29/05/2026

FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2026

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Ex-CIA official nabbed with US$40 million in gold

Trump backs Armenian PM ahead of vote

WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump voiced support on Wednesday for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the upcoming elections, which polls show as an exceedingly tight race. The June 7 parliamentary vote is seen as a litmus test for Pashinyan’s moves to loosen Armenian dependence on Moscow while forging closer ties with the West. The South Caucasus nation is also still reeling from Azerbaijan’s 2023 military takeover of the Karabakh region and the mass exodus of its 100,000 ethnic Armenians. Armenia agreed as part of a US-brokered peace deal to establish a transit corridor through its territory that would connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “Soon, the United States and Armenia will break ground together” on the TRIPP, “which will transform the South Caucasus, and help our wonderful American energy companies gain access from Central Asia all the way to the United States”. He called Pashinyan “a great friend and leader” who was “making his country strong, wealthy and very secure!” “Nikol completely shares my vision of peace and prosperity for Armenia and the entire South Caucasus region. “For these reasons, Nikol has my complete and total endorsement for re-election on June 7,“ Trump said, copying his favored formulation for his frequent domestic political endorsements. Pashinyan thanked Trump in an X post yesterday for his “high appreciation and friendly words”. The endorsement comes a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Armenia on a return trip from his multi-day tour of India. – AFP US probes assault victim for perjury WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former columnist whom President Donald Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting, according to media reports on Wednesday. Trump has repeatedly urged the department to take action against his perceived enemies, and the latest inquiry focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury in her two civil lawsuits against Trump, CNN and The New York Times said, quoting individuals familiar with the matter. In one of the lawsuits, Carroll alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store in 1996. In the other, a jury found Trump guilty of defamation for his many malicious public comments denying any assault, describing her as not being his type and alleging that she concocted the incident to boost her book sales. The court ordered Trump to pay US$83.3 million in damages to Carroll for defaming her. CNN said prosecutors are citing a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside money for her lawsuits. It later emerged that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses. Trump’s calls for the Justice Department to take action against his enemies have come under fire from critics, who say they have shattered the agency’s traditional independence. – AFP

o US$2 million in cash, 35 luxury watches also seized

He was arrested on May 19 and charged with theft of government money. From November 2025 to March this year, Rush sent several requests to his employer for “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.” The affidavit said Rush received the cash and gold, without giving further information on why he needed them. The gold and most of the cash were later found to be missing from a storage space at the official’s workplace, triggering a search of his home, which discovered about 303 gold bars. – AFP

official, quoting individuals familiar with the investigation. An FBI probe found that Rush had provided false information about his education and military background in his job application, including lying about obtaining university degrees and serving as a pilot in the navy. He also filled out fraudulent time sheets and obtained US$77,000 in military leave pay by falsely claiming he was a member of the navy reserves, according to the affidavit. The document describes Rush as a former senior employee at a US government agency with top secret clearance and access to classified information.

WASHINGTON: The United States has arrested a former senior CIA official after a search found US$40 million worth of gold bars at his home. FBI officers also seized US$2 million in cash and about 35 luxury watches this month from the home of David Rush in the US state of Virginia, according to court documents. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that he was a former senior CIA

HEAD TO HEAD ... Protesters clash with ICE agents outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. – REUTERSPIC

Norway mulls joining French nuclear umbrella PARIS: Norway will open talks with France on joining its nuclear umbrella, French President Emmanuel Macron and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Wednesday, reflecting growing European concerns about relying on the United States for security. is important for us.“ Under the plan, Norway would take part in what France calls “forward nuclear deterrence”, under which European partners are more closely involved in French strategic thinking on nuclear defence.

receive France’s nuclear protection, after Poland and Lithuania, which also share borders with Russia. Stoere told Norwegian news agency NTB on Wednesday that no nuclear weapons would be deployed in Norway in peacetime. The Nordic nation of 5.6 million inhabitants is a member of Nato, but not of the European Union, and shares a border with Russia in the Arctic. “This closer cooperation will make European and transatlantic security stronger. Together, we are enabling a burden shift. It was long before Trump that this became necessary, that Europe had to pay more and make wiser investments, not only country by country, but coordinated,“ Stoere said. Russia and the US are the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with over 5,000 nuclear warheads each. China has about 600, France has 290 and Britain 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists. – Reuters

“The agreement establishes a principle of mutual assistance between our two countries,“ Macron said, adding that deeper cooperation would support Europe’s ambitions for greater strategic autonomy. The initiative comes as European countries seek to strengthen their own defence capabilities amid doubts about long-term US commitments and heightened tensions with Russia. In March, France offered to extend the protection of its nuclear umbrella to other European countries, which in practice means that an attack on a country could trigger a French nuclear response. Norway becomes the latest country to

The move signals a shift by Norway, long a staunch Atlanticist that has relied heavily on Nato and the US nuclear umbrella, towards closer defence cooperation within Europe. Macron and Stoere announced the plan at a meeting in Paris, where they also signed a broader defence agreement which includes Norway joining a French-led nuclear weapons initiative. Stoere said Norway’s primary deterrence would remain the Nato alliance and the US, but described France’s nuclear capabilities as “an important contribution” to the alliance. “France’s capabilities are an important contribution to Nato’s deterrence posture, which