Tag: Region Asias

WASHINGTON – US Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury probe into allegations that members of Democratic former President Barack Obama’s administration manufactured intelligence on Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a source familiar with the matter said on Aug 4. The Justice Department (DOJ) said late in July that it was forming a strike force to assess claims made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about “alleged weaponisation of the US intelligence…

ROME – Italian police arrested 13 people following a nationwide sweep against Chinese mafia groups, on charges including involvement in crimes such as drug dealing, sex trafficking and aggravated robbery, they said on Aug 4. Raids were conducted in 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato and Catania, anti-organised crime police official Andrea Olivadese said. Police reported a further 31 people to judicial authorities without arresting them, and seized 550 grams or around 5,500 doses of “shabu” crystal methamphetamines, and…

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance’s security detail had an Ohio river’s water level raised last week to accommodate a kayaking trip he and his family took to celebrate his 41st birthday on Aug. 2. The U.S. Secret Service said it requested the increased waterflow for the Little Miami River, first reported by The Guardian, to ensure motorized watercraft and emergency personnel “could operate safely” while protecting the Republican vice-president, whose home is in Cincinnati. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said…

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students. The Civil Rights Division’s Notice of Violation finds that UCLA failed to adequately respond to complaints of severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment and abuse that Jewish and…

BUCHAREST – Romanian deputy prime minister Dragos Anastasiu resigned on Sunday after an old corruption scandal in which he was involved as a witness resurfaced at a time when the one-month-old coalition government is trying to enforce cost-cutting reforms. Anastasiu had been tasked by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan with overseeing the reform of state-owned companies, part of broader efforts to reduce the largest budget deficit in the European Union and root out waste and inefficiency. Last week, an old corruption…

Microsoft Corp warned that Chinese state-sponsored hackers are among those exploiting flaws in its SharePoint software to break into institutions globally, with the US agency responsible for designing nuclear weapons now among those breached. In a blog post, the tech giant identified two groups supported by the Chinese government, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, as leveraging flaws in the document-sharing software that rendered customers who run it on their own networks, as opposed to in the cloud, vulnerable. Another hacking…

The following is the introduction to Cancel THIS, a new book by Mike Fairclough. Britain’s cancel culture is a purposely designed social credit system. Say the wrong thing, and you’re done for. One ‘offensive’ tweet? Straight to prison. Say a silent prayer? You’re nicked. Point out that men don’t have wombs, or that climate change hysteria is exaggerated? You’re sacked and shunned. Post a meme that contradicts a government orthodoxy or expresses concerns about illegal immigration? Congrats, you’re now persona non grata and…

MUNICH/BERLIN/FRANKFURT – For Gundbert Scherf – the co-founder of Germany’s Helsing, Europe’s most valuable defence start-up – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed everything. Scherf had to fight hard to attract investment after starting his company – which produces military strike drones and battlefield AI – four years ago. Now, that’s the least of his problems. The Munich-based company more than doubled its valuation to $12 billion at a fundraising last month. “Europe this year, for the first time in decades,…

A new wave of purges has engulfed the senior leadership of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army. Since the 20th National Party Congress in October 2022, more than 20 senior PLA officers from all four services—the army, navy, air force, and rocket force—have disappeared from public view or been removed from their posts. The absences of other generals have also been reported, which could foreshadow additional purges. Most notably, since the fall of 2023, three of the six uniformed members…

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on July 17 threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal after it published a story about an alleged off-colour letter written by him to late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that featured a drawing of a naked woman. The Journal story, which quickly reverberated around the US capital, says the note to Epstein bearing Mr Trump’s signature was part of a collection of notes for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The newspaper says it reviewed…

BUCHAREST – Romania’s top court on Thursday struck down a challenge brought by centrist President Nicusor Dan against a bill seeking harsher punishment for antisemitism and hate speech after a divisive election in which the far right gained ground. Parliament updated legislation outlawing the celebration of fascist leaders or imagery in June, introducing prison sentences for the promotion of antisemitism and xenophobia via social media platforms. The bill also increases jail terms for creating or belonging to racist organisations. However,…

By Emmanuel Kwada ‎TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media giant, is under fire again as Austria-based privacy group Noyb (None of Your Business) filed fresh complaints against the company on Thursday, accusing it of violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). ‎The complaints, also targeting AliExpress and WeChat, claim the companies failed to comply with data access requests, obstructing European users’ rights to understand how their personal data is processed. ‎Noyb, a prominent advocate for online privacy, previously filed complaints…

Uber and China’s Baidu will partner to deploy thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform across several international markets outside the US and China, the companies said on July 15. The first roll-outs are expected in Asia and the Middle East later in 2025. The tie-up brings together Uber’s massive ride-hailing network with Baidu’s fleet of more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles across the world. It is the latest in a series of efforts by Uber…

Delta Air Lines Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to pay $8,100,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by awarding compensation to certain corporate officers and employees that exceeded the compensation limits Delta agreed to as part of its participation in the Department of the Treasury’s Payroll Support Program (PSP). The PSP was established by Congress in March 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to provide payroll support to passenger and…

An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a television channel aligned with Turkey’s main opposition party on charges of bid-rigging, the prosecutor’s office said late on Tuesday. The arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, was issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials. Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation, part of a widening…

The last time U.S. President Donald Trump attended a Group of Seven (G-7) leaders’ summit in Canada, in 2018, he treated it like a reality TV show. “Trump Blows Up G7 Agenda,” read the headline in Politico. Trump arrived late; called for Russia’s readmission to the group (a nonstarter with the other members); described the host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as “very dishonest and weak”; and refused at the last minute to endorse the joint statement at the end…