Putin says Russia has told Israel there's no evidence Iran wants nuclear weapons: Sky News Arabia
Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear programme Russia's President Vladimir Putin says. PHOTO: REUTERS
Putin says Russia has told Israel there's no evidence Iran wants nuclear weapons: Sky News Arabia
- Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia on June 21 quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in an interview.
'Russia, as well as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), has never had any evidence that Iran is preparing to obtain nuclear weapons, as we have repeatedly put the Israeli leadership on notice,' Sky News Arabia quoted Mr Putin as saying.
Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear programme, Mr Putin was quoted as saying, adding that Iran has the right to do so.
Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on June 2 0, Mr Putin said Russia was sharing its ideas on how to stop the bloodshed in the Iran-Israel conflict with both sides.
He did not give details of those ideas. REUTERS
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Two days of terror: How the Minnesota shooter evaded police and got caught
FILE PHOTO: A handout photo posted by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office appears to show Vance Luther Boelter, 57, the suspected gunman in the shooting deaths of a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband, in custody, at an unidentified location, released June 15, 2025. Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Two days of terror: How the Minnesota shooter evaded police and got caught NEW HOPE, Minnesota - Vance Boelter's disguise wasn't perfect. The silicone mask was somewhat loose-fitting and his SUV's license plate simply read "POLICE" in black letters. But it was good enough on a poorly lit suburban street in the dead of night. At 2:36 a.m. on Saturday, 30 minutes after authorities say Boelter shot and seriously injured Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, he paused behind the wheel of the SUV near the home of another senator, Ann Rest, in the city of New Hope. The SUV was stocked with weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, as well as fliers advertising a local anti-Trump rally scheduled for later Saturday and a written list of names of people he appeared to be targeting. Senator Rest, prosecutors would later say, was among those Boelter set out to kill on June 14. As Boelter sat in the SUV down the street from Rest's home, another police car - this one an actual police car - approached. A female officer from the New Hope police department, after hearing about the Hoffman shootings, had come out to check on Rest. Seeing the SUV, complete with flashing lights and police-style decals, she believed the man inside was a fellow officer. But when she attempted to speak to him - one officer greeting another - she got no response. Instead, the man inside the SUV with police markings simply stared ahead. The New Hope officer drove on, deciding to go ahead and check on Rest. Rest would later say the New Hope officer's initiative probably saved her life, an opinion shared by New Hope Police Chief Timothy Hoyt. "With limited information, she went up there on her own to check on the welfare of our senator," Hoyt told Reuters. "She did the right thing." The brief interaction in New Hope underscored the carefully planned nature of Boelter's pre-dawn rampage and how his impersonation of a police officer, including body armor, a badge and a tactical vest, confounded the initial attempts to stop him. After the encounter with the New Hope officer, Boelter, 57, drove away from the scene, moving on to his next target. Police would pursue him for another 43 hours. In the process, they would draw in a phalanx of state and federal agencies, in what ranks as the largest manhunt in Minnesota history and added to the sense of disorientation in a nation already grappling with protests over immigration, the forcible removal of a U.S. Senator from a press conference and a rare military parade in Washington. Federal prosecutors say they may seek the death penalty for Boelter, who has been charged with murdering two people and trying to kill two others, in what Governor Tim Walz has called a "politically motivated" attack. Prosecutors said they are still investigating the motive and whether any others were involved. Boelter has yet to enter a plea. Manny Atwal, a public defender representing Boelter, said he was reviewing the case and declined to comment. This reconstruction of the manhunt is based on court documents, statements by law enforcement officials, and interviews with a Boelter friend, local police officers, lawmakers, and residents of the impacted neighborhoods. While the events unfolded like something out of a TV crime drama, there were parallels with past shooting sprees, criminal justice experts said. James Fitzgerald, a former FBI criminal profiler, said he would not be surprised if Boelter studied a mass shooting in Canada in 2020, when a gunman posing as a police officer killed 22 people in the province of Nova Scotia. "These guys always do research beforehand. They want to see how other killers were successful, how they got caught," said Fitzgerald, who helped the FBI capture the "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski in 1996. "And, of course, a way you're going to buy yourself some time is to pose as a police officer." HOFFMAN SHOOTING The violence began at the Hoffman's brick split-level home in Champlin, a leafy, middle-class suburb of Minneapolis. With his emergency lights flashing, Boelter pulled into the driveway just after 2:00 a.m. and knocked on the door. "This is the police. Open the door," Boelter shouted repeatedly, according to an FBI affidavit. Senator Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, soon determined Boelter was not a real police officer. Boelter shot Senator Hoffman nine times, and then fired on Yvette, who shielded her daughter from being hit. As Boelter fled the scene, the daughter called 911. The Hoffmans were on a target list of more than 45 federal and state elected officials in Minnesota, all Democrats, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson told a briefing on Monday. Boelter voted for President Donald Trump, was a Christian and did not like abortion, according to his part-time roommate, David Carlson. Carlson said Boelter did not seem angry about politics. Thompson said Boelter "stalked his victims like prey" but that the writings he left behind did not point to a coherent motive. "His crimes are the stuff of nightmares," he said. "His crimes are the stuff of nightmares," Thompson said. After the Hoffman's, the next address plugged into Boelter's GPS system was a lawmaker about 9 miles away in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove. Surveillance cameras from the home of State Representative Kristin Bahner show a masked Boelter ringing the doorbell at 2:24 a.m. and shouting "Open the door. This is the police. We have a warrant," the FBI affidavit says. Bahner and her family were not at home. From there, Boelter moved on to New Hope and the close encounter with the officer who had dispatched to Rest's home. After that, he wasn't seen by police again until he arrived at the residence of Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the state House, in Brooklyn Park. Sensing that Hortman might be a target, Brooklyn Park police officers had decided to check on her. When they arrived at 3:30 a.m. they saw a black Ford Explorer outside her house, its police-style lights flashing. Boelter was near the front door. When Boelter saw the officers exit their squad car, he fired at them. He then ran through the front door on the house, where he killed Melissa and Mark Hortman, her husband. 'DAD WENT TO WAR' When Boelter left the Hortman's home, he abandoned his fake-police SUV. Inside the car, police found a 9mm handgun, three AK-47 assault rifles, fliers advertising a local anti-Trump "No Kings" rally and a notebook with names of people who appear to have been targets, according to court documents. From that point, Boelter was on the run. Little has been revealed about his movements during the period, although police say he visited his part-time residence in north Minneapolis. He also sent texts. In one, to his family's group chat, Boelter writes, "Dad went to war last night". In another, to a close friend, Boelter says he may be dead soon. Police also know that by early morning on Saturday Boelter had met a man at a Minneapolis bus stop who agreed to sell him an e-bike and a Buick sedan for $900. The two drove to a bank where Boelter withdrew $2,200 from his account. A security camera shows Boelter wearing a cowboy hat. But it took until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday for authorities to close in. Police searching the area near Boelter's family home in the rural community of Green Isle, discovered the abandoned Buick, along with a cowboy hat and handwritten letter to the FBI in which Boelter admitted to the shootings, prosecutors said. Law enforcement scrambled to set up a perimeter surrounding the area, SWAT teams and search dogs were deployed, and drones were put in the air. It was the trail camera of a resident, however, that provided the final clue, capturing an image of Boelter around 7:00 p.m., allowing officers to narrow their search. Two hours later, the pursuit ended with Boelter crawling to police. He was armed but surrendered without a fight. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Israel says killed three Iranian commanders in fresh wave of strikes
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
UN urges more support to speed up Syria refugee returns
Syrians who had been displaced internally or fled abroad have begun gradually returning home since Dec 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS DAMASCUS - UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi has urged more international support for Syria to speed up reconstruction and enable further refugee returns after some 14 years of civil war. 'I am here also to really make an appeal to the international community to provide more help, more assistance to the Syrian government in this big challenge of recovery of the country,' Mr Grandi told reporters on June 20 on the sidelines of a visit to Damascus. Syrians who had been displaced internally or fled abroad have begun gradually returning home since the December 2024 overthrow of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal repression of peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 triggered war. But the wide-scale destruction, including to basic infrastructure, remains a major barrier to returns. Mr Grandi said over two million people had returned to their areas of origin, including around 1.5 million internally displaced people, while some 600,000 others have come back from neighbouring countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. 'Two million of course is only a fraction of the very big number of Syrian refugees and displaced, but it is a very big figure,' he said. According to UNHCR, some 13.5 million Syrians remain displaced internally or abroad. Syria's conflict displaced around half the pre-war population, with many internally displaced people seeking refuge in camps in the northwest. Mr Grandi said that after Mr Assad's toppling, the main obstacle to returns was 'a lack of services, lack of housing, lack of work', adding that his agency was working with Syrian authorities and governments in the region 'to help people go back'. He said he discussed the importance of the sustainability of returns with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, including ensuring 'that people don't move again because they don't have a house or they don't have a job or they don't have electricity' or other services such as health. Sustainable returns 'can only happen if there is recovery, reconstruction in Syria, not just for the returnees, for all Syrians', he said. He added that he also discussed with Mr Shaibani how to 'encourage donors to give more resources for this sustainability'. With the recent lifting of Western sanctions, the new Syrian authorities hope for international support to launch reconstruction, which the UN estimates could cost more than US$400 billion (S$515 billion) . AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
