extradition request
UK citizen sentenced to prison for conspiring to procure high-powered microwave system from US for Iran
'Special Report' all-star panelists discuss the Biden admin's foreign policy and U.S. preparations for a response to the deadly Jordan drone attack. A United Kingdom citizen was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to procure a high-powered microwave system and counter-drone system from the United States to Iran, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said Saber Fakih, 48, conspired with Bader Fakih, 43, of Canada, Altaf Faquih, 72, of the United Arab Emirates, and Alireza Taghavi, 48, of Iran, to export and attempt to export an industrial microwave system (IMS) and counter-drone system to Iran. "The potential military uses of the IMS could include high-power microwave-based directed-energy weapon systems. The counter-drone system, which has both commercial and military uses, can be used to stop, identify, redirect, land or take total control of a target unmanned aerial vehicle," the attorney's office said.
Spain arrests Russian citizen for connections to US election hack
The evidence that Russia hacked the US to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election continues to grow. The latest comes from AFP, which says that that a Russian "computer expert" was arrested in Spain today at the Barcelona airport on suspicions of hacking the US presidential election campaigns. Furthermore, the US has already put in an extradition request so that the subject Piotr Levashov would have to stand trial here for his alleged crimes. The US has 40 days to present its extradition request to Spain; given that Levashov's arrest reportedly was the result of an "international complaint," it's reasonable to guess that the US is the one who asked the arrest to be made. Indeed, Piotr Levashov's wife Maria told Russian TV that her husband was detained at the request of American authorities.