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Nigerian leader of money laundering ring sentenced in United States

Henry Williams
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Nigerian leader of money laundering ring sentenced in United States

Afeez Adebara’s group, the United States Department of Justice, said defrauded multiple victims, including elderly individuals across the United States, and caused losses of at least $2.5 million.

Adebara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on Nov. 3, 2020.

Court documents and testimony, between 2017 and November 2019, Adebara and co-conspirators knowingly concealed the proceeds of a romance scam operation by moving money between and among multiple bank accounts that were opened under various aliases using fake passports and other fraudulent identification documents to obscure the source of the funds and the identities of the co-conspirators.

Israeli Firm Unveils Armed Robot To Patrol Volatile Borders

Zoe Maven
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Israeli Firm Unveils Armed Robot To Patrol Volatile Borders

An Israeli defense contractor has unveiled a remote-controlled armed robot it says can patrol battle zones, track infiltrators and open fire.

The unmanned vehicle is the latest addition to the world of drone technology, which is rapidly reshaping the modern battlefield.

Proponents say such semi-autonomous machines allow armies to protect their soldiers, while critics fear this marks another dangerous step toward robots making life-or-death decisions.

The four-wheel-drive robot presented Monday was developed by the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries’ “REX MKII.”

It is operated by an electronic tablet and can be equipped with two machine guns, cameras and sensors, said Rani Avni, deputy head of the company’s autonomous systems division. The robot can gather intelligence for ground troops, carry injured soldiers and supplies in and out of battle, and strike nearby targets.

It is the most advanced of more than half a dozen unmanned vehicles developed by Aerospace Industries’ subsidiary, ELTA Systems, over the past 15 years.

The Israeli military is currently using a smaller but similar vehicle called the Jaguar to patrol the border with the Gaza Strip and help enforce a blockade Israel imposed in 2007, after the tiny territory was seized by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Gaza is home to 2 million Palestinians who have largely been locked in by the blockade, which is also supported to some extent by Egypt.

The border area is the site of frequent protests and occasional attempts by Palestinian militants or desperate laborers to infiltrate into Israel.

According to the Israeli army’s website, the semi-autonomous Jaguar is equipped with a machine gun and was designed to reduce soldiers’ exposure to the dangers of patrolling the volatile Gaza-Israel border.

Japan Warns Citizens Of Possible Attack In Southeast Asia

Zoe Maven
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Japan Warns Citizens Of Possible Attack In Southeast Asia

Japan’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens to stay away from religious facilities and crowds in six Southeast Asian nations, warning of a possible attack.

The ministry said it had obtained information that “there are increased risks such as suicide bombings.”

The warning applies to Japanese citizens in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar.

The advisory was met with puzzlement in several of those nations, which said they had no knowledge of such a threat, or details from Japan as to the source of its information.

Tanee Sangrat, spokesman for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry, said Japan had not revealed the origin of the warning and that the Japanese Embassy had no further details other than to say it was “not specific to Thailand.”

Thai security agencies have no information of their own about a possible threat, said deputy police spokesman Kissana Pathanacharoen.

Similarly, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it was not aware of any information about an elevated threat level, while Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah denied that any warning was even sent to Japanese citizens there.

Malaysian police also have not received any information or detected any security threats, national police chief Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said.

In the short advisory, Japan urged its citizens to pay close attention to local news and information and use caution “for the time being,” but did not give a specific timeframe or other details.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry refused to provide the source of the information or say whether it was shared with other countries.

Guinea Junta Starts Transitional Government Talks

Zoe Maven
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Guinea Junta Starts Transitional Government Talks

The junta that ousted Guinea’s President Alpha Conde last week has started a week-long consultation with political, religious, and business leaders that it says will lead to the formation of a transitional government.

The dialog, which began with a meeting with leaders of the main political parties on Tuesday, is expected to lay out the framework of a promised government of national unity that would lead Guinea back to constitutional order.

The talks are expected to define the duration of the transition, what political and institutional reforms are needed before elections, and who will lead the transition.

The coup led by Guinea’s special forces and helmed by Mamady Doumbouya, a former French Foreign Legionnaire, has been condemned by Guinea’s partners and regional bodies.

West Africa’s regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which suspended Guinea from its decision making bodies, has called for a short, civilian-lead transition.

The meeting with political party leaders on Tuesday will be followed by a meeting with representatives regional governments, then religious organizations.

Civil society organizations, diplomatic missions, heads of mining companies and business leaders are also scheduled for meetings with the junta throughout the week.

Deal Allowing Russian Mercenaries Into Mali Is Close – Sources

Zoe Maven
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Deal Allowing Russian Mercenaries Into Mali Is Close – Sources

A deal is close that would allow Russian mercenaries into Mali, extending Russian influence over security affairs in West Africa and triggering opposition from former colonial power France.

According to seven diplomatic and security sources, Paris has begun a diplomatic drive to prevent the military junta in Mali enacting the deal, which would permit Russian private military contractors, the Wagner Group, to operate in the former French colony.

A European source who tracks West Africa and a security source in the region said at least 1,000 mercenaries could be involved. Two other sources believed the number was lower, but did not provide figures.

Four sources said the Wagner Group would be paid about $10.8 million a month for its services. One security source working in the region said the mercenaries would train Malian military and provide protection for senior officials.

It could not be independently confirmed how many mercenaries could be involved, how much they would be compensated, or establish the exact objective of any deal involving Russian mercenaries would be for Mali’s military junta.

France is worried the arrival of Russian mercenaries would undermine its decade-old counter-terrorism operation against al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked insurgents in the Sahel region of West Africa at a time when it is seeking to draw down its 5,000-strong Barkhane mission to reshape it with more European partners.

The French foreign ministry also did not respond but a French diplomatic source criticised interventions by the Wagner Group in other countries.

Algeria Aims At $2.6 Bln Increase In Energy Investment

Zoe Maven
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Algeria Aims At $2.6 Bln Increase In Energy Investment

OPEC member Algeria plans to increase investment in its oil and gas sector by $2.6 billion next year to boost production by 8.9 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

Speaking to parliament awhile presenting his government action plan, Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane said Oil and gas investment in 2022 will total $10 billion, up from $7.4 billion this year, aiming to increase output to 195.9 million tonnes of oil equivalent from 187 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

Algeria, which relies heavily on the energy sector, last year halved planned investment spending in oil and gas to $7 billion to cope with financial pressure caused by a fall in global crude oil prices due to the pandemic.

The government expects energy export earnings to rise to $33 billion this year from $20 billion in 2020 after a rise in oil prices in international market.

The action plan includes reforms to improve the investment climate mainly in the non-energy sector to help to reduce Algeria’s reliance on oil and gas which account for more than 90% of total export earnings and 60% of the state budget.

The plan also included a commitment to keep the government’s subsidy policy unchanged to avoid social unrest. It currently subsidies almost everything from basic foodstuffs to housing, medicine and fuel.

EU Says It Has No Option But To Talk To Taliban

Zoe Maven
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EU Says It Has No Option But To Talk To Taliban

The European Union says it has no option but to talk to Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers and Brussels will try to coordinate with member governments to organise a diplomatic presence in Kabul.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, stating that the Afghan crisis is not and so to have any chance of influencing events, they have no other option but to engage with the Taliban.

EU foreign ministers have set conditions for re-establishing humanitarian aid and diplomatic ties with the Taliban, who took control of Afghanistan on Aug. 15, including respect for human rights, particularly women’s rights.

Borrell told EU lawmakers that the bloc should be prepared to see Afghans trying to reach Europe if the Taliban allow people to leave, although he said he did not expect migration flows to be as high as in 2015 caused by Syria’s civil war.

The European Commission plans to secure funding from EU governments and the common budget of 300 million euros both this year and next to pave the way for resettlement of around 30,000 Afghans.

UN Investigators Say Syria Violence Worsening

Zoe Maven
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UN Investigators Say Syria Violence Worsening

U.N. war crimes investigators say Syria is still unsafe for the return of refugees a decade after its conflict began, documenting worsening violence and rights violations including arbitrary detention by government forces.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said the overall situation was increasingly bleak, noting hostilities in several areas of the fractured country, its collapsing economy, drying riverbeds and increased attacks by Islamic State militants.

Releasing its 24th report the Chair of the Commission, Paulo Pinheiro said, One decade in, the parties to the conflict continue to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity and infringing the basic human rights of Syrians.

He said the Commission has continued to document not only torture and sexual violence in detention but also custodial deaths and enforced disappearances.

The war, which spiraled out of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, sparked the world’s biggest refugee crisis. Syria’s neighbors host 5.6 million refugees, while European countries are hosting more than one million.

Covering the year to the end of June, the report also noted increased hostilities in the northwest, saying markets, residential areas and medical facilities had been struck from the air and ground, “often indiscriminately, causing numerous civilian casualties.”

At least 243 people were killed or maimed in seven car bomb attacks in the rebel-held towns of Afrin and Ras al-Ain north of Aleppo, though the full toll was considerably higher, it said.

Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Urges Int’l Donors To Restart Aid

Zoe Maven
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Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Urges Int’l Donors To Restart Aid

Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister on Tuesday called for international donors to restart aid, as the Taliban government seeks to shore up the finances of a country heavily reliant on external assistance.

Following the insurgent Taliban’s return to power after sweeping away government forces last month, a majority of international donors have frozen aid.

Addressing a News Conference in Kabul, Amir Khan Muttaqi said the country is a war-hit country and it needs the international community’s assistance in different sectors, especially education, health and development.

He said Projects that are incomplete need to be completed in order to avoid waste of resources, also calling for more assistance from multilateral donors including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.

After the takeover, the United States froze Afghanistan’s dollar-denominated bank deposits that make up the majority of the central bank’s reserves.

He said the international community should not politicize their assistance to Afghanistan, adding that they helped the US until evacuation of their last person, but unfortunately the US, instead of thanking them, froze their assets.

Blinken Defends US Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Zoe Maven
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Blinken Defends US Withdrawal From Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken beat back criticism of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan at a contentious congressional hearing as irate lawmakers accused the White House of presiding over a historic disaster.

In five hours of often testy exchanges with lawmakers, Blinken defended President Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan and pushed back on accusations that the State Department should have done more to help Americans and at-risk Afghans to be evacuated, blaming the previous administration for lacking a plan.

He repeatedly noted that Republican former president Donald Trump had negotiated the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban, and defended the Biden administration’s failure to renegotiate the deal.

He also insisted that threats from the hardline Islamist group to resume killing Americans were a security threat.

He added that there is no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government any more resilient or self-sustaining.

Members of Congress – Biden’s Democrats as well as opposition Republicans – have pledged to investigate since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last month after a rapid advance.

Republican lawmakers have portrayed the pullout as chaotic and accused the president of abandoning Americans to the fate of the Taliban.

They noted that last year’s agreement with the Taliban, signed in the presence of Blinken’s predecessor Mike Pompeo, had set conditions for the withdrawal.

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