List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

An eight-count indictment against Israeli professor and think tank co-founder Gal Luft appeared in a small, 137-word item on page 10 of the New York Post. Under the headline “Anti-Biden witness indicted”, it described Mr Luft, 57, as “a key figure in House Republicans' investigation of the Biden family” and said the charges against him are for “arms trafficking and conspiring to flout US sanctions on Iran”. It ended with a line about how Mr Luft claims the case is an attempt to stop him “testifying to Congress about allegations the first family received payments from individuals with ties to Chinese military intelligence and that the Bidens had an FBI mole who shared classified information with their Chinese benefactors”. The low-key treatment was a far cry from how the anti-Biden tabloid covered Mr Luft just days earlier, when Post columnist Miranda Devine – a frequent purveyor of conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter – wrote a column exclusively on a video on which Mr Luft claims he is being “hunted” by the FBI and facing “the rest of his life on the run”. Mr Luft’s dispatch to the Post came from parts unknown – as he has been a fugitive since February. He disappeared shortly after posting bail following his arrest by Cypriot authorities pursuant to an Interpol warrant on suspicion of arms trafficking. At the time, he tweeted that the arrest was part of a “politically motivated extradition request” by the US. “I've been arrested in Cyprus on a politically motivated extradition request by the US … claiming I'm an arms dealer. It would be funny if it weren't tragic. I've never been an arms dealer. DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe, Jim [and] Hunter Biden,” he said. Mr Luft’s Israeli lawyer, Mordechai Tzivin, told Ynet that his client was being targeted because he provided derogatory information about the Bidens to the FBI in 2019. The accusations "would be a good way to shut him up," Mr Tzivin said, “because he knows a lot of information on Hunter”. He added that it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that prominent Democrats would try to have his client killed. “If this would have happened in Russia, they would have carried out a 'diplomatic car crash,' but luckily, he is in a safe location where no one can hurt him,” he said. Despite Mr Luft’s claim that the arms charges coincide with his emergence as a figure in the Republican-led crusade to tar the Bidens with corruption allegations, it’s not clear from the public record that he ever said a word about Mr Biden or his son prior to his arrest. But the Israeli-American academic – who was once a Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Defense Forces and more recently served as co-director of the DC-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security – has been critical of US foreign policy since Mr Biden took office with the aim of restoring relations with America’s democratic allies. In January, his think tank released a report that accused the US of “pursuing illegal economic policies” by way of an "extremely trigger-happy" use of sanctions, most notably against Russia. And last year, he appeared on CNBC to criticise the Biden administration’s efforts to impose a worldwide oil price cap on Russian oil to keep Moscow from using petrodollars to finance the war in Ukraine. “It's kind of a ridiculous idea in my view,” Mr Luft said. "That's not how the oil market works," he said. "This is a very sophisticated market, you cannot force the prices down." He also spoke to the South China Morning Post in August last year about who the Chinese government would tap to lead its foreign ministry after that year’s Communist Party Congress and last September penned an op-ed for the same publication in which he complained that the Ukraine war had become “a quagmire” and ridiculed Mr Biden’s prediction that US sanctions would have an effect on Moscow’s economy. “To date, Russia’s economy has contracted by 4 per cent – a far cry from President Biden’s suggestion at the beginning of the war that it would halve. If anyone is nearing implosion, it is probably Europe’s heavily indebted economies, facing an unprecedented pre-winter energy crisis, inflation, deindustrialisation and a growing social unrest already causing fissures in the Western alliance,” he said. Indeed, the first mention of Mr Luft’s claims against the Bidens came in his February post-arrest tweet. And though Republicans have now embraced his claims to have been speaking out against the president and his family since 2019, there’s no evidence he voiced his alleged concerns to anyone, even though unproven claims about the Bidens have been a fast-track to stardom in GOP media circles since Donald Trump’s first impeachment. Based on that pattern, it might be reasonable to conclude that Mr Luft is hoping to garner himself enough goodwill in the GOP that, should he remain a fugitive, a future Republican president — perhaps Mr Trump — will pardon him. Read More ‘Whistleblower’ who accused Bidens of corruption is charged with arms trafficking and violating Iran sanctions GOP cries foul over spy charges for Biden ‘whistleblower’ Top Republicans are gearing up to investigate the Hunter Biden case. Here's what to know. Dems call for probe into whether Gal Luft made claims about Biden to help China Biden and Zelenskyy praise each other despite divisions over Ukraine war Finland's new finance minister apologizes for racist comments in 2008 blog post

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the NATO summit was successful in providing Ukraine with security commitments after softening his

A pair of top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are asking Chairman James Comer to look into whether the accused foreign agent who claims to be a “whistleblower” against President Joe Biden and his son was acting to further Chinese interests when he accused the Bidens of crimes. In a letter to Mr Comer, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Representative Daniel Goldman of New York expressed “concern” that the Oversight Committee “has been manipulated” by alleged arms dealer Gal Luft, who they described as “an apparent con man who, while a fugitive from justice, attempted to fortify his defense by laundering unfounded and potentially false allegations through Congres”. The alleged GOP whistleblower, an Israeli-American think tank founder, was indicted last November on charges that he allegedly trafficked arms, acted as a foreign agent for China and violated US sanctions on Iran. Mr Luft, who was arrested in February by Cypriot authorities, jumped bail while awaiting extradition to the US and has been on the run ever since. While he claims he is being persecuted by the federal government because he provided derogatory information about the Biden family to the FBI in a 2019 interview, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement that he “engaged in multiple, serious criminal schemes”. “He subverted foreign agent registration laws in the United States to seek to promote Chinese policies by acting through a former high-ranking U.S. Government official; he acted as a broker in deals for dangerous weapons and Iranian oil; and he told multiple lies about his crimes to law enforcement,” Mr Williams said. Mr Raskin and Mr Goldman noted that the false statement charges against Mr Luft “eviscerate” his credibility, even as Mr Comer has continued to call him “a very credible witness” despite the fact that Mr Luft remains a fugitive from justice. They also pointed out that Mr Luft is alleged to have lied to FBI agents during the same March 2019 interview at which he claims to have provided information to the bureau about Hunter Biden, and suggested that Mr Luft’s claims against the president and his son may be part of a Chinese-backed effort to undermine US interests and Mr Biden’s presidency. “It appears as if Mr. Luft sought ‘whistleblower’ status from you in an effort to defend himself from criminal prosecution while a fugitive from justice. Worse yet, this latest episode also raises concerns that Mr. Luft may be manipulating your investigation not only for his own self-interest but perhaps also in furtherance of the CCP’s efforts to undermine U.S. security interests and the President of the United States,” they said. “These recent revelations naturally raise broader concerns about the credibility and motivations of other purported whistleblowers that Congressional Republicans have relied on to support unfounded and baseless allegations. Sadly, the Luft episode severely undermines the credibility of the critical function of whistleblowers in this body”. The Democratic representatives called on Mr Comer to stop withholding documents relating to Mr Luft from members of the minority on the committee, and asked him to initiate an investigation into whether his panel has been manipulated by Mr Luft in service of a foreign power. “In order to protect the Congress’s institutional credibility and to reassure the American people that the CCP is not using Republicans’ investigations as a vehicle to undermine the United States government, we urge you to immediately initiate an investigation into whether the Committee may have been unwittingly duped by Mr. Luft in furtherance of the CCP’s interests, as well as any potentially false statements made by Mr. Luft to Members of Congress or congressional staff,” they said. Read More He claimed to have dirt on the Bidens. Now the DoJ say he’s a Chinese spy. Who is Gal Luft? GOP cries foul over spy charges for Biden ‘whistleblower’ ‘Whistleblower’ who accused Bidens of corruption is charged with arms trafficking and violating Iran sanctions DC promises a 'very, very robust' police presence to maintain public safety over July 4 holiday GOP had evidence disproving Biden bribery claims in 2019, top Democrat says Finland's new finance minister apologizes for racist comments in 2008 blog post

The Swiss franc jumped to the highest level against the dollar in over eight years after a softer-than-expected

A leveraged trade in US Treasury futures that has regained popularity with hedge funds poses a risk to

Traders betting the Bank of Canada will raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday are already scanning the

PresidentJoe Biden is set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today as world leaders gather for day two of a key Nato summit. The bilateral meeting, which will take place at 3.45pm local time (8.45am ET) in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, comes after Jake Sullivan warned that Ukraine’s entry into Nato membership would lead to “war with Russia”. “Every Nato ally, including the United States, needs to look squarely at the fact that admission to Ukraine into NATO at this juncture means war with Russia. That is an inescapable fact,” he told CNN on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Mr Zelensky slammed Nato leaders for not extending membership to Ukraine, calling the inaction “absurd” while Nato leaders – including Turkey – said they would happily welcome Sweden into the membership. Last week, Mr Biden said he thinks Ukraine is “not ready” for membership. Following the meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents, Mr Biden will deliver a speech to Nato leaders highlighting how the US and its allies are supporting Ukraine in the war. Preparation for this “big speech” was given as the reason behind Mr Biden’s decision to shun a dinner with Nato leaders on Tuesday night. Read More Biden will meet Zelensky at Nato summit in Lithuania as war with Russia rages on Palace insists King Charles didn’t mind when President Biden ‘broke protocol’ and patted him on back Awkward moment as King Charles appears to snap at Biden’s chat with Windsor Castle guard

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation ticked up by only 0.2 per cent in June and had its lowest 12-month increase in more than two years in a welcome turn of events for President Joe Biden. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers showed that inflation rose 0.2 per cent last month after it had only ticked up 0.1 per cent in May, in a sign that inflation is easing up. Meanwhile, the all-items index rose 3.0 per cent for the past twelve months ending in June, its lowest 12-month increase since March of 2021.

India’s retail inflation rose more than estimated in June on spiraling food prices, reaffirming expectations of a hawkish

Illumina Inc. was hit with a €432 million ($476 million) fine for acquiring cancer-test provider Grail Inc. before

Britain’s antitrust watchdog said that a new merger investigation into Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal

Far-right Rep Majorie Taylor Greene has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorisation Act that “directs the president to withdraw the US from Nato.” “They are not a reliable partner whose defense spending should be paid for by American citizens. For the better part of the last decade, Germany has contributed only around one per cent of its GDP to finance Nato obligations while the United States is paying around four per cent of our GDP to defend Nato countries,” Ms Greene said in announcing the amendment. She added that the US “has been financing and promising to defend Nato countries for decades and paying more than its fair share.” “Western European countries could and should be stepping up their financial contributions to ensure the security of Nato. Instead, they are entirely beholden to Russia and US taxpayers expected to foot the bill,” Ms Greene concluded. The Georgia congresswoman’s amendment comes the same day that President Joe Biden expressed the US’ “ironclad commitment to NATO” in a tweet amid a Nato summit in Lithuania. Earlier on Tuesday, Nato leaders wrote in a declaration that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” adding, “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met.” Read More Biden news – live: President skips Nato leadership dinner as White House blames ‘big speech’ prep Turkey's pledge of support for Sweden's NATO entry is tied to goals on security and EU membership Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner