What a 110-year-old lemon tells us about espionage history
Muller, a spy who masqueraded as a Russian shipbroker and covertly traveled to England among a crowd of refugees in 1915, used pen nibs dipped in lemon to write invisible messages to his counterparts. He relayed his secrets in between lines of regular ink in what appeared to be otherwise unremarkable letters.
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NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump hits Brazilian products with 50% tariffs over Bolsonaro
WASHINGTON — Products imported to the U.S. from Brazil — including almost a third of the supply relied on every day by America's coffee drinkers — are subject to a 50% tariff beginning Friday, not because of Brazil's trade policies, but because of President Donald Trump's relationship with the country's former strongman president Jair Bolsonaro, and because of the actions of one of the justices of Brazil's supreme court. Trump typically justifies his tariffs by pointing to the U.S. trade deficit and saying that other nations are taking advantage of the United States. Many economists disagree with his view, but it doesn't matter in this instance: The U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Brazil of hundreds of billions of dollars over more than a decade, not a deficit. Still, on Friday, Trump imposed a total 50% tariff on certain products imported from Brazil, the highest rate of any country in the world. Earlier this week, the Trump administration also slapped the supreme court justice, Alexandre de Moraes, with tough sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, a law originally passed by Congress with the intent of punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies after the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, who had been investigating corruption in Russia. In a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions had been imposed 'for serious human rights abuses.' What are the alleged human rights abuses? De Moraes has been overseeing the case against Bolsonaro, who is charged along with some 30 others — including the former commander of Brazil's navy, the former defense minister and the former intelligence chief — with trying to stage a coup to prevent the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from taking office after he defeated Bolsonaro in a 2022 election. Brazil's Supreme Federal Court has ordered Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor and not go on social media, call foreign leaders or leave the country pending his trial. Three Brazilian officials noted to NBC News that the penalty was imposed after one of his sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman visiting the U.S., worked to enlist Steve Bannon and other MAGA allies to get Trump's attention and advocate to put pressure on Brazil over his father's case. De Moraes also ordered a ban in Brazil of the social media platform X, which is owned by sometime Trump ally Elon Musk, that lasted for more than a month last year after Musk and X refused to appoint a legal representative for their business in the country or to comply with court orders and requests to remove certain accounts and posts associated with election misinformation. And Trump's own social media company, Trump Media, has sued de Moraes over a suspension order he issued to the video hosting company Rumble, which Trump Media uses for its Truth Social platform. 'The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Trump said in a letter that he sent to Brazil's president, who is widely known as Lula, and posted to Truth Social on July 9. Trump's letter went on to tie Bolsonaro's prosecution and de Moraes' social media rulings to the tariffs he'd later impose: 'Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50% on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States.' Brazil, the world's fourth largest democracy, exports popular commodities like coffee, beef, oranges, aircraft, oil, iron and steel to the U.S. Trump's executive order excluded some products, including oranges, oil and fertilizers, but not coffee or beef. Trump's actions against Brazil have brought the country's opposing political sides together to some extent. A delegation including Bolsonaro supporters and a former opposition Cabinet member from Brazil's foreign relations and defense committee met in Washington this week with Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis to try to iron out the dispute. Brazil's foreign minister also flew to Washington to meet with Rubio on Wednesday. And U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick talked by phone with his Brazilian counterpart, two of the Brazilian officials told NBC News. They also said the call did not go well. Lula has not yet announced whether or how Brazil will retaliate against the U.S. tariffs. On Thursday, a U.S. appeals court panel heard arguments on a challenge to Trump's authority to impose tariffs by executive order brought by businesses and a coalition of state attorneys general. Tariff opponents argue the White House has not established that a national emergency exists to justify Trump's circumventing what is, with some emergency exceptions, supposed to be congressional authority over tariffs. Several of the judges on the panel pressed the Justice Department lawyer representing the government on the president's right to impose steep duties using an economic emergency law that does not specifically mention tariffs. No other president has ever tried to impose tariffs under the 1977 law the Trump administration is citing. The case is expected to eventually end up at the Supreme Court.
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
Ukraine Strikes Strategic Russian Shahed Air Base in Precision Attack
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Ukrainian drones targeted industrial sites across several Russian regions overnight Friday, including a facility which hosts Iranian-designed drones. Ukraine's General Staff said Saturday that sites in at least four regions had been targeted in the previous 24 hours, including oil fields under international sanctions and facilities critical to Russia's military. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment. File photo: The remains of a Russian-made decoy Gerbera drone lay beside an Iran-designed Shahed-136 drone on July 30, 2025 in Kharkiv. File photo: The remains of a Russian-made decoy Gerbera drone lay beside an Iran-designed Shahed-136 drone on July 30, 2025 in It Matters Ukraine is stepping up its use of drones to target sites key to Russia's military operations and show how Kyiv will hit back at Moscow's continued bombardment on civilian infrastructure, especially after the Ukrainian capital faced its biggest attack since the start of the war. What To Know Ukraine's General Staff said Saturday its drones targeted industrial sites in the Ryazan, Penza, Samara and Voronezh oblasts in Western Russia. Ukrainian drones also hit the Primorsko-Akhtarsk military air base in the southern Krasnodar region that stored Shahed drones, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The Iranian drones have been key to Moscow's bombardment of Ukraine and are now made in facilities across Russia. Наслідки удару безпілотника по Новокуйбишевському НПЗ у Самарській області Росії — Українська правда ✌️ (@ukrpravda_news) August 2, 2025 In Penza, Ukrainian drones struck the Elektropribor plant, which produces digital networks in military command systems, aviation devices, armored vehicles, ships and spacecraft, according to the General Staff. Russian Telegram channels reported explosions over the city, although officials have not commented on the strikes. Further east, the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in the Samara region was hit in a drone strike, with video footage posted on Telegram channels appearing to show flames rising from the site. Ukrainian drones also targeted the Annanefteprodukt fuel and lubricants storage base located in the Voronezh region, Ukraine's General Staff said. Russia is continuing with its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian air forces said Saturday that Russian strikes had killed six people and injured at least 37 others over the previous day. Air defense downed 45 out of the 53 drones, among them, Shahed-type attack drones, rocket-powered drones and decoys. On July 31, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv, which killed at least 31 people and injured 179 in one of the deadliest attacks on Ukraine's capital in the war. What People Are Saying The SBU said in a statement that Friday's strikes showed how it would "continue to actively work to weaken the military and economic potential of the aggressor country." What Happens Next Ukraine's drone launches show that Kyiv intends to continue with its strikes on Russian military sites. The Kremlin shows no sign of easing up its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Newsweek
7 hours ago
- Newsweek
Russia's New Deadly Glide Bomb Revealed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Russia has introduced a new guided glide bomb into its full-scale invasion, which marks Moscow's push to develop aerial weapons to bombard Ukraine's infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities said that Russia's new UMPB-5 guided aerial bombs had been dropped by Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jets on two regions in the last two months amid testing of the new weapon. Analysis shared with Newsweek by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, D.C., think tank, said that the glide bomb was part of Russia's growing efforts to develop cheap standoff guided munitions. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment. File photo: Ukrainian rescue workers survey the rubble of a residential building hit during a Russian overnight drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 23, 2025. File photo: Ukrainian rescue workers survey the rubble of a residential building hit during a Russian overnight drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 23, It Matters Before Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow underestimated how many glide bombs and other guided munitions it would need. Russia's glide bombs before the war were relatively expensive and so used sparingly. The FDD's John Hardie said Russia's failure to destroy most of Ukraine's air defenses at the invasion's start pushed Moscow to swiftly develop cheap glide bombs with standoff range that will allow its air force to play a greater role. What To Know Ukrainian authorities said the UMPB-5 was first used in Ukraine's Sumy region and then on two consecutive days of strikes on the city of Kharkiv on July 24 and 25; one attack hit a hospital. In the second instance, a Su-34 released the bomb about 65 miles away from Russia's neighboring Belgorod region; this is according to Spartak Borysenko from the Kharkiv Prosecutor's Office, which investigates such attacks as war crimes. Borysenko said Russia is still testing the weapon and that its exact characteristics are not yet known. But the name of the UMPB-5 glide bomb suggests it is a derivative of the UMPB D-30SN, which was first seen in spring 2024, the FDD said. The latter model has a longer range than the 50 miles of its predecessor and has warhead that weighs 2.5 times more, at around 550 pounds. Cheap glide bombs are playing a greater role in Russia's aggression with Moscow; an average of 160 were dropped each day in July 2025, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky—eight times more than spring 2023. The main one used is the UMPK, or "Universal Gliding and Correction Module," first seen in January 2023. It is designed to fit on dumb bombs and was initially employed with the FAB-500 M-62, a 1,100-pound-class high-explosive bomb, but since adapted for bombs of various sizes. Borysenko said that Moscow started using a modified UMPK with larger wings and a range of at least 60 miles in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions in May. With further testing, this range could increase, as suggested by a Russian Telegram channel. Russia is also developing low-cost air-launched cruise missiles, such as the recently unveiled S8000 BanderoL, which can be launched via remotely piloted aircraft. What People Are Saying John Hardie, deputy director of FDD's Russia Program, said Moscow is using a new UMPB-5 guided glide bomb, which: "appears to be a more-powerful derivative of a bomb introduced last year, reflecting the Russian Air Force's efforts to develop a growing variety of cheap standoff guided munitions." Spartak Borysenko, from the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, said: "UMPB-5 is a new ammunition that the Russians began using about two months ago … they are currently testing it, and the exact characteristics are not known for certain." What Happens Next Hardie said that details about these new munitions remain scarce, but Russia's Air Force and Naval Aviation are focused on producing large quantities of inexpensive standoff munitions. Whether Russia will address its shortcomings in destroying enemy air defenses is a problem "that will be much harder to solve," Hardie added.
