WASHINGTON: The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations.
The three accused hackers were employed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and their operation also targeted a broad swath of targets, including government officials, members of the media and non-governmental organizations, the Justice Department said.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Multiple major news organizations that said they were leaked confidential information from inside the Trump campaign, including Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post, declined to publish it.
US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. They said the hack-and-dump operation was meant to sow discord, exploit divisions within American society and potentially influence the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests.”
Last week, officials also revealed that the Iranians in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails containing excerpts of the hacked information to people associated with the Biden campaign. None of the recipients replied. The Harris campaign said the emails resembled spam or a phishing attempt and condemned the outreach to the Iranians as “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalate attacks against each other, raising concerns about the prospect of an all-out war, and as US officials say they continue to track physical threats by Iran against a number of officials including Trump.
Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
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Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
- US intelligence officials subsequently linked Iran to a hack of the Trump campaign and to an attempted breach of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign
- The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran
Kenyans put their president on notice over broken campaign promises, corruption and violence
NAIROBI: Kenyans disaffected with President William Ruto hold placards proclaiming “WANTAM,” a sensational slogan distilling their efforts to disgrace him as a “one-term” leader. They stick their index fingers in the air, saying Ruto must vacate the presidency when his term expires in 2027.
For others who want him gone only three years after he was elected, even that’s a long time.
Kenya’s fifth president became a remarkably unpopular leader barely two years into his presidency after proposing aggressive tax measures that many saw as a betrayal of his campaign promise to support working-class people. Ruto said new taxes were necessary to keep the government running.
Protests intensify
Ruto survived the tax-protest movement last year as thousands of young people took to the streets in an unsuccessful attempt to force his resignation. In the most violent incident that left at least 22 people dead, protesters sacked and attempted to burn the parliamentary building in the capital, Nairobi. Ruto said that would never happen again.
Ruto now faces a new wave of protests provoked most recently by the death of a blogger in police custody. Many Kenyans saw the incident as symptomatic of bad rule in Kenya, with the president firmly in control of the legislature and security apparatus.
“He has control of the institutions, but he doesn’t have control of the people,” said Karuti Kanyinga, an analyst and professor of development studies at the University of Nairobi. He noted Ruto suffers such “a low level of public confidence” that he is probably the most hated man in Kenya.
Ruto likely will stay in power until 2027, but “violence will continue to deepen” as young people, opposition politicians and others try to make an example of him in an escalating campaign to reform Kenya’s government, Kanyinga warned.
Public discontent
Protesters say they want to rid the government of corruption, marked by theft of public resources and the seemingly extravagant lifestyles of politicians. Some disparage Ruto as “Zakayo,” referring to the biblical tax collector Zacchaeus, and others call him “mwizi,” Kiswahili for thief.
The demonstrators also are inflamed by what they see as incessant deal-making under Ruto, who last year was forced to terminate an agreement worth an estimated $2 billion that would have seen Kenya’s main airport controlled by the Indian conglomerate Adani Group.
That deal, which became public months after security forces violently quelled anti-tax protests, reignited public discontent and reinforced a view of Ruto as unrepentant and unwilling to listen to his people.
To a degree rare for an African leader, Ruto constantly speaks about efforts to expand the tax base. His negotiations for new debt with the International Monetary Fund have drawn criticism from those who say proposed reforms will hurt poor people while benefitting politicians and the business class.
Last year, he told Harvard Business School’s Class of 2025 that he wasn’t going to preside over “a bankrupt country.”
Protesters are “not feeling heard and there’s a sense that things have not really changed since the protests last year,” said Meron Elias, an analyst in Kenya with the International Crisis Group. “There’s a lot of grief and bitterness from last year’s protest that is also feeding into current tensions.”
Peter Kairu, a 21-year-old student, agreed, saying he didn’t expect the government to address issues of corruption and nepotism raised by the protesters.
“Until we ourselves become the change we want,” he said.
Eileen Muga, who is unemployed in Nairobi, expressed safety concerns about disappearing “the moment you say something about the government.”
After thousands of people marched in Nairobi last week to mark the anniversary of the previous year’s anti-tax protests, Ruto said he was not going anywhere, warning if there was no Kenya for him, that also would be the case for others.
“If we go this route, we will not have a country,” he said of the protest movement. “Yes, and the country does not belong to William Ruto. The country belongs to all of us. And if there’s no country for William Ruto, there’s no country for you.”
The speech was characteristic of Ruto and underscored why many Kenyans are afraid of him even as they try to challenge him.
Kipchumba Murkomen, Ruto’s interior minister, has also spoken forcefully against protesters, saying they will be dealt with harshly.
A history of political maneuvering
Years ago, as Kenya’s deputy president, Ruto outmaneuvered his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, in a bad-tempered power struggle that the president lost.
Photos sometimes showed Ruto glowering over Kenyatta. The local press reported an incident when Ruto was so angry with his boss that he felt he wanted to slap him. The two embodied a close, almost brotherly relationship in their first term but quickly fell out at the beginning of their second when Kenyatta tried to dismantle Ruto’s sway over the official bureaucracy.
Ruto won the 2022 presidential election by a narrow margin, defeating opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had Kenyatta’s backing. Ruto has since co-opted Odinga, drawing him close as a political ally but also eliminating a potential rival in the next election.
Ruto fell out with his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, within the first two years of the presidency. In October, legislators with the ruling party impeached Gachagua in a parliamentary process Ruto said he had nothing to do with. Gachagua insisted lawmakers were acting at Ruto’s instigation.
Ruto did to Gachagua what Kenyatta chose not to do to Ruto, and some saw Gachagua’s removal as yet another sign that Ruto is intolerant and can’t be trusted, political analyst Macharia Munene said.
When he ran for president, Ruto positioned himself as an outsider and rallied for electoral support as the leader of a so-called “hustler nation,” a campaign that he said would economically empower ordinary Kenyans.
The strategy appealed to millions struggling with joblessness and inequality. Informal traders, passenger motorcyclists and market women were often among his supporters. Ruto also aligned himself with the evangelical Christian movement, often seen carrying a Bible and preaching at pulpits.
After taking office, Ruto spoke of an urgent need to make Kenya’s debt sustainable. The tax hikes in a controversial finance bill came months later. He also removed the fuel subsidies that many Kenyans had come to take for granted.
“I think it’s a question of overpromising and underdelivering,” said attorney Eric Nakhurenya, a government policy analyst. “That’s why Kenyans are angry.”
Afghans both hopeful, disappointed after Russia’s Taliban recognition
- Russia became the first country to acknowledge the Taliban authorities on Thursday
- Move hailed as an opening for deeper cooperation, notably in economic and security arenas
KABUL: Russia’s decision to formally recognize the Taliban government has been seen as an opening for a stronger economy by some Afghans, while others were skeptical that it would improve their lot.
Russia became the first country to acknowledge the Taliban authorities on Thursday, after a gradual building of ties that included removing their “terrorist organization” designation and accepting an ambassador in recent months.
The Taliban authorities had not been recognized by any state in the nearly four years since sweeping to power in 2021, ousting the foreign-backed government as US-led troops withdrew after a two-decade war.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and in a fragile recovery from four decades of conflict.
“With the current situation in Afghanistan, with all the challenges, everyone is worried. If the world recognizes Afghanistan, we will be happy, currently, even the tiniest thing matters,” Gul Mohammad, 58, said on Friday in the capital Kabul.
Despite having bitter memories of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, when he “lost everything” and became a refugee in Pakistan, he acknowledges that “the priorities are different now.”
Jamaluddin Sayar, 67, predicted that “trade and economic prosperity will now blossom.”
The retired pilot said other countries, “both western and eastern,” should recognize the government and “stop spreading propaganda against the Islamic Emirate,” using the Taliban authorities’ name for their administration.
Russian and Afghan officials praised the move as an opening for deeper cooperation, notably in economic and security arenas.
Security concerns have been a key avenue for coordination between the Taliban authorities and the international community, amid fears Afghanistan would become fertile ground for increased militant activity.
The authorities have prioritized security and made repeated assurances that Afghan soil would not be used by any group to plan attacks on other nations.
However, Pakistan’s ties with the Taliban authorities have been strained over a surge in militant activity since their takeover and last year, an attack claimed by the Daesh group’s branch in Afghanistan killed 137 people in a Moscow concert hall.
In a country where dissent and protest is tightly controlled, some Kabul residents were afraid to openly criticize the Taliban authorities.
Atef, not his real name, was unconvinced better relations between Afghanistan and Russia would improve the livelihoods of ordinary Afghans.
“I think Afghanistan will fall into the traps of the Russians again, the issues and challenges will increase, and there is nothing that can help ordinary people,” the unemployed 25-year-old said.
“People are struggling, and they will still struggle with or without the recognition.”
For Afghan women’s rights activists, particularly those who have advocated for isolating the Taliban government, the recognition was seen as a setback that “legitimizes” restrictions on women.
The Taliban authorities, who also ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, have again imposed an austere version of Islamic law.
Norway-based Afghan women’s rights activist Hoda Khamosh was defiant against the impact of the Russian move.
“Human rights organizations right now are trying to recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan because the Taliban are a repressive regime against women,” she said.
“Therefore, these recognitions will not lead to anything.”
Search continues after Pakistan building collapse kills 14
- Residential block in the impoverished Lyari neighborhood of Karachi crumbled Friday morning
- Area was once plagued by gang violence and considered one of the most dangerous areas in Pakistan
KARACHI: Rescue teams pulled more bodies from the rubble of a five-story building collapse in Pakistan overnight, taking the toll on Saturday to 14 as the recovery operation continued for a second day.
The residential block crumbled shortly after 10:00 a.m. on Friday in the impoverished Lyari neighborhood of Karachi, which was once plagued by gang violence and considered one of the most dangerous areas in Pakistan.
Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh, leading the government’s 1122 rescue service at the scene, said the operation continued through the night “without interruption.”
“It may take eight to 12 hours more to complete,” he said.
Police official Summiaya Syed, at a Karachi hospital where the bodies were received, said that the death toll on Saturday morning stood at 14, half of them women, with 13 injured.
Up to 100 people had been living in the building, senior police officer Arif Aziz said.
All six members of 70-year-old Jumho Maheshwari’s family were at his flat on the first floor when he left for work early in the morning.
“Nothing is left for me now – my family is all trapped and all I can do is pray for their safe recovery,” he said on Friday afternoon.
Another resident, Maya Sham Jee, said her brother’s family was also trapped under the rubble.
“It’s a tragedy for us. The world has been changed for our family,” she said.
“We are helpless and just looking at the rescue workers to bring our loved ones back safely.”
Shankar Kamho, 30, a resident of the building who was out at the time, said around 20 families were living inside.
He described how his wife called him in a panic that the building was cracking.
I told her to get out immediately,” he said at the scene.
“She went to warn the neighbors, but one woman told her ‘this building will stand for at least 10 more years’,” he said.
“Still, my wife took our daughter and left. About 20 minutes later, the building collapsed.”
Congregation flees after arsonist sets fire to an Australian synagogue door
- A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m.
- Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant
MELBOURNE: An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured.
A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m., a police statement said on Saturday. Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, police said.
Fire fighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance, police.
Antisemitic attacks roil Australia since 2023
A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.
Jewish and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups. The Australian government last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the community.
Last December, two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast. They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it. A worshipper sustained minor burns.
No charges have been laid for that attack, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed on antisemitism.
The Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes Victoria state police, federal police and Australia’s main domestic spy agency, said the fire was likely a politically-motivated attack.
Police say synagogue attack is a serious crime
Acting Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan described the latest synagogue fire as a serious crime. Police released a CCTV image of a suspect.
“I’d like to make it very clear that we do recognize that these crimes are disgusting and abhorrent. But at this stage, we are not declaring this a terrorist incident,” Dunstan told reporters.
“In the course of our investigation, we will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons involved, or person, to determine if this is in fact terrorism. At the moment, we are categorizing it as a serious criminal incident and responding accordingly,” she added.
A terrorism declaration opens the investigation to more resourcing and can result in charges that carry longer prison sentences.
The synagogue’s president, Danny Segal, called for the wider Australian community to stand with his congregation.
“We’re here to be in peace, you know, we’re here for everybody to live together and we’ve got a fresh start in Australia, such a beautiful country, and what they’re doing is just not fair and not right, and as Australians, we should stand up and everybody should stand up,” Segal told reporters.
Protesters harass diners in Israeli-owned restaurant
Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant. A Miznon restaurant window was broken. A 28-year-old woman was arrested for hindering police.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said diners were terrorized as the group chanted “Death to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Melbourne, for one night, stopped being a safe place for Jews,” Abramovich said.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both the synagogue and restaurant incidents.
“These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking,” Reece said. “All of us as a community need to stand up against it.”
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said both incidents were designed to “traumatize Jewish families.”
“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,” she said in a statement.
Trump says Putin understands US sanctions may be coming
- Trump on Friday discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv
- Russia had earlier stepped up its attacks on Ukraine on the day Putin and Trump discussed talked by phone about a ceasefire
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has discussed sanctions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is worried about them and understands they might be forthcoming.
Trump, who spoke on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had discussed the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv.
Trump spoke with Zelensky a day Russia stepped up its attack on Ukraine, sending waves of drones and missiles on Kyiv overnight in what Ukrainian officials described as the largest aerial assault since Russia’s invasion began more than three years ago. One person was killed and at least 26 others, including a child, were wounded.
Asked Friday night by reporters about the call, Trump said, “We had a very good call, I think.”
The two leaders how Ukrainian air defenses might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine, and broader US-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelenksy.
When asked about finding a way to end the fighting, Trump said: “I don’t know. I can’t tell you whether or not that’s going to happen.”
The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine’s main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelensky says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time.
‘I’m very disappointed’
The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked if he made any progress during his call with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said: “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.”
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don’t think he’s there. I don’t think he’s looking to stop (the fighting), and that’s too bad,” Trump said.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
Zelensky has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago, Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war. That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night, the country’s air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, but Russia also launched 11 missiles in the attack.
Alya Shahlai, a 23-year-old Kyiv wedding photographer, said that her home was destroyed in the attack.
“We were all in the (basement) shelter because it was so loud, staying home would have been suicidal,” she told The Associated Press. “We went down 10 minutes before and then there was a loud explosion and the lights went out in the shelter, people were panicking.”
Five ambulances were damaged while responding to calls, officials said, and emergency services removed more than 300 tons of rubble.
Trump, Zelensky talks
In Friday’s call, Zelensky said he congratulated Trump and the American people on Independence Day and thanked the United States for its continued support.
They discussed a possible future meeting between their teams to explore ways of enhancing Ukraine’s protection against air attacks, Zelensky said.
He added that they talked in detail about defense industry capabilities and direct joint projects with the US, particularly in drone technology. They also exchanged views on mutual procurement, investment, and diplomatic cooperation with international partners, Zelensky said.
Peace efforts have been fruitless so far. Recent direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war, wounded troops and the bodies of fallen soldiers. No date has been set for further negotiations.
Ukrainian officials and the Russian Defense Ministry said another prisoner swap took place Friday, though neither side said how many soldiers were involved. Zelensky said most of the Ukrainians had been in Russian captivity since 2022. The Ukrainian soldiers were classified as “wounded and seriously ill.”
Constant buzzing of drones
The Ukrainian response needs to be speedy as Russia escalates its aerial attacks. Russia launched 5,438 drones at Ukraine in June, a new monthly record, according to official data collated by The Associated Press. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier this week that Russia also launched more than 330 missiles, including nearly 80 ballistic missiles, at Ukrainian towns and cities that month.
Throughout the night, AP journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.
“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X. “One of the worst so far.”
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described “families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital.”
“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” she wrote on X.
Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack. At least 14 people were hospitalized, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Zelensky called the Kyiv attack “cynical.” In Moscow, the Defense Ministry claimed its forces targeted factories producing drones and other military equipment in Kyiv.
Russia strikes 5 Ukrainian regions
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
In addition to the capital, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage, Zelensky said.
Emergency services reported damage in at least five of Kyiv’s 10 districts.
