Russia says shot dead Ukrainian agent who tried to blow up car

Russia says shot dead Ukrainian agent who tried to blow up car
Russia's FSB security service said Tuesday it shot dead a Ukrainian agent who attempted to plant explosives under the car of a senior defence industry official. (AFP/File)
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Updated 17 September 2024
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Russia says shot dead Ukrainian agent who tried to blow up car

Russia says shot dead Ukrainian agent who tried to blow up car
  • The suspect, whom it did not name, allegedly worked for Ukraine’s GUR intelligence agency
  • A pistol with ammunition was found at the scene

MOSCOW: Russia’s FSB security service said Tuesday it shot dead a Ukrainian agent who attempted to plant explosives under the car of a senior defense industry official.
The suspect, whom it did not name, allegedly worked for Ukraine’s GUR intelligence agency and targeted a “senior employee of a defense enterprise in the Sverdlovsk region,” the FSB said.
He was detained while “placing an improvised explosive device in a hiding place, put up armed resistance and was neutralized by return fire,” the FSB added.
A pistol with ammunition was found at the scene, while law enforcement seized components used for making explosives during a search of his residence, it continued.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Ukraine has often targeted Russian officials it believes are complicit in the Kremlin’s full-scale military assault on its territory, which began in 2022.
In December 2023, pro-Russian Ukrainian defector Illia Kyva was shot dead near Moscow in an attack claimed by Kyiv’s security services.


Now a trusted ally, ‘Little Marco’ gets Trump’s big jobs

Now a trusted ally, ‘Little Marco’ gets Trump’s big jobs
Updated 14 sec ago
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Now a trusted ally, ‘Little Marco’ gets Trump’s big jobs

Now a trusted ally, ‘Little Marco’ gets Trump’s big jobs
  • Trump once disparaged his political adversary as "Little Marco" and labeled him a con artist
  • Now Trump has named him as top national security aide in addition to his main job as top diplomat

WASHINGTON: Top diplomat, foreign aid chief, national archivist and now national security adviser. Marco Rubio’s expanding resume underscores President Donald Trump’s increasing trust in the former Florida senator, officials said. Trump said on Thursday that his national security adviser Mike Waltz would move on to become UN ambassador, weeks after Waltz added a journalist from The Atlantic to a Signal chat where top officials were discussing military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. In his place, Trump named Rubio as his top national security aide on an interim basis, the latest instance of the president turning to the man he once disparaged as Little Marco and labeled a con artist to take on crucial tasks in his administration.
Rubio will lead the council that coordinates the administration’s national security actions around the world, although Trump did not indicate when a permanent replacement would be named.
The reshuffle comes amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine, restore a failed ceasefire in Gaza and conduct complex nuclear talks with Iran, all while managing the diplomatic fallout from Trump’s trade war with China.
A senior US official said Rubio has built trust with Trump by carrying out whatever tasks Trump hands to him. “He’s done everything that Trump has asked him to do,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. “Why wouldn’t you trust him?”
NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters that Rubio had implemented Trump’s America First agenda and was “well qualified” to oversee the council.
‘He gets it solved’

Early on, Rubio was sent to Panama to put Trump’s promise to “take back” the Panama Canal in more diplomatic terms. In March, after an Oval Office blowup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump dispatched Rubio to Saudi Arabia, where he helped bring his effort toward peace between Ukraine and Russia back on track. Rubio has also played a leading role in Trump’s controversial crackdown on migration to the United States, securing an agreement to send alleged gang members to a high-security prison in El Salvador, and revoking thousands of student visas, in many cases after the students took part in anti-Israel protests. Above all, Rubio has vociferously argued for Trump’s agenda, even when it clashed with his own previous positions. As a US Senator, Rubio championed foreign assistance around the world. Under Trump, Rubio has overseen the dismantling of Washington’s main aid agency, and proudly defended the decision to do so.
At a Rose Garden event on Thursday, Trump thanked Rubio for his “unbelievable” work. “When I have a problem, I call up Marco,” Trump said. “He gets it solved.”
It is not unprecedented for one official to hold multiple roles at the same time. Henry Kissinger served as both Secretary of State and national security adviser in the 1970s.
But Rubio’s current workload raises questions over how he would manage multiple briefs. In addition to the role of US top diplomat, Rubio serves as the administrator of the US Agency for International Development and the acting archivist of the United States, an office that oversees the preservation of government records.
“Either one of these jobs, done correctly, requires a super-human level of dedication, focus, and energy,” said a State Department official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly. “Even with the best of intentions, I don’t see how you can do both jobs at once without neglecting responsibilities that cannot easily be delegated.”
Tammy Bruce, Rubio’s spokesperson at the State Department, said that Rubio has people around him to help him handle the two roles. “If anybody can do it... it will be Marco Rubio.”
Some major foreign policy issues remain concentrated in a tight circle, with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff leading talks with Russia, the Iran nuclear negotiations, and Israel’s war in Gaza. “The president has assembled an incredibly talented team that is fully committed to putting America and Americans first,” the State Department said in an emailed response to a request for comment. “Secretary Rubio looks forward serving as his interim National Security Adviser while ensuring the mission critical work at the State Department continues uninterrupted.”

Trump and Rubio once traded barbs
Rubio and Trump clashed during the hard-fought campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. They exchanged barbs on the debate stage, with Trump giving Rubio the moniker Little Marco, and calling him a “con artist” for missing votes in the Senate. Rubio, who also accused Trump of being a “con man,” mocked Trump for supposedly having small hands. Rubio has said those comments were made in the context of a competitive primary, comparing himself to a boxer punching an opponent in the ring. “Doesn’t mean you hate the guy, but we were in a competition for the same job,” Rubio told CNN.
After Trump took office in 2017, tensions eased as Rubio, who is Cuban American, played a key role advising on Venezuela and Cuba policy. Rubio was a driving force behind-the-scenes in helping to craft Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including the imposition of sanctions against the OPEC member’s vital energy sector, and in the sharp reversal of former President Barack Obama’s rapprochement with Cuba.
A senior State Department official who requested anonymity attributed Trump’s growing reliance on Rubio to a history of “
working collaboratively together, building a professional and personal relationship.”
Long a staunch advocate of traditional Republican foreign policy positions including strong support for Ukraine, allegiance to NATO, and a hawkish view of China and its human rights record, Rubio has increasingly aligned himself with Trump’s America First message.
At the State Department, Rubio has shut down an office that worked on countering Russian and Chinese misinformation, accusing it of targeting conservatives. He has worked with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut aid and other programs he supported as a senator, and initiated a major overhaul that would shutter offices dealing with human rights and war crimes.

Immigration purge

Rubio used State Department powers to revoke the permission of foreign students to study in the US, including a Turkish student who wrote an op-ed criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza.
In a visit to El Salvador in February, Spanish-speaker Rubio reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele that led to hundreds of men being sent to the country on military planes, even as US courts sought to pause the deportations. Those deported included Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The administration admitted his deportation to his native El Salvador, despite a court order, was a mistake.
At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rubio, seated beside Trump, said the judiciary could not force the administration to try to return Abrego Garcia.
“The conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States and the executive branch, not some judge,” Rubio told reporters.


CIA and other spy agencies set to shrink workforce under Trump administration plan

CIA and other spy agencies set to shrink workforce under Trump administration plan
Updated 46 min 55 sec ago
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CIA and other spy agencies set to shrink workforce under Trump administration plan

CIA and other spy agencies set to shrink workforce under Trump administration plan
  • The administration plans to reduce the CIA workforce by 1,200 over several years, and cut thousands of positions at the NSA and other intelligence agencies

WASHINGTON: The White House plans to cut staffing at the CIA and other intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, Trump administration officials told members of Congress, The Washington Post reported Friday.
A person familiar with the plan but not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed the changes to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The administration plans to reduce the CIA workforce by 1,200 over several years, and cut thousands of positions at the NSA and other intelligence agencies. The Post reported that the reductions at the CIA include several hundred people who have already opted for early retirement. The rest of the cuts would be achieved partly through reduced hirings and would not likely necessitate layoffs.
In response to questions about the reductions, the CIA issued a statement saying CIA Director John Ratcliffe is working to align the agency with Trump’s national security priorities.
“These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position CIA to deliver on its mission,” the agency wrote in the statement.
A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Gabbard’s office oversees and coordinates the work of 18 agencies that collect and analyze intelligence.
The CIA and NSA have already offered voluntary resignations to some employees. The CIA also has said it plans to lay off an unknown number of recently hired employees.
The new administration has also eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs at intelligence agencies, though a judge has temporarily blocked efforts to fire 19 employees working on DEI programs who challenged their terminations.
Trump also abruptly fired the general who led the NSA and the Pentagon’s Cyber Command.
Ratcliffe has vowed to overhaul the CIA and said he wants to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China.
 


Trump’s tariffs bite at quiet US ports

Trump’s tariffs bite at quiet US ports
Updated 57 min 55 sec ago
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Trump’s tariffs bite at quiet US ports

Trump’s tariffs bite at quiet US ports
  • The Port of Long Beach says for the entire month of May it is expecting a 30 percent drop in imports

SAN PEDRO: At the Port of Los Angeles, the frenetic choreography of cranes unloading containers from Asia has slowed to a tiptoe, and the noise of the busiest docks in the US is quieting.
“You could hear a pin drop, it’s very unusual,” Port Director Gene Seroka told AFP.
By this unofficial barometer, the American economy faces slowdown under US President Donald Trump amid his trade war with China.
Along with the next-door Port of Long Beach, the area represents the biggest gateway in the United States for goods from China and the rest of Asia.
That has made it among the first victims to a burgeoning crisis threatening to disrupt the lives of millions of Americans.
Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs — and the retaliation launched by other countries — has cowed importers, whose usual orders for furniture, toys, and clothing have dwindled.
For the week of May 4, the Port of Los Angeles will receive up to 35 percent less cargo compared with the same period last year, Seroka said.
The Port of Long Beach says for the entire month of May it is expecting a 30 percent drop in imports.
Dozens of ships have canceled their voyages to these ports.
“Many retailers and manufacturers alike have hit the pause button, stopping all shipments from China,” said Seroka.
The Asian manufacturing giant is the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs, with levies as high as 145 percent on some goods. Sales of Chinese goods to the US last year totaled more than $500 billion, according to Beijing.
And while sales may not be going up this year, prices undoubtedly will.
“Effectively, the cost of a product made in China now is two and a half times more expensive than it was just last month,” said Seroka.
Trump last month announced a range of differing tariffs against nearly all countries in the world — including an island populated mostly by penguins — using a formula that baffled economists.
He reversed course a few days later and left a blanket 10 percent rate against most of the planet.
That extra cost, which is paid by the importer of a product, not by the seller, will affect trade across the United States.
“This is not just a West Coast issue,” warned Long Beach Port Director Mario Cordero.
“It affects every port, whether it’s in the East or in the Gulf” of Mexico, which Trump has decreed should be known as the Gulf of America.
At the start of the year, Long Beach and Los Angeles saw American companies scurry to get ahead of tariffs that Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Cargo volumes surged as they tried to build up as much untaxed inventory as possible.
But as the tariffs begin to bite, they will undoubtedly hold buying to eat into that inventory.
Without a reversal from the White House that would re-open the trade spigot, that could mean shortages that consumers will start to notice, and soon, according to Seroka.
“American importers, especially in the retail sector, are telling me that they have about five to seven weeks of normal inventory on hand today,” he said.
“If this trade dispute goes on for any length of time, we’ll likely see fewer selections on store shelves and online buying platforms.
“The impact on American consumers will be less choice and higher prices,” he said.
“The American consumer is going to get hit right in the wallet.”


For Antonio Montalbo, one of the 900,000 logistics workers in Southern California, the ordeal has already begun.
As the owner of a small trucking company, he needs to replace the starter on one of his vehicles; the part, made in China, now costs twice as much.
Trump has “created a hostile environment at the port for the drivers,” says the 37-year-old.
“We’re angry at Donald Trump. He needs to go check out the country a little bit, because he has a lot of angry truck drivers.
“It seems like he doesn’t care about the public or the working class.”
Between skyrocketing maintenance costs and the fall-off in work, he estimates he could be laying off staff within six months.
Montalbo says he voted for Trump last November because he was fed up with inflation, and trusted him to fix the economy.
“I thought that he was a businessman.
“Now we have something worse than inflation, called tariffs.”


US judge strikes down Trump order against law firm, scolds him for ‘settling personal vendettas’

US judge strikes down Trump order against law firm, scolds him for ‘settling personal vendettas’
Updated 59 min 26 sec ago
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US judge strikes down Trump order against law firm, scolds him for ‘settling personal vendettas’

US judge strikes down Trump order against law firm, scolds him for ‘settling personal vendettas’
  • Judge Howell rules Trump’s order violates free speech and due process
  • Trump’s order targeted Perkins Coie over Clinton campaign and diversity policies

 A federal judge on Friday struck down Donald Trump’s executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie as a violation of the US Constitution’s protections of free speech and due process, and castigated him for “settling personal vendettas.”
US District Judge Beryl Howell’s ruling represented the broadest rebuke yet for the Republican president’s pressure campaign against law firms that he has accused of “weaponizing” the justice system against him and his political allies.
It was also the first ruling by a judge deciding the legal merits of any of the several directives Trump has aimed at law firms that have handled legal challenges to his actions, represented political adversaries or employed lawyers who have taken part in investigations of him.
Howell, in a sharply worded, 102-page opinion, said Trump’s executive order was an attack on foundational principles of American jurisprudence and the role lawyers play in ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice.
“Settling personal vendettas by targeting a disliked business or individual for punitive government action is not a legitimate use of the powers of the US government or an American President,” Howell wrote.
Perkins Coie said in a statement it welcomed the judge’s ruling and was grateful to “those who spoke up” in support of the firm’s lawsuit.
“As we move forward, we remain guided by the same commitments that first compelled us to bring this challenge: to protect our firm, safeguard the interests of our clients, and uphold the rule of law,” a spokesperson for the law firm said.

 

White House representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Howell, based in Washington, barred federal agencies from enforcing Trump’s March 6 order against Perkins Coie. The judge had previously issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of key provisions of Trump’s directive.
The Justice Department can appeal Howell’s order to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Perkins Coie, a 1,200-lawyer firm founded in Seattle, represented the campaign of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who Trump defeated in his first presidential run.
Trump’s executive order sought to restrict Perkins Coie’s lawyers from accessing government buildings and officials, and it threatened to cancel federal contracts held by the firm’s clients.
The firm sued, calling the order a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of speech and Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process — a requirement for the government to use a fair legal process.
US Justice Department lawyer Richard Lawson, defending the orders in court, argued in each case that Trump was lawfully exercising his presidential power and discretion.
“In a cringe-worthy twist on the theatrical phrase ‘Let’s kill all the lawyers,’” Trump’s executive order “takes the approach of ‘Let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like,’ sending the clear message: lawyers must stick to the party line, or else,” Howell wrote.

Protesters march during a May Day demonstration in Denver, Colorado on May 1, 2025, against US President Donald Trump and his policies. (AFP)

Three other major law firms — WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey — also sued the administration to block the executive orders Trump issued against them. Other judges have temporarily blocked those orders while the cases proceed.
Nine rival firms — including Paul Weiss, Latham & Watkins; Skadden Arps; and Willkie Farr — have reached deals with Trump that averted punitive actions, pledging a combined total of nearly $1 billion in free legal services to advance causes he supports.
Trump’s targeting of firms has drawn condemnation from many within the legal industry. Some have criticized the firms that reached agreements as capitulating to presidential coercion.
Perkins Coie argued it was targeted over its work for Clinton’s campaign and the firm’s policies promoting workplace diversity and inclusion.
Trump’s order accused Perkins Coie of “dishonest and dangerous activity.”
It also said Perkins Coie “racially discriminates” in its hiring — referring to the firm’s diversity policies. Trump and his allies have portrayed such policies as discriminatory against white people. Trump’s order also criticized the firm’s work representing Clinton’s campaign.
Each of the firms suing the administration called the orders against them existential threats. They argued that the orders limited the ability of their lawyers to practice law and sought to intimidate their clients into seeking new counsel.


Despite economic contraction, Trump insists US will have ‘greatest boom in history’

Despite economic contraction, Trump insists US will have ‘greatest boom in history’
Updated 03 May 2025
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Despite economic contraction, Trump insists US will have ‘greatest boom in history’

Despite economic contraction, Trump insists US will have ‘greatest boom in history’
  • Economy was down in first three months of the year as Trump began his plans for sweeping tariffs

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump insisted Friday that his policies will bring a boom in the US economy even as he acknowledged the possibility of a recession.
The US economy, the world’s largest, unexpectedly contracted in the first three months of the year as Trump began his plans for sweeping tariffs.
“This is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically,” Trump told NBC News show “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”
Pressed on whether the United States could dip into recession, Trump said, “Anything can happen.”
“But I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I think we’re going have the greatest economic boom in history,” Trump said in excerpts of the interview, which will be aired in full on Sunday.
Financial markets have been in tumult since Trump took office and moved to revamp the global economic order with a return to sweeping tariffs on imports.
Share prices rose on Friday, however, after a solid jobs report in the United States.