08/08/2025

FRIDAY | AUG 8, 2025

9

Hezbollah rejects Cabinet order for disarmament

US soldier held over bid to leak sensitive info WASHINGTON: A US army soldier was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly seeking to pass sensitive information about American battle tanks to the Russian government, according to the US Justice Department. Taylor Adam Lee, 22, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, is facing two federal charges accusing him of attempting to transmit national defence information and export controlled technical data without a licence, according to court documents. “Today’s arrest is a message to anyone thinking about betraying the United States, especially service members who have sworn to protect our homeland. The FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to protect Americans and safeguard classified information,“ said FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky. Lee has not yet entered a plea on the charges. Prosecutors accuse Lee, who holds top-secret security clearance, of attempting to share information on the operation and vulnerabilities of the M1A2 Abrams, the main US battle tank, with the Russian government in exchange for Russian citizenship. Last month, Lee shared an SD card that contained documents and information about the tank and other US military operations with someone he believed to be a Russian intelligence officer. The documents contained technical data Lee was not authorised to provide and some were marked “Controlled Unclassified Information“, according to prosecutors. “Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice, and we will continue to protect army personnel and safeguard equipment,“ said Army Counterintelligence Command commanding general Brigadier-General Sean Stinchon. – Reuters Red aviation alert for volcano in Russia VLADIVOSTOK: The aviation alert level for Klyuchevskoy Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has been raised from orange to red due to increased eruptive activity, local authorities said yesterday, reported Xinhua. A summit explosive-effusive eruption is underway, with satellite data showing ash rising to 9.5km above sea level and an ash plume drifting some 141km east-southeast of the volcano, according to the Russian Academy of Sciences Far Eastern Branch Volcanology and Seismology Institute Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team. It warned that ash explosions up to 10km could occur at any moment, which could potentially affect international and low-flying aircraft in the region. Standing at about 4,754m, Klyuchevskoy is the highest active volcano in Eurasia. Summit eruptions have intensified following an 8.8-magnitude quake off the Kamchatka Peninsula last week. – Bernama-Xinhua

offensive activities. The White House has not officially outlined what action it would take against Russia but Trump told reporters that it plans to impose “a lot more secondary sanctions” targeting Russia’s key trade partners, possibly targeting China. Without explicitly naming Trump, the Kremlin on Tuesday slammed “threats” to hike tariffs on Russia’s trading partners as “illegitimate”. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede more territory and renounce United States and European Union support if it wants the fighting to stop. Kyiv is calling for an immediate ceasefire and Zelensky last week urged his allies to push for “regime change” in Moscow. – AFP Israel also launched a series of air strikes on southern Lebanon, wounding at least two people, according to the ministry. The Israeli military said it struck “weapons storage facilities, a missile launcher and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, which stored engineering tools that allowed for the re-establishment of terrorist infrastructure in the area”. Hezbollah said Israel must halt the attacks before any domestic debate about its weapons and a new defence strategy could begin. “We are open to dialogue, ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, liberating its land, releasing prisoners, working to build the state and rebuilding what was destroyed by the aggression,” the group said. Hezbollah is “prepared to discuss a national security strategy” but not under Israeli fire, it added. Two ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement walked out of Tuesday’s meeting. Hezbollah described the walkout as “an expression of rejection” of the government’s “decision to subject Lebanon to American tutelage and Israeli occupation”. The Amal movement, headed by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, accused the government of “rushing to offer more gratuitous concessions” to Israel when it should have sought to end the ongoing attacks. The Lebanese Forces, one of the country’s two main Christian parties, said the Cabinet’s decision to disarm the militant group is “a pivotal moment in Lebanon’s modern history, a long overdue step towards restoring full state authority and sovereignty”. The Free Patriotic Movement, the other major Christian party and a former ally of Hezbollah, said it is in favour of the army receiving the group’s weapons “to strengthen Lebanon’s defensive power”. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any decision on disarmament “will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself”. – AFP

between Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah said it views the government’s move as “the result of dictates from US envoy” Tom Barrack. It “fully serves Israel’s interests and leaves Lebanon exposed to the Israeli enemy without any deterrence”, the group said. Hezbollah was the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. It has emerged weakened politically and militarily from its latest conflict with Israel, its arsenal pummelled and its senior leadership decimated. Israel has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah and other targets despite the November truce, and has threatened to keep doing so until the group has been disarmed. An Israeli strike on the southern town of Tulin on Wednesday killed one person and wounded another, the Health Ministry said.

o ‘Decision gives Israel free hand to tamper with Lebanon security, geography and politics’

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Wednesday it would treat a Lebanese government decision to disarm the militant group “as if it did not exist”, accusing the Cabinet of committing a “grave sin”. Amid heavy US pressure and fears that Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year end. The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval, and a Cabinet meeting was scheduled for yesterday to continue the talks, including on a US-proposed

timetable for disarmament. Hezbollah said the government has “committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy”. The decision is unprecedented since Lebanon’s civil war factions gave up their weapons three and a half decades ago. “This decision undermines Lebanon’s sovereignty and gives Israel a free hand to tamper with its security, geography, politics and future existence. We will treat this decision as if it does not exist,” it said. The government said its decision comes as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities

Palestinians inspecting the damage after a strike on the Sheikh Radwan Health Centre in Gaza on Wednesday. – AFPPIC

Trump may meet Putin ‘very soon’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon“, following what he described as highly productive talks in Moscow between his special envoy and the Russian leader. The potential summit was discussed in a call between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that included Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland, according to a senior source in Kyiv. Trump gave no indication as to where the meeting with Putin might take place. It would be the first US-Russia leadership summit since former president Joe Biden met his

days’ time. US State Secretary Marco Rubio said Witkoff was returning with a ceasefire proposal from Moscow that would have to be discussed with Ukraine and Washington’s European allies. He also cast caution on the timeline for a Trump-Putin meeting, saying there is “a lot of work ahead“ and it could be “weeks maybe”. Trump has given Russia until today to make progress towards peace or face new penalties. Three rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to make headway on a ceasefire, with the two sides far apart in their demands. Trump has voiced increasing frustration with Putin in recent weeks over Russia’s unrelenting

counterpart in Geneva in 2021. The New York Times and CNN, citing people familiar with the matter, said Trump plans to meet Putin as early as next week, and then wants a three-way meeting with the Russian leader and Zelensky. Trump’s phone call with Zelensky comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian leadership in Moscow for talks described by the Kremlin as “productive”, with Trump’s deadline looming to impose fresh sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Everyone agrees that this war must come to a close and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,“ said Trump. Minutes later, a senior US official said “secondary sanctions” were still expected to be implemented in two