MOSCOW: The little-known professor suspected of being a link between Russia and the Donald Trump campaign made repeated visits to Russia in recent years, including participating in conferences at a Russian think tank favored by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Joseph Mifsud, who has been identified as the unnamed London professor who offered to set up meetings with Russian officials who could provide “thousands of emails” with damaging information about Trump’s rival, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is a vocal Putin backer with ties to several important institutions in Russia.
He has visited Russia at least once a year since 2014, most recently in September, online postings on Russian academic sites show, and has taken part in events at the Valdai Discussion Club favored by the Russian leader and lectured at Moscow State University.
In the US court document laying out the case against former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Mifsud is not identified by name and is referred to only as a “London professor” who met repeatedly with Papadopoulos and offered to set up meetings with Russian officials who could provide dirt on Clinton. However, a comparison of court papers and Papadopoulos’ email correspondence obtained by The Associated Press confirm Mifsud is the professor.
Mifsud, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, did not respond to phone calls and emails from the AP seeking comment. But he told The Telegraph newspaper that he is indeed the “London professor” in the case and says his conscience is clear.
Papadopoulos, 30, has pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI. He is not contesting the facts laid out in the court documents, calling them “true and accurate,” and is now cooperating with the FBI — and has been doing so for several months, raising the prospect that he has agreed to surreptitiously record conversations with people involved with the Russian government and the Trump campaign.
While Mifsud appears to have extensive ties to several important institutions in Russia, the Maltese national’s academic credentials in Britain are far hazier.
He holds a professorial teaching position in the politics department at the University of Stirling in Scotland, according to officials there who said he took up the post in May. However, he is not named on the university’s list of experts and the university press office refused to say how often he is on campus, where a reporter on the student newspaper said he does not even maintain an office.
“There is no evidence Professor Mifsud has even been to the university since joining the staff in May,” said Craig Munro, a reporter at the campus newspaper, Brignews. “He doesn’t have an office here and is based in London. We haven’t been able to find a single student who has met with Professor Mifsud or attended any lectures by him at Stirling.”
Prominent British academics also say they have had little or no contact with Mifsud.
“I’ve never heard of him,” said Robin Niblett, the veteran director of Chatham House, the prominent London think tank.
Nor has Niblett heard of the now-defunct London Academy of Diplomacy, where Mifsud is said to have served as “honorary director” before it closed, according to his biography, or the London Center of International Law Practice, where Mifsud is listed as director of international strategic development.
“He seems to be a classic case of someone floating around on the fringes of the academic world and the think-tanky world without landing anywhere,” Niblett said. “It would strike me that most of these positions are not paid, which raises questions. No doubt Russia cultivates certain academics. There’s no reason to assume he was consciously part of a disinformation operation, but he may have been unwittingly used for that purpose.”
According to the US court documents, Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos to a woman referred to as a “female Russian national,” whom he falsely presented as Putin’s niece and who he said could serve as a potential link to the Russian government.
There is evidence of Mifsud’s ties to several key Russian institutions.
He took part in events at the Putin-linked Valdai think tank in April 2016 that dealt with “What Russian Can Do to Bridge Saudi-Iranian Differences” and “Main Trends and Scenarios of the Global Energy Development.”
In 2012, Mifsud was instrumental in establishing a partnership between the now defunct London Academy of Diplomacy and the Faculty of Global Processes at the Moscow State University, according to the faculty’s website.
On behalf of the academy, Mifsud signed a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Moscow State University faculty in 2014 calling for shared research, student and teacher exchanges, the establishment of joint advanced degree programs, and a commitment to hold conferences together and to publish joint research.
Mifsud has also lectured at the Moscow university and frequently moderated its panels. A report on Mifsud’s 2014 visit on the faculty’s website featured a picture of him trying on a T-shirt and a baseball cap with the faculty’s symbols.
The next year, Mifsud joined dozens of people along with several Russian officials and prominent academics in signing a note congratulating the faculty on its 10th anniversary.
His most recent visit to Russia appears to have been in late September when he moderated panels at the faculty’s two-day Global Studies Conference.
He is also credited with helping Moscow State University set up an educational center in conjunction with Link Campus University, a private university based in Italy.
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Katz reported from London. Associated Press writers Paul Kelbie in Stirling, Scotland, and Chad Day in Washington contributed to this report.
‘London professor’ in Trump case made many Russia trips
‘London professor’ in Trump case made many Russia trips
Kashmir’s ‘bee queen’ sets out to empower women, inspire youth
- Sania Zehra manages about 600 bee colonies, sells products across India
- She created an empowerment group to help aspiring women entrepreneurs
NEW DELHI: For the past four years, beekeeping has become central to Sania Zehra’s life. Every morning, she wakes at about 6 a.m. to tend to her colonies, before spending the rest of the day building the enterprise that turned her into the “bee queen” of Kashmir.
Her beekeeping journey began as a 16-year-old, watching her father hard at work at the family farm in Balhama in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“I first saw my grandfather working with the bees, and then I saw my father doing the same business. When I saw my father working hard, I decided to also contribute and support him,” Zehra told Arab News.
She overcame her initial fear of bee stings and got to work immediately, applying for a government scheme that allowed her to expand the business.
It was not always smooth sailing — she struggled to make a profit in the first couple of years and had to juggle maintaining the hectic routine of beekeeping and selling her products.
But as her hard work of managing hundreds of colonies garnered her the “bee queen” title, today her products are being sold across the country.
“I am selling my product across India (and) I am getting orders from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Dubai, South Africa, Qatar and all,” Zehra said.
Beekeeping is a multi-pronged passion for the 20-year-old, who sees it as a way to protect the environment and preserve her family legacy.
She joins an increasing number of women in Kashmir who are running their own businesses, many of whom access government programs aimed at training and supporting women entrepreneurs.
Despite the social barriers that persist to this day, Zehra found support from her family, especially her mother.
“My mother supports me wholeheartedly. She says ‘I have sons but you have gone ahead of the boys and there is nothing that can stop a woman if she wants to,’” she said.
“For me, it’s a passion as well as a desire to carry the family legacy … I have been fascinated by bees’ social structure and the importance of bees in our ecosystem. I want to contribute to their conversation and produce natural honey and connect with nature. They are an inspiration for me.”
As time went by, she found that beekeeping was not only therapeutic for her mental health but also a way to support the entrepreneurial landscape in Kashmir.
To fuel that mission, Zehra created an empowerment group whose members comprise talented women who lack access to resources.
“My main focus is that I should act as a catalyst for many and help others to grow too,” she said.
With 40 members so far, Zehra is aiming to take it to 100 and help them gain access to the government initiatives that once helped her.
“I want to give employment to all,” Zehra said. “I have a future plan to address the unemployment issue in Kashmir and make Kashmir a wonderful place. I want to inspire young people.”
Heat wave leads to warnings of potentially devastating wildfires in southern Australia
- The largest uncontained fire is located in the Grampians National Park and has burnt through 55,000 hectares so far
- But there were many residential properties on the fringes of the fire that could come under threat
NEWCASTLE, Australia: Communities and firefighters across Australia’s second-most populous state were preparing Thursday for potentially devastating wildfires as a heat wave fanned by erratic winds presented the worst fire conditions in several years.
With temperatures in Victoria state reaching 37 degrees Celsius and with wind changes expected throughout the day, fire chiefs have issued stark warnings to rural communities to delay travel or leave their homes and seek safety at shelters.
Several fires are currently burning out of control across the state and Victoria deputy premier Ben Carroll said the possibility for further fires in the coming days was likely.
“Dangerous fire conditions are forming today and will go right through to Saturday,” he said at a press conference in Melbourne. “New fires can start anywhere and become dangerous very quickly.
The largest uncontained fire is located in the Grampians National Park and has burnt through 55,000 hectares so far, but no homes have reported to have been lost.
However, Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said there were many residential properties on the fringes of the fire that could come under threat.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if we do have residential losses,” Nugent said. “Firefighters, I can say, are doing everything possible to protect life and protect property.”
An emergency warning was issued by fire authorities for the small town of Mafeking, 260 kilometers (160 miles) west of Melbourne, on Thursday.
Residents there were told “you are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately, as it is too late to leave.”
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported around 100 personnel from other Australian states are now in Victoria to assist local firefighters battling the blazes. Firefighters are being assisted by scores of water-bombing aircraft.
Parts of neighboring South Australia and New South Wales states are also on high alert due to the heat wave and elevated fire risks.
The hot, dry conditions are being compared to the Black Summer fires that gripped Australia’s two most populous states for months in 2019-20 and burned through 104 thousand square kilometers, an area roughly the size of Ohio, and destroyed thousands of homes and killed 33 people.
New York taxi jumps sidewalk outside Macy’s on Christmas Day, injuring 7
- Cab driver suffered a medical episode, police said on Wednesday
- The store is a magnet for tourists and native New Yorkers around the holidays
The incident took place in Midtown Manhattan near Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square near the corner of West 34th Street and Avenue of the Americas, or Sixth Avenue. The store, with its elaborately decorated display windows, is a magnet for tourists and native New Yorkers around the holidays.
In addition to the 58-year-old taxi driver, the injured included a 9-year-old boy, two women aged 49 and three other women aged 19, 37 and 41, police added.
One 49-year-old woman with a leg injury, the 9-year-old boy who suffered a cut and the 41-year-old woman who sustained an injury to her head were taken to hospital, police said.
The remaining three pedestrians declined medical attention, according to police, which added that all the injuries were non-life-threatening.
Media images of the cab showed a heavily damaged vehicle with broken parts and dents all over it.
NBC New York cited law enforcement sources as saying that the boy and his mother who were wounded were visiting New York City from Australia. The report added that no charges had been filed and a probe into the crash was ongoing.
India readies for 400 million pilgrims at mammoth Kumbh Mela festival
- The millennia-old sacred show of religious piety and ritual bathing is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet
PRAYAGRAJ, India: Beside India’s holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space, the largest gathering in history.
Line after line of pontoon bridges span the rivers at Prayagraj, as Indian authorities prepare for 400 million pilgrims – more than the combined population of the United States and Canada – during the six-week-long Kumbh Mela.
The millennia-old sacred show of religious piety and ritual bathing is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
But this edition from January 13 to February 26 is expected to be a mega draw, as it is set to coincide with a special alignment of the planets.
Beads of sweat glisten on laborer Babu Chand’s forehead as he digs a trench for seemingly endless electrical cables, one of an army of workers toiling day and night at a venue sprawling over 4,000 hectares (15 square miles).
“So many devotees are going to come,” 48-year-old Chand said, who says he is working for a noble cause for the mela, or fair.
“I feel I am contributing my bit – what I am doing seems like a pious act.”
A humongous tent city, two-thirds the area of Manhattan, is being built on the floodplains of Prayagraj, formerly called Allahabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
“Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” said Vivek Chaturvedi, the spokesman for the festival.
Preparing for the Kumbh is like setting up a new country, requiring roads, lighting, housing and sewerage.
“What makes this event unique is its magnitude and the fact that no invitations are sent to anybody... Everyone comes on their own, driven by pure faith,” Chaturvedi said.
“Nowhere in the world will you see a gathering of this size, not even one-tenth of it.”
Around 1.8 million Muslims take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
The Kumbh numbers, according to Chaturvedi, are mind-boggling.
Some 150,000 toilets have been built, 68,000 LED lighting poles have been erected, and community kitchens can feed up to 50,000 people at the same time.
Alongside religious preparations, Prayagraj has undergone a major infrastructure overhaul, and huge posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath dot the city.
Both are from the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with politics and religion deeply intertwined.
The Kumbh Mela is an ancient celebration, with its origins rooted in Hindu mythology.
Hindus believe that taking a dip in Sangam, the confluence of the rivers, will cleanse them of their sins and help them attain “moksha,” setting them free from the cycle of birth and death.
According to legends, deities and demons fought over a pitcher – or “kumbh” – containing the nectar of immortality.
During the battle, four drops fell to Earth.
One drop landed in Prayagraj.
The others fell at Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain – the three other cities where the rotating Kumbh Mela is held on other years.
But the one in Prayagraj – held every 12 years – is the largest.
Organizing authorities are calling it the great, or “Maha” Kumbh Mela.
The last Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in 2019 saw 240 million devotees, according to authorities – but that was the smaller “Ardh” or half festival, spaced in between the main event.
“When you talk about the Kumbh, you have to talk about astronomy,” said historian Heramb Chaturvedi, 69.
“Jupiter transits one zodiac sign in a single year,” he added. “Therefore, when it completes 12 zodiac signs, then it is Kumbh.”
Core to celebrations is giving alms to the “wise and learned, the poor and the needy,” he said.
Some pilgrims have already arrived, including naked naga sadhus – wandering monks who have walked for weeks from the remote mountains and forests where they are usually devoted to meditation.
They will lead the dawn charge into the chilly river waters on the six most auspicious bathing dates, starting with the first on January 13.
“I have come here to give my blessings to the public,” 90-year-old naga sadhu Digambar Ramesh Giri, naked with dread-locked hair in a bun, said.
“Whatever you long for in your heart you get at Kumbh.”
Bride, groom, spy: India’s wedding detectives
- As more Indian marry for love, families engage sleuths with high-tech spy tools to investigate prospective partners
- Some families want background checks while partners after marriage use spies to confirm a suspected affair
NEW DELHI: From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives — a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage.
The tradition of partners being carefully selected by the two families remains hugely popular, but in a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches.
So for some families, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner but a sleuth like Paliwal with high-tech spy tools to investigate the prospective partner.
Sheela, an office worker in New Delhi, said that when her daughter announced she wanted to marry her boyfriend, she immediately hired Paliwal.
“I had a bad marriage,” said Sheela, whose name has been changed as her daughter remains unaware her fiance was spied on.
“When my daughter said she’s in love, I wanted to support her — but not without proper checks.”
Paliwal, 48, who founded her Tejas Detective Agency more than two decades ago, says business is better than ever.
Her team handles around eight cases monthly.
In one recent case — a client checking her prospective husband — Paliwal discovered a decimal point salary discrepancy.
“The man said he earns around $70,700 annually,” Paliwal said. “We found out he was actually making $7,070.”
It is discreet work. Paliwal’s office is tucked away in a city mall, with an innocuous sign board saying it houses an astrologer — a service families often use to predict an auspicious wedding date.
“Sometimes my clients also don’t want people to know they are meeting a detective,” she laughed.
Hiring a detective can cost from $100 to $2,000, depending on the extent of surveillance needed.
That is a small investment for families who splash out many times more on the wedding itself.
It is not just worried parents trying to vet their prospective sons or daughters-in-law.
Some want background checks on their future spouse — or, after marriage, to confirm a suspected affair.
“It is a service to society,” said Sanjay Singh, a 51-year-old sleuth, who says his agency has handled “hundreds” of pre-matrimonial investigations this year alone.
Private eye Akriti Khatri said around a quarter of cases at her Venus Detective Agency were pre-marriage checks.
“There are people who want to know if the groom is actually gay,” she said, citing one example.
Arranged marriages binding two entire families together require a chain of checks before the couple even talk.
That includes financial probes and, crucially, their status in India’s millennia-old caste hierarchy.
Marriages breaking rigid caste or religious divisions can have deadly repercussions, sometimes resulting in so-called “honor” killings.
In the past, such premarital checks were often done by family members, priests or professional matchmakers.
But breakneck urbanization in sprawling megacities has shaken social networks, challenging conventional ways of verifying marriage proposals.
Arranged marriages now also happen online through matchmaking websites, or even dating apps.
“Marriage proposals come on Tinder too,” added Singh.
The job is not without its challenges.
Layers of security in guarded modern apartment blocks mean it is often far harder for an agent to gain access to a property than older standalone homes.
Singh said detectives had to rely on their charm to tell a “cock and bull story” to enter, saying his teams tread the grey zone between “legal and illegal.”
But he stressed his agents operate on the right side of the law, ordering his teams to do “nothing unethical” while noting investigations often mean “somebody’s life is getting ruined.”
Technology is on the side of the sleuths.
Khatri has used tech developers to create an app for her agents to upload records directly online — leaving nothing on agents’ phones, in case they are caught.
“This is safer for our team,” she said, adding it also helped them “get sharp results in less time and cost.”
Surveillance tools starting at only a few dollars are readily available.
Those include audio and video recording devices hidden in everyday items such as mosquito repellent socket devices, to more sophisticated magnetic GPS car trackers or tiny wearable cameras.
The technology boom, Paliwal said, has put relationships under pressure.
“The more hi-tech we become, the more problems we have in our lives,” she said.
But she insisted that neither the technology nor the detectives should take the blame for exposing a cheat.
“Such relationships would not have lasted anyway,” she said. “No relationship can work on the basis of lies.”
