First Charge Filed in Russia Inquiry

A federal grand jury in D.C. approved the first round of charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russia's meddling over the 2016 election. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
A federal grand jury in D.C. approved the first round of charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russia's meddling over the 2016 election. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
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First Charge Filed in Russia Inquiry

A federal grand jury in D.C. approved the first round of charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russia's meddling over the 2016 election. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
A federal grand jury in D.C. approved the first round of charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russia's meddling over the 2016 election. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A federal grand jury in Washington approved on Friday the first charges in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US Presidential elections in 2016, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The source reported that the indictment was sealed under orders from a federal judge so it was not clear what the charges were or who the target was, adding that it could be unsealed as early as Monday.

Special counsel Robert Mueller indicted at least one person, however, the details of the indictment are still unclear.

CNN and other sources including the Wall Street Journal reported that a federal grand jury has approved charges filed by investigators led by special counsel Robert Mueller against at least one person, and the indictment has been sealed by a federal judge, pending arrest.

Reports suggest that one or more arrests could take place, however, there are still no information about the nature of the charges, or their target.

Mueller's team is refusing to comment on the matter ever since the counsel had been assigned last May.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assigned Mueller after US President Trump dismissed former FBI.

In January, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton through a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media.

Mueller, a former FBI director, is investigating whether Trump campaign officials colluded with those Russian efforts, and whether they sought to obstruct justice by covering up such collusion.

Trump denied the allegations of collusion between him and the Russians. Kremlin also has rejected the allegations.

Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is a target of Mueller's investigations, precisely his lobbying activities for foreign clients and financial relations with Russia.

Fox News host Sean Hannity, who is a strong supporter of Trump, responded late Friday to reports that the first charges have been filed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.

“When will @HillaryClinton be indicted?” Hannity tweeted.

Sources told the network that those charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday.

Hannity accused Mueller in other tweets of working “hand in hand” with the media and also mentioned Uranium One, a mining company at the center of two new House investigations.

Republicans reopened also a joint investigation into the 2010 sale of the company to the Russian nuclear giant Rosatom in 2010, when Clinton was Secretary of State.

AFP reported that Republicans accused the former Secretary of paving the way for the purchasing in return of donations to her foundation.

Democrats believe that reopening these cases are a blatant attempt to divert attention from Mueller's investigation especially the Uranium case.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that Democrats are accused of everything they had charged the President with.

Sanders described the whole Trump-Russia collusion matter as a “witch hunt".

“I think this further proves if there was anyone that was colluding with the Russians to influence the elections look no further than the Clinton and DNC,” Sanders said.

“Hypocrisy at the highest level and a new low in politics. Everything the Clinton campaign and DNC were falsely accusing the president of doing the past year they were doing it themselves," she told Fox News Bill Hemmer on Thursday.



Blinken Meets China’s Wang after Chiding Beijing’s ‘Escalating Actions’ at Sea

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos, July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos, July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Blinken Meets China’s Wang after Chiding Beijing’s ‘Escalating Actions’ at Sea

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos, July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos, July 27, 2024. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday during a regional summit in Laos, hours after criticizing Beijing's "escalating and unlawful actions" in the South China Sea.

Blinken and Wang shook hands and exchanged greetings in front of cameras but made no comments before moving to closed-door talks in what will be their sixth meeting since June 23, when Blinken visited Beijing in a significant sign of improvement for strained relations between the world's two biggest economies.

Though Blinken had singled out China over its actions against US defense ally the Philippines in the South China Sea during a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts earlier on Saturday, he also lauded the two countries for their diplomacy after Manila completed a resupply mission to troops in an area also claimed by Beijing.

The troop presence has for years angered China, which has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines over Manila's missions to a grounded navy ship at the Second Thomas Shoal, causing regional concern about an escalation.

The two sides this week reached an arrangement over how to conduct those missions.

"We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas shoal, which is the product of an agreement reached between the Philippines and China," Blinken told ASEAN foreign ministers.

"We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward."

GAZA SITUATION 'DIRE'

Blinken and Wang attended Saturday's security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum in Laos alongside top diplomats of major powers including Russia, India, Australia, Japan, the European, Britain and others, before heading to their meeting.

Blinken said earlier the United States was "working intensely every single day" to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and find a path to more enduring peace and security.

His remarks follow those of Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who said the need for sustainable peace was urgent and international law should be applied to all. The comment from the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, was a veiled reference to recent decisions by two international courts over Israeli's Gaza offensives.

"We cannot continue closing our eyes to see the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza," she said.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza since Israel launched its incursion, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.

The war began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting some 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.

Also in Laos, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said guidelines on the operation of US nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula were certain to add to regional security concerns.

Lavrov, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, said he had not been briefed on the details of the plan, which was of concern to Russia.

"So far we can't even get an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that it causes additional anxiety," Russia's state-run RIA new agency quoted him as saying.

'THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE'

Ahead of Saturday's two summits, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Myanmar's military rulers to take a different path and end an intensifying civil war, pressing the generals to abide by their commitment to follow ASEAN's five-point consensus peace plan.

The conflict pits Myanmar's well-equipped military against a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebel groups and an armed resistance movement that has been gaining ground and testing the generals' ability to govern.

The junta has largely ignored the ASEAN-promoted peace effort, and the 10-member bloc has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter into dialogue.

"We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the pain that is being caused by the conflict," Wong told reporters.

"My message from Australia to the regime is, this is not sustainable for you or for your people."

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting. The junta has been condemned for excessive force in its air strikes on civilian areas and accused of atrocities, which it has dismissed as Western disinformation.

ASEAN issued a communique on Saturday, two days after its top diplomats met, stressing it was united behind its peace plan for Myanmar, saying it was confident in its special envoy's resolve to achieve "an inclusive and durable peaceful resolution" to the conflict.

It condemned violence against civilians and urged all sides in Myanmar to cease hostilities.

ASEAN welcomed unspecified practical measures to reduce tension in the South China Sea and prevent accidents and miscalculations, while urging all stakeholders to halt actions that could complicate and escalate disputes.

The ministers described North Korea's missile tests as worrisome developments and urged peaceful resolutions to the conflicts in Ukraine, as well as Gaza, expressing concern over the dire humanitarian situation and "alarming casualties" there.