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Russia fires deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges and extends his arrest

Russia fires deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges and extends his arrest
Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov stands in a defendants’ cage prior to a court hearing on extension of his arrest in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Jun. 20, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 20 June 2024
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Russia fires deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges and extends his arrest

Russia fires deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges and extends his arrest
  • Timur Ivanov, 48, is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges in recent months
  • Ivanov, arrested in April, was charged with taking an especially large bribe
Updated 20 June 2024
AP
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MOSCOW: Russian authorities have formally dismissed a deputy defense minister jailed on bribery charges and accused by Kremlin critics of living a lavish lifestyle, Russian media reported Thursday. A court ordered that his pre-trial detention be extended for three more months.
Timur Ivanov, 48, is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges in recent months. He was a close associate of Sergei Shoigu, whom President Vladimir Putin replaced as defense minister last month.
Ivanov, arrested in April, was charged with taking an especially large bribe. His lawyers said he maintains his innocence. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Thursday extended his detention pending investigation and trial until at least Sept. 23. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Russian media, citing an online registry of government officials, said Thursday that Ivanov was dismissed from his post. His lawyer Denis Baluyev confirmed the dismissal in comments to Russian business news site RBK. It wasn’t immediately clear from the reports when exactly Ivanov was fired.
Other top military officials arrested in recent months include deputy chief of the Russian military general staff Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin; Gen. Ivan Popov, a former top commander in Russia’s offensive in Ukraine; and Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, head of the Defense Ministry’s personnel directorate. All three have been accused of bribery.
According to the Defense Ministry’s website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects.
Ivanov’s arrest came nearly a month after Putin called on the Federal Security Service to “keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort” and pay special attention to state defense procurement.
Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol — a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and European Union.
Zvezda, the official TV channel of the Russian military, reported in summer 2022 that the ministry was building an entire residential block in Mariupol and showed Ivanov inspecting construction sites and newly erected residential buildings.
That same year, the team of the late Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner, alleged Ivanov and his family had been enjoying luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and owning elite real estate.
The activists also alleged that Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continued living a lavish lifestyle.

Topics: Russia Timur Ivanov court bribe

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Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard

Updated 8 sec ago
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Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard

Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard
Updated 8 sec ago
President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard in an intensifying clash
Harvard filed a lawsuit April 21 over the administration’s calls for changes to the university’s leadership

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100 million, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the administration’s demands for changes to several of its policies.

A draft letter from the General Services Administration directs agencies to review contracts with the university and seek alternate vendors. The administration is planning to send a version of the letter Tuesday, the official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The New York Times first reported on the letter.

President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard in an intensifying clash with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism.

Harvard filed a lawsuit April 21 over the administration’s calls for changes to the university’s leadership, governance and admissions policies. Since then the administration has slashed the school’s federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

The administration has identified about 30 contracts across nine agencies to be reviewed for cancelation, according to another administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided these details on the condition of anonymity. The contracts total roughly $100 million, including executive training for Department of Homeland Security officials.

Agencies with contracts that are deemed critical are being directed not to halt them immediately, but to devise a plan to transition to a different vendor other than Harvard.

The letter applies only to federal contracts with Harvard and not its remaining research grants.

British far-right figure Tommy Robinson released from prison

British far-right figure Tommy Robinson released from prison
Updated 7 min 44 sec ago
Arab News
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British far-right figure Tommy Robinson released from prison

British far-right figure Tommy Robinson released from prison
  • He was jailed for contempt of court in October after repeating false claims about Syrian refugee
  • Judge noted ‘absence of contrition or remorse’ from 42-year-old
Updated 7 min 44 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: British far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been released from prison after his sentence was reduced by four months.

The 42-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for contempt of court in October.

He left Woodhill prison on Tuesday after his 18-month sentence was reduced by the High Court last week.

His sentence was first issued after he admitted to breaching an injunction that prevented him from repeating false allegations against Jamal Hijazi.

The Syrian refugee, a schoolboy at the time of the high-profile incident in October 2018, was assaulted by a fellow student at Almondbury Community School in the English town of Huddersfield.

A video clip of the assault went viral, and Robinson published false claims about Hijazi, who sued him for libel.

Robinson was ordered to pay Hijazi’s legal costs and £100,000 ($135,000) in damages, as well as cease repeating the false claims. Robinson admitted to breaching the injunction on 10 occasions, leading to his imprisonment.

After ordering his early release last week, the High Court judge described an “absence of contrition or remorse” from Robinson, but added: “He has given an assurance that he will comply with the injunction in the future, that he has no intention of breaching it again, and that he is aware of the consequences of what would happen if he breached the injunction again.”

Topics: tommy robinson Jamal Hijazi

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Greek court issues charges over 2023 migrant boat disaster

Greek court issues charges over 2023 migrant boat disaster
Updated 38 min 33 sec ago
Arab News
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Greek court issues charges over 2023 migrant boat disaster

Greek court issues charges over 2023 migrant boat disaster
  • 17 coast guards charged over one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest boat incidents
  • Fishing vessel carrying about 750 people capsized in 2023, with only 104 survivors
Updated 38 min 33 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: A Greek naval court has charged 17 coast guards over one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest boat disasters, which killed up to 650 migrants.

The overcrowded Adriana fishing vessel capsized and sank near Pylos off the Greek coast in June 2023.

Survivors told the BBC that witnesses were silenced by Greek coast guards, who had caused the Adriana to capsize by trying to tow it. Greek authorities have consistently denied the claims.

Piraeus Naval Court’s deputy prosecutor found that 17 members of the Hellenic Coast Guard should face criminal charges over the disaster.

One survivor told the BBC on Monday: “It has taken us two years just for these charges to come, even though so many people witnessed what happened.”

Among those facing charges is the captain of the LS-920, the coast guard ship that intercepted the Adriana. The captain is accused of “causing a shipwreck,” leading to the deaths of “at least 82 people.”

That figure represents the number of bodies recovered from the shipwreck, but it is believed that up to 500 more people died, including many women and children who were below deck.

Four other officials, including the then-chief of the coast guard and the supervisor of the National Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Piraeus, were charged with “exposing others to danger.”

The LS-920 captain was also charged with “dangerous interference of maritime transport” and a “failure to provide assistance.”

The coast guard ship’s crew were charged with “simple complicity” in all the actions allegedly committed by the captain.

The Adriana, which left Libya for Italy with about 750 people on board, had been monitored by the coast guard for about 15 hours before the disaster took place. Only 104 survivors have been recorded.

The BBC conducted a lengthy investigation that challenged the Greek coast guard’s account of the sinking.

Last year, a Greek court threw out a case against nine Egyptians allegedly tied to the disaster, amid claims that they had been scapegoated by Greek authorities.

Syrian refugee Ahmad described the events to the BBC and accused the Greek coast guard of negligence.

“They attached a rope from the left,” he said. “Everyone moved to the right side of our boat to balance it. The Greek vessel moved off quickly, causing our boat to flip. They kept dragging it for quite a distance.”

Once survivors were rescued, they were ordered to “shut up” by the official in charge of questioning, Ahmad added.

The survivors, he said, were told: “You have survived death. Stop talking about the incident. Don’t ask more questions about it.”

Ahmad said he is “very happy” that the coast guards “are eventually being held accountable for all that they have committed, but until I see them in prison nothing has been done yet.” 

Topics: Greece Adriana migrants

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UK must sanction Israel over Gaza, say hundreds of senior lawyers, academics

A boy looks for some food on a pile of garbage in Gaza City, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
A boy looks for some food on a pile of garbage in Gaza City, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
Updated 27 May 2025
Arab News
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UK must sanction Israel over Gaza, say hundreds of senior lawyers, academics

A boy looks for some food on a pile of garbage in Gaza City, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
  • In letter to PM, over 800 signatories call for urgent pressure to safeguard international legal system
  • ‘Decisive action’ can ‘avert the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza’
Updated 27 May 2025
Arab News

LONDON: The UK must issue sanctions on the Israeli government and push for its suspension from the UN, a group of more than 800 senior lawyers, former judges and academics has said.

They added that this would encourage Israel to meet its “fundamental international legal obligations” amid international outrage over the war in Gaza, The Guardian reported.

The appeal came in a letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who delivered a joint statement last week alongside the leaders of France and Canada threatening Israel with “concrete actions.”

Starmer must act without delay and take “urgent and decisive action ... to avert the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza,” the letter said.

It was signed by figures including former Supreme Court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, Court of Appeal judges and more than 70 king’s counsels.

They accuse Israel of carrying out war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law against Palestinians.

The letter warned that there is mounting evidence in Gaza of genocide, which is either being perpetrated or at serious risk of taking place.

It cited recent comments by Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who said the country’s military would “wipe out” the presence of Palestinian life in Gaza.

“All states, including the UK, are legally obliged to take all reasonable steps within their power to prevent and punish genocide; to ensure respect for international humanitarian law; and to bring to an end violations of (the right to self-determination),” the letter said.

“The UK’s actions to date have failed to meet those standards … The international community’s failure to uphold international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory contributes to a deteriorating international climate of lawlessness and impunity and imperils the international legal system itself. Your government must act now, before it is too late.”

Last week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended negotiations over a new free trade agreement with Israel.

But he must place further pressure by reviewing existing trade links, imposing sanctions and suspending the 2030 strategy for building closer UK-Israel ties, the letter said.

Israeli ministers and senior military officials must be immediately placed under sanctions, signatories said, accusing them of inciting genocide and sponsoring illegal settlement-building.

Israel has also carried out “an unparalleled assault on the UN,” the letter said, highlighting its banning of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and repeated “attacks on UN premises, property and personnel.” The Israeli strategy points to a “broader challenge to the UN charter system itself,” it added.

Signatory Guy Goodwin-Gill, emeritus fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford, said: “Now is the time for the UK to show its commitment to the rule of law and to a future in which Palestinians can freely fulfil their right to self-determination.

“Everyone must be free from persecution, from displacement and ethnic cleansing, from the devastation and death deliberately inflicted on them in their homes, schools and hospitals, in their farms and villages. No one should ever be a refugee in their own land.”

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since October 2023.

The letter to Starmer adds further pressure on him to take action against Israel amid mounting international anger over Gaza.

A significant number of MPs from both the ruling Labour Party and opposition Conservative Party have said the UK’s recent actions do not go far enough.

Topics: War on Gaza UK sanctions Israel

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Germany shifts tone on Israel over ‘incomprehensible’ Gaza carnage

Germany shifts tone on Israel over ‘incomprehensible’ Gaza carnage
Updated 27 May 2025
Reuters
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Germany shifts tone on Israel over ‘incomprehensible’ Gaza carnage

Germany shifts tone on Israel over ‘incomprehensible’ Gaza carnage
  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the Israeli military strikes on Gaza "no longer reveal any logic to me"
  • 51 percent of Germans oppose weapons exports to Israel according to a published survey
Updated 27 May 2025
Reuters

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered his most severe rebuke of Israel to date on Tuesday, criticizing massive air strikes on Gaza as no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas and “no longer comprehensible.”
The message, delivered from a press conference in Finland, reflects a broader shift in public opinion but also a greater willingness from top-ranking German politicians to criticize Israel’s conduct since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
There was similar criticism from Merz’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul and calls among his junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, to halt arms exports to Israel or else risk German complicity in war crimes.
While not a complete rupture, the shift in tone is significant in a country whose leadership follows a policy of special responsibility for Israel, known as the Staatsraeson, due to the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust.
Germany, along with the United States, has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, but Merz’s words come as the European Union is reviewing its Israel policy and Britain, France and Canada also threatened “concrete actions” over Gaza.
“The massive military strikes by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip no longer reveal any logic to me. How they serve the goal of confronting terror. ... In this respect, I view this very, very critically,” Merz said in Turku, Finland.
“I am also not among those who said it first ... But it seemed and seems to me that the time has come when I must say publicly, (that) what is currently happening is no longer comprehensible.”
The comments are particularly striking given that Merz won elections in February promising to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on German soil in defiance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Merz also has hanging in the chancellery a picture of Zikim beach, where Hamas fighters arrived on boats during their rampage in 2023 that killed around 1,200 people.
The Chancellor plans to speak to Netanyahu this week, as attacks on Gaza killed dozens in recent days and its population of 2 million is at risk of famine. He did not reply to a question about German weapons exports to Israel, and a government official told a briefing that this was a matter for a security council presided over by Merz.
Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, acknowledged German concerns on Tuesday but made no commitments.
“When Friedrich Merz raises this criticism of Israel, we listen very carefully because he is a friend,” Prosor told the ZDF broadcaster.
PRESSURE FROM BELOW?
Merz’s comments come on top of a groundswell of opposition to Israel’s actions. A survey by Civey, published in the Tagesspiegel newspaper this week, showed 51 percent of Germans opposed weapons exports to Israel.
More broadly, while 60 percent of Israelis have a positive or very positive opinion of Germany, only 36 percent of people in Germany view Israel positively, and 38 percent view it negatively, a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation found in May.
This represents a notable change from the last survey in 2021, when 46 percent of Germans had a positive opinion of Israel. Only a quarter of Germans recognize a special responsibility toward the state of Israel, while 64 percent of Israelis believe Germany has a special obligation.
In another striking rebuke of Israel, Germany’s commissioner for antisemitism Felix Klein this week called for a discussion about Berlin’s stance on Israel, saying German support after the Holocaust could not justify everything Israel was doing.
Israeli historian Moshe Zimmermann said popular opinion in Germany toward Israel has reacted the same way as in other countries.
“The difference is in the political elites — the political elite is still under the influence of the lessons of WWII in a very one-dimensional way: ‘Jews were our victims during WWII, so we have to take sides with the Jews wherever they are and whatever they do,’” he said.
“You can feel it in the reaction of the new foreign minister, Wadephul, and indirectly the fact that Merz didn’t repeat his promise to invite Netanyahu. This is an unprecedented situation where the pressure from below is forcing the political class to reconsider.”

Topics: Gaza Germany Israel

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