South China Morning Post - Russia & Central Asia

EU’s first cyber sanctions hit groups including Chinese spies, North Korean firm

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 00:58:02 GMT

The European Union (EU) on Thursday imposed its first-ever sanctions over cyberattacks, slapping them on alleged Russian military agents, organisations including a North Korean firm, and Chinese cyber spies.The six people and three groups hit with sanctions include Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. EU headquarters blamed them in a statement for the 2017 “WannaCry” ransomware and “NotPetya” malware attacks and the “Cloud Hopper” cyber-espionage campaign.EU foreign policy chief Josep…

Former US marine Trevor Reed jailed for nine years in Russia for assaulting two police officers

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:46:29 GMT

A Russian court on Thursday sentenced former US marine Trevor Reed to nine years in prison for assaulting two police officers while drunk last year.Reed, a 29-year-old student and former marine from Texas, allegedly attacked police after attending a party in Moscow.He appeared wearing a facemask in a cage for defendants in a courtroom in the Russian capital as the judge read out the guilty verdict, saying the police officers had suffered “mental and physical harm”.Reed was handed nine years in…

Trump says he never confronted Putin about bounties on US troops because ‘many people said it ...

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 14:17:01 GMT

US President Donald Trump said he never questioned Russian leader Vladimir Putin about US intelligence reports that Moscow paid the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan, casting doubt on the reports in an interview.Trump, who has sought to cultivate warmer relations with Moscow, has said he was not briefed on the matter before it emerged in news media in late June. He has called the reports a hoax and casts doubt on them.“I have never discussed it with him,” Trump said in an interview…