White House considering inviting Zelenskiy to Alaska, NBC News reports
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo
WASHINGTON - The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Alaska, where President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, NBC News reported on Saturday.
The report cited a senior U.S. official and three people briefed on the internal discussions.
"It's being discussed," one of the people briefed on the talks was quoted as saying.
The report added that no Zelenskiy visit was finalized and that it's unclear if the Ukrainian leader would ultimately be in Alaska for meetings but it remained a possibility. REUTERS
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AsiaOne
28 minutes ago
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Ukraine's future cannot be decided without Ukrainians, France's Macron says, World News
PUBLISHED ON August 10, 2025 4:42 AM PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron said in a social media post on X that the future of Ukraine cannot be decided without the Ukrainians. US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, Trump said on Friday (Aug 8). The deal is expected to involve land concessions, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected earlier Saturday. [[nid:721046]]
AsiaOne
28 minutes ago
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How a CIA hit on al Qaeda ensnared a US citizen in Afghanistan, World News
WASHINGTON - As a crowd looked on, uniformed Taliban surrounded the Toyota Landcruiser in which Mahmood Habibi, a naturalised US citizen, sat. Other Taliban smashed open the door of his Kabul apartment, emerging later with his laptop and papers. Blindfolded in the back seat, Habibi and his driver were driven off by gunmen sporting shoulder patches of the Taliban's feared secret police, the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), according to several witness statements in US government possession seen by Reuters. Afghanistan's Taliban government denies it detained Habibi, 37, who was a former head of Afghanistan's civil aviation. While dividing his time between the United States and Kabul working for a private company, he became a US citizen after the Taliban took power in 2021. The Taliban also says they have no knowledge of his whereabouts, three years after he disappeared. That is contradicted by the witness accounts and other evidence, including data monitored from Habibi's cellphone, described to Reuters by a US official and a former US official familiar with the matter. The Taliban denials present a conundrum for the FBI, which is leading the US government effort to gain his release; and for the State Department, which describes Habibi's detention a major impediment to exploring increased engagement with Afghanistan, three years after his Aug 10, 2022 arrest. US President Donald Trump has made freeing Americans held abroad a top priority and already has secured the release of dozens, including from Afghanistan, Russia and Venezuela. The case of Habibi - the only publicly identified American held in the country - has been harder to resolve. This story is the most comprehensive account to date of the circumstances of Habibi's capture and includes previously unreported details. Among them, interviews with the US official and a former US official with knowledge of the case reveal that the Taliban likely detained Habibi because the CIA had penetrated the company where he worked. The sources say the US spy agency had accessed one of the company's security cameras, helping it pinpoint the al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a Kabul guesthouse. Habibi's detention came 10 days after Zawahiri - the last of the top plotters of the Sept 11, 2001, attack on the United States - was dramatically assassinated by a US drone strike on the guesthouse, ordered by Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. At the time, US officials briefed journalists that it was a CIA operation. The US sources told Reuters that Habibi was unaware of the CIA plot and was wrongly detained after returning to Kabul from a work trip to Dubai after the assassination, oblivious of the danger he was in. The CIA, the Taliban, the White House and Habibi's employer, Virginia-based ARX Communications, did not respond to detailed requests for comment for this story. ARX has previously said neither it, nor its subsidiaries, were involved with the strike on Zawahiri. Reuters could not independently verify whether Habibi was or wasn't aware of the plot. In a statement to Reuters, a State Department spokesperson called for Habibi's immediate release. "We know the Taliban abducted Mahmood Habibi nearly three years ago," the spokesperson said. A co-worker detained with Habibi, then later released, saw him in GDI headquarters and heard him in an adjacent room being asked if he worked for the CIA or was involved in the strike on Zawahiri, according to one of the statements in US government possession, seen by Reuters. Then, in June and August of 2023, the US government detected that his mobile phone had been switched on in GDI headquarters, the US official and former official said. Reuters could not reach the witnesses who made statements, including the coworker, or verify the accuracy of their account of Habibi's detention. The US official familiar with the matter said excerpts of the statements have been presented to the Taliban in response to their repeated denials of Habibi's detention. As Habibi and his family on Sunday mark the third anniversary of his arrest, the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to win his release, including offering a US$5 million (S$6.4 million) reward for information. But so far, he appears no closer to freedom, the US sources said. "Our family has new hope that the Trump team will be successful," said Habibi's older brother, Ahmad. Ahmad said his brother would never have gone to Kabul four days after the Zawahiri assassination if the CIA had told ARX to warn him it was too dangerous to return. "Nobody told him anything. Neither the company, neither the CIA nor anybody. So, he just went back," Ahmad said. The US government officially considers Habibi a hostage, said the US official, because his arrest and location remain unconfirmed by the Taliban. The official and the former official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case. In response to a request for comment, the FBI said that along with partners in other US departments involved in hostage recovery, it remains "committed to bringing Habibi home to his family." The Taliban rejected an offer made last year to trade Habibi for alleged Osama bin Laden aide Mohammad Rahim al-Afghani, the last Afghan held in the Guantanamo Bay military prison. "We've tried in terms of both carrots and sticks," said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the case. The Taliban "literally throw up a wall," said the official. Camera on cell tower As part of the operation against Zawahiri, the CIA penetrated the Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a subsidiary of ARX, according to the current and former US officials, who provided previously unreported details of how the spy agency was able to target the al Qaeda chief. Reuters presented these details to the CIA, ACG and ARX, requesting comment, but received no response. ACG, whose parent is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, had a contract to erect cellphone towers around Kabul, the sources said. CCTV cameras were fitted to the towers to protect the structures, they said. One of the cameras, the sources said, was pointed at a house US officials have linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's acting interior minister both at the time and now, in the heart of Kabul's diplomatic quarter, a short distance from the shuttered British and American embassies. The sources said the camera sent back video to the CIA confirming Zawahiri's presence in the residence. That confirmation helped the agency kill the Egyptian Islamist with two drone-fired Hellfire R9X missiles on July 31, 2022, as he emerged onto a balcony, they said. His wife and family survived the strike. While officials in the Biden administration at the time described the CIA's drone operation to kill Zawahiri with Hellfires, the details of the agency's operation on the ground, including the presence of the camera and its role in identifying Zawahiri have not been previously disclosed. Arrest On the day of his arrest, Mahmood Habibi was in his apartment in Kabul's Sherpur neighbourhood packing to return to New Jersey, where he had a home, with the help of a sister, who was there with her two children, according to Ahmad. It was about noon when a phone call came from the ACG office saying it had just been raided by the Taliban, Ahmad said. Habibi told his sister that he had to leave without explaining why. He was arrested immediately after getting into his vehicle, Ahmad said. A few minutes later, somebody announcing that they were with GDI knocked on his apartment door, according to Ahmad and a witness statement. His sister declined to open it, telling those outside that she had to conform to the Taliban rule that an adult male relative had to be present. The Taliban broke open the door, entered the apartment and rifled through closets and drawers, demanding Habibi's laptop, according to Ahmad and the witness statement. A crowd had gathered outside after the Taliban arrived in five vehicles, blocked the street and surrounded Habibi's car, before driving him off, according to Ahmad and a separate witness statement. The GDI arrested 30 other ACG employees, according to a letter that ACG sent to Afghanistan's Ministry of Communications, seen by Reuters. Except for Habibi and one other, all were eventually released. In the letter, dated Sept 15, 2022, ACG asked that family members be allowed to visit him and three other staff who the GDI still held. The ministry appeared to confirm Habibi was a GDI prisoner in a reply two days later, seen by Reuters, saying that the intelligence directorate would decide on the petition when its investigation was completed. However, in a July 3, 2025 statement reported by Afghanistan's state news agency, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that in response to requests from Habibi's family, the Taliban had investigated but no evidence has been found to suggest that he was detained by Afghanistan's security forces. Mujahid said the Taliban are a legitimate governing body that does not detain individuals without due process or hide them from public view. Mujahid did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. US citizen Born to parents from the southern city of Kandahar, Habibi is one of eight siblings - three brothers and five sisters - who grew up in the Kabul neighbourhood of Karte Parwan. His excellent English helped him secure a job with the UN civil aviation agency in Kabul in 2008. He worked for the US Federal Aviation Administration's US embassy office from 2011 to 2013. Tapped as deputy civil aviation minister, Habibi helped transition Afghanistan's air traffic system from US control to the US-backed Kabul government. Habibi became civil aviation minister in 2017. He held that post until 2019 while earning a civil aviation master's degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, the university confirmed. In 2019, he resigned and then joined ARX to help oversee its Afghan subsidiary's contract to run air traffic control at Kabul's international airport. Habibi lived between the city and the United States, accumulating the last of the 30 months of US residency he needed over a five-year period for US citizenship in 2021, Ahmad said. He was in Kabul with his family during the chaotic departure of the last US troops in August 2021, Ahmad said, as the Taliban consolidated its grip on the capital after 20 years of war. Habibi flew from Dubai to Kabul on Aug 4, 2022, after stopping in Qatar to check on his family and parents who were housed on a US military base there waiting for final processing of US immigration visas, said Ahmad. A week later Habibi was arrested. His wife, daughter and parents, who waited in Qatar until October for their visas before flying to the United States and settling in California, have not seen or heard from him since. Resolving Habibi's case would be the easiest way for the Taliban, who crave international recognition as Afghanistan's legitimate rulers, to explore improving ties with the US, the current US official said. Since Habibi's detention, four other Americans have been arrested and released by the Taliban. [[nid:719416]]
Straits Times
28 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Xi looks to tighten grip after scandals shake China's military elite
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Internal turbulence is testing President Xi Jinping's effort to build a military that is loyal, modern, combat-ready and fully under his control. TAIPEI, Taiwan – Outwardly, China's military has never been stronger. Its naval ships venture farther across the oceans. Its nuclear force grows by about 100 warheads every year. Its military flights around Taiwan are increasingly frequent and intimidating. Every few months, China unveils new weapons, like a prototype stealth fighter or newfangled landing barges. Internally, though, China's military is experiencing its most serious leadership disarray in years. Three of the seven seats on the Central Military Commission – the Communist Party council that controls the armed forces – appear to be vacant after members were arrested or simply disappeared. That internal turbulence is testing President Xi Jinping's effort, going back more than a decade, to build a military that is loyal, modern, combat-ready and fully under his control. Mr Xi has set a 2027 target for modernising the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, and also – according to some US officials – for gaining the ability to invade Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. The current wave of investigations and removals has reached some commanders handpicked by Mr Xi, suggesting recurrent problems in a system that he has tried for years to clean up. In the first years after Mr Xi came to power in 2012, he launched an intense campaign to clean up corruption in the military and impose tighter control, culminating in a big reorganisation. 'When Xi Jinping sees his own men making mistakes, he is likely to be especially furious,' Associate Professor Joseph Torigian at American University who has studied Chinese leaders' relations with the military, said of Mr Xi. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Four men arrested in Bukit Timah believed to be linked to housebreaking syndicates Singapore Criminal trial of Hyflux founder Olivia Lum and five others starts Aug 11 Singapore Profile of Kpod user has shifted from hardcore drug users to young people: Experts Tech Former data analyst creates AI tutor that assesses students based on Singapore schools' criteria Opinion Recognising our imperfections is part of what makes Singapore whole Opinion I used to be impatient. Then I became a granddad Business The risks of using 'decoupling' to own two properties Asia Manila struggles to keep a lasting hawker culture, casts eyes on how Asian nations lifted street food 'Control over the military is so existential. It's inherently explosive. That's why any sense of stepping out of line has to be crushed.' The most jarring absence in the military leadership is that of General He Weidong, the second most-senior career officer on the Central Military Commission. He has disappeared from official public events and mentions – an unexplained absence that suggests he, too, is in trouble and may be under investigation. Another top commander, Admiral Miao Hua , who oversaw political work in the military, was placed under investigation in 2024 for unspecified 'serious violations of discipline', a phrase that often refers to corruption or disloyalty. He was among around two dozen, if not more, senior PLA officers and executives in the armaments industry who have been investigated since 2023, according to a recent tally by the Jamestown Foundation. Both men had risen unusually quickly under Mr Xi's patronage. While Chinese officials are vulnerable to investigations for corruption or disloyalty even in the best of times, for him to lose them both reveals an uncommon degree of top-level upheaval. 'The purges may have affected the working of the bureaucracy. It can also create a broader skepticism about the readiness of the Chinese military within the leadership,' said Dr Ely Ratner, who had been an assistant secretary of defence in the Biden administration. Mr Xi's ultimate fears for the Chinese military come from questions of battlefield preparedness, and anxieties that commanders could drift away from absolute loyalty to him and the party. Mr Xi may seek a fourth term as leader of the Communist Party in 2027, and he will need to replace retiring or purged commanders with a new cohort whose devotion to him is beyond question. Recent official statements point to a renewed drive to reinforce ideological control. The Central Military Commission issued new rules in July aimed at 'fully eliminating toxic influences, and restoring the image and authority of political officers.' A series of front-page commentaries in the Liberation Army Daily – the main newspaper of the Chinese military – urged PLA political officers to observe absolute loyalty. Since Mao Zedong's era, the military has served not only as a fighting force but also as a lever of political control for Chinese leaders, as their ultimate protection against potential rivals or popular uprisings. In internal speeches to the military throughout the earlier years in his rule, Mr Xi praised the army for standing by party leaders during the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protests, according to a volume of his speeches to the military published in 2019. There are no signs that the recent turbulence in the military amounts to concerted defiance of Mr Xi. But even relatively few cases of corruption or mismanagement could erode the trust between Mr Xi and his commanders, said Dr Joel Wuthnow, a senior research fellow at the National Defence University in Washington who studies China's military. Mr Xi is the only civilian party leader who sits on the Central Military Commission, which ensures his singular power over the military. That also means that he cannot turn to other civilian officials to help him. 'Xi would have to rely on commanders to develop options and implement them based on a huge amount of information and technical skills,' Dr Wuthnow said. 'If he's unable to verify that those people are honest, professional and competent, then I think his appetite for war goes down because: How can he be sure of the outcome?' The purges are likely to disrupt coordination, weaken confidence in commanders and prompt Beijing to be more wary of considering an amphibious assault on Taiwan, Professor M. Taylor Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote recently in Foreign Affairs. 'The high intensity kinds of operations that would be involved in an invasion of Taiwan, or a blockade of Taiwan – pretty much anything that would happen under the shadow of US involvement – I think will be impacted for a period of time by these problems,' Prof Fravel said in a telephone interview. But the need to act strongly in a crisis against foes might override any doubts about combat readiness, Prof Fravel said. If Mr Xi felt that a war on Taiwan was necessary, he would most likely not hesitate to send his armed forces into battle, whatever the gaps in the top command, Prof Fravel said. NYTIMES
