France seeks FBI help in probe of high-speed train sabotage hours before Olympics

France seeks FBI help in probe of high-speed train sabotage hours before Olympics
Police in France investigating the sabotage of high-speed rail lines hours before the Paris Olympics' Opening Ceremony have asked the U.S. FBI for help, two sources with direct knowledge of the French inquiry said. (AFP/File)
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Updated 07 August 2024
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France seeks FBI help in probe of high-speed train sabotage hours before Olympics

France seeks FBI help in probe of high-speed train sabotage hours before Olympics
  • Investigators called in the FBI after media organizations received an email the police believe may have been sent by the perpetrators
  • It set out a rambling list of grievances but did not explicitly claim responsibility

PARIS: Police in France investigating the sabotage of high-speed rail lines hours before the Paris Olympics’ Opening Ceremony have asked the US FBI for help, two sources with direct knowledge of the French inquiry said.
Investigators called in the FBI after media organizations, including Reuters, received an email the police believe may have been sent by the perpetrators. It set out a rambling list of grievances but did not explicitly claim responsibility.
The email, signed by “an unexpected delegation,” was sent from a riseup.net address, a Seattle-based collective that says it provides “communication and computer resources to allies engaged in struggles against capitalism and other forms of oppression.”
The saboteurs targeted four high-speed TGV lines heading into Paris with incendiary devices, causing travel chaos hours before a global audience tuned in to follow the parade of Olympic athletes along the River Seine on July 26.
There have been no arrests. French officials suspect domestic far-left groups, but have not ruled out foreign involvement.
As riseup.net is US-based, French police have asked the FBI to push that organization to identify the email account-holder, the two sources told Reuters.
The FBI declined to comment.
Riseup did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The FBI would need to subpoena Riseup to hand over the details, but Riseup would be unlikely to comply.
“We will actively fight any attempt to subpoena or otherwise acquire any user information,” it says on its website. “We do not share any of our user data with anyone.”
In a 2020 interview with Belarusian anarchist group Pramen, Riseup said it had never complied with a foreign legal request.
“We regularly get legal requests from all around the world. We are not required to respond, and so our policy is to not.”
However, the FBI has previously served warrants on Riseup.
In 2012, FBI agents seized a server used by Riseup as part of a probe into bomb threats. In 2017, Riseup begrudgingly complied with two FBI warrants seeking the identity of accounts involved in extortion.
The author of the email railed against France’s arms, energy and nuclear sectors, and criticized a TGV network as only benefiting “a few privileged people.” They said the impact of the attacks — “spoiling tourists’ trips or disrupting holiday departures” — was minimal when compared with the legacy of a transport system that has “always been a means for the colonization of new territories.”

FOREIGN FINGERPRINTS?
Both sources said French investigators have yet to find firm evidence of foreign involvement.
One source said police are looking for a possible link to a 2023 hack of the Polish rail system, which Polish intelligence initially believed was carried out by Russia.
In December, a Polish court sentenced 14 citizens of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia for spying for Russia. The operatives were monitoring rail transports of arms for Ukraine via Poland and planning to disrupt them.
France has accused Russia of waging a concerted disinformation campaign to sow chaos ahead of the Olympic Games, now in their second week. French police arrested a Russian man in July suspected of planning to destabilize the Olympics.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment lodged after the sabotage incident.
Police have yet to establish a link to a similar sabotage of France’s telecoms network two days after the TGV attacks, the sources said. Although both involved incendiary devices, one source said the explosive materials used were different.
One line of enquiry relates to explosive material found on a TGV line near Marseille on May 8 — the same day the Olympic torch arrived in the city. The explosive material was almost identical to that used in the July 26 attacks, the source said.
The prosecutor’s office in Aix-en-Provence confirmed it was investigating, but declined to comment further.
French police are investigating former employees of state-owned rail operator SNCF, as well as third-party contractors, but one of the sources said much of the knowledge needed to undertake the TGV sabotage can easily be found online.
French police are also in talks with Italian, German and Spanish counterparts as the attacks may have been coordinated with anarchist groups from abroad, the source added.
Far-left and anarchist cells typically oppose the state and capitalism, and are increasingly incorporating environmental concerns into their ideologies, French officials say.
They have proven hard to penetrate, the two sources said.
Their members often live off-grid and are paranoid of outsiders. They shun mainstream communication channels and practice impeccable digital hygiene. As their attacks are generally non-lethal, they are less of a priority for security services predominantly focused on deadly Islamist militants.

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Plan for expanded Muslim community triggers hope, fear in Texas

Plan for expanded Muslim community triggers hope, fear in Texas
Updated 21 sec ago
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Plan for expanded Muslim community triggers hope, fear in Texas

Plan for expanded Muslim community triggers hope, fear in Texas
  • Texas governor and Trump ally Greg Abbott characterized the project as an attempt to install Islamic law
  • Senator John Cornyn said the project could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans

PLANO, United States: Threats to Muslims living in Texas are nothing new, but lately the vile phone calls to Imran Chaudhary have ramped up.
The cause?
Chaudhary’s early plans for construction of 1,000 new homes, a community center, school, hospital and — controversially — a mosque and Islamic private school to serve the growing Muslim community near East Plano, in a thinly populated corner of east Texas.
One anonymous caller says, in an expletive filled message, “I suggest you get the f*** out of America while it’s still an option.”
The conservative, white, and Christian authorities tied to President Donald Trump in this state aren’t exactly welcoming either, launching investigations into the project’s legality.
Chaudhary says the pressure is misguided.
“We’ve been trying to follow every single law that is out there, from the state perspective to the federal perspective,” he said.
But just this week, Senator John Cornyn called for an investigation into the constitutionality of Chaudhary’s project, an offshoot of an existing site called the East Plano Islamic Center or “EPIC.”
The center “could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans,” he said.
Texas governor and Trump ally Greg Abbott characterized the project as an attempt to install Islamic law. “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are ‘no go zones’ which this project seems to imply,” he wrote on social media.
Texas is one of more than a dozen states that have enacted “anti-Sharia law” bills, which anti-hate group Southern Poverty Law Center calls “one of the most successful far-right conspiracies to achieve mainstream viability.”
The conspiracy theory holds that Islamic law, known as sharia, is encroaching on the American legal system, a claim the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal experts refute.
Chaudhary denies that he envisions a Muslim-only town, saying that it’s “open to all, anybody can use our services, community center, our school.”
As president of Community Capital Partners, which develops EPIC properties, Chaudhary told AFP, “We never even discussed sharia. From day one we’ve consulted with our attorneys what is the best way for us to do this project, to make sure that we follow all the state laws, we follow all the federal laws.”
In a show of goodwill, Chaudhary invited the governor to a Texas-style barbeque over social media. Abbott didn’t respond.

The EPIC Islamic community settled in Plano north of Dallas some 20 years ago, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the new community they want to build near Josephine.
The Plano settlement of around 5,000 people now have their own mosque. Iman Yasir Qadhi leads prayers there.
Born in Houston to a Pakistani family, Qadhi said Muslims like Texas because of the warm weather, low taxes and good food.
“Organically, when the mosque was built, a lot of people began moving in here and we found that our space wasn’t sufficient for us,” he said. “Because of the influx of people we are looking to expand.”
Only 313,000 Muslims reside in Texas, which has a population of more than 31 million, according to World Population Review.
Prospective EPIC residents can reserve lots by putting down 20 percent, with single townhouse pads starting at $80,000 and 1-acre lots going for $250,000. Maps posted online indicate more than two dozen lots have already been sold.
But at an April town hall meeting in Collin County, an overflow crowd showed up to speak out against EPIC’s project. And the developers’ lawyer Dan Cogdell said all the negative publicity will slow approvals down.
“The lies and the misinformation that Abbott’s putting out is striking,” he said.
Qadhi said he is worried about hate crimes. He said he himself has been accused of terrorism but “they are the ones terrorizing us.”
Moitree Rahman, a 38-year-old mother of two from Bangladesh, says she remains optimistic and looks forward to the expanding EPIC community.
“All the rhetoric that we are seeing and hearing, it’s not true,” she said. “That’s why we felt very confident in investing.”
 


British PM Starmer stresses commitment to free trade in talks with Trump, Downing Street says

British PM Starmer stresses commitment to free trade in talks with Trump, Downing Street says
Updated 19 April 2025
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British PM Starmer stresses commitment to free trade in talks with Trump, Downing Street says

British PM Starmer stresses commitment to free trade in talks with Trump, Downing Street says
  • UK seeking deal with Trump after he imposed 10 percent tariffs on most imports of British goods to the US
  • The two leaders also addressed the situations in Ukraine and Iran, and recent actions against the Houthis in Yemen

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with US President Donald Trump, discussing trade between the two nations among other subjects including the situation in Ukraine and Iran, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday.
Britain is hoping to strike a deal with Trump after he imposed 10 percent tariffs on most imports of British goods to the United States and a higher 25 percent rate on imports of cars, steel and aluminum.
“The leaders began by discussing the ongoing and productive discussions between the UK and US on trade,” the spokesperson said, adding that Starmer emphasized his commitment to free trade while safeguarding national interests.
Starmer and Trump also addressed the situations in Ukraine and Iran, and recent actions against the Houthis in Yemen, the spokesperson from the prime minister’s office said.

 


Lawsuit challenges Trump administration crackdown on international students

Police detain a pro-Palestine demonstrator during a protest march in New York City on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
Police detain a pro-Palestine demonstrator during a protest march in New York City on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 19 April 2025
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Lawsuit challenges Trump administration crackdown on international students

Police detain a pro-Palestine demonstrator during a protest march in New York City on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
  • About 1,100 students at more than 170 colleges, universities and university systems have been affected since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records

WASHINGTON: A class action lawsuit filed Friday asks a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students caught up in a Trump administration crackdown that has left more than a thousand fearful of deportation.
The suit filed by several American Civil Liberties Union affiliates seeks to represent more than 100 students in New England and Puerto Rico.
“International students are a vital community in our state’s universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation,” said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.
At schools around the country, students have seen their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, typically with little notice.
About 1,100 students at more than 170 colleges, universities and university systems have been affected since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records. The AP is working to confirm reports of hundreds more students affected.
Students have filed other lawsuits arguing they were denied due process. Federal judges have granted temporary restraining orders in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Montana, shielding students from efforts to remove them from the US.
Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Hampshire, learned without warning their F-1 student statuses had been terminated, leaving in doubt their ability to stay in the country and finish their studies, according to the complaint.
One of them, Manikanta Pasula of India, was on the brink of getting his master’s in computer science at Rivier University in New Hampshire and applying to remain in the country through a work program for international students. Hangrui Zhang of China had come to the US for a Ph.D. program in electronic and computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Now, he cannot work as a research assistant, which was his only source of income, the complaint said.
The government did not give notice it is required to provide before terminating a foreign student’s legal status, the lawyers said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges.
In some high-profile cases, such as that involving Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the Trump administration has cited involvement in pro-Palestinian activism as a rationale for deportation.
But colleges say most students affected by visa revocations played no role in those protests. Many are being singled out over minor infractions such as traffic violations that occurred long ago, and in some cases the reason is unclear, colleges say.

 


Russia sees progress in Ukraine peace talks but US relations strained

Russia sees progress in Ukraine peace talks but US relations strained
Updated 19 April 2025
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Russia sees progress in Ukraine peace talks but US relations strained

Russia sees progress in Ukraine peace talks but US relations strained
  • President Trump hints abandoning peace effort “if one of the two parties makes it very difficult”
  • Kremlin spokesman cites moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure as progress

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States.
“Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.”
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he wanted to achieve a peace deal quickly, but could not be involved in the search for a settlement indefinitely “if one of the two parties makes it very difficult.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking earlier in Paris after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders, said the sides had just days to show progress or Washington would abandon its efforts.

Asked if the United States could withdraw from the search for a peace settlement in Ukraine, Peskov said that was a question for Washington.
“We believe that some progress can already be noted,” Peskov said, citing a temporary moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure, though he said Ukraine had not adhered to it.
“Therefore, certain developments have already been achieved, but, of course, there are still many complex discussions ahead.”
Peskov, when asked if the energy moratorium was over, said that it had already been a month but that no orders from the president had been received to change Russia’s position.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and a representative of Russian hawks, expressed approval for the US remarks on the X social media platform.
“American officials have said that if there is no progress on the Ukrainian case, the United States will wash its hands of it. Wisely,” Medvedev wrote in English. “And the EU should do the same. Then Russia will figure it out faster.”


10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order

10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order
Updated 19 April 2025
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10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order

10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order

WASHINGTON: About 10,000 pages of records related to the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were released Friday, including handwritten notes by the gunman, who said the Democratic presidential candidate “must be disposed of” and acknowledged an obsession with killing him.
Many of the files had been made public previously, while others had not been digitized and sat for decades in federal government storage facilities. Their release continued the disclosure of historical investigation documents ordered by President Donald Trump.
Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after giving a speech celebrating his victory in California’s presidential primary. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.
The files included pictures of handwritten notes by Sirhan.
“RFK must be disposed of like his brother was,” read the writing on the outside of an empty envelope, referring to Kennedy’s older brother, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. The return address was from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service in Los Angeles.
The National Archives and Records Administration posted 229 files containing the pages to its public website.
The release comes a month after unredacted files related to the assassination of President Kennedy were disclosed. Those documents gave curious readers more details about Cold War-era covert US operations in other nations but did not initially lend credence to long-circulating conspiracy theories about who killed JFK.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Robert Kennedy, commended the release.
“Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government,” the health secretary said in a statement.
Documents include interviews with assassin’s acquaintances
The files surrounding Robert Kennedy’s assassination also included notes from interviews with people who knew Sirhan from a wide variety of contexts, such as classmates, neighbors and coworkers. While some described him as “a friendly, kind and generous person” others depicted a brooding and “impressionable” young man who felt strongly about his political convictions and briefly believed in mysticism.
According to the files, Sirhan told his garbage collector that he planned to kill Kennedy shortly after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The sanitation worker, a Black man, said he planned to vote for Kennedy because he would help Black people.
“Well, I don’t agree. I am planning on shooting the son of a bitch,” Sirhan replied, the man told investigators.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of “The Kennedy Half-Century,” said there have always been conspiracies surrounding Robert Kennedy’s assassination. He believes the rollout of documents Friday would be similar to the JFK documents released earlier this year.
He cautioned that a review needs to be done carefully and slowly, “just in case there is a hint in there or there is an anecdote” that could shed more light on the assassination.
“I hope there’s more information,” Sabato said. “I’m doubtful that there is, just as I said when the JFK documents were released.”
Some redactions remained in the documents posted online Friday, including names and dates of birth. Last month, the Trump administration came under criticism over unredacted personal information, including Social Security numbers, during the release of records surrounding President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Trump, a Republican, has championed in the name of transparency the release of documents related to high-profile assassinations and investigations. But he has also been deeply suspicious for years of the government’s intelligence agencies. His administration’s release of once-hidden files opens the door for more public scrutiny of the operations and conclusions of institutions such as the CIA and the FBI.
Trump signed an executive order in January calling for the release of government documents related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and King, who were killed within two months of each other.
Lawyers for Kennedy’s killer have said for decades that he is unlikely to reoffend or pose a danger to society, and in 2021, a parole board deemed Sirhan suitable for release. But Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected the decision in 2022, keeping him in state prison. In 2023 , a different panel denied him release, saying he still lacks insight into what caused him to shoot Kennedy.
RFK still stands as a hero to American liberals
Kennedy remains an icon for liberals, who see him as a champion for human rights who also was committed to fighting poverty and racial and economic injustice. They often regard his assassination as the last in a series of major tragedies that put the US and its politics on a darker, more conservative path.
He was a sometimes divisive figure during his lifetime. Some critics thought he came late to opposing the Vietnam War, and he launched his campaign for president in 1968 only after the Democratic primary in New Hampshire exposed President Johnson’s political weakness.
Kennedy’s older brother appointed him US attorney general, and he remained a close aide to him until JFK’s assassination in Dallas. In 1964, he won a US Senate seat from New York and was seen as the heir to the family’s political legacy.