World
Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz found guilty of perjury

Kurz receives eight month suspended sentence after being found guilty of lying to a parliamentary inquiry.
Austria’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has received an eight-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of perjury by a Vienna court after a four-month trial.
The former leader, once hailed as a “wunderkind” of Europe’s conservatives, had denied downplaying his influence over the appointment of executives to the state-holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, and whose appointments were formally his finance minister’s responsibility.
But Kurz’s corruption case centred on his testimony to a parliamentary commission of inquiry that he was “involved in the sense of informed”, but did not play an active role in appointments.
The court, however, agreed with prosecutors that Kurz was actually the ultimate decision-maker, and produced evidence, including text messages and testimony from former loyalist Thomas Schmid, the first head of OBAG, who turned state witness.
“I find this part of the ruling very unfair,” Kurz said after the ruling. “We have appealed and I am very optimistic that we will receive a ruling in our favour in the second instance.”
The trial and other ongoing corruption investigations have damaged the reputation of the charismatic hardliner, and damaged any chance he had of a political comeback.
In 2017, Kurz became one of the youngest leaders in the world at age 31 and formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO).
Amid a scandal in 2019 when the FPO’s leader was embroiled in a video sting, the coalition collapsed. Kurz then won a snap election and formed a coalition with the Greens, who later forced him from office in 2021 due to the corruption investigation.
But his Austrian People’s Party continues to lead the government under current Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Kurz has insisted he is innocent of having misled a parliamentary inquiry probing wide-ranging corruption scandals that brought down his first government with the far right in 2019.
Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim of selective prosecution and an opposition out to “destroy him”.
Kurz said that while he had been informed about Schmid’s appointment, he did not decide on it and dismissed suggestions that he had sought to control everything.
On the other hand, Schmid testified that Kurz had built up a “system” where he held the reins and could veto any appointment of personnel in critical companies.
Separately, prosecutors are still investigating Kurz on suspicion of having embezzled public money to fund polls skewed to boost his image and pay for the favourable coverage that allowed for his success in 2017.
However, they have so far failed to obtain any convictions since a video emerged in 2019 showing Kurz’s then-vice chancellor of the FPO offering public contracts to a purported Russian investor for campaign help.
After leaving politics, the conservatives, who are in an election year, have slid to second or third in the polls, making it likely that they will lose seats in a parliamentary election this year, prompting speculation that Kurz could eventually return to lead the party and reverse its fortunes.
Polls, however, have shown that a clear majority of Austrians say they do not want to see his return to government, and Kurz has said that he is happy as a businessman and is now involved with numerous private international enterprises.

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US will know in 'matter of weeks' if Russia is serious about peace or using 'delay tactic': Rubio

Whether Russia is “serious” about achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine should become apparent in a “matter of weeks,” Secretary of State Macro Rubio told reporters Friday.
“The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war, and we will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it is a delay tactic,” Rubio said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Questions are mounting over Moscow’s true interest in engaging with the Trump administration after it rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Ukraine in early March, then refused to agree to a Black Sea ceasefire later that month unless sanctions were lifted.
TOP RUSSIAN NEGOTIATOR SHARES STATUS ON UKRAINE PEACE TALKS AFTER MEETING WITH US COUNTERPART IN DC
President Donald Trump hosts his first Cabinet meeting as he sits next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C., Feb. 26, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
“[If] It’s a delay tactic, the president’s not interested in that,” he added. “President Trump is not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations.”
When pressed by reporters, Rubio wouldn’t comment on what conditions Russia has set out in securing a peace deal.
He did note, though, hat even after direct calls with foreign leaders, official readouts don’t always reflect what was actually discussed. That appeared to be the case after President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when the White House said Russia had “agreed” to eliminate the use of force in the Black Sea.
But the Kremlin later clarified that any agreement was contingent on the West lifting sanctions.
PUTIN CONSCRIPTS 160K MEN AS RUSSIA EYES UKRAINE OFFENSIVE

President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the first day of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
“I guess it’s part of the game,” Rubio said. “At the end of the day, what’s going to matter here is whether we’re going to move towards peace or not.”
Rubio reiterated that Ukraine and Russia would both need to make concessions to end the war but declined to say what those should be, insisting those details should emerge through negotiations.
“Initially, it was important to talk [to the Russians] because we haven’t talked to them in a long time. But now we’ve reached the stage [where] we need to make progress,” he said, noting it will be “hard,” but he remains “optimistic.”
“There are some promising signs. There are some troubling signs. It’s not going to be easy. No one ever said this would be easy, but we’re going to find out sooner rather than later,” Rubio told reporters. “And let’s just say I’m hopeful. I remain hopeful.”
World
Pentagon confirms four-star general’s firing amid Trump security purge

The United States Department of Defense has confirmed it fired the head of the National Security Agency, in a move that sparked outrage over an alleged purge of security officials.
On Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell released a short statement, acknowledging the departure of four-star Air Force General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency (NSA), one of the government’s top intelligence-gathering bodies.
Haugh also led the US Cyber Command, which prepares for and defends against attacks in the digital sphere.
“The Defense Department thanks General Timothy Haugh for his decades of service to our nation, culminating as US Cyber Command commander and National Security Agency director. We wish him and his family well,” Parnell said.
Multiple media reports, however, suggested that Haugh’s ouster came at the suggestion of a far-right internet activist, Laura Loomer, who supported President Donald Trump’s campaign for re-election in 2024.
Democrats also seized upon the fact that Trump did not fire anyone involved in the recent controversy over the use of the messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen – something that came to light after a journalist was accidentally added to the chat.
“Gen. Haugh led the NSA and Cyber Command with steady, effective leadership,” Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona wrote on social media Friday.
“By dismissing him and failing to hold anyone accountable for the threat to U.S. pilots over Signal, Trump has shown he values loyalty over competence – making us all less safe.”
Another Democratic senator, Mark Warner of Virginia, echoed that sentiment, calling the situation “so crazy it defies belief”.
“Trump refused to fire the people that embarrassed America and risked servicemembers’ lives in the Signalgate scandal,” Warner wrote, “but fired Gen. Haugh, a nonpartisan national security expert, at the advice of a self-described ‘pro-white nationalist’.”
Haugh was just one in a slate of firings this week that came after Trump met with Loomer at the White House.
Media reports indicate Haugh’s civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, was booted from her position as well and reassigned.
In addition, multiple members of the National Security Council also appear to have been removed from their positions, including Brian Walsh, a senior director of intelligence, and Thomas Boodry, the senior director of legislative affairs.
The Reuters news agency estimated that more than a dozen security officials were dismissed as part of the alleged purge.
As he flew to South Florida for a golf tournament on Thursday, Trump addressed the rumours, acknowledging “some” people were fired but refusing to give specifics about the total.
“Always, we’re going to let go of people – people we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people who may have loyalties to someone else,” Trump said from Air Force One.
He also addressed his meeting with Loomer earlier in the week, offering high praise for the internet personality.
“Laura Loomer is a very good patriot,” he said. “She’s a very strong person, and I saw her yesterday for a little while. She makes recommendations.”
When pressed about what that meant, he conceded that Loomer not only recommends individuals to hire – but also to fire. He did, however, dismiss reports that Loomer was involved in a purge of security officials.
Loomer herself addressed Haugh’s removal on Thursday, accusing the four-star general of insufficient loyalty to the Trump administration. She also attempted to paint Haugh as an acolyte of former President Joe Biden, the Democrat who bested Trump in the 2020 election.
“NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired,” she wrote.
“Their firings are a blessing for the American people. Thank you President Trump for being receptive to the vetting materials provided to you and thank you for firing these Biden holdovers.”
Loomer has long been a controversial figure on the US right. She once called herself a “proud Islamophobe” and has spread the debunked conspiracy theory that the attacks on September 11, 2001, were an “inside job”.
Her proximity to the president has caused ripples of concern within Trump’s administration – and has been seized upon as a point of criticism for Democrats.
The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, demanded an “immediate explanation” for Haugh’s firing, arguing it makes “all of us less safe”.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first,” Himes wrote. “I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration.”
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