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Russia arrests US journalist on espionage allegations

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted by officers from the Lefortovsky court to a bus, in Moscow, Russia, on March 30, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 30 March 2023
AFP

Russia arrests US journalist on espionage allegations

  • Evan Gershkovich, 31, arrested on charges of spying "in the interests of the American government"
  • Western countries, press freedom groups criticize Gershkovich's arrest, demand his freedom
Updated 30 March 2023
AFP

MOSCOW: An American journalist has been detained on suspicion of spying for Washington, Russia said Thursday, drawing immediate condemnation from the West and calls for the Wall Street Journal reporter's release.
Evan Gershkovich, 31, is believed to be the first foreign journalist to be detained on suspicion of spying in post-Soviet Russia, and his arrest is a serious escalation in the Kremlin's sweeping crackdown on the media.
The Wall Street Journal said it was deeply concerned for Gershkovich's safety and vehemently denied the claim from the FSB security service that he was "spying in the interests of the American government".
His detention, on charges that carry a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, sparked an outcry from the West and press freedom groups.
French foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said Paris was "particularly worried" and condemned "the repressive attitude of Russia" towards Russian and foreign media.
International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was "alarmed by what looks like retaliation".
RSF said Gershkovich "was investigating the military company Wagner" -- a mercenary group playing a prominent role in Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
While the FSB noted Gershkovich was working with Russian foreign ministry press accreditation, it said he was detained "while attempting to obtain classified information" on Russia's military.

He was detained in Yekaterinburg a city some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) east of Moscow but was transferred to the capital and placed in detention until May 29 pending trial.
A law enforcement source told the state-run TASS news agency that the case files were "top secret" and that Gershkovich had said he was not guilty of spying.
But both the Kremlin and foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed the journalist was "caught red handed".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Washington against putting pressure on Russian media working in the United States.
This "must not happen," he told reporters in a briefing.
Gershkovich, a fluent Russian speaker, worked for AFP in Moscow before joining the Wall Street Journal early last year.
He was previously a reporter based in the Russian capital for The Moscow Times, an English-language news website.
His family immigrated to the United States from Russia when he was a child.
Gershkovich's detention comes as Western journalists in Russia face increasing restrictions.
Staff of Western media outlets often report being tailed, particularly during trips outside of the major urban hubs of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Many Russians are reluctant to speak to foreign media, due to strict censorship laws adopted in the wake of the Ukraine offensive.
"The problem is that recently updated Russian legislation and the FSB's interpretation of espionage today allow for the imprisonment of anyone who is simply interested in military affairs," Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said on social media.
"No doubt this brings relations between Russia and the US to a new round of confrontation," she added.
Several US citizens are currently in detention in Russia and both Washington and Moscow have accused the other of carrying out politically-motivated arrests.
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, was arrested in Russia in 2018 and handed a 16-year sentence on espionage charges. He is detained in a penal colony south of Moscow.
There have been several high-profile prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Washington over the past year.
In December, Moscow freed US basketball star Brittney Griner -- arrested for bringing cannabis oil into the country -- in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
But Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday it was too early to discuss any potential swap.
"I wouldn't raise a question like this now," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
"Some exchanges that took place in the past, they were for people who were already serving their sentences."
The authorities have also used espionage charges against Russian journalists.
Last year, Russia jailed a former defence reporter, Ivan Safronov, for 22 years on treason charges.
Safronov worked for business newspaper Kommersant and space agency Roscosmos and was one of Russia's most prominent journalists covering defence.

Topics: Russia United States

Aid group NRC resumes work with female staff in Taliban heartland 

Updated 10 sec ago
REUTERS 

Aid group NRC resumes work with female staff in Taliban heartland 

  • NRC chief says Taliban leaders in Kandahar had signaled a willingness to agree to an interim arrangement for female workers 
  • UN, aid groups in Afghanistan are trying to carve out exemptions for women to deliver aid, particularly in health and education 
Updated 10 sec ago
REUTERS 

UNITED NATIONS: An international aid agency in Afghanistan has resumed operations in the southern province of Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban and home to its supreme spiritual leader — after its Afghan female staff were allowed to return to work. 

The move comes after Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland told Reuters last month that key Taliban leaders in Kandahar had signaled a willingness to agree to an interim arrangement for NRC female aid workers. 

“I am glad to confirm that we have been able to resume most of our humanitarian operations in Kandahar as well as a number of other regions in Afghanistan,” Egeland, who was the UN aid chief from 2003-06, posted on Twitter on Monday. 

“All our work is for women & men, girls & boys alike, & with equal participation of our female & male humanitarian colleagues,” Egeland wrote. 

The Taliban administration was not immediately available for comment. 

The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war. In April, Taliban authorities began enforcing a ban on Afghan women working for the UN after stopping women working for aid groups in December. UN and aid officials said the orders came from Taliban leaders in Kandahar. 

The UN and aid groups have been trying to carve out exemptions for women to deliver aid, particularly in health and education. The Taliban administration has been promising since January a set of written guidelines to allow aid groups to operate with female staff. 

Egeland said last month that when he complained that the guidelines were taking too long, Taliban officials in Kandahar suggested an interim arrangement could be agreed to allow Afghan women to return to work in the office and field. 

The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law. They have also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, barring women and girls from university and high school. 

Topics: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) #afghanistan Afghan Taliban

Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam near Kherson, warns of widespread flooding

Updated 2 min 29 sec ago
AP

Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam near Kherson, warns of widespread flooding

  • Both sides blamed the other for destroying the dam
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky called an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis
Updated 2 min 29 sec ago
AP

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine they control, alerting residents further along the Dnipro River to evacuate and warning of flooding downstream. President Volodymyr Zelensky called an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry wrote on Telegram that the Kakhovka dam, had been blown up, and called for residents of 10 villages on the river’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation.
Footage from what appeared to be a monitoring camera overlooking the dam that was circulating on social media purported to show a flash, explosion and breakage of the dam.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in a video posted to Telegram shortly before 7 a.m. that “the Russian army has committed yet another act of terror,” and warned that water will reach “critical levels” within five hours.
Zelensky moved to convene an emergency meeting of the country’s security and defense council following the dam explosion, the council’s secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks, and last October Zelensky predicted that Russia would destroy the dam in order to cause a flood.
Authorities, experts and residents have for months expressed concerns about water flows through — and over — the Kakhovka dam.
In February, water levels were so low that many feared a meltdown at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, whose cooling systems are supplied with water from the Kakhovka reservoir held up by the dam.
By mid-May, after heavy rains and snow melt, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates.
Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnipro River, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country’s drinking water and power supply. The Kakhovka dam — the one furthest downstream in the Kherson region — is controlled by Russian forces.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Related

Federal monitor: Too many people in New York City are stopped, searched and frisked illegally

Updated 23 min 5 sec ago
AP

Federal monitor: Too many people in New York City are stopped, searched and frisked illegally

  • NYPD ‘s Neighborhood Safety Teams were engaging in ‘unconstitutional policing’ by stopping and frisking too many people without justification
Updated 23 min 5 sec ago
AP

NEW YORK: New York City’s reliance on the tactic known as “stop and frisk” as part of a new initiative to combat gun violence is harming communities of color and running afoul of the law, a court-appointed federal monitor reported Monday.
Monitor Mylan Denerstein said the NYPD ‘s Neighborhood Safety Teams — special units deployed in the past 14 months to seize guns in high-crime areas — were engaging in “unconstitutional policing” by stopping and frisking too many people without justification.
In one police precinct, Denerstein said, only 41 percent of stops, 32 percent of frisks and 26 percent of searches were lawful.
The Neighborhood Safety Teams, a replacement for the anti-crime units that the NYPD disbanded in 2021, operate in 34 areas that account for 80 percent of the city’s violent crime — largely communities of color. Of the people the teams have stopped, Denerstein said, 97 percent are Black or Hispanic.
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said city officials “have serious concerns” with Denerstein’s methodology and that they only learned of her findings after news outlets reported on them.
The spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said shootings have fallen since the Neighborhood Safety Teams were created.
Officers assigned to the units “have enhanced training and oversight to ensure we are not only keeping New Yorkers safe, but protecting their civil liberties as well,” Levy said, adding that “any unconstitutional stop is unacceptable, and we will strive to do better for New Yorkers every day.”
Denerstein said she began her review after Adams announced in March 2022 that the NYPD was deploying Neighborhood Safety Teams in some precincts to combat gun violence. Team members, wearing modified uniforms and driving unmarked cars, conduct stops, frisks and searches in their assigned neighborhoods.
“Unfortunately, the results are disappointing,” Denerstein wrote.
Despite their training and experience, officers assigned to Neighborhood Safety Teams “overall appear to be stopping, frisking, and searching individuals at an unsatisfactory level of compliance. Too many people are stopped, frisked, and searched unlawfully.”
In 2013, a federal judge ruled that the NYPD had violated the civil rights of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers with stop and frisk, which was part of an effort to get guns and drugs off the street by frequently stopping and searching people on the street.
US District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled the stops were a form of indirect racial profiling. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, once a champion of the tactic, has since apologized for its use.
Since the ruling, the department claimed a sharp drop in stops, reporting an average of around 11,730 per year from 2016 to 2022, compared with a high of nearly 686,000 stops in 2011.
Black and Hispanic people continue to be the targets of the vast majority of stops, accounting for 89 percent of all stops in 2022, according to NYPD data compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Topics: New York City US

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UN, humanitarian agencies revise budget for Afghan aid plan down to $3.2 billion

Updated 05 June 2023
Reuters

UN, humanitarian agencies revise budget for Afghan aid plan down to $3.2 billion

  • Aid officials and diplomats have warned of potential decline in funding to Afghanistan due to Taliban restrictions on female workers
  • UN development agency in April predicted Afghan economy would contract, inflation would rise if there were a 30% drop in aid
Updated 05 June 2023
Reuters

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have revised the budget for Afghanistan's aid plan for 2023 to $3.2 billion, down from $4.6 billion earlier in the year, the UN humanitarian office said on Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that a "changing operating context" in the wake of Taliban administration restrictions on female aid workers had contributed to the revised plan.

Taliban authorities have issued several orders barring many Afghan female NGO and United Nations employees from being able to work, which aid agencies have warned would severely hamper delivery in the religiously conservative nation.

"The recent bans on Afghan women working for... NGOs and the UN have added yet another layer of complexity to what is already an incredibly challenging protection environment, and further constrained the operational capacity of partners," the UN statement said.

Afghanistan remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the statement added, with more than two-thirds of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.

Some humanitarian officials and diplomats have warned of a potential decline in funding to the war-ravaged nation due to the Taliban restrictions on female workers and donor governments assessing competing global crises and economic priorities.

It was not clear how much of the revised budget would be funded by foreign donors.

Global humanitarian appeals often fall short of the total amount requested. In 2022, the humanitarian response plan was budgeted at $4.4 billion and received around $3.2 billion. The UN says the number of people in need has grown since last year.

The United Nations' development agency in April predicted Afghanistan's economy would contract and inflation would rise if there were a 30% drop in aid.

Topics: Afghanistan United Nations

US, India agree roadmap for defense industry cooperation

Updated 05 June 2023
Reuters

US, India agree roadmap for defense industry cooperation

  • Landmark deal seen boosting Indian defense manufacturing, envisages greater technological cooperation
  • US keen to wean India from dependence on Russia, also seeking counterbalance to China in Asian region
Updated 05 June 2023
Reuters

NEW DELHI: India and the United States have concluded a roadmap for defense industry cooperation for the next few years, the two countries said on Monday, a landmark move expected to bolster New Delhi’s defense manufacturing ambitions.
Washington is working to deepen ties with India and sees stronger military-to-military and technology ties with the world’s largest democracy as a key counterweight to China’s dominance in the region.
It is also seeking to wean New Delhi away from its traditional dependence on Russia for defense supplies.
The roadmap was finalized at a meeting between visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
The agreement comes weeks before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington on June 22 for an official state visit and holds talks with President Joe Biden.
The roadmap is considered significant as Washington maintains strict controls over what domestic military technology can be shared or sold to other countries.

TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION

The move aims to change the “paradigm” for defense sector cooperation between the two countries, the US Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement.
It will “fast-track technology cooperation and co-production in areas such as air combat and land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, munitions, and the undersea domain,” it said.
The roadmap includes specific proposals that could provide India access to cutting-edge technologies, it said, adding that Austin and Singh also pledged to review regulatory hurdles impeding closer industry-to-industry cooperation.
India, the world’s largest arms importer, depends on Russia for nearly half its military supplies, but has also increasingly diversified its sources to buy from the US, France and Israel, among others.
New Delhi also wants global defense manufacturers to partner with Indian companies and produce arms and military equipment in India for local consumption as well as exports.
The Biden administration is set to sign off on a deal that will allow General Electric Co. to produce in India jet engines powering Indian military aircraft.
Austin said he and Singh had discussed ways to increase information sharing and new initiatives to improve maritime cooperation, including in the undersea domain.
The US-India defense partnership matters, he told reporters, because “we face a rapidly changing world.”
“We see bullying and coercion from the People’s Republic of China, Russian aggression against Ukraine that seeks to redraw borders by force and threatens national sovereignty, as well as transnational challenges such as terrorism, climate change.
“So democracies must now rally together around not just our common interests but also our shared values,” Austin said.

Topics: United States India US Defense

Latest updates

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