MOSCOW: An appellate court in Russia’s far east on Monday reduced the prison sentence for an American soldier convicted of stealing and making threats of murder, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port city of Vladivostok to see his girlfriend and was arrested in May 2024 after she accused him of stealing from her, according to US officials and Russian authorities. A month later, a court in Vladivostok convicted him and sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison. Black was also ordered to pay 10,000 rubles ($115 at the time) in damages.
Black lost one appeal in a regional court that upheld his sentence, but the judge in the 9th Court of Cassation on Monday agreed to reduce his sentence to three years and two months in prison. Black’s defense had asked the court to acquit him of making threats of murder and reduce the punishment for theft, a request the judge partially sustained, according to the RIA report.
Russia has jailed a number of Americans in recent years as tensions between Moscow and the West grew. Some, like corporate security executive Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and teacher Marc Fogel, were designated by the US government as wrongfully detained and released in prisoner swaps.
A few others remain jailed in Russia on drug or assault convictions. They include Robert Gilman, 72, who was handed a 3 1/2-year sentence after being found guilty of assaulting a police officer following a drunken disturbance on a train, and Travis Leake, a musician who was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison in July 2024.
Black was on leave and in the process of returning to his home base at Fort Cavazos, Texas, from South Korea, where he had been stationed at Camp Humphreys with the Eighth Army.
The US Army said Black signed out for his move back home and, “instead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew from Incheon, Republic of Korea, through China to Vladivostok, Russia, for personal reasons.”
Under Pentagon policy, service members must get clearance for any international travel from a security manager or commander.
The US Army said last month that Black hadn’t sought such travel clearance and it wasn’t authorized by the Defense Department. Given the hostilities in Ukraine and threats to the US and its military, it is extremely unlikely he would have been granted approval.
Black’s girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, told reporters last year that “it was a simple domestic dispute,” during which Black “became aggressive and attacked” her, stealing money from her wallet. She described Black as “violent and unable to control himself.”
US officials have said that Black, who is married, met Vashchuk in South Korea.
According to US officials, she had lived in South Korea, and last fall she and Black got into some type of domestic dispute or altercation. After that, she left South Korea. It isn’t clear if she was forced to leave or what, if any, role South Korean authorities had in the matter.
Russia reduces prison sentence for US soldier convicted of theft
https://arab.news/jtgkh
Russia reduces prison sentence for US soldier convicted of theft
- Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port city of Vladivostok to see his girlfriend and was arrested in May 2024 after she accused him of stealing from her
- Russia has jailed a number of Americans in recent years as tensions between Moscow and the West grew
World leaders head to France for UN summit on ocean threats
- The UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions
NICE, France: World leaders descend on the French Riviera on Sunday ahead of a high-level summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the oceans driven by overfishing, climate change and pollution.
The United Nations says oceans face an “emergency” and leaders gathering in Nice will be under pressure to commit much-needed money and stronger protections for the ailing seas and the people that depend on them.
The UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions.
Some 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sail to Nice from Monaco, where he is attending a related event aimed at raising private capital for ocean conservation.
He will be joined on the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by other vessels in a colorful maritime parade, before touring an exhibition center on land transformed into the cavernous belly of a whale.
That evening, Macron will host leaders for a dinner of Mediterranean fish ahead of the summit’s formal opening on Monday.
Peaceful demonstrations are expected over the five-day event and France has deployed 5,000 police to the heritage-listed city where scientists, business leaders and environmental activists are also attending in big numbers.
A strong turnout is also expected from Pacific Island nations, whose delegations will demand greater financial assistance to fight the rising seas, marine trash and plunder of fisheries that threatens their very survival.
The United States under President Donald Trump — whose recent push to fast-track seabed mining in international waters sparked global outrage — is not expected to send a delegation.
Conservationists have warned the summit — which will not produce a legally binding agreement — risks being a talk fest unless leaders come armed with concrete proposals for restoring marine health.
Chief among these is securing the missing finance to get anywhere near protecting 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030, a globally agreed target.
“We’ve created this sort of myth that governments don’t have money for ocean conservation,” Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, told reporters.
“There is money. There is not political will,” he said.
So far, only around eight percent of oceans are designated marine conservation zones and even less are considered truly protected.
Greenpeace says at this rate, it could take another 82 years to reach the 30 percent goal.
In a boost this week, Samoa declared 30 percent of its national waters under protection with the creation of nine new marine parks.
Conservationists hope others at Nice follow suit.
“All eyes should be on the many Pacific leaders attending... Their ambition and dedication to ocean protection can serve as inspiration to all countries,” said Kevin Chand from the nonprofit group Pristine Seas.
There has also been a concerted push for nations, including France, to ban bottom trawling — a destructive fishing method that indiscriminately scrapes the ocean floor.
On Saturday, Macron told the Ouest-France newspaper that bottom trawling would be restricted in some national marine protected areas.
Inching closer toward the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on high seas protection, will also be a summit priority.
France is spearheading a separate push in Nice to build support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of a closely-watched meeting of the International Seabed Authority in July.
On Sunday, an expert scientific panel will hand Macron a list of recommendations for leaders at the summit, including pausing seabed exploration when so little is known about the deep oceans.
Trump deploying California National Guard over governor’s objections to LA to quell protests
- Border czar says National Guard to deploy on Saturday evening
- White House aide Stephen Miller calls LA protests an ‘insurrection’
- Trump’s DHS says Democrat rhetoric contributing to violence against ICE
PARAMOUNT, California: President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops over the governor’s objections to Los Angeles over where protests Saturday led to clashes between immigration authorities and demonstrators.
The White House said in a statement Saturday that Trump was deploying the Guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” in California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected to the move and said in a post on X that the move from the Republican president was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
The White House’s move to dramatically ratchet up the response came as protests in Los Angeles extended into a second day where tear gas and smoke filled the air as protesters faced off with Border Patrol personnel in riot gear.
Trump federalized part of the state’s National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, Newsom told The Associated Press.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protest is “essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
The president’s move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network that said that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass didn’t “do their jobs,” then “the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
Newsom said in his statement on social media that local authorities “are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” and “there is currently no unmet need.”
“This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust,” he added.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street. Some jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One handheld sign read, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
Smoke rose from burning shrubbery and refuse in the street, and demonstrators kicked at a Border Patrol vehicle. A boulevard was closed to traffic as Border Patrol agents circulated through a community where more than 80 percent of residents identify themselves as Latino.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a message on social media addressing “LA rioters” and warning that interference with immigration enforcement will not be tolerated.
In 2020, Trump asked governors of several states to deploy their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to quell protests that arose after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers. Many of the governors agreed, sending troops to the federal district.
At the time, Trump also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act for protests following Floyd’s death in Minneapolis — an intervention rarely seen in modern American history. But then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back, saying the law should be invoked “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”
Trump did invoke the Insurrection Act during his first term and did not invoke it Saturday, according to Leavitt and Newsom.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations Friday, including outside a clothing warehouse in the fashion district. The action came after a judge found probable cause that the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
A tense scene unfolded outside as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Advocates for immigrants’ rights said there were also migration detentions outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
DHS said in a statement that recent ICE operations in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants, including five people linked to criminal organizations and people with prior criminal histories.
Following the Friday arrests, protesters gathered in the evening outside a federal detention center, chanting, “Set them free, let them stay!”
Some held signs with anti-ICE slogans, and some some scrawled graffiti on the building.
Among those arrested at the protests was David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union. Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy confirmed that he was being held Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.
It was not clear whether Huerta had legal representation.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release. In a social media post, he cited a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”
The immigration arrests come as President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises of mass deportations across the country.
Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to the protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Price from Bridgewater, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES President Donald Trump said it would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops on Saturday as federal agents in Los Angeles faced off against demonstrators for a second day following immigration raids.
The White House said in a statement Saturday that Trump was deploying the Guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” in California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected to the move and said in a post on X that the move from the Republican president was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
Trump responded with a posteon his Truth Social platform: “If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”
On Saturday, security agents confronted around 100 protesters in the Paramount area in southeast Los Angeles, where some demonstrators displayed Mexican flags and others covered their mouths with respiratory masks.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the National Guard would be deployed in Los Angeles on Saturday evening.
The protests pit Democratic-run Los Angeles, where census data suggests a significant portion of the population is Hispanic and foreign-born, against Trump’s Republican White House, which has made cracking down on immigration a hallmark of his second term.
In the late afternoon, authorities began detaining some protesters, according to Reuters witnesses. There was no immediate official information of any arrests.
Video footage showed dozens of green-uniformed security personnel with gas masks lined up on a road strewn with overturned shopping carts as small canisters exploded into gas clouds.
“Now they know that they cannot go to anywhere in this country where our people are, and try to kidnap our workers, our people — they cannot do that without an organized and fierce resistance,” said protester Ron Gochez, 44.
A first round of protests kicked off on Friday night after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted enforcement operations in the city and arrested at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations.
Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises to carry out mass deportations across the country.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
Protesters gathered Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “set them free, let them stay!”
Other protesters held signs that said “ICE out of LA!” and led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman announced through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, including a warehouse in the fashion district of Los Angeles, after a judge found there was probable cause the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
Advocates for immigrant rights say people were detained Friday by immigration authorities outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X that Friday’s demonstrations were “an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.” On Saturday, he described the day’s protests as a “violent insurrection.”
Immigration crackdown
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement about Friday’s protests that “1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property.”
Reuters could not verify DHS’s accounts. Angelica Salas, executive director of immigrants’ rights organization Chirla, said lawyers had not had access to those detained on Friday, which she called “very worrying.”
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and lock down the US-Mexico border, with the White House setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
But the sweeping immigration crackdown has also caught up people legally residing in the country, including some with permanent residence, and has led to legal challenges.
In a statement on Saturday about the protests in Paramount, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said: “It appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest.”
Salas of Chirla said protesters gathered after an ICE contingent appeared to be using parking lots near a Paramount Home Depot store as a base.
ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the protests or potential immigration sweeps on Saturday.
Television news footage on Friday showed unmarked vehicles resembling military transport and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation.
Raids occurred around Home Depot stores, where street vendors and day laborers were picked up, as well as at a garment factory and a warehouse, Salas of Chirla said.
Bass, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, condemned the immigration raids.
“I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” Bass said in a statement. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. We will not stand for this.”
US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike
- Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia
WASHINGTON: The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, US officials told Reuters.
The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second US official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia’s expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters. The first official said Moscow’s attack would be “asymmetrical,” meaning that its approach and targeting would not mirror Ukraine’s strike last weekend against Russian warplanes.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Putin's retaliation for Ukraine drone strike has yet to fully unfold, US officials say
• Strikes expected to including missiles, drones, US officials say
• Moscow's retaliation expected to be 'asymmetrical,' official says
Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia. But the US officials believe the complete Russian response is yet to come.
A Western diplomatic source said that while Russia’s response may have started, it would likely intensify with strikes against symbolic Ukrainian targets like government buildings, in an effort to send a clear message to Kyiv.
Another, senior, Western diplomat anticipated a further devastating assault by Moscow. “It will be huge, vicious and unrelenting,” the diplomat said. “But the Ukrainians are brave people.”
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he expected Moscow might seek to punish Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, for its role in last weekend’s assault. To send a message, Russia could employ intermediate-range ballistic missiles for the attack, he said.
“Most likely, they will attempt to retaliate against (SBU) headquarters, or other regional intelligence administration buildings,” Kofman said, adding Russia could also target Ukrainian defense manufacturing centers.
Still, Kofman suggested Russia’s options for retaliation may be limited as it is already throwing a lot of its military might at Ukraine.
“In general, Russia’s ability to substantially escalate strikes from what they are already doing — and attempting to do over the past month — is quite constrained,” he said.
OPERATION ‘SPIDER’S WEB’
Kyiv says Sunday’s audacious attack employed 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched deep from within Russian territory in an operation code-named “Spider’s Web.”
The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit — around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and around 10 were destroyed.
The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, including those capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The strikes, prepared over 18 months and conducted by drones smuggled close to the bases in trucks, dealt a powerful symbolic blow to Russia, which throughout the Ukraine war has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might.
Putin told President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post.
Trump later told reporters that “it’s probably not going to be pretty.”
“I don’t like it. I said: ‘Don’t do it. You shouldn’t do it. You should stop it,’” Trump said of his conversation with Putin. “But, again, there’s a lot of hatred.”
Germany has three years to overhaul military: official
- Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029
BERLIN: Germany’s armed forces have three years to acquire the equipment to tackle a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, the head of military procurement said Saturday.
Defense spending has risen up the political agenda since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and more recently with the United States pushing NATO members to increase their commitments.
“Everything necessary to be fully prepared to defend the country must be acquired by 2028,” Annette Lehnigk-Emden, head of the Federal Office for Military Procurement, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029.
He said there was a Russian build-up of ammunition and tanks for a possible attack on NATO’s Baltic members.
Lehnigk-Emden said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government was enabling the upgrade by allocating hundreds of billions of euros for defense.
She said the priority would be for heavy equipment such as Skyranger anti-aircraft tanks.
Merz has made rearmament a priority of his coalition government to make German forces “the most powerful conventional army in Europe.”
Rearmament had already begun under the previous government of Olaf Scholz after Russia launched its war in Ukraine.
And US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes further this year by pushing NATO members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current level of two percent.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Thursday that 50,000 to 60,000 new soldiers would be needed in the coming years to meet the increased NATO defense needs.
Last year, the army had more than 180,000 soldiers and set a goal of exceeding 203,000 by 2031.
Germany is meanwhile looking to speed up the establishment of shelters where the population could find refuge in the event of conflict, according to the president of the German Federal Office for Civil Protection, Ralph Tiesler.
At the end of last year, the authorities began to catalogue tunnels, subway stations, underground carparks and cellars of public buildings that could be converted into bunkers.
“We are going to create one million shelter places as quickly as possible,” Tiesler told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, indicating that a plan to this effect would be presented this summer.
DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency
- Presidency of the 11-nation ECCAS had been due to pass to Kigali
- Rwanda is accused of helping M23 rebels fighting DR Congo government
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Rwanda was blocked Saturday from taking the rotating presidency of the central African economic bloc because of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presidency of the 11-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) had been due to pass to Kigali, but at a heads of state and government meeting, DR Congo and Burundi objected.
“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.
One ECCAS official described the atmosphere between Rwanda and DR Congo’s representatives at the meeting in Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo as “tense.”
The Congolese contingent said “if Rwanda took the presidency, they would not be able to travel to Rwanda for community activities or events,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
“Burundi is also on the same path.”
Diplomatic ties between Kinshasa and Kigali are fraught, with the Congolese government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group that has taken swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the start of the year.
Neighbouring Burundi has sent more than 10,000 soldiers since 2023 to help the Congolese army fight the M23 and other armed groups operating in the conflict-wracked region.
On Thursday, Qatari mediators presented the DRC government and the M23 group “a peace proposal” to end the conflict, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
