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Intelligence Reports: Iran Plots to Assassinate US Ambassador to South Africa

Tensions between Iran and the US reached a fevering point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (AFP/File photo)
Tensions between Iran and the US reached a fevering point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (AFP/File photo)
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Intelligence Reports: Iran Plots to Assassinate US Ambassador to South Africa

Tensions between Iran and the US reached a fevering point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (AFP/File photo)
Tensions between Iran and the US reached a fevering point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (AFP/File photo)

US intelligence reports revealed Iranian threats to assassinate Ambassador Lana Marks in revenge for top general Qassem Soleimani who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad.

Citing intelligence papers, Politico said US officials have been aware of a threat against the ambassador since the spring, however the intelligence about the threat to the ambassador has become more specific in recent weeks.

The Iranian Embassy in Pretoria is involved in the plot, according to the report.

This comes as Iran continues to seek ways to retaliate for the killing of Soleimani earlier this year, the officials said.

"If carried out, it could dramatically ratchet up already serious tensions between the US and Iran and create enormous pressure on Trump to strike back — possibly in the middle of a tense election season."

A US government official said Marks has been made aware of the threat.

The intelligence also has been included in the CIA World Intelligence Review, which is a classified product that is accessible to senior policy and security officials across the US government, as well as certain lawmakers and their staff, Politico reported.

Marks, 66, was sworn in as US ambassador last October. She’s known Trump for more than two decades and has been a member of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The Iranian government also operates clandestine networks in South Africa, the officials said, noting that it has had a foothold there for decades. In 2015, international reports revealed leaked intelligence documents that detailed an extensive secret network of Iranian operatives in South Africa.

Marks could be an easier target than US diplomats in other parts of the world, such as Western Europe, where the US has stronger relationships with local law enforcement and intelligence services.

Iran has a history of carrying out assassinations beyond their country’s borders, as well as taking hostages, including its attempt to kidnap Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir, back when he was the Kingdom's ambassador to the US in 2011.

Although Iran has generally avoided directly targeting US diplomats in recent decades, but Iranian-backed militias have long attacked US diplomatic facilities and personnel in Iraq and Lebanon and other places.

Trump alleged after Soleimani’s killing that the Iranian general had been plotting attacks on US diplomatic missions.

“They were looking to blow up our embassy,” Trump said in January, referring to the massive, heavily fortified US diplomatic compound in Iraq. Later, in a Fox News interview, he said, “I can reveal I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”

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Key Moments from Landmark Supreme Court Arguments on Trump's Immunity Claims

Former US President Donald Trump (AP)
Former US President Donald Trump (AP)
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Key Moments from Landmark Supreme Court Arguments on Trump's Immunity Claims

Former US President Donald Trump (AP)
Former US President Donald Trump (AP)

There was talk of drone strikes and presidential bribes, of a potential ruling “for the ages” and of the Founding Fathers, too. The presidential race went unmentioned but was not far from mind.
The Supreme Court heard more than 2 1/2 hours worth of arguments on the landmark question of whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the Associated Press said.
Though the justices appeared likely to reject Trump's absolute immunity claim, it seemed possible he could still benefit from a lengthy trial delay, possibly beyond November’s election.
A look at some of the many notable moments:
‘A RULE FOR THE AGES’
Justice Neil Gorsuch conveyed concern that prosecutors, or political opponents, could have bad motives in pursuing political rivals. Michael Dreeben, a lawyer for special counsel Jack Smith's team, responded that this fear was inapplicable in this case.
“I appreciate that,” Gorsuch said. “But you also appreciate that we’re writing a rule for the ages.”
Other justices were no less lofty in describing the historic stakes of the case and the potential for precedent that will stand the test of time far beyond Trump. For conservative justices, that approach seemed a way to set aside the facts of the Trump indictment and the brazen abuse of power it alleges and focus instead on the implication of a court ruling on cases that have yet to be charged — but theoretically could be.
“This case has huge implications for the presidency, for the future of the presidency, for the future of the country, in my view,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee who served in the George W. Bush White House and is generally seen as a staunch protector of presidential power.
All in all, the court seemed more interested in the future than the present as it contemplated the ruling ahead. There were plenty of historic callbacks, too, with frequent invocations of the nation's Founding Fathers.
WORDS NOT SPOKEN
There was no reference in the arguments to “November.” Nor to “2024.” Even Trump's name was barely uttered, and mostly in the context of the formal title of court cases.
Yet there's no question that the 2024 election was the proverbial elephant in the room, and in that sense, the words not spoken were almost as loud as those that were.
Hovering in the background of Thursday's session was the tacit acknowledgment that the court is helping decide not only whether Trump is immune from prosecution but also whether he can stand trial before the vote.
The uncomfortable reality for an institution loath to be thought of as a political actor is that a decision that takes until late June or early July to write, or that directs a lower court to do additional analysis about which acts Trump could conceivably be entitled to immunity for, could delay the trial until after the election.
Dreeben took care not to note the consequences of the court's ruling on the election or to urge a speedy ruling for political purposes.
The closest, albeit still oblique, reference to the election came from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who at one point said to Dreeben: “The special counsel has expressed some concern for speed and wanting to move forward."
MORE WORK AHEAD?
While the court seemed highly skeptical of Trump’s bid to dismiss the case, several justices suggested it may have to be sent back for more legal wrangling before the case could go to trial.
Such a ruling would almost certainly delay the trial until after the election. That would be a victory for Trump because, if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, he could presumably order his new attorney general to dismiss the case, or issue a pardon for himself.
Barrett and others repeatedly tried to pin down Trump’s lawyer and Smith’s team on whether the acts alleged in the indictment were official acts — and, therefore, potentially shielded from prosecution — versus private acts.
And even as Chief Justice John Roberts made clear his resistance to Trump’s sweeping absolute immunity claims, he also said he had “concerns” about an earlier appeals court ruling that rejected Trump's immunity arguments but that did not provide a detailed analysis of whether the acts in the indictment were official or private ones.
The lower court, Roberts said, appears to be saying simply that “a former president can be prosecuted because he’s being prosecuted.”
“Why shouldn’t we either send it back to the Court of Appeals or issue an opinion making clear that that’s not the law?” Roberts asked Dreeben.
Smith’s team has told the court that even if it finds that some level of immunity exists for official acts, there are enough private actions alleged in the indictment — like scheming to submit slates of fake electors — for the case to proceed to trial immediately.
“The president has no functions with respect to the certification of the winner of the presidential election,” Dreeben said. “So it’s difficult for me to understand how there could be a serious constitutional question about saying ‘you can’t use fraud to defeat that function, you can’t obstruct it through deception, you can’t deprive millions of voters of their right to have their vote counted for the candidate who they chose.’”
THE JUSTICES TO WATCH
The liberal justices appeared likely to side with Smith’s team in ruling that the trial should move forward, suggesting that Trump’s argument turned the Constitution on its head.
“The Framers did not put an immunity clause into the Constitution. They knew how to,” Justice Elena Kagan said. “And, you know, not so surprising, they were reacting against a monarch who claimed to be above the law. Wasn’t the whole point that the president was not a monarch and the president was not supposed to be above the law?”
Meanwhile, Kavanaugh and fellow conservative Samuel Alito seemed more receptive to Trump’s claims, particularly the suggestion that not granting immunity could open the door to former presidents being prosecuted for political reasons.
But ultimately, the matter may come down to Roberts, who at one point questioned whether the case would be able to move forward if official acts were removed from the indictment, saying that doing so could create a “one-legged stool.”
Barrett’s nuanced questioning suggested that she’s another one to watch.
Barrett, who was appointed by Trump, got Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, to concede that former presidents could be prosecuted for private actions. And Sauer acknowledged that some of Trump’s alleged conduct surrounding the 2020 election was not the official act of a president.
Trump “turned to a private attorney, he was willing to spread knowingly false claims of election fraud to spearhead his challenges to the election results. Private?” Barrett asked Sauer.
“That sounds private to me,” he replied.
HYPOTHETICALS GALORE
Sure, the justices pressed the lawyers about the actual acts in the indictment, wanting to know which of the steps Trump took in his failed but frantic bid to remain in power might deserve legal protection.
But there were plenty of hypothetical scenarios, too, which is hardly surprising given how the justices and courts in general enjoy testing the outer boundaries of lawyers' arguments as they determine where to draw a line.
Sauer opened the door by saying that, without immunity, President George W. Bush could have been prosecuted for “allegedly lying to Congress to induce war in Iraq” and Biden for “unlawfully inducing immigrants to enter the country illegally for his border policies.”
Roberts picked it up from there, asking whether a president who accepted a bribe for an ambassador appointment could be prosecuted.
And so it went. What about selling nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary? Kagan wanted to know. A drone strike on a US citizen abroad authorized by then-President Barack Obama? asked Kavanaugh.
One particularly notable hypothetical came from Alito, who raised the prospect that an outgoing president who loses a closely contested race but fears indictment upon leaving office might try to remain in power, creating “a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy."

World

Wave of Pro-Palestinian Protests on US Campus Meets Forceful Response 

People rally on the campus of Northwestern University to show support for residents of Gaza on April 25, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Getty Images/AFP)
People rally on the campus of Northwestern University to show support for residents of Gaza on April 25, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Wave of Pro-Palestinian Protests on US Campus Meets Forceful Response 

People rally on the campus of Northwestern University to show support for residents of Gaza on April 25, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Getty Images/AFP)
People rally on the campus of Northwestern University to show support for residents of Gaza on April 25, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Getty Images/AFP)

Renewed clashes between police and students opposed to Israel's war in Gaza broke out on Thursday, raising questions about forceful methods being used to shut down protests that have intensified since mass arrests at Columbia University last week.

Over the past two days, law enforcement at the behest of college administrators have deployed Tasers and tear gas against students protesters at Atlanta's Emory University, activists say, while officers clad in riot gear and mounted on horseback have swept away demonstrations at the University of Texas in Austin.

Prosecutors on Thursday dropped charges against 46 of the 60 people taken into custody at the University of Texas, citing "deficiencies in the probable cause affidavits."

At Columbia, the epicenter of the US protest movement, university officials are locked in a stalemate with students over the removal of a tent encampment set up two weeks ago as a protest against the Israeli offensive.

The administration, which has already allowed an initial deadline for an agreement with students to lapse, has given protesters until Friday to strike a deal.

Other universities appear determined to prevent similar, long-running demonstrations to take root, opting to work with police to shut them down quickly and in some cases, with force.

Overall, nearly 550 arrests have been made in the last week across major US universities in relation to protests over Gaza, according to a Reuters tally. University authorities have said the demonstrations are often unauthorized and called on police to clear them.

At Emory, police detained 28 people on its Atlanta campus, the university said, after protesters began erecting a tent encampment in an attempt to emulate a symbol of vigilance employed by protesters at Columbia and elsewhere.

The local chapter of the activist group Jewish Voice for Peace said officers used tear gas and Tasers to dispense the demonstration and take some protesters into custody. Atlanta police acknowledged using "chemical irritants" but denied using rubber bullets.

Video aired on FOX 5 Atlanta showed a melee breaking out between officers and some protesters, with officers using what appeared to be a stun gun to subdue a person and others wrestling other protesters to the ground and leading them away.

"Our primary goal today was clearing the Quad of a disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law," Cheryl Elliott, Emory's vice president for public safety, said in a statement.

The Georgia office of the NAACP questioned what it called the "apparent use of excessive force" against people exercising free speech.

"The use of force should only be considered as an absolute last resort and must be proportionate to the threat posed," Georgia NAACP President Griggs said in a letter.

Similar scenarios unfolded on the New Jersey campus of Princeton University where officers swarmed a newly formed encampment, video footage on social media showed.

Boston police earlier forcibly removed a pro-Palestinian encampment set up by Emerson College, arresting more than 100 people, media accounts and police said.

At the University of Southern California, where 93 people were arrested at the Los Angeles campus on Wednesday, administrators canceled the main May 10 graduation ceremony, saying newly required security measures would have placed excessive delays on crowd control.

'Alarming reports'

Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union have condemned the arrest of protesters and urged authorities to respect their free speech rights.

But some Republicans in Congress have accused university administrators of allowing Jewish students to be harassed, putting increasing pressure on schools to tightly control any demonstrations and to block any semi-permanent encampment.

US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday said his department was closely monitoring the protests, including what he called "very alarming reports of antisemitism."

In response, activist groups have strongly denied that the protests are antisemitic. Their aim is to pressure universities from divesting from companies that contribute to the Israeli military actions in Gaza, they say.

Even so, protest leaders have acknowledged that hateful rhetoric has been directed at Jewish students, but insist that people who tried to infiltrate and malign their movement are responsible for any harassment.

Outside Columbia, hundreds of conservative pro-Israel demonstrators staged a counterprotest to the students, marching on the streets circling the campus, waving and draped in Israeli and US flags.

University officials have given protesters until 4 a.m. on Friday to reach an agreement with the university on dismantling dozens of tents set up on the New York City campus in a protest that started a week ago.

The university already tried to shut the protest down by force. On April 18, Columbia President Minouche Shafik took the unusual move of asking police to enter the campus, angering many rights groups, students and faculty.

More than 100 people were arrested and the tents were removed from the main lawn. But within a few days, the encampment was back in place.

World

Macron Outlines Vision for Europe to Become Assertive Global Power

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 25 April 2024. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / POOL
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 25 April 2024. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / POOL
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Macron Outlines Vision for Europe to Become Assertive Global Power

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 25 April 2024. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / POOL
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 25 April 2024. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / POOL

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday that Europe could “die” if it fails to build its own robust defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on, or if it fails to undertake major trade and economic reforms to compete with China and the US.

In a nearly two-hour speech at Sorbonne University in Paris, Macron said that the continent is divided and “too slow and lacks ambition” at a time when the 27-member European Union needs to become a superpower, defend its own borders and speak with one voice if it wants to survive and thrive.

“Our Europe today is mortal,” Macron said. “It can die and that depends solely on our choices,” he added. He called on people to make those choices now because, “it’s today that Europe is between war and peace.”

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, is an existential threat and Europe isn't armed enough to defend itself when “confronted by a power like Russia that has no inhibitions, no limits,” Macron said.

‘Our ability to ensure our security is at stake," Macron said. “Russia mustn’t be allowed to win.”

Europe now has the “good fortune” of having the Biden administration’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, Macron said. But, in a year of key elections around Europe, in the US and elsewhere, support may fragment or disappear entirely, he added.

“Europe must become capable of defending its interests, with its allies by our side whenever they are willing, and alone if necessary,” Macron said.

Strong armies, a European rapid intervention program and force, tanks, a missile shield and other weapons, produced in Europe, will need the support of “a joint diplomatic force that will speak with one voice and build bridges with Africa and Latin America,” the French leader said.

“Only then will Europe show that it's not a United States’ lap dog, and that it also knows how to talk to other regions of the world,” he said.

Macron has long called for European "strategic autonomy" involving less reliance on the US, a stance that has gained greater resonance in the face of Donald Trump's bid to return to the White House.

Referring to trade practices of China and the US, Macron said “the two world powers have decided not to respect the rules of global trade” by shoring up protections and subsides while Europe’s industry remains open and is stuck in overregulation.

“Let’s do the same, we are in competition,” Macron said.

“We must buy faster, we must produce more and we must buy more that is made in Europe. That is key,” Macron said.

Thursday's speech came less than two months before a pivotal European Parliament election.

Thursday's speech was billed by Macron's advisers as France's contribution to the EU's strategic agenda for the next five years. The agenda is due to be decided after the European elections.

World

UK Sanctions Target Iran Drone Industry

People drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (Top-L) and late supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini (Top-R) in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
People drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (Top-L) and late supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini (Top-R) in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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UK Sanctions Target Iran Drone Industry

People drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (Top-L) and late supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini (Top-R) in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
People drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (Top-L) and late supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini (Top-R) in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Britain on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting Iran's military drone industry, in response to Iran's drone and missile attack on Israel earlier this month.

The measures, taken in co-ordination with the US and Canada, target four businesses and two directors at a network of drone companies with the aim of limiting Iran's ability to launch drones.

"The Iranian regime's dangerous attack on Israel risked thousands of civilian casualties and wider escalation in the region," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement.

"Today the UK and our partners have sent a clear message – we will hold those responsible for Iran's destabilizing behavior to account," Reuters quoted Cameron as saying.

Britain also said it would introduce new bans on the export of drone and missile components to Iran, seeking to limit its military capabilities.

Last week, Britain imposed sanctions on Iranian military figures and organizations, in another coordinated move with the United States, following Iran's action against Israel.
Iran launched drones and fired missiles at Israel on April 13 as a retaliatory strike for the attack on its embassy compound in Damascus two weeks prior, raising the risk of further escalation in conflict in the Middle East.

World

US Issues Sanctions on Iran, Targets Drones

Motorists drive under a billboard of an Iranian missile hanging on a pedestrian bridge in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Motorists drive under a billboard of an Iranian missile hanging on a pedestrian bridge in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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US Issues Sanctions on Iran, Targets Drones

Motorists drive under a billboard of an Iranian missile hanging on a pedestrian bridge in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Motorists drive under a billboard of an Iranian missile hanging on a pedestrian bridge in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2024. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

The United States on Thursday issued further sanctions on Iran, targeting Iranian drones, including their use by Russia in the war in Ukraine, as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on Tehran.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the action, taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and Canada, targets over one dozen entities, individuals and vessels it accused of playing a key role in facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

MODAFL in turn supports Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Russia's war in Ukraine, the Treasury said.

“Iran’s Ministry of Defense continues to destabilize the region and world with its support to Russia’s war in Ukraine, unprecedented attack on Israel, and proliferation of UAVs and other dangerous military hardware to terrorist proxies,” Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said.

Washington also targeted two companies and a vessel involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, Reuters quoted the Treasury as saying.

“The United States, in close coordination with our British and Canadian partners, will continue to use all means available to combat those who would finance Iran’s destabilizing activities," Nelson said.
The Treasury said it targeted Sahara Thunder, accusing it of being a main front company that oversees MODAFL's commercial activities in support of the IRGC and Russia's war in Ukraine.

It said the company plays a key role in Iran's design, development, manufacture and sale of thousands of drones, many of them ultimately transferred to Russia for use against Ukraine.

As of 2022, Russian officials were negotiating a deal for Sahara Thunder to deliver and produce thousands of drones per year at a facility in Russia under US sanctions, the Treasury said.

Sahara Thunder's leadership and shipping network, which the Treasury said the company relied on for the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of MODAFL to jurisdictions including China, Russia and Venezuela, were also targeted.

An Iran-based company involved in the procurement and development of unmanned aerial vehicles, its leadership and an Iranian cargo airline were also among those hit with sanctions.

World

Trump's Hush Money Trial Set to Resume with 3rd Day of Witness Testimony

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
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Trump's Hush Money Trial Set to Resume with 3rd Day of Witness Testimony

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS

Donald Trump was expected to return to court Thursday morning as witness testimony in his hush money trial enters a third day.
The trial resumes at the same time that the US Supreme Court hears arguments in Washington over whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions he took during his time as president, The Associated Press said.
At his trial in Manhattan, veteran tabloid publisher David Pecker took the stand earlier in the week, testifying about his longtime friendship with the former president and a pledge he made to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Pecker, the National Enquirer’s former publisher, said the pledge culminated in an agreement to warn Trump’s personal lawyer about potentially damaging stories and help quash them. Pecker said the tabloid ultimately ran negative stories about Trump’s political opponents and even paid $30,000 for a doorman’s silence.
Pecker was expected to return to the stand Thursday.
The testimony was sought to bolster prosecutors’ premise that Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 election through a “catch-and-kill” strategy to buy up and then spike negative stories. Key to that premise are so-called hush money payments that were paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, along with the doorman.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of those payments and falsely recorded them as legal expenses.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.

World

Nigeria: More Than 100 Inmates Escape after Rain Damages Prison

Volunteers from Sustyvibes, a Non-profit organization, pick up trash on a street near a market ahead of World Earth Day, in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Volunteers from Sustyvibes, a Non-profit organization, pick up trash on a street near a market ahead of World Earth Day, in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
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Nigeria: More Than 100 Inmates Escape after Rain Damages Prison

Volunteers from Sustyvibes, a Non-profit organization, pick up trash on a street near a market ahead of World Earth Day, in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Volunteers from Sustyvibes, a Non-profit organization, pick up trash on a street near a market ahead of World Earth Day, in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

At least 118 inmates escaped from prison after heavy rains on Wednesday night damaged the facility in Suleja near the Nigerian capital, a prison service spokesperson said.

Service agents were hunting the fugitives and had so far recaptured 10 of them, spokesperson Adama Duza said in a statement on Thursday.

"We are in hot chase to recapture the rest," Duza said.

The statement gave no details on the identities or affiliation of the escaped prisoners but in the past members of the Boko Haram insurgent group have been locked up in Suleja prison.

World

3rd Man Detained in Bribery Case Surrounding Russian Deputy Defense Minister

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov inspects the construction of apartment blocks in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from video released October 15, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov inspects the construction of apartment blocks in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from video released October 15, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
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3rd Man Detained in Bribery Case Surrounding Russian Deputy Defense Minister

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov inspects the construction of apartment blocks in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from video released October 15, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov inspects the construction of apartment blocks in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from video released October 15, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

A third man has been detained in a bribery investigation centering on Deputy Russian Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, the Moscow court service said on Thursday.
It said Alexander Fomin, the co-founder of a construction company called Olimpsitistroy, was suspected of paying bribes to Ivanov, who was detained on Tuesday, and Sergei Borodin, a close associate of Ivanov who is also in custody.
The scandal is the biggest in years to hit the defense ministry, and is seen as a severe blow to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The court service said Fomin was suspected of "providing services" to Ivanov, Borodin and others in the form of goods, work and services relating to property renovation.
"Also, Fomin and other persons, acting as an organized group, contributed to Ivanov's receipt of a particularly large bribe in the form of the illegal provision of property-related services to him," it said.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday dismissed media speculation about the reasons behind the arrest of Ivanov on bribery charges, and urged reporters to focus on official information.
Asked about a report that Ivanov was suspected of treason, Peskov said: "There are many different interpretations around all this now."
"You need to focus on official information," Peskov said. "It is necessary to focus on the information of the investigative authorities and, ultimately, on the court's decision."

Ivanov was detained on Tuesday at work by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
Moscow's Basmanny District Court ordered Ivanov be kept in custody until June 23. Ivanov, 48, dressed in his uniform, was shown standing in a glass cage in court, frowning slightly, footage released by the court service showed.

World

Malala Yousafzai Vows Support for Gaza after Backlash

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai participates in a panel discussion in Johannesburg in December 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP/File
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai participates in a panel discussion in Johannesburg in December 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP/File
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Malala Yousafzai Vows Support for Gaza after Backlash

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai participates in a panel discussion in Johannesburg in December 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP/File
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai participates in a panel discussion in Johannesburg in December 2023. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP/File

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on Thursday condemned Israel and reaffirmed her support for Palestinians in Gaza, after a backlash in her native Pakistan over a Broadway musical she co-produced with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Yousafzai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, has been condemned by some for partnering with Clinton, an outspoken supporter of Israel's war against Hamas.
The musical, titled "Suffs," depicts the American women's suffrage campaign for the right to vote in the 20th century and has been playing in New York since last week, said AFP.
"I want there to be no confusion about my support for the people of Gaza," Yousafzai wrote on X, the former Twitter. "We do not need to see more dead bodies, bombed schools and starving children to understand that a ceasefire is urgent and necessary."
She added: "I have and will continue to condemn the Israeli government for its violations of international law and war crimes."
Pakistan has seen many fiercely emotional pro-Palestinian protests since the war in Gaza began last October.
Yusafzai's "theatre collaboration with Hillary Clinton -- who stands for America's unequivocal support for genocide of Palestinians -- is a huge blow to her credibility as a human rights activist," popular Pakistani columnist Mehr Tarar wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
"I consider it utterly tragic."
Whilst Clinton has backed a military campaign to remove Hamas and rejected demands for a ceasefire, she has also explicitly called for protections for Palestinian civilians.
Yousafzai has publicly condemned the civilian casualties and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The New York Times reported the 26-year-old wore a red-and-black pin to the "Suffs" premier last Thursday, signifying her support for a ceasefire.
But author and academic Nida Kirmani said on X that Yousafzai's decision to partner with Clinton was "maddening and heartbreaking at the same time. What an utter disappointment."
The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of around 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Hamas also abducted 250 people and Israel estimates 129 of them remain in Gaza, including 34 who the military says are dead.
Clinton served as America's top diplomat during former president Barack Obama's administration, which oversaw a campaign of drone strikes targeting Taliban militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan's borderlands.
Yousafzai earned her Nobel Peace Prize after being shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban as she pushed for girls' education as a teenager in 2012.
However, the drone war killed and maimed scores of civilians in Yousafzai's home region, spurring more online criticism of the youngest Nobel Laureate, who earned the prize at 17.
Yousafzai is often viewed with suspicion in Pakistan, where critics accuse her of pushing a Western feminist and liberal political agenda on the conservative country.

World

Russia Vetoes UN Resolution Calling for Prevention of Dangerous Nuclear Arms Race in Space

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a press conference at the American Diplomacy House in Seoul Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a press conference at the American Diplomacy House in Seoul Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia Vetoes UN Resolution Calling for Prevention of Dangerous Nuclear Arms Race in Space

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a press conference at the American Diplomacy House in Seoul Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a press conference at the American Diplomacy House in Seoul Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)

Russia on Wednesday vetoed a UN resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, calling it “a dirty spectacle” that cherry picks weapons of mass destruction from all other weapons that should also be banned.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining, the Associated Press reported.
The resolution would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the US and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”
Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday echoed Thomas-Greenfield, reiterating that “the United States assesses that Russia is developing a new satellite carrying a nuclear device.” If Putin has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, Sullivan said, “Russia would not have vetoed this resolution.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the resolution as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” and said it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.
Russia and China proposed an amendment to the US-Japan draft that would call on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”
The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes required for adoption.
The US opposed the amendment, and after the vote Nebenzia addressed the US ambassador saying: “We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?”
He said much of the US and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the US and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons ... in outer space.”
Nebenzia accused the US of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.
Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”
She called Wednesday’s vote “a real missed opportunity to rebuild much-needed trust in existing arms control obligations.”
Thomas-Greenfield’s announcement of the resolution on March 18 followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the US.
Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”
It could destroy “thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend on,” she said.
The defeated draft resolution said “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.” It would have urged all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the UN Charter.
The draft would have affirmed that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”
The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries, including the US and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
The draft resolution emphasized “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”
It reiterated that the UN Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.
The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution would have urged the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”
At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the US project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the UN chief said.