Author: CorruptionLedger

MOSCOW — The head of the Wagner mercenary group said his forces were ending a march on the Russian capital after demanding the resignation of the country’s top defense officials over alleged failures in the war in Ukraine. In a statement to his Telegram social media account, Yevgeny Prigozhin said his fighters had led a “march for justice” over the past 24 hours that saw them travel from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to the outskirts of Moscow “The…

As columns of mercenaries appeared to be moving towards Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to strike back hard against Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, who has launched an assault on his own government. In remarks on Saturday morning from the Kremlin, Putin denounced Prigozhin’s “criminal adventure” as an “armed mutiny” that would be met with a response from regular Russian troops. “Any actions that split our nation are essentially a betrayal of our people, of our…

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane left Moscow Saturday morning, according to flight data. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not fled and “is working at the Kremlin.” Wagner mercenaries appear to be headed for Moscow in what some are calling an attempted coup. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane took off from Moscow early Saturday morning, heading towards St. Petersburg before disappearing from flight tracking radar. Putin’s presidential plane left at 14:16 Moscow time, according to FlightRadar data retrieved by…

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday that they were caught off guard when President Joe Biden described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” — just 24 hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and appeared to reach a breakthrough in tense relations between the countries. Officials privately sought to clarify Wednesday with the Chinese that Biden’s description of Xi does not reflect a new talking point or official policy shift by the administration. Officials said they…

Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency boss behind the $40bn (£31.3bn) collapse of the terraUSD and Luna tokens, has been sentenced to four months of jail in Montenegro. Mr Kwon was found guilty of forging official documents. He was arrested in March as he tried to board a flight to Dubai at Podgorica Airport, in the country’s capital. Mr Kwon also faces charges in the US and South Korea over the collapse of the two digital tokens last year. The former finance…

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel to halt and reverse what he described as troubling and alarming decisions on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, a U.N. spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace,” deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement. “The…

“It’s not news that China has been saying in recent weeks, not just to us but to many other countries, that they are not providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, and this is an important commitment and policy,” said the secretary. However, Blinken also expressed concern about the possibility of military aid being transferred to Russia by Chinese private companies. In certain cases, such deliveries can be directed towards strengthening Russia’s military potential. “This is worrisome, and…

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese judge on Monday questioned auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Beirut over possible links to a former French Cabinet minister charged two years ago with “passive corruption” for work she did for him, officials familiar with the case said. The Lebanese officials said Ghosn denied any dealings with France’s former Justice Minister Rachida Dati who is accused of having done consulting work for Ghosn for two years starting in 2010 when she was a member of…

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is being investigated by French authorities, according to media reports in France. The investigation is focused on its anti-money laundering procedures. It follows the announcement of the company’s departure from the Netherlands after it failed to obtain a licence from the Dutch central bank. In a statement Binance confirmed French authorities visited its offices last week and will comply accordingly. “We had an on-site visit last week by the relevant authorities. Binance, as always,…

The U.S. government has been hit in a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in widely used software, the nation’s cyber watchdog agency said on Thursday. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said several federal bodies had experienced intrusions following the discovery of a weakness in the file transfer software MOVEit, Eric Goldstein, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement. “We are working urgently to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation,” he said….

Omar Asad, 80, was detained at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank overnight in January 2022. The soldiers left him unresponsive on the ground of a construction site and said they assumed he had fallen asleep. Palestinian leaders say this case shows the near impunity of Israeli soldiers. They have called for those involved to be prosecuted in an international court. Mr Asad had been out drinking coffee and playing cardsbeforedriving to his home in the village of…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to order troops to take more land in Ukraine in order to protect Russian territory, he said in remarks on Tuesday. The assertion comes as Ukraine begins a long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s south and east, claiming small victories that have been disputed by the Russian government. Putin said Ukraine has suffered “catastrophic” losses in their probing attacks into Russian-occupied portions of Ukraine, however Ukrainian officials have so far called the offensive a success. He…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait reached an agreement worth $367 million with Turkish drone giant Baykar to purchase its increasingly sought-after TB2 combat drones, the Kuwaiti army said. The drone, Bayraktar TB2, boasts unmanned aerial vehicles that can carry lightweight, laser-guided bombs, and fly for up to 27 hours at a time, which, according to the company, was “a record,” it had set while testing the drone in Kuwait in 2019. The announcement, on Tuesday, would set Kuwait…

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating allegations China tried to intimidate a federal legislator, one of more than 100 inquiries into foreign meddling, the RCMP commander said on Tuesday. Canada has accused China of trying to interfere in its affairs through various schemes, including illegal police stations and the targeting of lawmakers. Beijing has strongly denied all such allegations. Ottawa expelled a Chinese diplomat last month for allegedly seeking to target opposition lawmaker Michael Chong’s family in Hong Kong…

Two senior officials with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), briefed ambassadors on recent developments, including the arrest of a top fugitive from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the final verdict related to atrocities committed in the Balkan wars. Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, Mechanism President, reported that in-court proceedings are all but concluded as only one case related to core crimes committed in Rwanda now remains on the docket. “This represents a watershed moment…