Category Archives: Russia

Michael Cohen accuses ‘racist, conman’ Trump of criminal conspiracy

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In dramatic testimony, Cohen claims Trump committed crimes to cover up affair and had prior knowledge of Wikileaks release

Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen accused the president in explosive public testimony before Congress of knowing in advance about key events under investigation in the Russia inquiry and of committing criminal conspiracy in the coverup of an extramarital affair.

In a day of high drama before the House oversight committee, Cohen delivered a string of bombshells that could spawn fresh investigations by Congress and the FBI. Testifying on Wednesday, he labelled the US president a “racist” and “conman”, produced signed checks that he said were proof of a fraudulently disguised conspiracy to silence a former adult film actor, and gave what he claimed were eyewitness accounts that implied Trump had prior knowledge of crucial Russia links.

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Michael Cohen’s explosive allegations suggest danger for Trump on two fronts

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Trump’s ex-fixer hints Mueller may have proof of coordination with Russia and again alleges campaign finance violations

Michael Cohen on Wednesday delivered a sharp warning to Donald Trump and the Republican party that the president faces legal and political peril on at least two fronts.

First, the Trump-Russia investigation.

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Infant mortality in Venezuela has doubled during crisis, UN says

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UN security council officials clash over ‘politicised’ aid to troubled country as peace-building chief warns of ‘grim realities’

Infant mortality in Venezuela has soared by roughly 50% during the prolonged political crisis in the country.

Briefing the UN security council, the UN’s political and peace building chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, depicted a devastating collapse in Venezuela’s health system. She warned that 40% of medical staff had left the country and said hospital stocks of medicine had dwindled to 20% of the required level.

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Michael Cohen to call Donald Trump a ‘racist’, ‘cheat’ and ‘conman’ in first public hearing

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President’s former lawyer expected to say Trump knew of Roger Stone’s contact with WikiLeaks during 2016 campaign

Michael Cohen is to accuse Donald Trump of being a “conman” and a “cheat” who had advanced knowledge that a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, according to opening testimony he will deliver to Congress on Wednesday.

Cohen’s prepared remarks, confirmed by the Guardian, include a series of explosive allegations about the presidential campaign.

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Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline likely to go ahead after EU deal

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Concerns had been raised over project increasing German reliance on Russian energy

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, called it a mistake, while the US president, Donald Trump, has branded it very inappropriate and a “very bad thing for Nato”.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian gas to Germany is arguably Europe’s most controversial energy project, drawing opposition from Ukraine, which it will bypass, and uniting the US, eastern EU states, and the European Commission which fears it will undermine the bloc’s ‘energy union’ plans.

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Russian state TV shows map of potential US nuclear targets

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New hypersonic missiles could hit targets including Pentagon in under five minutes, it claims

Russian state television has broadcast a map of the US showing military facilities Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, in a report that was unusual even by its own bellicose standards.

The targets included the Pentagon and the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland. A hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes, it said.

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Mueller: Paul Manafort is hardened criminal who ‘repeatedly’ broke law

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Special counsel’s team say Trump campaign chairman deserves second prison sentence which could total 10 years

Paul Manafort is a hardened criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law even while serving as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, special counsel Robert Mueller has said.

Related: 'Even Nixon wasn’t like him': Trump's bid to upend Russia inquiry unprecedented, experts say

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Italian MPs demand answers over claims Salvini’s League sought Kremlin funding

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Salvini spokesman says claims of Moscow meeting to fund the party are ‘fantasies’

Italian opposition politicians have demanded an urgent explanation from the government after allegations surfaced accusing Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party of links to the Kremlin.

According to claims made in L’Espresso magazine, an arrangement was struck to sell 3m tonnes of diesel fuel to an Italian oil company by Russian representatives close to the government of Vladmir Putin, diverting profits to the League.

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Russia moves to mask its soldiers’ digital trail with smartphone ban

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Investigative sites have used social media posts to confirm Russia involvement in conflicts

Russia’s parliament has voted to ban its soldiers from using smartphones and social networks after a series of open-source investigations revealed their secret participation in foreign conflicts.

Russia’s Duma on Tuesday voted to ban members of the armed forces from publishing information online about their military units, deployments and other personal information, including photos, video and geolocation data.

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Sharm el-Sheikh locals lament ‘wall’ going up around resort

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Project aims to recoup lost tourism income since downing of Russian plane in Sinai

Egyptian authorities have started work on a concrete barrier around the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, which has struggled to attract tourists since a Russian passenger jet crashed in the region shortly after taking off in 2015 in a terrorism-linked attack, killing 224 people.

Related: Egyptian president says Russian plane was deliberately downed

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Rod Rosenstein, key figure behind Mueller inquiry, expected to step down in mid-March

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Justice department says deputy attorney general who brought in special counsel is likely to leave in mid-March

Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general who appointed a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign, is expected to step down by mid March, a Justice Department official has said.

Rosenstein had been expected to depart shortly after new Attorney General William Barr assumed office. Barr was confirmed for the role by the US Senate last week.

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‘I believe Putin’: Trump dismissed US advice on North Korea threat, says McCabe

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Former FBI chief says president believed Russian leader over US security agencies and ‘a crime may have been committed’ over Comey firing

A former FBI acting director has alleged Donald Trump dismissed advice from his own security agencies on the threat posed by North Korea’s missiles, saying “I don’t care. I believe Putin.”

Andrew McCabe made the claims in an interview with 60 Minutes, in which he discussed his tenure at the FBI after James Comey was fired by the president in 2017.

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Russian flag hung on Salisbury Cathedral year after novichok attack

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Staff have since removed flag hung on scaffolding before anniversary of poisoning of Skripals

A Russian flag was hung briefly from scaffolding on Salisbury Cathedral on Saturday night, almost a year after the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with novichok in the city. The flag was taken down on Sunday after cathedral staff were made aware of it.

It is thought that someone climbed the scaffolding and put the flag there during the hours of darkness. The first anniversary of the nerve agent attack on Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia, 33, who were discovered collapsed on a park bench in the city centre, will fall on 4 March.

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Toxic black snow covers Siberian coalmining region

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Activists say ‘post-apocalyptic’ scenes in Kuzbass highlight manmade ecological disaster

Residents of a coalmining region in Siberia have been posting videos online showing entire streets and districts covered in toxic black snow that critics say highlight a manmade ecological catastrophe.

In one video, filmed in Kiselyovsk, a town in the Kuzbass region, a woman drives past mounds of coal-coloured snow stretching to the horizon, covering a children’s playground and the courtyards of residential buildings. The scenes in the footage were described as “post-apocalyptic” by Russian media.

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Salisbury poisoning: website says it has identified third GRU suspect

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Denis Sergeyev named as involved in suspected poisoning in Bulgaria in 2015 by website Bellingcat

A third suspect linked to the poisoning of the former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury has been identified as a high-ranking officer in Russian military intelligence by the investigative website Bellingcat.

Bellingcat reported that Denis Sergeyev, a graduate of the Military Diplomatic Academy, a training ground for intelligence officers, is the real identity of a man operating under the cover persona of Sergey Fedotov.

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Ukraine deports Orthodox bishop after stripping citizenship

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Russia condemns move as row escalates over Ukrainian church’s autonomy

Ukraine has stripped an Orthodox bishop of his citizenship and barred him from entering the country as a dispute escalates over the Ukrainian and Russian branches of the church.

Ukrainian border guards on Thursday said they had detained and then deported Bishop Gedeon, the abbot of a Kiev monastery, because he allegedly held dual Ukraine-US citizenship. The deportation was condemned by Russian officials, who called on the US to intervene.

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Skripal poisoning: UK team looks into possible Bulgarian case link

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Bulgarian PM says UK team is on ground to investigate suspected poisoning of local arms dealer

A team of British investigators is in Bulgaria looking into whether the 2015 suspected poisoning of a local arms dealer has links to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter last year in Salisbury.

“There is a British team here on the ground,” Bulgaria’s prime minister, Boyko Borisov, told the Guardian in an interview in Sofia. “They are jointly conducting an investigation with Bulgarian law enforcement authorities.”

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‘I’ll talk, but then I have to call Putin’: steakhouse at centre of EU spy alert

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Flabbergasted owner says EU must have been referring to his place when warning diplomats to avoid a Brussels restaurant

Eleven years since opening his restaurant in the shadow of the European commission’s vast Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels, Philippe Weiner can safely boast that the Meet Meat Steak and Wine House is a firm favourite of the better-fed Eurocrat.

Sharp-suited diplomats and officials flock to its minimalist dining room for lunch and dinner. The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, and his team have been known to enjoy the kitchen’s meat offerings, best served à point or saignant.

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