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washington — A South Korean senior official has rekindled debate over the U.S. commitment to that nation’s defense, bringing up the possibility of the U.S. rolling back its nuclear umbrella if former President Donald Trump is reelected.

Kim Tae-hyo, South Korea’s deputy national security director, said in a Seoul forum Tuesday the reelection of Trump could “weaken a U.S. nuclear umbrella” designed to protect South Korea from North Korean aggression.

“Trump as candidate can be seen as pursuing transactional benefits in terms of the South Korea-U.S. alliance,” Kim said, according to news reports. “It is not unlikely that he would suggest negotiating defense cost-sharing or the deployment of U.S. strategic assets from a cost perspective.”

Skepticism about America’s willingness and capability to protect South Korea from a North Korean nuclear attack has grown among South Koreans as North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs become increasingly sophisticated. A recent poll by South Korea’s Institute of National Unification revealed that 66% of respondents supported the country having its own nuclear weapons.

Concern over commitment

Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said Kim’s remarks reflect widespread concern among U.S. allies.

There is a concern that “Trump, if reelected, would pursue policies that will weaken U.S. alliances around the world, including in Europe and East Asia,” Samore told VOA Korean Wednesday via email.

“In the case of Korea, Trump might seek to resume summit diplomacy with Kim Jong Un and make concessions that weaken the U.S.-ROK alliance, as he did at the Singapore summit in June 2018,” Samore said. ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the official name for South Korea.

According to the joint statement released after the 2018 summit, Trump “committed to provide security guarantees” to North Korea, while the North Korean leader reaffirmed “commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

“However, I think it’s premature to predict exactly what policies President Trump will adopt toward Korea if he is reelected,” Samore added. “There are too many uncertainties, including, for example, who President Trump appoints for his top foreign policy and defense positions.”

Michael O’Hanlon, director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told VOA Korean Tuesday via email the South Korean official’s assessment of Trump is justifiable.

“I think the official is correct,” O’Hanlon said, adding Trump could take steps to address this concern. “I do not know if he will.”

‘Treat us properly,’ says Trump

Trump has often complained that U.S. allies do not pay the U.S. enough for bases and troops used in their defense. In an April interview with Time magazine, Trump said, “I want South Korea to treat us properly,” suggesting he would demand that South Korea pay more for the American troops stationed there.

But Frederick Fleitz, who served as chief of staff of the National Security Council in the Trump White House, told VOA Korean by phone Tuesday that Trump’s reelection is not likely to affect the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Making clear that he was speaking for himself, not for Trump, Fleitz said the former president “was a strong friend of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan when he was in office last time and he’ll be a strong friend again.”

“Why would there be such a big change in a second Trump term when he didn’t do that in the first term?” Fleitz asked. “The second Trump administration, concerning South Korea, will be countering the threat from North Korea and this new axis relationship between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.”

Fleitz stressed there is no evidence to suggest Trump would link the defense cost-sharing with offering a nuclear umbrella, adding discussions on how much South Korea pays for U.S. troops in South Korea will not be a “deal breaker” for the second Trump administration.

“It is an issue that will be resolved among friends,” he said. “The security threats in the region are so severe — I think that’s what the U.S. will focus on.”

Redeployment of nukes

Robert Peters, a fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA Korean Tuesday via email it is “far more likely” that America’s extended deterrence commitment to South Korea would strengthen during a second Trump term.

Peters said a second Trump administration could consider redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, due to the threats coming from North Korea and China.

“I think a second Trump administration would field SLCM-N [nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missiles] in the near term and potentially reintroduce American nuclear weapons to South Korea as a means to assure the ROK, deter North Korea and strengthen regional stability,” said Peters.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is widely expected to inherit incumbent President Joe Biden’s Asia policies should she win the election.

The Biden administration is not considering the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. In 1991, the U.S. withdrew from South Korea all its nuclear weapons, roughly 100 in number, according to some studies.

“The United States does not assess returning nuclear weapons to the Indo-Pacific as necessary at this time,” a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement on May 31 in response to a VOA Korean inquiry. “The United States has no plans to forward deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.”

In April 2023, Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol adopted the Washington Declaration, in which the U.S. declared that its commitment to the defense of South Korea will be backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.

During this week’s high-level security talks between the U.S. and South Korea, the Biden administration reiterated its commitment to defend South Korea with nuclear weapons if necessary to deter attacks from North Korea.

“We reaffirm the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, and that any DPRK [North Korea] nuclear attack on the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime,” Bonnie Jenkins, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security,  told reporters after Wednesday’s talks.

VOA Korean contacted the Trump campaign and asked what Trump’s stance is on the U.S. nuclear umbrella offered to South Korea, but did not receive a reply by the time this article was published.
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washington — Shortly after appearing in court for an appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, Donald Trump stepped Friday in front of television cameras and brought up a string of past allegations of other acts of sexual misconduct, potentially reminding voters of incidents that were little-known or forgotten. 

The former president has made hitting back at opponents and accusers a centerpiece of his political identity, but his performance at his namesake Manhattan office tower was startling even by Trump’s own combative standards. At times he seemed to relish using graphic language and characterizations of the case, which could expose the former president to further legal challenges. 

Trump’s remarks came just four days before he will debate Vice President Kamala Harris, with early voting about to begin in some parts of the country and Election Day just two months away. 

Trump is staying in the public eye while Harris prepares for the debate in private with her advisers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That’s a reflection of their divergent campaign styles, with Trump frequently engaging with reporters — often in friendly settings — while Harris has done just one interview and no news conferences since taking President Joe Biden’s place atop the Democratic ticket. 

Trump on Friday repeatedly brought up Harris’ lack of news conferences. But his own comments — in which he talked about the cases against him for more than half an hour without mentioning any campaign issues — threatened to cause him more legal jeopardy. And after convening reporters for what his campaign said was a news conference, Trump walked off without taking any questions. 

Legal team makes arguments

A jury returned a $5 million verdict finding Trump liable of sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. His legal team made its appeal arguments Friday morning. 

Juries now have twice now awarded Carroll huge sums for Trump’s claiming she made up a story about him attacking her in a department store dressing room in 1996 to help her sell a memoir. 

But that hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing to make nearly identical statements to reporters. At his news briefing Friday, he said again that Carroll was telling a “made up, fabricated story.” 

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, warned in March after a jury awarded Carroll another $83 million that she would continue to monitor Trump’s comments and would consider suing again if he kept it up. 

Earlier in court, he walked in quietly and passed in front of Carroll without acknowledging or looking at her. 

The former president reacted at times during the proceedings, such as shaking his head when Carroll’s attorney said that Trump sexually abused her client. He periodically tilted his head from side to side, but otherwise sat still and mostly alone. 

A Manhattan jury in May found Trump responsible for sexual abuse. Carroll says Trump attacked her in a department store dressing room, but the former president’s legal team says the verdict should be overturned because some evidence that was allowed during the trial should have been excluded while other evidence that should be excluded was allowed. He denies guilt. 

In the midst of running for president and facing a series of other legal cases against him, Trump did not attend the Carroll trial and wasn’t there when the charges were read — though he assailed the verdict as “a disgrace” on his social media site. 

Later Friday, he’s traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina, to address the Fraternal Order of Police. 

More than 12 women make accusations

Carroll is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in a 2019 memoir. Trump denied it, saying he never encountered Carroll at the store and did not know her. He has called her a “nut job” who invented her story to sell a memoir. 

Trump faces unprecedented criminal and civil jeopardy for a major-party nominee. 

He has separately been convicted on 34 felony counts in a New York state case related to hush money payments allegedly made to a porn actor. The judge in that case is expected to decide Friday whether to postpone Trump’s sentencing. 

Trump has also been ordered to pay steep civil fines for lying about his wealth for years. 

And he’s still contending with cases alleging his mishandling of classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election, and his activities during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — though none are likely to go to trial prior to Election Day. 
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Winder, Georgia — The 14-year-old suspect in a shooting that killed four people at a Georgia high school and his father, who was arrested for allowing his son to have a weapon, will stay in custody after their lawyers decided not to seek bail Friday. 

Colt Gray, who has been charged with four counts of murder, is accused of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle to kill two fellow students and two teachers Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta. His father, Colin Gray, faces related charges in the latest attempt by prosecutors to hold parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings. 

The two appeared in back-to-back hearings Friday morning with about 50 onlookers in the courtroom, where workers had set out boxes of tissue along the benches, in addition to members of the media and sheriff’s deputies. Some victims’ family members in the front row hugged each other and one woman clutched a stuffed animal. 

During his hearing, Colt Gray, wearing khaki pants and a green shirt, was advised of his rights as well as the charges and penalties he faced for the shooting at the school where he was a student. 

After the hearing, he was escorted out in shackles at the wrists and ankles. The judge then called the teen back to the courtroom to correct an earlier misstatement that his crimes could be punishable by death. Because he’s a juvenile, the maximum penalty he would face is life without parole. The judge also set another hearing for December 4.

Shortly afterward, Colin Gray was brought into court dressed in a gray-striped jail uniform. Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting and answered questions in a barely audible croak, giving his age and saying he finished 11th grade, earning a high school equivalency diploma. 

Colin Gray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder related to the shooting, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said. 

“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said. 

The charges come five months after Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021. 

The Georgia shootings have also renewed debate about safe storage laws for guns and have parents wondering how to talk to their children about school shootings and trauma. 

The Barrow County hearings for the father and son came as police in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody said schools there and nationwide have received threats of violence since the Apalachee High School shooting, police said in a statement. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation also noted that numerous threats have been made to schools across the state this week. 

Before Colin Gray’s arrest was reported, the AP knocked on the door of a home listed as his address seeking comment about his son’s arrest. 

According to arrest warrants obtained by The Associated Press, Colt Gray is accused of using a “black semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle” to kill the two students and two teachers. Authorities have not offered any motive or explained how he obtained the gun or got it into the school. 

He was charged as an adult in the deaths of Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Nine people were also hurt in Wednesday’s attack. 

A neighbor remembered Schermerhorn as inquisitive when he was a little boy. Aspinwall and Irimie were both math teachers, and Aspinwall also helped coach the school’s football team. Irimie, who immigrated from Romania, volunteered at a local church, where she taught dance. 

Colt Gray denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on social media, according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday. Conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, the report said. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time. 

The attack was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The classroom killings have set off fervent debates about gun control but there has been little change to national gun laws. 

It was the 30th mass killing in the U.S. this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. At least 127 people have died in those killings, which are defined as events in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
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Music cassette tapes are making a comeback in the U.S, with more than 430,000 sold in 2023 – about five times the number sold just a decade ago. Cassette tapes are especially popular with younger generations who grew up with digital music. Karina Bafradzhian has the story. Videographer: Sergii Dogotar
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Moscow — The Kremlin on Friday accused the United States of applying unacceptable pressure on Russian media after the U.S. Justice Department charged Russian TV contributor Dimitri Simes and his wife with schemes to violate U.S. sanctions. 

The two indictments were announced just one day after the U.S. took several legal actions against Russia to combat alleged efforts to meddle in the 2024 presidential elections, including charging two employees of the Russian state media network RT and sanctioning RT and its top network editor. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has said Russia is not seeking to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, told reporters that Washington was trying to ensure that Moscow’s own perspective on world affairs was not available to people. 

“Washington continues to try to put pressure on Russia, on Russian citizens, and even on the Russian media, which is engaged in informing both citizens inside our country and world public opinion about what is happening, from our perspective,” said Peskov. 

“Washington does not even accept that there should be options out there for anyone to get news from our perspective.  

This is nothing other than blatant pressure. We strongly condemn this stance as unacceptable,” he said. 

Moscow still grants accreditation to Western journalists to work in Russia, though many have left since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 and the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges in March 2023. 

Gershkovich, who denied the charges, was freed in a prisoner swap last month. 

Russia has said it will take retaliatory measures against U.S. media in response to Washington’s moves against RT. 

Asked what those measures would be, Peskov said Russia carefully evaluated the editorial policies of various foreign media outlets and would take those factors into account when making any decisions, on what he suggested would be a case-by-case basis. 

 
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Caracas, Venezuela — A U.S. Navy sailor held in Venezuela since late last month was arrested for entering “without any type of document,” the South American country’s attorney general said Thursday.

An American official on Wednesday announced the sailor had been detained at a time of soaring tensions between Washington and Caracas in the aftermath of disputed elections in Venezuela, with the opposition party claiming it can prove were stolen.

In his first comments on the matter, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the sailor “entered without any type of document, without any means of subsistence for what he came to do in the country.”

He said the sailor held dual U.S. and Mexican nationalities.

For its part, the Pentagon said the sailor had been in Venezuela on “personal travel.”

“This wasn’t something that was authorized,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

“The U.S. Navy is looking into this. We’re working with the State Department,” she said, adding that: “Of course, we’d like to see the sailor returned home.”

Venezuela was rocked by protests after President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed July 28 election, with 25 civilians and two soldiers killed and more than 2,400 people arrested.

The opposition claims it won by a landslide, and the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro’s claimed victory without seeing detailed voting results.

On Monday, Washington seized Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew it to Florida, a move the Venezuelan leader condemned as “piracy” but which Washington said was necessary due to sanctions violations.

The following day, Washington denounced an arrest warrant issued for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and warned of further action against Maduro.

The U.S. State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Venezuela for reasons including crime, unrest and wrongful detention.
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Port-au-Prince, Haiti — During a trip to Haiti on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $45 million in new humanitarian aid for the Caribbean nation, which has been wracked by violence for years.  

He also called for the renewal of the United Nations mandate for the Multinational Security Support, or MSS, mission to combat the armed gangs that dominate much of the capital.

“At this critical moment, you do need more funding. We do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” Blinken told a news conference on a rare visit to Port-au-Prince.

The top U.S. diplomat said he plans to convene a ministerial meeting at the coming U.N. General Assembly to encourage greater international contributions to address Haiti’s security, economic, and humanitarian needs.

The MSS mandate is set to expire at the beginning of October.  U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly exploring the possibility of changing the mission into a traditional U.N. peacekeeping operation, a move that would ease funding, provide more equipment and enable use of military forces rather than only police officers.

Blinken said that while the MSS mission itself needs to be renewed, it also needs to ensure that it is “reliable” and “sustainable.”

“A peacekeeping operation would be one such option.  I think there are others,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Blinken’s visit to Port-au-Prince underscores U.S. support for Haiti as the country grapples with gang violence.

On Thursday, Blinken met with Edgard Leblanc Fils from Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council.

“Both concurred on the critical need to make timely advancements on election preparations,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Apart from Fils, Blinken also held talks with Prime Minister Garry Conille, MSS head Godfrey Otunge and Normil Rameau, head of the Haitian National Police.

The United States and Canada are the top funders of the MSS in Haiti. The first-year estimated cost for the mission is $589 million. The U.S. has already provided $309 million — $200 million toward the MSS mission base and $109 million in financial support.

Gang-related violence and drug trafficking have fueled political instability and insecurity in Haiti, leading to unbearable conditions for Haitians.

At least 80% of Port-au-Prince is no longer under Haitian authorities’ control, with violence spreading to other parts of the country.

In the past year, displacement in Haiti has tripled as gang violence grips the Caribbean nation. The U.N. says at least 578,000 people have been displaced because of violence, including murders, kidnappings and rapes.

The situation is further exacerbated by widespread hunger, with nearly half the 11.7 million population facing acute food insecurity.

 After Haiti, Blinken arrived in Santo Domingo later Thursday.  His visit follows the start of Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader’s second term in mid-August.    

The Dominican Republic will host the 2025 Summit of the Americas, where Western Hemisphere leaders will address shared challenges and policy issues facing the region.  

VOA’s Liam Scott contributed to this report.  
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London — The United States announced new sanctions Thursday on ships that transport Russian gas from Moscow’s Arctic LNG 2 terminal in Russia’s Murmansk region.

The measures target the owners of two LNG tankers, the New Energy and the Mulan. The U.S. State Department said the New Energy had used “deceptive shipping practices, including shutting off its automatic identification system, to load cargo from the U.S.-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.”

It comes as a new analysis shows Russia appears to be struggling to find buyers for its liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from its flagship Arctic LNG 2 project amid tightening Western sanctions, forcing Moscow to store the gas in a huge container vessel in the Arctic Sea.

The Arctic LNG 2 project was meant to produce almost 19.8 million metric tonnes of LNG every year to sell primarily to Asian markets, potentially earning billions of dollars for Novatek, the private company that runs the project, and the Kremlin.

Instead, Russia is struggling to sell the gas, according to analyst Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. He has been using satellite and ship-tracking data to monitor LNG vessels servicing the Arctic LNG 2 facility.

“So far, we’re aware of three cargoes that have been loaded from Arctic LNG 2 … and all of them really have not gone anywhere. In recent days, what we’ve seen is that two of them have had to offload their cargo onto this huge floating storage unit that Russia’s Novatek has had moored up near Murmansk for over a year and never used — it’s also under sanctions. They’re offloading these cargoes into the storage unit because they can’t find a buyer,” Marzec-Manser told VOA.

He said that storage unit, named the Saam, will rapidly fill up if Russia can’t find buyers, creating a bottleneck and potentially forcing Novatek to halt production.

Putin’s flagship

Arctic LNG 2 was a flagship development for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pledged that it would one day help Russia to become the world’s biggest producer of LNG.

“Production of liquefied natural gas in the Russia Arctic zone will have increased three-fold by 2030, up to 64 million tons per year. … Of course, it will contribute significantly in the development of our northern regions and in the strengthening of Russian technological sovereignty,” Putin told delegates at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok in September 2023.

Earlier sanctions

That goal now seems unlikely. The West, led by the United States, imposed sanctions on Novatek and businesses linked to Arctic LNG 2 following Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Crucially, according to Marzec-Manser, that included the vessels intended to transport the gas.

“So, there’s a whole fleet of cargo vessels that are sitting in shipyards in Asia, which are specifically designed to flow through the Arctic seas. They’re called ‘ice-class’ vessels, and they’ve not been able to sell them to Novatek because of these sanctions,” Marzec-Manser said.

“What Novatek then did was to say, ‘Right, what we’re going to try and do is buy really old LNG vessels, which aren’t designed for the Arctic waters, but we can at least shuttle them backwards and forwards during the summer months.’ But then the U.S. has sanctioned those vessels, as well,” he told VOA.

Kremlin response

Russia is looking for ways to circumvent the sanctions. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in April that “attempts to squeeze Russia out of energy markets and switch to more expensive markets are continuing,” adding that Moscow “will look for ways to overcome these illegal obstacles, unfair competition and illegal actions.”

Analysts say Russia is assembling a so-called “dark fleet” of LNG vessels that are difficult to track.

“It’s a game of cat and mouse, and as we see, new vessels which are owned by unknown Middle Eastern entities entering Russian waters, it’s only then that you can properly join the dots to say, well, this is clearly being used to service some of these [LNG] projects, and it’s only then that the sanctions come in,” Marzec-Manser told VOA.

Novatek did not respond to VOA requests for comment.

Russia is still able to sell LNG and other hydrocarbon products from oil and gas fields that are not subject to Western sanctions. However, the state-owned gas giant Gazprom recorded a net loss of $6.9 billion in 2023 — its first annual loss in more than 20 years — as Moscow cut supplies to European customers following the invasion of Ukraine and the West’s imposition of sanctions.

The United States is now by far the world’s biggest supplier of LNG, with two-thirds of it exported to Europe.
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Washington — The United States has charged five Russian intelligence officers and one Russian civilian in connection with a major cyberattack, described by U.S. prosecutors as the first shot in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

The Justice Department unsealed the superseding indictment Thursday, accusing the Russians of carrying out the January 2022 “WhisperGate” malware attack that sought to debilitate Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure ahead of the Russian invasion the following month.

“The WhisperGate campaign included the targeting of civilian infrastructure and Ukrainian computer systems wholly unrelated to the military or national defense, that include government agencies responsible for emergency services in Ukraine, the judiciary, food safety and education, seeking to sap the morale of the Ukrainian public,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen.

The attack “could be considered the first shot of the war,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Bill DelBagno, speaking alongside Olsen during a news conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

DelBagno said the WhisperGate campaign also targeted the United States and dozens of NATO allies, going as far as to infiltrate a U.S. government agency based in Maryland while simultaneously accessing U.S. bank accounts.

“The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners and allies, will relentlessly hunt down and counter these threats,” he said. “This type of cyber warfare will not be tolerated. The scope of Russia’s crimes cannot be ignored.”

Thursday’s superseding indictment, the result of an FBI operation named “Toy Soldier,” builds on charges first filed in June against 22-year-old Russian Amin Stigal, a civilian accused of leveraging malware to aid Russian intelligence ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.

As part of the attack, Stigal and the agents with Unit 21955 of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, or GRU, used the cyberinfrastructure of some U.S.-based companies to launch what first appeared to be ransomware attacks, but which were actually designed to wipe out critical data.

The new indictment names Stigal’s Russian GRU accomplices as Vladislav Borovkov, Denis Denisenko, Yuriy Denisov, Dmitriy Goloshubov and Nikolay Korchagin.

FBI officials said the GRU unit has also operated under the names Cadet Blizzard, Ember Bear and Dev-0586, carrying out cyberattacks on critical infrastructure across Europe, Central America and Asia.

In addition to the new charges, U.S. officials said they are offering a reward of up to $10 million for each of the Russians named in the criminal complaint.

The officials said they are also working with Interpol to serve notices that could help lead to the arrest of the six Russians.

“They are marked people,” Olsen said. “We know who they are. There’s a reward on their head, and we’re going to pursue them relentlessly.”

“The message is clear,” he said. “To the GRU, to the Russians, we are onto you.”

In addition to the charges, the FBI and its partners on Thursday issued a cybersecurity advisory telling organizations and companies to fix known vulnerabilities that could be exploited by the GRU’s Unit 21955.

The Russian Embassy in Washington has yet to respond to a VOA request for comment.

Meanwhile, some U.S. allies announced their own plans to crack down on Russian intelligence.

Estonia on Thursday announced it has attributed a 2020 cyberattack on three of its government ministries and is seeking the arrest of three members of the GRU’s Unit 21955.

“Russia’s aim was to damage national computer systems, obtain sensitive information and strike a blow against our sense of security,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

“Estonia condemns any malign activity, including cyberactivity that threatens our institutions, our citizens and our security,” Tsahkna said.

Thursday’s charges by the U.S. against Russian agents are the latest in a series of measures by Washington to crack down on what it describes as Moscow’s malign activity.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department charged a U.S. television presenter for Channel One Russia and his wife with sanctions evasion.

On Wednesday, the U.S. charged two Russian nationals employed by the Kremlin-backed RT media outlet with funneling almost $10 million to a U.S.-based media company to spread pro-Russian disinformation.

The Justice Department on Wednesday also announced the takedown of 32 internet domains linked to what officials described as a separate Russian operation aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election.

VOA’s United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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A shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday was a stark reminder that firearms kill more Americans per capita than in any other large, high-income country, according to health experts. Vice President Kamala Harris wants stricter gun regulation. Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, pledges to roll back gun restrictions. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias explains.
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Los Angeles — Hunter Biden plans to change his “not guilty” plea in his federal tax case, his defense attorney said Thursday just as jury selection was set to begin.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told the judge about Hunter Biden’s plans to change his previous plea, just months after the president’s son was convicted of gun charges in a separate case, but did not provide further details.

The latest case accuses Hunter Biden of a four-year scheme to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in taxes while pulling in millions of dollars from foreign business entities. He is already facing potential prison time after a Delaware jury convicted him in June of lying on a 2018 federal form to purchase a gun that he possessed for 11 days.

Hunter Biden walked into the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and flanked by Secret Service agents. Initially, he pleaded not guilty to the charges related to his 2016 through 2019 taxes and his attorneys have indicated they will argue he didn’t act “willfully,” or with the intention to break the law, in part because of his well-documented struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.

Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses last year in a deal with the Justice Department that would allow him to avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble. But the agreement imploded after a judge questioned unusual aspects of it, and he was subsequently indicted in the two cases.

His decision to change his plea came after the judge issued some unfavorable pre-trial rulings for the defense, including rejecting a proposed defense expert lined up to testify about addiction.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, placed some restrictions on what jurors would be allowed to hear about the traumatic events that Hunter Biden’s family, friends and attorneys say led to his drug addiction.

The judge barred attorneys from connecting his substance abuse struggles to the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden from cancer or the car accident that killed his mother and sister when he was a toddler.

The indictment alleged that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels — “in short, everything but his taxes.”

Hunter Biden’s attorneys had asked Scarsi to also limit prosecutors from highlighting details of his expenses that they say amount to a “character assassination,” including payments made to strippers or pornographic websites. The judge has said in court papers that he will maintain “strict control” over the presentation of potentially salacious evidence.

Prosecutors could have presented more details of Hunter Biden’s overseas dealings, which have been at the center of Republican investigations into the Biden family often seeking — without evidence— to tie the president to an alleged influence peddling scheme.

The special counsel’s team has said it wants to tell jurors about Hunter Biden’s work for a Romanian businessman, who they say sought to “influence U.S. government policy” while Joe Biden was vice president.

The defense accused prosecutors of releasing details about Hunter Biden’s work for the Romanian in court papers to drum up media coverage and taint the jury pool.

Sentencing in Hunter Biden’s Delaware conviction is set for Nov. 13. He could face up to 25 years in prison, but as a first-time offender, he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.
…

LONDON — Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein won’t face charges of indecent assault in Britain, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

The Crown Prosecution Service, which in 2022 authorized two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, said it decided to discontinue proceedings because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

“We have explained our decision to all parties,” the CPS said in a statement. ”We would always encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to police, and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.”

Weinstein became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began to go public with accounts of his behavior. After the revelations emerged, British police said they were investigating multiple allegations of sexual assault that reportedly took place between the 1980s and 2015.

In June 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had authorized London’s Metropolitan Police Service to file two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in relation to an alleged incident that occurred in London in 1996. The victim was in her 50s at the time of the announcement.

Unlike many other countries, Britain does not have a statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault.

Weinstein, who has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, remains in custody in New York while awaiting retrial in Manhattan, prosecutors said in August.

After the retrial, he is due to start serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles, authorities said. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 while already serving a 23-year sentence in New York.

His 2020 conviction in Manhattan was thrown out earlier this year when the state’s top court ruled that the judge in the original trial unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.

Weinstein, the co-founder of the Miramax entertainment company and The Weinstein Company film studio, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.”
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Washington — A judge will hear arguments Thursday about the potential next steps in the federal election subversion prosecution of Donald Trump in the first hearing since the Supreme Court narrowed the case by ruling that former presidents are entitled to broad immunity from criminal charges.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers submitted dueling proposals late Friday before the status conference. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is presiding over the case that charges Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump is not expected to be present, and it was not immediately clear whether Chutkan will make any rulings Thursday.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team filed a new indictment last week to strip out certain allegations against Trump, the Republican nominee for president, and comply with the Supreme Court ruling. His team said it could be ready at any time to file a legal brief laying out its position on how to apply the justices’ immunity opinion to the case. 

Defense lawyers said they intend to file multiple motions to dismiss the case, including one that piggybacks off a Florida judge’s ruling that said Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.

Neither side envisions a trial happening before the November election, especially given the amount of work ahead. Chutkan is tasked with determining which of the acts alleged in the indictment can remain part of the case in light of the Supreme Court opinion.

The justices in July ruled that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for the exercise of their core constitutional duties and are presumptively immune from prosecution for all other official acts. 

Smith’s team responded to the ruling with a revised indictment last week that removed references to Trump’s efforts to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to remain in power, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court said Trump is immune. 

The case is one of two federal prosecutions against Trump. The other, charging him with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, was dismissed in July by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. She said Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.

Smith’s team has appealed that ruling. Trump’s lawyers say they intend to ask Chutkan to dismiss the election case on the same grounds. 
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WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling an openness to blocking the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, as a government review of the proposed takeover by the Japanese company is wrapping up. 

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that President Joe Biden plans to stop the deal from going forward. A White House official, insisting on anonymity to discuss the matter, did not deny the report and said Biden still needs to receive the official recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). That review could end as soon as this month. 

Biden had voiced his objections to the merger, backing his supporters in the United Steelworkers union who oppose the deal. The objection carries weight as U.S. Steel is headquartered in the swing state of Pennsylvania and is a symbol of Pittsburgh’s industrial might in an election year when Republicans and Democrats alike are promising more domestic manufacturing jobs. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, came out against the deal this week. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has said he would block the merger if he were still in the White House. 

Stock in U.S. Steel fell roughly 17% on the news that Biden would stop the merger. 

The CFIUS review process generally pertains to business issues with national security implications. U.S. Steel spokesperson Amanda Malkowski said in an email that the company had not received any update on the process and that the company sees “no national security issues associated with this transaction, as Japan is one of our most staunch allies.” 

“We fully expect to pursue all possible options under the law to ensure this transaction, which is best future for Pennsylvania, American steelmaking, and all of our stakeholders, closes,” Malkowski said. 

A spokesman representing Nippon Steel said the company had not received any updates from the federal government on the review process. 

U.S. Steel on Wednesday hosted a rally in support of the acquisition. It said in a statement that without the Nippon Steel deal the company would “largely pivot away from its blast furnace facilities, putting thousands of good-paying union jobs at risk, negatively impacting numerous communities across the locations where its facilities exist, and depriving the American steel industry of an opportunity to better compete on the global stage.” 
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washington — China’s consul general in New York left his post as scheduled after completing his posting last month, the State Department said on Wednesday, hours after New York’s governor said she asked for his expulsion in the aftermath of the arrest of a former aide who was accused of secretly acting as a Chinese agent.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Consul General Huang Ping “was not expelled.”

“Our understanding is that the consul general reached the end of a regular scheduled rotation in August, and so rotated out of the position, but was not expelled,” Miller said.

“But of course, when it comes to the status of particular employees of a foreign mission, I would refer you to the foreign country to speak to it. But there was no expulsion action.”

China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Huang Ping’s status.

Governor asked for envoy’s expulsion

Earlier on Wednesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told an event that she spoke by phone at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to a high-ranking State Department official “and I had conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China in the New York mission expelled.”

“And I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission,” she said.

Miller said Hochul had spoken on Wednesday to Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

Asked by an audience member if she had been interviewed by investigators, including the FBI, Hochul said: “They asked me one question.”

“I’m not able to talk about it but it had something to do with identifying whether or not something was my signature and that was it,” she said.

Former aide charged

Linda Sun, 41, a former aide to Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government in exchange for millions of dollars in compensation and gifts, including meals of gourmet duck.

Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn, after being arrested on Tuesday morning.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that while working in state government, Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting with officials and sought to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China. In exchange, Chinese government representatives allegedly arranged for millions of dollars in transactions for Hu, who had business activities in China.

Prosecutors said Sun and Hu used the money to buy a 2024 Ferrari Roma sports car, as well as property on New York’s Long Island and in Honolulu worth about $6 million.

Hochul was not accused of any wrongdoing. Her office fired Sun in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct and reported Sun’s actions immediately to authorities. Her office also has assisted law enforcement throughout the process, a spokesperson for the governor said.

According to the website of China’s consulate in New York, Huang Ping had been the consul general since November 2018. Prior to that, Huang, 61, served as a Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe and did stints as an official at the embassy in Washington and China’s consulate in Chicago.
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pentagon — Venezuela has detained a U.S. Navy sailor who was visiting the country while on personal travel, U.S. officials have confirmed to VOA.

The reason for the detention is unknown.

A defense official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity because of international sensitivities said the sailor was detained “on or about August 30, 2024, by Venezuelan law enforcement authorities while on personal travel to Venezuela.”

“The U.S. Navy is looking into this and working closely with the State Department,” the defense official added.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. was tracking the detention closely and was seeking additional information.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby added that the U.S. was “obviously in touch” with Venezuelan authorities.

The tension in the U.S.-Venezuela relationship has been further stretched since Venezuela held elections earlier this year.

The Biden administration has questioned the results that kept Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power, stating last month that “Maduro and his representatives have tampered with the results of that election, falsely claimed victory and carried out widespread repression to maintain power.”

Earlier this week, the U.S. seized Maduro’s plane over alleged sanctions violations.

Guita Mirsaeedi and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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state department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Thursday, marking his first visits to both Caribbean nations as the top U.S. diplomat.

Blinken’s visit to Port-au-Prince underscores U.S. support for Haiti, with additional humanitarian assistance anticipated as the country grapples with gang violence. His trip to Santo Domingo follows the start of Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader’s second term in mid-August.

A senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday that the United States is prioritizing efforts with its international partners to set up a structure that ensures “a reliable source of financing and staffing” for a security mission in Haiti.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly considering the possibility of transitioning a largely U.S.-funded multinational security force into a traditional United Nations peacekeeping operation.

“A formal PKO (peacekeeping operation) is one of the ways that we could accomplish that, but we’re looking at multiple ways to do that,” said Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

With about a month left in the mandate of the U.N.-ratified, Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti, progress has been limited, and many pledges remain unfulfilled.

“The one-year anniversary of the mission is October 2, and we’re going to work to ensure that it’s poised for success and renewal of its mandate in whatever form that takes,” Nichols told VOA on Wednesday.

Multinational security support

Gang-related violence and drug trafficking have fueled political instability and insecurity in Haiti, leading to an unbearable living situation for the Haitian people.

In October 2022, Haiti requested the deployment of an international force to assist the Haitian National Police in combating heavily armed gangs and facilitating humanitarian aid. In October 2023, the United Nations Security Council authorized the MSS.

The United States and Canada are the top funders of the MSS in Haiti. The estimated first-year cost for the mission is $589 million. The U.S. has already provided $309 million — $200 million toward the MSS mission base and $109 million in financial support.

During a visit to Haiti in July, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced an additional $60 million in humanitarian assistance for the Haitian people, along with providing armored vehicles for the national police.

While in Haiti, Blinken will review the progress made toward improving security and encourage efforts to appoint the provisional electoral council so Haiti can move toward elections, according to the State Department.

Blinken will hold talks with Edgard Leblanc Fils, president of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, and Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille. Blinken also will meet with MSS head Godfrey Otunge and Normil Rameau, head of the Haitian National Police.

At least 80% of Port-au-Prince is no longer under the control of the Haitian authorities, with violence spreading to other parts of the country.

In the past year, displacement in Haiti has tripled as gang violence grips the Caribbean nation. The United Nations reports that at least 578,000 people have been displaced due to violence, including murders, kidnappings and rapes.

The situation is further exacerbated by widespread hunger, with nearly half of the 11.7 million population facing acute food insecurity.

Gangs, some aligned with political elites, accumulated their control over territory and illicit markets during the tenure of the deeply unpopular former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Henry resigned in April 2024 following the formation of a Transitional Presidential Council.

The Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic will host the 2025 Summit of the Americas, where Western Hemisphere leaders will address shared challenges and policy issues facing the region.

“In the Dominican Republic, we will reinforce our shared priorities such as promoting democratic governance, supporting free and fair elections in the region, and fighting corruption,” Nichols told reporters.

On August 16, President Luis Abinader was inaugurated for a second four-year term. He has vowed to boost security by training more police over the next four years. His administration has barred migrants from neighboring Haiti.

“We certainly hope to see more normal relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti,” Nichols said. “The countries are inexorably linked, and we certainly will have those conversations with leaders on both sides of the border.”

The U.S. and the Dominican Republic signed a historic Open Skies agreement on August 2. Once in effect, the agreement will expand opportunities for airlines, travel companies and people-to-people exchanges. More than 4 million U.S. citizens visit the Dominican Republic each year.

The Dominican Republic is a crucial partner for the U.S. in hemispheric affairs, due to its position as the second-largest economy in the Caribbean, after Cuba, and the third-largest country by population, behind Cuba and Haiti. The U.S. is its primary trading partner.

Additionally, the Dominican Republic is home to Pueblo Viejo, one of the world’s largest gold mines, and serves as a major global supplier of ferronickel.

The United States said it will continue robust collaboration with the Dominican Republic to advance inclusive economic growth, bolster democratic institutions, uphold human rights, and enhance governance and security.

The Dominican Republic and the United States, along with five Central American countries, are parties to the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA-DR. This agreement enhances economic opportunities by eliminating tariffs, opening markets, reducing barriers to services and promoting transparency.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is investing more than $9.5 million to strengthen the Dominican Republic’s existing justice system and to reduce crime and violence.
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Pentagon — The United States is planning to send Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, to China’s top annual security forum this month, two U.S. defense officials have confirmed to VOA.

One of the officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity ahead of the forum, called Chase’s upcoming attendance “consistent participation from the U.S.” 

Chase is more senior than the U.S. representative at last year’s Xiangshan Forum, but his rank is on par with historical norms for Pentagon representatives who attend the annual meeting. The Pentagon did not send a representative from 2020-2022 due to the pandemic.

“This engagement is meant to be more of the same” to keep the lines of military communication open and ensure that China has a clear understanding of the United States’ position on global security issues, the defense official told VOA. 

The forum comes on the heels of a face-to-face meeting in Singapore between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, in late May.

Austin spoke with Dong for the first time in April, marking the first dialogue between the two countries’ defense chiefs in nearly 17 months. The top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, spoke with his Chinese military counterpart in December.

“Of course talks can make a difference. Having those mil-to-mil communications, those senior channels open, actually allows for the avoidance of a miscalculation,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters earlier this year.

Chinese state media reports say that more than 90 countries and international organizations plan to send delegations to Beijing for the September 12-14 forum.

Reuters was first to report the decision.

Beijing has asserted its desire to control access to the South China Sea and bring democratically ruled Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary. President Joe Biden has said U.S. troops would defend the island from attack.

China’s defense ministry has said the Taiwan issue is the “core of China’s core interests.”

Tensions have risen sharply between China and U.S. ally the Philippines in the South China Sea, with China’s coast guard using water cannons to threaten Filipino fishing ships. China has also used collision and ramming tactics, undersea barriers and a military-grade laser to stop Philippine resupply and patrol missions.

Last year, Austin and his Philippine counterpart established the U.S.-Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines, which reaffirmed that an armed attack in the Pacific – including anywhere in the South China Sea – on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces, would invoke mutual defense commitments outlined in the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit widened to the highest level in more than two years in July as businesses likely front-loaded imports in anticipation of higher tariffs on goods, suggesting trade could remain a drag on economic growth in the third quarter.

While the surge in imports reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday would subtract from gross domestic product, it was an indication of strong domestic demand and inconsistent with financial market fears of a recession.

“The July trade data suggest that net trade will weigh on third-quarter GDP growth, but that is hardly cause for concern when it reflects the continued strength of imports, painting a better picture of domestic demand than renewed recession fears would suggest,” said Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics.

The trade gap increased 7.9% to $78.8 billion, the widest since May 2022, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said.

The government revised the trade data from January through June 2024 to incorporate more comprehensive and updated quarterly and monthly figures.

Imports increased 2.1% to $345.4 billion. Goods imports rose 2.3% to $278.2 billion, the highest since June 2022. They were boosted by an increase in capital goods, which increased $3.3 billion to a record high, mostly reflecting computer accessories.

Imports of industrial supplies and materials, which include petroleum, increased $2.8 billion. There were also rises in imports of nonmonetary gold-finished metal shapes.

President Joe Biden’s administration has announced plans to impose steeper tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, batteries, solar products and other goods.

The government said last week a final determination will be made public in the “coming days.” There are also fears of even higher tariffs on Chinese imports should former President Donald Trump return to the White House after the November 5 election.

The politically sensitive goods trade deficit with China increased $4.9 billion to $27.2 billion. Exports to China fell $1.0 billion while imports advanced $3.9 billion.

“Imports of goods from China increased, which shows how difficult it will be to direct U.S. manufacturers away from their dependence on lower-cost goods originating from China if that is what Congress and political candidates wish to do,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.

Exports gained 0.5% to $266.6 billion. Goods exports climbed 0.4% to $175.1 billion. Exports of motor vehicles, parts and engines decreased $1.7 billion to the lowest since June 2022. Consumer goods exports fell $800 million.

Exports of capital goods surged $1.8 billion to a record $56.1 billion, boosted by semiconductors.

The goods trade deficit increased 6.9% to $97.6 billion after adjusting for inflation.
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Islamabad — An American diplomat has condemned the Taliban’s new morality law in Afghanistan, warning that it “aims to complete the erasure of women from public life.” 

Rina Amiri, the United States special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights, posted on social media late Tuesday that she raised concerns about the law during her recent meetings with counterparts in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 

“My message was clear:  Our support for the Afghan people remains steadfast, but patience with the Taliban is running out,” Amiri wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The way to legitimacy domestically & internationally is respecting the rights of the Afghan people.” 

The U.S. warning comes days after the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, enacted the contentious decree that orders Afghan women not to speak aloud in public and cover their bodies and faces entirely when outdoors.  

The 114-page, 35-article law also outlines various actions and specific conduct that the Taliban government, called the Islamic Emirate, considers mandatory or prohibited for Afghan men and women in line with its strict interpretation of Islam.  

The legal document empowers the Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, which the Taliban revived after coming back to power in August 2021, to enforce it strictly.  

Enforcers are empowered to discipline offenders, and penalties may include anything from a verbal warning to fines to imprisonment. The law requires them to prevent “evils” such as adultery, extramarital sex, lesbianism, taking pictures of living objects and befriending non-Muslims. 

Official Taliban media quoted Akhundzada this week as ordering authorities to “rigorously enforce” the new vice and virtue decree across Afghanistan “to bring the people closer to the Islamic system.” 

The law was enacted amid extensive restrictions on Afghan women’s education and employment opportunities. 

Since regaining power three years ago, the Taliban have prohibited girls ages 12 and older from continuing their education beyond the sixth grade and restricted women from seeking employment, except in certain sectors such as health.  

Afghan females are not allowed to visit parks and other public places, and a male guardian must accompany them on road trips or air travel. 

The United Nations promptly responded to the new law last month, condemning it as a “distressing vision” for the impoverished country’s future and urging de facto authorities to reverse it. 

The Taliban government, which is officially not recognized by any country, has dismissed U.N.-led foreign criticism as offensive.  

 Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesperson, asserted that “non-Muslims should first educate themselves about Islamic laws and respect Islamic values” before expressing concerns or rejecting the law. “We find it blasphemous to our Islamic Sharia when objections are raised without understanding it,” he said. 
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Peace continues to elude Gaza as the conflict there speeds toward the one-year mark, with public rage over the recent killing of hostages, fears over the spread of polio — and amid all this, ongoing, delicate negotiations helmed by Washington. Anita Powell files from the White House.
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new york — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump’s lawyers permission to file paperwork asking the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take control of the case. He said they had failed to satisfy the burden of proof required for a federal court to seize the case from the state court where Trump was convicted in May.

The ruling leaves Trump’s case in state court, where he is scheduled to be sentenced September 18.

Trump’s lawyers had sought to move the case to federal court so they could then seek to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling granting ex-presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts.

Hellerstein, who denied Trump’s request last year to move the case to federal court, said nothing about the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling affected his “previous conclusion that the hush money payments” at issue in Trump’s case “were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.”

Hellerstein sidestepped a defense argument that Trump had been the victim of “bias, conflicts of interest, and appearances of impropriety” at the hands of the judge who presided over the trial in state court, Juan M. Merchan.

“This Court does not have jurisdiction to hear Mr. Trump’s arguments concerning the propriety of the New York trial,” Hellerstein wrote in a four-page decision.

Instead, Hellerstein noted, Trump can pursue a state appeal or, after exhausting that path, seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It would be highly improper for this Court to evaluate the issues of bias, unfairness or error in the state trial,” Hellerstein wrote. “Those are issues for the state appellate courts.”

Hellerstein’s ruling came hours after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork seeking his permission to pursue federal court intervention. Trump’s lawyers had initially asked the federal court to step in last week, but their papers were rejected because they hadn’t first obtained Hellerstein’s permission to file them, as required.

Messages seeking comment were left with Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Manhattan prosecutors raised objections to Trump ‘s effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he sought to have the federal court step in.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office argued in a letter to the judge presiding over the case in state court that he had no legal obligation to hold off on post-trial decisions and wait for Hellerstein to rule.

Prosecutors urged the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, not to delay his rulings on two key defense requests: Trump’s call to delay sentencing until after the November election, and his bid to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.

Merchan has said he will rule September 16 on Trump’s motion to overturn the verdict. His decision on delaying sentencing has been expected in the coming days.

Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, whose affair allegations threatened to disrupt his 2016 presidential run. Trump has denied her claim and said he did nothing wrong.

Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation or a fine.
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