WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort agreed Friday to cooperate in the Russia collusion investigation in a plea deal that left the White House looking increasingly under siege by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Manafort, who led Trump’s election operation at the height of the campaign in the middle of 2016, admitted reduced charges of conspiracy just days before he was to go on trial for money laundering, illegal lobbying and witness tampering.
The surprise deal brought to seven the number of people who have pleaded guilty in cases tied to Mueller’s 16 month old investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
It suggested that Mueller is getting ever closer to Trump, his family and top staff in an operation that many speculate could generate an impeachment motion against the president.
The White House though insisted Manafort’s admission of guilt, in charges that mainly related to his work in Ukraine for the decade before the 2016 election, was wholly unconnected to the president.
“This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. It is totally unrelated,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The Manafort deal came three weeks after Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen implicated the president directly as he pleaded guilty in New York to charges of campaign finance violations, related to buying the silence of women who allegedly had affairs with Trump.
“I plead guilty,” the 69 year old veteran Republican political consultant told the court after being read the charges against him.
He faces a prison term of up to 10 years, and will see millions of dollars worth of real estate and financial accounts seized by US authorities.
Manafort attorney Kevin Downing said his client had agreed to cooperate to “protect his family.”
“He has accepted responsibility for conduct that dates back many years,” Downing added.
Manafort’s plea deal avoids a potentially explosive trial that could embarrass the president and his Republican Party during the seven weeks before hotly contested national elections on November 6.
But it also demonstrated the rapid progress Mueller is making in the sprawling investigation.
Last week George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to the 2016 campaign whose contacts with Russians set off the original collusion investigation, was sentenced to 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI. His sentencing had been held up for nearly a year while he cooperated with investigators.
Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also pleaded guilty for lying, is still cooperating in the probe as he awaits sentencing.
Manafort was already convicted in a separate jury trial on eight counts related to financial fraud in August.
Those charges, as well as the two counts covered in Friday’s plea deal, derived from his work for former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow political party between about 2005 and 2014.
Prosecutors said Manafort acted illegally as a lobbyist for Yanukovych, laundered more than $30 million into the United States, and bilked the government of $15 million in taxes.
Yet Manafort could have inside information on the Trump campaign’s suspect interactions with Russians from his nearly six months with the campaign in the middle of 2016.
US intelligence chiefs say Moscow interfered in the election extensively in order to help Trump defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Documents submitted in his first trial showed Manafort maintained his own Ukraine and Russia contacts during the campaign, including with a longtime Ukraine aide who US intelligence says has close ties to Moscow’s powerful GRU spy agency.
In addition, Manafort was present at a meeting held by campaign executives, including Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer who had offered them “dirt” on Clinton.
That meeting is now a key focus of the Mueller investigation.
Trump has repeatedly spoken out in Manafort’s defense — while also seeking to distance himself from his onetime associate.
“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family,” he tweeted in August, one day after Manafort’s first conviction. “Unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ — make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’“
After that verdict, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed to The New York Times that he and the president had discussed the possibility of a pardon for Manafort, and the political fallout that could follow.
“He really thinks Manafort has been horribly treated,” Giuliani told the Times.
Ex-Trump aide Manafort to cooperate in Russia probe
Ex-Trump aide Manafort to cooperate in Russia probe
- Manafort, who led Trump’s election operation at the height of the campaign in the middle of 2016, admitted reduced charges of conspiracy
- The surprise deal brought to seven the number of people who have pleaded guilty in cases tied to Robert Mueller’s 16 month old investigation
Asian countries mark 20 years since the world’s deadliest tsunami
- Indonesia launched its early tsunami warning system in the aftermath of the 2004 disasters
- Its westernmost Aceh province was the hardest-hit, with some 170,000 people killed
JAKARTA: Herman Wiharta began that Sunday morning like many 11-year-olds would on a weekend: watching cartoon shows on TV.
But at around 8 a.m., he felt the powerful tremors from a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, which then triggered the tsunami that inundated the coastline of more than a dozen countries and killed some 230,000 people.
Wiharta, now 31, recalled his brother calling out to him to leave their house in Banda Aceh minutes after the quake and how they had attempted to run to safety. He remembered hearing people scream about the rising sea water before he himself was swept away by a giant wave.
“I lost consciousness when the wave hit me and I woke up on a roof, confused. Thankfully, my brother and sister were also on that roof,” he told Arab News.
“We were able to see just how black the water was from that spot, how strong the currents were. The water was about 4 to 5 meters high; cars and motorbikes were floating, and I could see bodies being swept away by the currents, too. It was terrifying.”
The tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 quickly escalated into a global disaster, with some 1.7 million displaced.
The brunt of the tsunami was felt in Indonesia, where almost 170,000 people perished. The country’s westernmost province of Aceh was the hardest-hit of all, while Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were among the worst-affected countries.
“It was impossible to sleep that night. We could still hear people screaming for help and the dogs were howling. Everything was just so eerie. The disasters happened so quickly, but they were deeply traumatizing,” Wiharta said.
“It was even worse the day after. We could see bloated human and animal corpses, and the smell was just terrible. I can still picture that scene in my mind to this day.”
Across Asia on Thursday, people attended ceremonies and memorials held to mark 20 years since the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
Coastal communities were united in grief as they also commemorated how far they had come after two decades of rebuilding and regrouping.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people were killed, survivors and relatives gathered in the coastal village of Peraliya to remember the 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
In Thailand, where half of the death toll of 5,000 were foreign tourists, commemorations were held in Ban Nam Khem, the country’s worst-hit village. People laid flowers and wreaths at a wall curved in the shape of a tsunami, which also bears plaques with the names of the victims.
In India, where around 20,000 people perished, women led the rituals held at Pattinapakkam beach in Chennai, where they lit candles and offered flowers for the victims.
In Banda Aceh city, an official ceremony held at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque began with a three-minute-long siren at the exact time the major earthquake caused giant waves. People also gathered for prayers at the city’s mass graves — Ulee Lheue and Siron — where thousands of unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried.
In the years since, infrastructure across Aceh has been rebuilt and is now stronger to withstand major disasters. Early warning systems have also been set up in areas closer to shores, to warn residents of a potential tsunami.
Indonesia’s early tsunami warning system was launched only in 2008 in the aftermath of the disasters, said Daryono, the head of the earthquake and tsunami center at Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency.
“Before the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami … there were too many people who did not understand the threat, or the danger and risks of a tsunami,” Daryono told Arab News.
“But what happened in 2004 became a starting point to raise awareness on earthquake and tsunami mitigation and also to develop high-tech monitoring for earthquakes and early tsunami warning systems.”
Yet Aceh resident Wiharta was concerned with the direction of development in the province, particularly on the beaches of Aceh Besar district where many new cafes have been popping up in recent years.
“It’s important not to cut down the trees for the sake of building these cafes. It’s better to plant more trees, especially mangroves, so that they can help defend against potential tsunamis,” he said.
“I think the early warning systems also need to be fixed or reset to make sure that they are properly working for early evacuations, since many are either broken or stolen.”
Record number of migrants lost at sea bound for Spain in 2024: NGO
- The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands
MADRID: At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an NGO said Thursday, more than 50 percent more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.
The 58-percent increase includes 1,538 children and 421 women, migrants rights group Caminando Fronteras or Walking Borders said in a report which covers the period from January 1 to December 5, 2024.
It amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.
The group compiles its data from hotlines set up for migrants on vessels in trouble to call for help, families of migrants who went missing and from official rescue statistics.
It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths.
“These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.
The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.
The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, which has received a record number of migrants for the second year in a row.
Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X.
At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of strong currents.
Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three major European gateways for migrant arrivals.
According to the interior ministry, 60,216 migrants entered Spain irregularly between January 1 and December 15 — a 14.5 percent increase over the same time last year.
The majority, over 70 percent, landed in the Canaries.
Pope Francis opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison
- Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday
- A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon
ROME: Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff.
Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the Holy Year, to show that “hope does not disappoint.”
“In bad moments, we can all think that everything is over,” said the pontiff. “Do not lose hope. This is the message I wanted to give you. Do not lose hope.”
Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. This Jubilee, dedicated to the theme of hope, will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
Holy Years normally occur every 25 years, and usually involve the opening in Rome of four special “Holy Doors,” which symbolize the door of salvation for Catholics. The doors, located at the papal basilicas in Rome, are only open during Jubilee years.
The Vatican said the opening of the “Holy Door” at Rome’s Rebibbia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips.
China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’
- The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year
BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry on Thursday urged the Philippines to return to “peaceful development,” saying Manila’s decision to deploy a US medium-range missile system in military exercises would only bring the risks of an arms race in the region.
The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Typhon’s deployment for joint exercises was “legitimate, legal and beyond reproach.” Army chief Roy Galido said on Monday that the Philippines was also planning to acquire its own mid-range missile system.
Rivalry between China and the Philippines has grown in recent years over their competing claims in the South China Sea. Longtime treaty allies Manila and Washington have also deepened military ties, further ratcheting up tensions.
“By cooperating with the United States in the introduction of Typhon, the Philippine side has surrendered its own security and national defense to others and introduced the risk of geopolitical confrontation and an arms race in the region, posing a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry.
“We once again advise the Philippine side that the only correct choice for safeguarding its security is to adhere to strategic autonomy, good neighborliness and peaceful development,” Mao told reporters at a regular press conference.
China will never sit idly by if its security interests were threatened, she added.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which is also claimed by several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.
Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs
- The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services
MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
On Dec. 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service killed Lt. Gen. Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow outside his apartment building by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Russia said the killing was a terrorist attack by Ukraine, with which it has been at war since February 2022, and vowed revenge.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has prevented a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking military personnel of the Defense Ministry,” the FSB said.
“Four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of these attacks have been detained,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine’s SBU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services.
One of the men retrieved a bomb disguised as a portable charger in Moscow that was to be attached with magnets to the car of one of the Defense Ministry’s top officials, the FSB said.
Another Russian man was tasked with reconnaissance of senior Russian defense officials, it said, with one plot involving the delivery of a bomb disguised as a document folder.
“An explosive device disguised as a portable charger (power bank), with magnets attached, had to be placed under the official car of one of the senior leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it said.
The exact date of the planned attacks was unclear though one of the suspects said he had retrieved a bomb on Dec. 23, according to the FSB.
Russian state TV showed what it said was footage of some of the suspects who admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence for bombings against Russian defense ministry officials.
Moscow holds Ukraine responsible for a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil designed to weaken morale — and says the West is supporting a “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, was killed in August 2022 near Moscow. The New York Times reported that
US intelligence agencies
believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the killing.
US officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said. Ukraine denied it killed Dugina.
