several moments, 77-year-old Trump’s answers to questions veered into tangential topics.
While being asked about electric vehicles and Americans’ “freedom of movement,” Trump spoke about the usefulness of tariffs and described his interactions with an unnamed American dishwasher company during his time in office.
Trump praised South Carolina US Senator Tim Scott, who joined Trump on stage for the final part of the interview. The former president has privately asked associates about naming Scott, a one-time rival in the Republican nomination battle, as his running mate, sources familiar with the matter have previously said.
Tying himself to Scott may have short-term electoral benefits for the former president in South Carolina, where voters go to the polls on Saturday to choose who they want as the Republican nominee to take on Biden in the Nov. 5 election.
Trump is leading Haley by more than 30 percentage points in South Carolina according to most polls, and his team is eager to deliver a crushing blow. However, Haley has said there is no way she will drop out and that she plans to keep campaigning into March.

Topics: Donald Trump Alexei Navalny Russia

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

Updated 6 sec ago

December 10, 2024 05:07

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

Russia, Ukraine and their global allies are scrambling to put their side in the best possible position for any changes that Trump may bring
A Ukrainian military commander says his forces will keep fighting but when the aid runs out, they’ll be destroyed

Updated 6 sec ago

December 10, 2024 05:07

WASHINGTON: The grinding war between Ukraine and its Russian invaders has escalated ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, with President Joe Biden rushing out billions of dollars more in military aid before US support for Kyiv’s defenses is thrown into question under the new administration.
Russia, Ukraine and their global allies are scrambling to put their side in the best possible position for any changes that Trump may bring to American policy in the nearly 3-year-old war. The president-elect insisted in recent days that Russia and Ukraine immediately reach a ceasefire and said Ukraine should likely prepare to receive less US military aid.
On the war’s front lines, Ukraine’s forces are mindful of Trump’s fast-approaching presidency and the risk of losing their biggest backer.
If that happens, “those people who are with me, my unit, we are not going to retreat,” a Ukrainian strike-drone company commander, fighting in Russia’s Kursk region with the 47th Brigade, told The Associated Press by phone.
“As long as we have ammunition, as long as we have weapons, as long as we have some means to defeat the enemy, we will fight,” said the commander, who goes by his military call sign, Hummer. He spoke on condition he not be identified by name, citing Ukrainian military rules and security concerns.
“But, when all means run out, you must understand, we will be destroyed very quickly,” he said.
The Biden administration is pushing every available dollar out the door to shore up Ukraine’s defenses before leaving office in six weeks, announcing more than $2 billion in additional support since Trump won the presidential election last month.
The US has sent a total of $62 billion in military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. And more help is on the way.
The administration is on track to disperse the US portion of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, before Biden leaves the White House, US officials said. They said the US and Ukraine are in “advanced stages” of discussing terms of the loan and close to executing the $20 billion of the larger loan that the US is backing.
Biden also has eased limits on Ukraine using American longer-range missiles against military targets deeper inside Russia, following months of refusing those appeals over fears of provoking Russia into nuclear war or attacks on the West. He’s also newly allowed Ukraine to employ antipersonnel mines, which are banned by many countries.
Biden and his senior advisers, however, are skeptical that allowing freer use of the longer-range missiles will change the broader trajectory of the war, according to two senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
But the administration has at least a measure of confidence that its scramble, combined with continued strong European support, means it will leave office having given Ukraine the tools it needs to sustain its fight against Russia for some time, the officials said.
Enough to hold on, but not enough to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces, according to Ukraine and some of its allies.
Even now, “the Biden administration has been very careful not to run up against the possibility of a defeated Putin or a defeated Russia” for fear of the tumult that could bring, said retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former supreme allied commander of NATO. He is critical of Biden’s cautious pace of military support for Ukraine.
Events far from the front lines this past weekend demonstrated the war’s impact on Russia’s military.
In Syria, rebels seized the country’s capital and toppled Russia-allied President Bashar Assad. Russian forces in Syria had propped up Assad for years, but they moved out of the way of the rebels’ assault, unwilling to take losses to defend their ally.
Biden said it was further evidence that US support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was wearing down Russia’s military.
Trump, who has long spoken favorably of Putin and described Zelensky as a “showman” wheedling money from the US, used that moment to call for an immediate ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
And asked in a TV interview — taped before he met with Zelensky over the weekend in Paris — if Ukraine should prepare for the possibility of reduced aid, Trump said, “Yeah. Probably. Sure.”
Trump’s supporters call that pre-negotiation maneuvering by an avowed deal-maker. His critics say they fear it shows he is in Putin’s sway.
Zelensky said Monday that Russian forces’ retrenchment from outposts worldwide demonstrates that “the entire army of this great pseudo-empire is fighting against the Ukrainian people today.”
“Forcing Putin to end the war requires Ukraine to be strong on the battlefield before it can be strong diplomatically,” Zelensky wrote on social media, repeating near-daily appeals for more longer-range missiles from the US and Europe.
In Kursk, Hummer, the Ukrainian commander, said he notices Russian artillery strikes and shelling easing up since the US and its European allies loosened limits on use of longer-range missiles.
But Moscow has been escalating its offensives in other ways in the past six months, burning through men and materiel in infantry assaults and other attacks far faster than it can replace them, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
In Kursk, that includes Russia sending waves of soldiers on motorcycles and golf carts to storm Ukrainian positions, Hummer said. The Ukrainian drone commander and his comrades defend the ground they have seized from Russia with firearms, tanks and armored vehicles provided by the US and other allies.
Ukraine’s supporters fear that the kind of immediate ceasefire Trump is urging would be mostly on Putin’s terms and allow the Russian leader to resume the war when his military has recovered.
“Putin is sacrificing his own soldiers at a grotesque rate to take whatever territory he can on the assumption that the US will tell Ukraine that US aid is over unless Russia gets to keep what it has taken,” Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at Scotland’s University of St. Andrews, wrote on his Substack channel.
Putin’s need for troops led him to bring in North Korean forces. Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use longer-range missiles more broadly in Russia was partly in response, intended to discourage North Korea from deeper involvement in the war, one of the senior administration officials said.
Since 2022, Russia already had been pulling forces and other military assets from Syria, Central Asia and elsewhere to throw into the Ukraine fight, said George Burros, an expert on the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the Institute for the Study of War.
Any combat power that Russia has left in Syria that it could deploy to Ukraine is unlikely to change battlefield momentum, Burros said.
“The Kremlin has prioritized Ukraine as much as it can,” he said.

UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria

Updated 10 December 2024

AFP

December 10, 2024 04:09

UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria

“The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming,” Russian UN ambassador Vassili Nebenzia told reporters

Updated 10 December 2024

AFP

December 10, 2024 04:09

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Members of the UN Security Council on Monday discussed the fluid situation in Syria after President Bashar Assad’s fall, opting to stand by and await further developments, according to ambassadors who attended the closed-door meeting.
“The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming,” Russian UN ambassador Vassili Nebenzia told reporters after the emergency meeting requested by Moscow.
Russia was a key ally of Assad, who was toppled by Islamist-led rebels over the weekend after a short and stunning offensive.
“But look, everyone was taken by surprise by the events, everyone, including the members of the council. So we have to wait,” to see how the situation will evolve, he said.
Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood called it “a very fluid situation.”
“No one expected the Syrian forces to fall like a house of cards,” he continued.
“As many folks said in the consultations... the situation is extremely fluid and is likely to change day to day for the time being,” Woods said.
However, Woods noted that “just about everyone spoke about the need for Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence to be respected, and concern about the humanitarian situation,” indicating the council is working on a joint statement.
“The intention is for the council to speak with one voice on the situation in Syria,” he said.
When asked about the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group, which led the rebel coalition which toppled Assad, and whether it would be removed from the UN sanctions list, both Nebenzia and Wood said the council has not yet broached the topic.
Since the Syrian civil war first broke out in 2011, the UNSC has largely been paralyzed in its response, with Russia consistently using its veto power to protect Assad’s government.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria The United Nations Lebanon Palestine Gaza Golan Heights

Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary

Updated 10 December 2024

AFP

December 10, 2024 03:44

Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary

An environmental lawyer by trade with no medical background, Kennedy has spent years professing conspiracy theories linking vaccines and autism, and most recently spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines

Updated 10 December 2024

AFP

December 10, 2024 03:44

WASHINGTON: Seventy-seven Nobel prize winners on Monday sent an open letter to the US Senate opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing his “lack of credentials” and anti-vaccine beliefs.
“In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public’s health in jeopardy,” concludes the letter signed by 77 Nobel recipients in medicine, chemistry, physics and economics.
Among the signatories is Drew Weissman, who received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on developing mRNA vaccines, which was a major breakthrough in the fight against Covid-19.
Kennedy, a nephew of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy Jr, made his own White House run earlier this year before throwing his support behind Trump.
In return, Trump has tapped him to oversee the part of the executive branch in charge of health and medicine — though his selection must be approved by a majority of the US Senate, as outlined by the Constitution.
An environmental lawyer by trade with no medical background, Kennedy has spent years professing conspiracy theories linking vaccines and autism, and most recently spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
He has said if he is confirmed for the position he will work to remove fluoride from tap water in the US, despite its addition being considered a major victory against bacteria causing tooth decay.
“In addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration,” the letter reads, “Mr. Kennedy has been an opponent of many health-protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio.”
“We strongly urge you to vote against the confirmation of his appointment,” the letter said.
Kennedy is far from the only Trump cabinet nominee to stir controversy.
Among the most notable is Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor tapped to lead the Department of Defense, who has seen his nomination derailed with sexual assault allegations and rumors of excessive drinking.
And Trump’s first pick for Attorney General, former US Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew after further scrutiny emerged of alleged sexual relations he had with a minor.

Topics: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. President-elect Donald Trump

Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts

Updated 10 December 2024

December 10, 2024 02:54

Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts

The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites

Updated 10 December 2024

December 10, 2024 02:54

ALTOONA, Pennsylvania: Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.
The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.
The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said. He was charged with weapons, forgery and other charges.
Mangione was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald’s wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, documents said. When an officer asked if he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake.”
In his backpack, police found a black, 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed black silencer, according to the documents. The pistol had a metal slide and plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel. He was taken into custody about 9:15 a.m., Pennsylvania, police said.
“He is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, Tisch said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu. A message left Monday with a Philadelphia-area phone number connected to Mangione was not immediately returned.
He was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.
Mangione was arraigned and ordered held without bail during a brief court hearing. Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could “answer that at a future date.”
Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said.
The handwritten document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.
Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators said.
“As of right now the information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9 mm round,” Kenny said.
Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a US passport, Tisch said. Officers found a suppressor, “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said.
NYPD detectives and staff from the Manhattan district attorney’s office traveled to Altoona to interview Mangione, Kenny said.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
UnitedHealth Group thanked law enforcement in a statement Monday. “Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” a company spokesperson said.
The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites.
The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, police said. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school’s website. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesman said.
One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s. On Monday, police blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to the suspect’s parents. A swarm of reporters and photographers gathered outside.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photos and video — including footage of the attack, as well as images of the suspect at a Starbucks beforehand.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showed the suspect grinning after removing his mask, police said.
On Monday, police credited news outlets for disseminating the images and the tipster for recognizing the suspect and calling authorities.
Investigators earlier suggested the gunman may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer. Ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that police say he bought at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, police said the killer had left the city soon after the shooting. Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle and emerged from the park without his backpack.
He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and bus routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, Kenny said.
The FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD offered.

Topics: UnitedHealthcare NYPD Brian Thompson

US indictment accuses two Syrian officials of torture at notorious prison

This picture shows empty sells at Sednaya prison in Damascus on December 9, 2024. (AFP)

Updated 10 December 2024

December 10, 2024 02:31

US indictment accuses two Syrian officials of torture at notorious prison

It names Jamil Hassan, director of the Syrian air force’s intelligence branch, who prosecutors say oversaw a prison and torture center at the Mezzeh air force base in the capital, Damascus, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, who prosecutors say ran the prison

Updated 10 December 2024

December 10, 2024 02:31

WASHINGTON: US prosecutors are accusing two senior Syrian officials of overseeing a notorious prison that tortured peaceful protesters and other political prisoners, including a 26-year-old American woman who was later believed to have been executed.
The indictment was unsealed Monday, two days after a shock rebel offensive overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad. The US, UN and others accuse him of widespread human rights abuses in a 13-year battle to crush opposition forces seeking his removal from power.
The war, which began as a largely nonviolent popular uprising in 2011, has killed half a million people.
The indictment, filed Nov. 18 in federal court in Chicago, is believed to be the US government’s first against what officials say were networks of Assad intelligence services and military branches and other allied groups that detained, tortured and killed thousands of perceived enemies.
It names Jamil Hassan, director of the Syrian air force’s intelligence branch, who prosecutors say oversaw a prison and torture center at the Mezzeh air force base in the capital, Damascus, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, who prosecutors say ran the prison.
The indictment charges the two with conspiring to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees during the course of the Syrian civil war. Detainees at the prison were whipped, kicked, electrocuted, burned and subjected to other mental and physical abuse, including being housed in cells alongside corpses of dead detainees, prosecutors allege.
Victims included Syrians, Americans and dual citizens, the indictment said. The US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force has long pushed federal prosecutors for action on the cases, including that of 26-year-old American aid worker Layla Shweikani.
The group presented witnesses who testified of Shweikani’s 2016 torture at the prison. Syrian rights groups believe she was later executed at the Saydnaya military prison in the Damascus suburbs.
“Now it is our time to capture these criminals and bring them to the United States for trial,” the Syrian Emergency Task Force said in a statement Monday. The group’s leader, Mouaz Moustafa, said his relatives were among those tortured at the prison.
Federal prosecutors said they had issued arrest warrants for the two officials, who remain at large.
Prospects of bringing them to trial were unclear. Assad’s toppling by the rebels over the weekend has scattered his government and left citizens searching prison torture centers around the country for survivors and evidence.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria US

Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

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Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts

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Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

Trump says Navalny was ‘brave,’ but should not have returned to Russia

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