GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

Trump claims win

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has claimed complete vindication after releasing a congressional memo that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance powers during the investigation into his campaign’s possible Russia ties. But the memo also includes revelations that might complicate efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry. The four-page document released Friday contends that the FBI, when it applied for a surveillance warrant on a one-time Trump campaign associate, relied excessively on an ex-British spy whose opposition research was funded by Democrats. Trump tweeted that the memo puts him in the clear. “This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe,” he said. “But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their (sic) was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!” The underlying materials that served as the basis for the warrant application were not made public in the memo. Even as Democrats described it as inaccurate, some Republicans quickly cited the memo – released over the objections of the FBI and Justice Department – in their arguments that Mueller’s investigation is politically tainted.

New tomb found

CAIRO: Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 4400-yearold tomb near the country’s famed pyramids at the Giza plateau just outside Cairo. The tomb likely belonged to a woman known as Hetpet, whom archaeologists believe was close to ancient Egyptian royals of the 5th Dynasty. The tomb, unveiled on Saturday, is made of mud brick and includes wall paintings in good condition depicting Hetpet in different scenes.

Racial shootings

MILAN: An Italian gunman with extreme right-wing sympathies has wounded six African immigrants in a two-hour driveby shooting spree. The gunman terrorised a small central Italian city of Macerata, where a Nigerian man had been arrested days earlier in a teenager’s gruesome killing. Police photos showed the shooting suspect with a neo-Nazi tattoo on his forehead as he sat in custody and an Italian flag tied around his neck as he was arrested. Authorities identified him as Luca Traini, a 28-year-old Italian with no previous record. Italy has struggled with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of African migrants in recent years coming across the Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ and refugee activists’ boats.

Russian pilot killed

IDLIB: Syrian rebels have shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot on the ground after he ejected. The SU-25 came down on Saturday in Syria’s northern Idlib province that has been the scene of fighting between government forces backed by Russia and Iran, and rebels who oppose President Bashar al- Assad.

Berlin nuke source

BERLIN: North Korea has been using its embassy in Berlin to procure parts for its missile program, the head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency has told a German broadcaster. No one at the North Korean embassy in Berlin was available to comment on the allegation. In a program to be aired on NDR television on Monday, Head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency Hans-Georg Maassen said: “We determined that procurement activities have been carried out from there that are, in our view, done with a view to the missile program and sometimes also for the nuclear program.”