Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
Iran-linked hackers, known as Robert, have threatened to release more stolen emails from prominent figures in Donald Trump's circle, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan. This resurgence follows a period of inactivity and comes after recent military conflict between Israel and Iran.
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Indian Express
38 minutes ago
- Indian Express
After 30 years on the run, terror suspect in 2013 Bengaluru BJP office blast case arrested in Andhra Pradesh by TN cops
A shadowy and elusive member of the proscribed Al Ummah terrorist outfit in South India, who eluded the police for 30 years despite being linked to high-profile terrorism cases like the 2013 BJP office blast case in Bengaluru, has been arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police in Andhra Pradesh. Abubakar Siddique, who is in his late 50s, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Annamaya district of Andhra Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu police said in an official statement on Monday. The Tamil Nadu CB-CID police had announced a reward of ₹ 5 lakh for his arrest in 2013 after he was linked to a series of attacks on BJP and right-wing leaders in the state. Siddique is reportedly a foreign-trained terrorist operative and the alleged brains behind Al Ummah-linked attacks in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka since 1995. He is also named as accused number 19 in the chargesheet for the 2013 BJP office blast case in Bengaluru, where the trial is currently underway. The incident, where an IED left on a motorcycle parked opposite the BJP office exploded, had left 16 people injured. Siddique, who hails from Nagore in Tamil Nadu, was arrested with an associate, Mohammed Ali of Tirunelveli. They 'were absconding after planning various bomb blasts and religious killings in Tamil Nadu since 1995', the TN ATS said. Siddique is also linked to the 1995 blast at the Hindu Munnani office in Chennai's Chintadripet, a parcel bomb blast case at the house of Nagore Thangam Muthukrishnan, and the 1999 blasts at seven places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, including the Chennai police commissioner's office. He is also accused in the 2011 Madurai Thirumangalam Advani Rath Yatra pipe bomb blast case and the 2012 Vellore doctor Arvind Reddy murder case. Siddique's accomplice, Ali, is accused of planting bombs at seven places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 1999. 'Both of them are remanded in judicial custody by the Tamil Nadu Anti-Terrorism Squad as per the arrest warrant issued by the Chennai court,' the state police said on July 1. Siddique's name had emerged as a key player in terrorism plots in multiple investigations between 1995 to 2024, but the police had failed to track him down as he allegedly used covert tactics to interact with the people directly involved in the attacks. Abubakar Siddique, who holds a master's degree in literature, was at the top of the leadership pyramid for the conspiracy to attack the BJP office in Bengaluru, and was the possible financier and the key to bringing together two factions of the Al Ummah, according to the city police. The 2014 arrest of Parvai Basha, the alleged supplier of explosives for the BJP office blast in Bengaluru, and the 2013 arrests of Police Fakrudeen, Panna Ismail, and Bilal Malik, three alleged perpetrators of the blast–– all linked to Al Ummah—had revealed Siddique as a key figure in the BJP office bomb plot. In 2013, sources in the Karnataka Police had said that Siddique had been missing from the police radar for nearly 16 years. Siddique had claimed to have trained with a terror group in Afghanistan during his interactions with the men he trained, police sources said The Bengaluru blast investigation allegedly revealed that Siddique was a key stakeholder in the Tamil Nadu-based Charitable Trust for Minorities, whose funds were accessed by Kichan Buhari, Fakrudeen and others to prepare and plan for the BJP office blast. In its chargesheet in the case, the Bengaluru police stated that the Charitable Trust for Minorities provided as much as Rs 1.5 lakh, which was used in the funding of the blast. Siddique has been cited as a key mover behind the trust. Siddique has been named as 'Siddique Bhai'—one among 20 participants in the conspiracy—in the chargesheet. The police investigation allegedly revealed that Siddique motivated and guided Fakrudeen and Malik to execute the April 17, 2013, attack at the BJP office. The investigations also allegedly revealed that it was Siddique who taught Fakruddin to make IEDs. The IED for the BJP office blast was allegedly prepared at a hideout near Chittoor. The directive to target the BJP office in Bengaluru was allegedly given by Siddique. 'Siddique travelled and communicated in a manner where he would be untraceable. This means he has been trained in covert terrorist operations. We think he may be linked to an external terrorist group,' a police source had said in 2013. Siddique has been represented in court documents as a speaker of multiple languages, including Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Urdu, and English.
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump tax-cut plan returns to US House, Republicans divided on bill
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The debate within President Donald Trump 's Republican Party over a massive tax-cut and spending bill returns to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, as party leaders try to overcome internal divisions and meet a self-imposed July 4 Senate passed the legislation, which nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.3 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade, by the narrowest possible margin on Tuesday after intense debate on the bill's hefty price tag and substantial cuts to the Medicaid health care divides exist in the House, which Republicans control by a 220-212 margin and where a fractious caucus has regularly bucked its leadership in recent years -- though members have so far not rejected major Trump priorities."The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump's full America First agenda by the Fourth of July," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday, citing the bill's extension of Trump's 2017 individual tax cuts and increased funding for the military and immigration Republican leaders set an initial procedural vote on the bill for 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT).Some of the loudest Republican objections against it come from party hardliners angry that it does not sufficiently cut spending and a $5 trillion increase in the nation's debt ceiling, which lawmakers must address in the coming months or risk a devastating default on the nation's $36.2 trillion debt."What the Senate did was unconscionable," said Representative Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, one of several fiscal hawks who spoke out against the Senate bill's higher price tag, accusing the Senate of handing out "goodie bags" of spending to satisfy said he would vote against advancing the bill on are united in opposition to the bill, saying that its tax breaks disproportionately benefit the wealthy, while cutting services that lower- and middle-income Americans rely on. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that almost 12 million people could lose health insurance as a result of the bill."This is the largest assault on American healthcare in history," Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Tuesday, pledging that his party will use "all procedural and legislative options" to try to stop - or delay - version of the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday would add more to the debt than the version first passed by the House in May and also includes more than $900 million in cuts to the Medicaid program for low-income cuts also raised concerns among some House Republicans "I will not support a final bill that eliminates vital funding our hospitals rely on," Representative David Valadao of California said before Senate difficultiesBut some House Republicans worried about social safety-net cuts could find solace in the Senate's last-minute decision to set aside more money for rural hospitals, funding that Representative Nick Langworthy, a New York Republican, called "a lifeline that will be very helpful to districts like mine."Any changes made by the House would require another Senate vote, making it all but impossible to meet the July 4 complicating the timeline, a wave of storms in the Washington area on Tuesday night canceled flights, and some lawmakers from both parties detailed on social media plans to drive from their home districts to the Capitol for Wednesday's expected vote.A senior White House official said on Tuesday that Trump is expected to be "deeply involved" in the whip operation this for weeks has pushed for passage ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday, though he has also in recent days softened that deadline, describing it as less than public opposition to the bill risks irking Trump, as was the case when the president slammed Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who announced his retirement after coming out in opposition to the former Trump ally, the world's richest person Elon Musk, this week resumed an active campaign against the bill over social media, blasting its deficit-building effects. That has reignited a feud between Trump and Musk.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Iranian President issues order to suspend cooperation with IAEA
Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday issued an order to enact a law to suspend the country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The law calls for a suspension of cooperation with the IAEA until Iran's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its nuclear facilities and scientists are fully guaranteed, said Constitutional Council Spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif. Pezeshkian issued the order on Tuesday in a letter to the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Supreme National Security Council, said the report. The law, passed by the Iranian parliament last Wednesday and approved by the Constitutional Council the following day, was enacted due to "the violation of Iran's national sovereignty by the United States and Israel, and their attacks on the country's territorial integrity as well as peaceful nuclear facilities," said Tahan Nazif. According to the Parliament's resolution, depending on the approval of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, unless the security of the nuclear facilities and peaceful nuclear activities is guaranteed, the IAEA inspectors will not be permitted inside the Iranian borders. The vote came within a few days after the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, during an open session of the parliament on Monday, talked about the top legislative body considering a bill to suspend Tehran's cooperation with the UN agency. 'Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) is drafting a plan to suspend cooperation with the agency until tangible guarantees regarding the professional attitude of this international organisation are received,' Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Qalibaf as saying. It has also been reported that Esmail Kowsari, a senior lawmaker, member of Iran's parliamentary National Security Committee, urged the Supreme National Security Council to impose an entry ban on the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, who was allegedly found facilitating the Israeli-American "aggression" against Iran. An "Anti-Iran" resolution was passed by the IAEA Board of Governors, based on the reports by Grossi, which further turned out to be one of the first claims of non-compliance against Iran in nearly 20 years. The country was falsely accused of violating safeguarding obligations, with the measure adopted by 19 votes in favour, 11 abstentions, and 3 countries opposed (Russia, China, and Burkina Faso). The resolution pushed by Britain, France and Germany, backed by the US, gave way to "strong" condemnations from Iran, followed by announcements of a new nuclear facility, along with the upgrade to an advanced level at the Fordow enrichment plant. Grossi's report and the resulting resolution, according to analysts, facilitated the Israeli aggression on June 13, which in turn led to the killing of several nuclear scientists and high-ranking military commanders. On June 13, Israel launched major airstrikes on several areas in Iran, including nuclear and military sites, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists and many civilians. Iran responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel. On June 22, US President Donald Trump said the United States had carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites -- Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan. In response, Iran launched missile attacks on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. After 12 days of fighting, a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was reached on June 24. Following the law's approval, the responsibility for overseeing its implementation fell to Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Although the council has not issued a public statement, the fact that Pezeshkian chairs the council suggests that his reported directive indicates the bill will move forward. Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers -- brokered during the presidency of Barack Obama -- permitted Tehran to enrich uranium up to 3.67 per cent, a level suitable for nuclear power generation but far below the 90 per cent enrichment required for weapons-grade material. The deal also significantly limited Iran's uranium stockpile, imposed strict controls on centrifuge usage, and granted the IAEA expanded access to monitor compliance.
