Luxury jet used by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro seized by US officials

Published

2 months ago

September 3, 2024

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Venezuela’s equivalent to Air Force One has been seized by US officials, who claim the luxury presidential jet was bought illegally and smuggled out of the country to get around US export control laws.

The white Dassault Falcon 900EX, used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during state visits, was seized in the Dominican Republic and flown to Florida, the US Justice Department said on Monday.

Registered in San Marino, the aircraft was used extensively for foreign trips by Mr Maduro and his senior officials, including trips to Guyana and Cuba earlier this year.

It landed at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale shortly before noon after being seized, according to flight tracking websites.

Washington has said the plane, valued at $13m (£10m), was bought from sellers in Florida in late 2022 and early the following year.

Officials have said the deal was done through a Caribbean-based shell company used to hide the involvement of associates of the Venezuelan leader.

According to officials, it was then exported to Caracas through the Caribbean in April last year, in an arrangement designed to get around an executive order barring Americans from making deals with anyone involved in Mr Maduro’s government.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that it had been smuggled out of the US for use by “Maduro and his cronies.”

Matthew Axelrod, from the US Commerce Department, said in a statement: “Let this seizure send a clear message: aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just fly off into the sunset.”

It’s less than a month since Mr Maduro was returned to office in a widely disputed presidential poll in which electoral authorities loyal to him declared the incumbent the winner without providing any detailed results.

The lack of transparency has been widely condemned by other countries.

Opponents of the Maduro regime obtained more than 80% of vote tally sheets, which suggested he had actually lost by a wide margin to former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.

The plane was previously registered in the US and owned by Florida-based Six G Aviation, a broker that buys and sells used aircraft, according to several flight tracking websites.

It was exported to St Vincent and the Grenadines and de-registered in the US in January 2023, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records.

In March, it flew to the Dominican Republic, along with a Venezuelan-registered plane, for what was believed to be maintenance and had been there since.

Washington has already seized a Boeing 747-300 cargo plane transferred from Iran to a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned airlines as well as several private jets belonging to Venezuelan officials sanctioned or charged in the US.

US

Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

Published

4 hours ago

November 12, 2024

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Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who leaked classified Pentagon information has been jailed for 15 years.

Jack Teixeira shared documents that contained information about the war in Ukraine on the messaging platform Discord.

The leak exposed information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Kyiv’s soldiers.

He began sharing the documents in 2022, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported, and had held top-secret security clearance since the year before.

Teixeira pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of national defence information following his arrest in the most consequential national security case in years.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, he showed no visible reaction as he was sentenced by US district judge Indira Talwani.

Before being sentenced, he apologised for his actions, saying: “I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused.”

He referenced the “maelstrom” he created and added: “I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring.”

Afterwards, Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, hugged one of his lawyers and looked toward his family and smiled, before being led away.

The security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and left the Biden administration scrambling to try to contain the fallout.

The leaks were also embarrassing for the Pentagon which tightened controls and disciplined members who failed to take necessary action over the 22-year-old’s suspicious behaviour.

Assistant US attorney Jared Dolan said Teixeira’s sentencing would “be a cautionary tale for the men and women in the US military”.

Teixeira’s own lawyers said that while his actions were criminal, they were never intended to “harm the United States”.

“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the lawyers claimed.

Prosecutors in court said he tried to cover his tracks as they found a smashed tablet, laptop and Xbox in a rubbish bin at his house.

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist – an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.

US

Donald Trump to name Marco Rubio as secretary of state – reports

Published

19 hours ago

November 12, 2024

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Donald Trump to name Marco Rubio as secretary of state - reports

Donald Trump is expected to name Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, according to US media reports.

Mr Trump, who will be inaugurated on 20 January 2025, could still change his mind about the appointment, three sources familiar with the selection process have told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.

The secretary of state serves as the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and the country’s top diplomat.

The New York Times was the first to report that Mr Trump plans to select Mr Rubio for the position.

During Mr Trump’s first term in the White House between 2017 and 2021, Mr Rubio co-sponsored legislation that would make it harder for the then-president to withdraw from the NATO alliance.

Earlier this year he was one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95bn (£74bn) military aid package to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, which was eventually passed in April.

Mr Rubio, who would be the first Latino to hold the role, was arguably the most hawkish option on Mr Trump’s shortlist for secretary of state.

In the past, the 53-year-old has advocated for muscular foreign policy with respect to the US’ geopolitical rivals, including China, Iran and Cuba.

However, over the last several years he has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Mr Trump’s views.

The president-elect accuses past White House administrations of leading America into costly and futile wars and has pushed for a more restrained foreign policy.

The new administration will confront a world more volatile and dangerous than it was when Mr Trump first took office in 2017, with wars now raging in Ukraine and the Middle East

The Ukraine crisis will be high on Mr Rubio’s agenda.

Mr Rubio has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade.

“I’m not on Russia’s side – but unfortunately the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement,” Mr Rubio said in September.

Meanwhile, after it was reported Mr Rubio could be set to become secretary of state, a Trump ally told NBC News: “While Marco is a little more hawkish than the incoming president and vice president, he’s actually not as far away from them as many people might assume at first blush.

“He’s become far more aligned with the president on issues regarding tariffs. He has a similar stand on the China issue, and he even voted against the last round of Ukraine funding.”

Mr Rubio’s selection holds domestic as well as international significance.

Mr Trump beat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 5 November election in part by winning over large numbers of Latinos, who had voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in previous election cycles.

By selecting Mr Rubio for a key policy role, Mr Trump may help consolidate gains among Latinos and make clear that they have a place at the highest levels of his administration.

Mr Rubio also was one of three final contenders for Mr Trump’s vice-presidential pick.

The president-elect ultimately chose US Senator JD Vance of Ohio, a hard-right figure who is known for his isolationist foreign policy positions.

Mr Rubio is not the first Trump administration appointment to be reported following the election.

The incoming president has announced Representative Mike Waltz as his national security adviser, while his presidential campaign manager Susie Wiles will become his chief of staff.

On Sunday, he named immigration hard-liner Tom Homan as his “border czar”.

US

Kremlin denies Trump and Putin call discussing Ukraine – as Biden to urge president-elect ‘not to walk away’ from Kyiv

Published

2 days ago

November 11, 2024

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Kremlin denies Trump and Putin call discussing Ukraine - as Biden to urge president-elect 'not to walk away' from Kyiv

The Kremlin has denied Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin in a phone call the day after the presidential election.

The US president-elect reportedly urged the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of America’s sizeable military presence in Europe during the conversation on Thursday, according to The Washington Post and Reuters, citing sources familiar with the call.

According to several other sources, the pair went on to discuss the goal of peace on the continent, as well as the prospect of a further call soon to look into the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

Follow live: Putin has no plans to speak to Trump

But on Monday, the Kremlin denied the reports and spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin has no specific plans to speak to Mr Trump at present.

“This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it’s just false information,” Mr Peskov said. “There was no conversation.”

Asked if Mr Putin had plans for any contact with Mr Trump, Mr Peskov said: “There are no concrete plans yet.”

On Friday, the Kremlin said Mr Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Mr Trump – but that did not mean he was willing to alter Moscow’s demands – namely that Ukraine drops its ambitions to join NATO and surrenders the four territories currently held by Russia.

The Washington Post said two sources indicated the Ukrainian government was informed of the call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin – and did not object to the conversation taking place.

We simply do not know what Trump’s policy on Ukraine will be

If the reports of this call are correct – that Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin not to escalate the conflict – it’s certainly not the pro-Russia rhetoric Ukraine feared it would be hearing.

But will it ease their concerns about a potential cut to US military aid and being forced into a peace deal? Unlikely.

That’s because, if true, it is contact between the Russian president and the US president-elect.

It will fuel anxiety in Kyiv and other European capitals over how the relationship between the two develops.

They got on well last time, too well in the eyes of many Western officials, and the fear is they will do so again.

The Kremlin has denied the reports of the call, insisting no conversation took place.

But it also said last week that Mr Putin had no plans to congratulate Mr Trump. And then he did.

In fact, he was highly complementary of the president-elect, praising his bravery during the attempt on his life.

The bottom line, I think, is that Moscow, Kyiv, London et al simply don’t know what Mr Trump’s policy on Ukraine will actually be.

Yes, he’s vowed to bring the war to a swift conclusion, but he hasn’t said how he’ll do that or what peace will look like.

So right now, there is a charm offensive going on, from both sides.

Kyiv and its allies, including the UK, are hoping to persuade Mr Trump not to abandon their cause, while Moscow is trying to appeal to his image as a dealmaker, advocating a peace agreement on its terms.

However, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it was “impossible” that Ukraine would have endorsed such a call and that reports otherwise were “false”.

When asked about the call, Mr Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said: “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, who will hand over power on 20 January, will warn Mr Trump and Congress not to abandon Ukraine, according to one of the president’s top officials.

The president-elect and sitting president will meet on Wednesday in the Oval Office, a week after Mr Trump beat Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the election.

In an interview with CBS News, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe.”

Under Mr Biden, Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars of military and economic aid to Ukraine – funding that Mr Trump, and some of his supporters, have repeatedly criticised and rallied against.

Mr Trump insisted last year that Mr Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been in the White House at the time and has repeatedly said he could settle the war “in one day” if he was re-elected again.

On Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said strength and diplomacy must work together to bring the two-and-a-half-year war to an end.

“We understand very clearly that diplomacy has no prospects without strength,” he said.

“But without a clear understanding of diplomatic goals, weapons alone will not do the job. That’s why strength and diplomacy must work hand in hand.”

It comes as both Russia and Ukraine launched “record” drone attacks on each other overnight on Saturday, injuring a woman and temporarily halting air traffic at some of Russia’s busiest airports.