Ex-ambassador made new MI6 chief

Johnson seeks tough spokesperson for TV briefings

LONDON, July 30, (Agencies): The UK has named career diplomat and intelligence officer Richard Moore as the new chief of the MI6 spy service.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Moore, currently Political Director in the Foreign Office, had held director roles in the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and has been Deputy National Security Advisor in the Cabinet Office.

Moore, 57, joined the SIS in 1987, just four years before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“He returns to SIS with tremendous experience and will oversee the work of a group of men and women whose tireless efforts are rarely seen in public, but which are critical for the security and prosperity of the UK,” said Raab.

An accomplished intelligence officer, Moore served in various diplomatic and security roles before winning one of the most powerful jobs in the Western intelligence.

Alex Younger, the current chief of MI6 - or plain “C” - will step down in the autumn.

Moore served as British ambassador to Turkey from January 2014 to December 2017. Born in Libya, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at house arrest for a minimum of six months, the court also banned Ternera from leaving mainland France.

He was arrested in a French Alps town in May 2019 after 17 years on the run. He had been the most wanted ETA member since 2002.

ETA, whose initials stand for “Basque Homeland and Freedom” in the Basque language, killed more than 850 people during a decades-long violent campaign to create an independent state in northern Spain and southern France.

The militant group gave up its arms in 2017 and then disbanded after being weakened by a sustained police effort to dismantle its operations and arrest its leaders. (AP)

Contractors accused:

Belarusian authorities have opened a criminal case against more than 30 Russian private military contractors detained earlier this week, on the charges of plotting terrorist acts, Security Council secretary Andrei Ravkov said Thursday.

The Belarusian State Security Committee, still known by its Soviet-era name KGB, said Wednesday it detained 32 contractors from private Russian military firm Wagner outside Minsk, the country’s capital. One more person was reportedly detained in the south of the country.

The Russian embassy in Belarus confirmed the detention of 32 Russian

Oxford University and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard.

His biggest challenge is likely to be China, which the United States has identified as its major geopolitical foe, though he will also have to fight for funding after British politicians splurged on the COVID-19 crisis.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking for a spokesperson with broadcasting experience – and a thick skin – to become the government’s face at televised media briefings.

The government placed a job ad Wednesday on the governing Conservative Party’s website seeking applicants with news judgment, the ability to remain calm under pressure and “excellent risk management and crisis communications skills.”

For years, political journalists in Britain have been briefed off-camera but on the record twice daily by the prime minister’s official spokespeople, who are civil servants rather than political appointees. Starting in the fall, the morning briefing will continue in the current format but the afternoon session will be a televised briefing, similar to those held at the White House.

For years, the prime minister’s official

citizens. The detained were accused of planning to destabilize Belarus ahead of the presidential election.

President Alexander Lukashenko is seeking a sixth term in the Aug. 9 election amid opposition protests fueled by public fatigue with his rule and a painful economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. He has accused Russian forces of interfering with the upcoming vote. Moscow has denied any involvement.

The move brought political tensions between Russia and Belarus to a new high. The leader of Belarus accused Russia of harboring “dirty intentions” Wednesday and instructed his officials to ask Russia for an official explanation.

“It’s necessary to immediately ask the relevant Russian structures to explain what’s going on,” Lukashenko said.

According to Ravkov, the country’s law enforcement is currently searching for more Russian contractors reportedly remaining in Belarus. “Up to 200 militants are on our soil,” Ravkov said Thursday. “The search continues. It is like a needle in a haystack.”

Wagner - a private military company linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who was indicted in the United States for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election - has allegedly deployed hundreds of military contractors to eastern Ukraine, Syria and Libya. (AP) spokespeople, who are civil servants rather than political appointees, have brief political journalists off-camera but on the record twice daily. Starting in the fall, the morning briefing will continue in the current format but the afternoon session will be a televised briefing, similar to those held at the White House.

The job advertisement says the position is “a unique opportunity to … communicate with the nation on behalf of the prime minister,” with the chance to “influence and shape public opinion.”

The ad says salary will be based on experience, though the Conservativeleaning Daily Telegraph newspaper reported it would be over 100,000 pounds ($130,000) a year.

The spokesperson is likely to become a lighting rod for criticism of the government at a time of multiple crises. Britain is still battling the coronavirus outbreak that has left nearly 46,000 people dead, and is due to make a definitive break from the European Union when a postBrexit transition period ends on Dec. 31.

Viewers around the world are used to seeing televised White House briefings by the U.S. president’s press secretary, although the briefings have become sporadic under the Trump administration.

EU calls for more intl co-op:

The European Union Wednesday called for more international solidarity to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world.

“We need more cooperation and coordination at the international level to really get the pandemic under control,” said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, in a statement.

He said that the EU Air Bridge flights have made a real difference to countries with fragile health systems.

“We will continue working both at home in Europe and internationally to support our partners facing this common challenge,” he added.

Following a new EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flight to South Sudan today carrying 41 tonnes of supplies, he noted that the European Commission has now coordinated and financed the delivery of over 1,100 tons of medical equipment to critical areas in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Countries supported include Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Somalia, Guinea Bissau, Iraq and Yemen.

The 45 Air Bridge flights have also transported 1,475 medical and humanitarian staff since its launch on 8 May 2020, he added. (KUNA)

Russia rejects accusations:

Russian officials on Wednesday rejected accusations that Moscow is spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., slamming them as “conspiracy theories” and a “persistent phobia.”

U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Russian intelligence services were using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November.

The three websites published about 150 articles about the pandemic response, including coverage aimed either at propping up Russia or denigrating the U.S. between late May and early July, one of the officials said.

One of the identified websites, One World, posted a response

Wednesday, denouncing as “categorically false” allegations that it worked for the Russian military intelligence service or was involved in propaganda or meddling.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday called the allegations “some kind of a persistent phobia.”

“Russian media actively work to cover the situation with the coronavirus. Indeed, when it comes to Russia, it is going through this difficult time better than many other countries, albeit not without problems. Indeed, all the media point to considerable problems that the United States are experiencing during this period,” Peskov told reporters.

“So in this case if anyone talks about some kind of disinformation, it is some kind of persistent phobia, and there is no need to blame objective and quality work of the media,” the official said.

Lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said Wednesday that the accusations are either “new conspiracy theories” invented by journalists or “yet another hoax of American security services.” (AP)

Separatists sue ex-spy chief:

Two Catalan separatist politicians filed a lawsuit Thursday against the former head of Spain’s intelligence agency and an Israeli technology company for allegedly trying to hack their cell phones.

Roger Torrent, the speaker of Catalonia’s regional parliament, and Ernest Maragall, a member of Barcelona’s town council, filed the suit at a Barcelona courthouse against former spy chief Félix Sanz Roldán and the Israeli company NSO Group.

The newspapers El País and The Guardian reported earlier this month that Torrent had been targeted by spyware that, according to its maker NSO Group, is sold only to governments and national security services.

The Spanish and British newspapers cited a separate U.S. lawsuit involving the spyware, saying it exploits an earlier vulnerability in WhatsApp and could potentially provide access to everything on a person’s cell phone. The reports provided no evidence that Torrent’s phone was hacked. (AP)