Category: Defense and National Security

LOS ANGELES – Leonard Francis, the Malaysian military contractor known as “Fat Leonard”, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Nov 5 for his role in the US Navy’s worst-ever corruption scandal. Francis, 60, was also ordered to pay US$20 million (S$26.3 million) in restitution to the US Navy by a federal judge in San Diego and to forfeit…

Six defendants have been charged for their roles in schemes to rig bids, defraud the government and pay bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sale of IT products and services to federal government purchasers, which resulted in overcharges of millions of dollars to the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense (DoD). On Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, a…

A U.S. Navy Reserve Commander from Florida was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his role in a years-long bribery scheme involving Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals. According to court documents and evidence submitted at trial, Jeromy Pittmann, 53, of Pensacola, accepted bribe payments from Afghan nationals in exchange for drafting, submitting, and verifying fraudulent letters…

AIN EL DELB, Lebanon (AP) — It was Sunday, family time for most in Lebanon, and Hecham al-Baba was visiting his sister. She insisted he and their older brother stay for lunch, hoping to prolong the warm gathering in stressful times. The brother declined. Like many in Lebanon, he hadn’t been sleeping because of Israel’s intensifying airstrikes, so he left…

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The United States has approved $2 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including the first-time delivery to the self-ruled island of an advanced surface-to-air missile defense system, in a move sure to anger China. Taiwan’s presidential office on Saturday thanked Washington for greenlighting the potential arms sales. Under the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, Taiwan has…

Global financiers are poised to flock to Saudi Arabia’s annual flagship investment conference next week as a tightening of the kingdom’s purse strings and a deepening of regional conflict cloud the outlook. Among those expected to descend on the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh are top CEOs, including Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser and…

Raytheon Company (Raytheon) — a subsidiary of Arlington, Virginia-based defense contractor RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation) — will pay over $950 million to resolve the Justice Department’s investigations into: (i) a major government fraud scheme involving defective pricing on certain government contracts and (ii) violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its…

Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at…

Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Zhang Xiaogang stated: “The US arms deliveries to Taiwan, one of China’s provinces, seriously violate the one-China principle and three joint communiques. This significantly infringes on China’s sovereignty and security interests, and severely undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the official said on the Chinese Defense Ministry’s WeChat account. The spokesman emphasized that Beijing…

The founder and chief executive officer of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offences, French media reported Sunday. Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in…

A dual citizen of the United States and Ghana will make his initial appearance today in the Eastern District of New York to face charges related to his participation in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials to obtain and retain business from the Republic of Ghana. Asante Kwaku Berko, 50, was extradited yesterday from the United Kingdom to the United…

Donald Trump has been injured after gunshots were heard during his campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. The former US president was quickly rushed off stage by his security team. He had blood stains on his right ear. The Trump campaign later released a statement saying that the former president “is fine.” Updates 00:18 GMT Vivek Ramaswamy, who had…

WASHINGTON, July 6. /TASS/. The US administration views Moscow’s cooperation with Beijing which Washington alleges has supported Russia’s defense industry as a long-term challenge for security in Europe. Speaking at a special press briefing in the run-up to NATO’s summit in Washington on July 9-11, a senior US official said that the summit communique would have “strong language” on China….

Wikileaks founder, publisher, journalist and DiEM25 founding member, Julian Assange, will reportedly enter into a plea deal with the United States prosecutors and be sentenced with time served.

BRUSSELS, June 24. /TASS/. At a regular meeting of the EU Council foreign ministers of 27 EU countries approved the decision to transfer 1.4 billion euros of profits from Russia’s frozen assets to the European Peace Facility for military assistance to Ukraine, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a press conference following the results of the meeting. “The ministers…

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia-China trade options have narrowed since the U.S. imposed sanctions last week on the only Russian bank branch in China, but President Vladimir Putin’s Chinese visit last month has helped ensure the two countries have payment alternatives for now, three sources said. Since Putin’s visit, specially authorised banks have been set up in border regions which allow Russian…