A car bomb has exploded near a bus transporting soldiers outside Erciyes University in Kayseri, a province in central Turkey, according to security forces.
"The bus was full of soldiers going on their weekend leave," said Al Jazeera's Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul.
"The soldiers in the bus are from the commando brigade."
The bus was hit as it drove past the car, Turkish media reported.
Several people were believed killed and wounded as a result of the explosion, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.
More than 25 people were wounded as a result of the explosion, local hospital sources said, although they were not able to give any details about the death toll.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
'Bye bye America': Duterte threatens US troops pact
President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to terminate a pact that allows US troops to visit the Philippines, reacting angrily to what he thought was a US decision to scrap a major aid package over human rights abuses.
A US government aid agency said this week that its board deferred a vote on a renewal of the development assistance package for the Philippines "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties".
A US government aid agency said this week that its board deferred a vote on a renewal of the development assistance package for the Philippines "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties".
Duterte, whose administration has been criticised by Washington over a bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, unleashed a barrage of expletives in response.
He said the Philippines can do without US aid, called Americans "sons of bitches" and "hypocrites," while praising China for offering what he said was huge financial assistance.
According to a toll kept by Al Jazeera and other news sources, Duterte's drug war has killed more than 6,100 people, including a handful of teenagers.
On Monday, Duterte declared that "fewer people are being killed" and "they are almost finished off anyway".
Based on analysis of an official police report, 36 people on average have been killed every day during the 168 days of Duterte's presidency.
Impeachment risk
The government insisted that those killed by police - more than 2,000 - died during legitimate anti-drug operations. The police also said that they were investigating other killings, which were carried out by unknown gunmen.
Duterte risks impeachment after admitting on Monday to "personally" killing criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City, two Philippine senators said on Friday.
The president boasted to business leaders that as Davao City mayor he used to prowl the streets on a motorcycle looking for "an encounter to kill", just to show to local law enforcers he was able to do so.
"I used to do it personally," Duterte said. "If I can do it, why can't you?"
Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte's statement as an exaggeration.
"It's like a hyperbole, that's the president, he is used to exaggerate just to put his message across," Aguirre was quoted in radio reports as saying on Thursday.
Even if that were true, Aguirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.
"It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but if they resisted. He must have been forced," Aguirre said, referring to Duterte.
He said the Philippines can do without US aid, called Americans "sons of bitches" and "hypocrites," while praising China for offering what he said was huge financial assistance.
According to a toll kept by Al Jazeera and other news sources, Duterte's drug war has killed more than 6,100 people, including a handful of teenagers.
On Monday, Duterte declared that "fewer people are being killed" and "they are almost finished off anyway".
Based on analysis of an official police report, 36 people on average have been killed every day during the 168 days of Duterte's presidency.
Impeachment risk
The government insisted that those killed by police - more than 2,000 - died during legitimate anti-drug operations. The police also said that they were investigating other killings, which were carried out by unknown gunmen.
Duterte risks impeachment after admitting on Monday to "personally" killing criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City, two Philippine senators said on Friday.
The president boasted to business leaders that as Davao City mayor he used to prowl the streets on a motorcycle looking for "an encounter to kill", just to show to local law enforcers he was able to do so.
"I used to do it personally," Duterte said. "If I can do it, why can't you?"
Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte's statement as an exaggeration.
"It's like a hyperbole, that's the president, he is used to exaggerate just to put his message across," Aguirre was quoted in radio reports as saying on Thursday.
Even if that were true, Aguirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.
"It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but if they resisted. He must have been forced," Aguirre said, referring to Duterte.
Sen. Johnson: 'I'm Sure Putin Is Shaking in His Boots' Over Obama's Warning
President Barack Obama declared Thursday that the United States will "take action" against Russia for the country's alleged interference in the presidential election.
In an interview with NPR, the president said the Kremlin impacted the "integrity" of the election by directing hackers to steal emails that were published by WikiLeaks to damage Hillary Clinton.
"We need to take action. And we will at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be," said Obama.
On "America's Newsroom" today, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) expressed a high degree of skepticism about Obama's warning to Putin.
"For most of his presidency, the only consequences are [Obama] saying that there are going to be serious consequences. So I'm sure at this point in time, Vladimir Putin is just shaking in his boots," he said.
Johnson said there should be "serious consequences," but argued that aggressive cyberattacks are a result of American weakness under Obama's "feckless" foreign policy.
"President Trump is going to be dealing with a real mess," he said, adding that Trump's foreign policy strategy is "peace through strength" rather than the current policy of "peace through withdrawal."
Meantime, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asserted in an interview with Sean Hannity that Moscow was not the source for the leaked emails.
In an interview with NPR, the president said the Kremlin impacted the "integrity" of the election by directing hackers to steal emails that were published by WikiLeaks to damage Hillary Clinton.
"We need to take action. And we will at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be," said Obama.
On "America's Newsroom" today, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) expressed a high degree of skepticism about Obama's warning to Putin.
"For most of his presidency, the only consequences are [Obama] saying that there are going to be serious consequences. So I'm sure at this point in time, Vladimir Putin is just shaking in his boots," he said.
Johnson said there should be "serious consequences," but argued that aggressive cyberattacks are a result of American weakness under Obama's "feckless" foreign policy.
"President Trump is going to be dealing with a real mess," he said, adding that Trump's foreign policy strategy is "peace through strength" rather than the current policy of "peace through withdrawal."
Meantime, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asserted in an interview with Sean Hannity that Moscow was not the source for the leaked emails.
FBI papers reveal watch on Muhammad Ali over Nation of Islam links
The FBI has released memos showing it kept tabs on boxing legend Muhammad Ali in 1966 while investigating religious group Nation of Islam.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation made the information public on its website, posting about 140 pages of documents including details on his divorce and a speech at a Miami mosque.
The papers, using Ali's birth name of Cassius Clay, included a request for agents to monitor his divorce from his first wife as a "lead."
A memo said: "The Miami office is requested to follow the divorce action between Cassius and Sonja Clay with particular emphasis being placed on any NOI (Nation of Islam) implication being brought into this matter."
Another memo on a speech Ali gave in 1966 at a mosque said the boxer had discussed efforts to strip him of his heavyweight title and blamed the "white man."
That controversy centred on his refusal to be drafted into the army during the Vietnam War on the grounds that he was a conscientious objector. He was stripped of his title a year later.
After a successful legal battle, Ali regained the title in 1974.
The documents show Ali was not personally under investigation but was of interest because of his connection to the African-American religious group Nation of Islam, itself under investigation at the time.
A memo said the bureau was interested in his activities "from an intelligence standpoint".
Ali, 74, died in June after his life in the ring and subsequent activism made him one of the world's best-known celebrities.
He was mourned across the globe.
Ironically, The Intercept reported in July that the hype around Ali's famous bout against Joe Frazier in 1971 provided a distraction for a burglary by eight activists who broke into an FBI office in Pennsylvania.
The burglary ultimately led to the revelations about FBI director J Edgar Hoover's illegal spying operations.
The FBI has been criticised for its monitoring of public figures, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr and former Beatle John Lennon, in the turbulent political times of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation made the information public on its website, posting about 140 pages of documents including details on his divorce and a speech at a Miami mosque.
The papers, using Ali's birth name of Cassius Clay, included a request for agents to monitor his divorce from his first wife as a "lead."
A memo said: "The Miami office is requested to follow the divorce action between Cassius and Sonja Clay with particular emphasis being placed on any NOI (Nation of Islam) implication being brought into this matter."
Another memo on a speech Ali gave in 1966 at a mosque said the boxer had discussed efforts to strip him of his heavyweight title and blamed the "white man."
That controversy centred on his refusal to be drafted into the army during the Vietnam War on the grounds that he was a conscientious objector. He was stripped of his title a year later.
After a successful legal battle, Ali regained the title in 1974.
The documents show Ali was not personally under investigation but was of interest because of his connection to the African-American religious group Nation of Islam, itself under investigation at the time.
A memo said the bureau was interested in his activities "from an intelligence standpoint".
Ali, 74, died in June after his life in the ring and subsequent activism made him one of the world's best-known celebrities.
He was mourned across the globe.
Ironically, The Intercept reported in July that the hype around Ali's famous bout against Joe Frazier in 1971 provided a distraction for a burglary by eight activists who broke into an FBI office in Pennsylvania.
The burglary ultimately led to the revelations about FBI director J Edgar Hoover's illegal spying operations.
The FBI has been criticised for its monitoring of public figures, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr and former Beatle John Lennon, in the turbulent political times of the 1960s and 1970s.
Nigeria's MMM Ponzi scheme: Will investors get their money?
The MMM financial scheme caught on like wildfire in Nigeria but it has frozen its transactions, leaving many investors unsure what will happen to their savings. The BBC's Stephanie Hegarty explains how the Ponzi scheme found its way to the most populous nation in Africa and how it managed to survive.
What is MMM?
Well, that depends on who you speak to. According to MMM itself, it is a "social financial network of people providing help and getting help from each other".
Members are supposed to receive 30% back on their investment in just 30 days. It launched in Nigeria in November 2015 and according to its founders, has three million members.
But it has a murky history. It started in Russia in the 1990s and collapsed a few years later losing an estimated $100m (£80.3m) belonging to its members.
The Russian government outlawed the scheme and founder Sergey Mavrodi was jailed for four years.
It made its way to China where it was also banned. But in the past two years, the scheme has appeared in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.
Nigeria's financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), say it is a Ponzi scheme.
That means money paid in by new members is used to pay back previous members. It doesn't generate any profit but relies on new members to keep going, which means that sooner or later it will collapse.
"No profit is being created," says economist Tunji Andrews. "And the people that are going to pay for all your profit right now are the people that are going to get stuck when MMM finally crashes."
How does it work?
Members either sign up online or with the help of a "guider" - a member who gets commission to recruit more investors.
To start, one can invest as little as 15,000 naira (£32; $40). That money gets paid directly to another member.
The idea is that after 30 days, every member reaps their profits. "Guiders" get a 10% cut of the new members' investment.
Over the past few months, MMM Nigeria has undertaken an aggressive advertising campaign and used community forums and church meetings to recruit members.
Why are people talking about it?
On 13 December, the scheme was frozen. Members who expected a pay-out since Tuesday have been disappointed.
MMM claims it froze the scheme to deal with heavy traffic that it experienced in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.
It says it will re-open in January and though many people are sceptical, others have staunchly defended the scheme.
Nigeria is in the middle of its worst recession in decades. Banks are not lending and so many people are hailing MMM as a source of capital.
Since it first appeared in 2015, authorities have issued warning to Nigerians against investing. In a country that does not have a huge amount of trust in its government, millions ignored that advice.
Seven people, who do not wish to be named, explain how they got involved in the scheme. We will call them by different names.
Margaret, a farmer from Port Harcourt told me that MMM was "a blessing". She used it to pay rent when her business slowed due to the recession.
Similarly Yinka from Ilorin described MMM as "beautiful". He was able to pay his school fees and buy a printer. Both are optimistic the scheme will work again.
Most of the people who spoke to our team had initially made good returns on their investments, compelling them to invest huge amounts later. Unfortunately for them, the company froze its operations.
Isaac invested 50,000 naira in the scheme and got his returns. Two days later he invested 950,000 naira. He was supposed to get his money back on 14 December. So far, he has received nothing.
MMM say it is up front about the risks. A warning on its website reads: "The only rule is no rules… "Win" might not be paid without any reasons or explanations."
All the investors we spoke to admitted that they had been aware of the warnings but thought the risk was worth taking.
Have people lost their money?
At the moment, it is unclear whether investors will get their money back but authorities in Nigeria believe that it is inevitable that people will lose out. There is not enough money in the system to carry on forever.
Folusho Awosanya claims to be the spokesperson for MMM. I found his number after browsing the MMM website.
He told me in a phone interview that the earnings of investors "are being calculated but will be paid to them when MMM Nigeria unfreezes its activities".
He however, was unable to indicate exactly when that will happen.
Even if MMM reopens in January as it claims, it is likely that the scheme would collapse at some point.
Is MMM breaking the law?
According to the privacy laws of SEC, once a scheme like this gets a certain level of investment it must be registered.
MMM is not registered with the financial regulator so technically, it could be breaking the law.
But the SEC has not yet taken any active steps to prosecute it.
What happens next?
Members have to wait until January to see if MMM is as good as its word.
Until then its investors can only hope to get their money back.
But MMM is under no legal obligation to return it.
If the scheme does "unfreeze", that might encourage more people to invest.
And that means even more people are at risk of losing their savings.
What is MMM?
Well, that depends on who you speak to. According to MMM itself, it is a "social financial network of people providing help and getting help from each other".
Members are supposed to receive 30% back on their investment in just 30 days. It launched in Nigeria in November 2015 and according to its founders, has three million members.
But it has a murky history. It started in Russia in the 1990s and collapsed a few years later losing an estimated $100m (£80.3m) belonging to its members.
The Russian government outlawed the scheme and founder Sergey Mavrodi was jailed for four years.
It made its way to China where it was also banned. But in the past two years, the scheme has appeared in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.
Nigeria's financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), say it is a Ponzi scheme.
That means money paid in by new members is used to pay back previous members. It doesn't generate any profit but relies on new members to keep going, which means that sooner or later it will collapse.
"No profit is being created," says economist Tunji Andrews. "And the people that are going to pay for all your profit right now are the people that are going to get stuck when MMM finally crashes."
How does it work?
Members either sign up online or with the help of a "guider" - a member who gets commission to recruit more investors.
To start, one can invest as little as 15,000 naira (£32; $40). That money gets paid directly to another member.
The idea is that after 30 days, every member reaps their profits. "Guiders" get a 10% cut of the new members' investment.
Over the past few months, MMM Nigeria has undertaken an aggressive advertising campaign and used community forums and church meetings to recruit members.
Why are people talking about it?
On 13 December, the scheme was frozen. Members who expected a pay-out since Tuesday have been disappointed.
MMM claims it froze the scheme to deal with heavy traffic that it experienced in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.
It says it will re-open in January and though many people are sceptical, others have staunchly defended the scheme.
Nigeria is in the middle of its worst recession in decades. Banks are not lending and so many people are hailing MMM as a source of capital.
Since it first appeared in 2015, authorities have issued warning to Nigerians against investing. In a country that does not have a huge amount of trust in its government, millions ignored that advice.
Seven people, who do not wish to be named, explain how they got involved in the scheme. We will call them by different names.
Margaret, a farmer from Port Harcourt told me that MMM was "a blessing". She used it to pay rent when her business slowed due to the recession.
Similarly Yinka from Ilorin described MMM as "beautiful". He was able to pay his school fees and buy a printer. Both are optimistic the scheme will work again.
Most of the people who spoke to our team had initially made good returns on their investments, compelling them to invest huge amounts later. Unfortunately for them, the company froze its operations.
Isaac invested 50,000 naira in the scheme and got his returns. Two days later he invested 950,000 naira. He was supposed to get his money back on 14 December. So far, he has received nothing.
MMM say it is up front about the risks. A warning on its website reads: "The only rule is no rules… "Win" might not be paid without any reasons or explanations."
All the investors we spoke to admitted that they had been aware of the warnings but thought the risk was worth taking.
Have people lost their money?
At the moment, it is unclear whether investors will get their money back but authorities in Nigeria believe that it is inevitable that people will lose out. There is not enough money in the system to carry on forever.
Folusho Awosanya claims to be the spokesperson for MMM. I found his number after browsing the MMM website.
He told me in a phone interview that the earnings of investors "are being calculated but will be paid to them when MMM Nigeria unfreezes its activities".
He however, was unable to indicate exactly when that will happen.
Even if MMM reopens in January as it claims, it is likely that the scheme would collapse at some point.
Is MMM breaking the law?
According to the privacy laws of SEC, once a scheme like this gets a certain level of investment it must be registered.
MMM is not registered with the financial regulator so technically, it could be breaking the law.
But the SEC has not yet taken any active steps to prosecute it.
What happens next?
Members have to wait until January to see if MMM is as good as its word.
Until then its investors can only hope to get their money back.
But MMM is under no legal obligation to return it.
If the scheme does "unfreeze", that might encourage more people to invest.
And that means even more people are at risk of losing their savings.
Obama says US needs to respond to Russian cyberattacks -- 'and we will'
The U.S. will "take action" against Russia for alleged cyberattacks on Democratic officials, President Obama warned Thursday, hours after his spokesman claimed that President-elect Donald Trump "obviously knew" about the breaches and leaks that critics say propelled him to victory in last month's election.
The tough talk from Obama came in an interview scheduled to air on National Public Radio Friday. It followed complaints of Republican lawmakers that federal authorities refuse to brief them on investigations into Russia's role in leaking tensof thousands of damaging emails from top Clinton campaign officials.
"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action," Obama said. "And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be."
Earlier Thursday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters during the daily White House briefing that "Mr. Trump obviously knew that Russia was engaged in malicious cyber activity that was helping him, [and] hurting [Democrat Hillary] Clinton ... "These are all facts that are not in dispute."
Earnest pointed out that Trump had encouraged Moscow during a news conference to find missing emails from Clinton's private server. Trump has said he was joking.
"I don't think anybody at the White House thinks it's funny that an adversary of the United States engaged in malicious cyber activity to destabilize our democracy," Earnest said. "That's not a joke."
Earnest, without mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin by name, also said "only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," repeating the words from an October U.S. intelligence assessment.
Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, connected the dots further, saying it was Putin who was responsible for the Russian government's actions.
"I don't think things happen in the Russian government of this consequence without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," Rhodes said on MSNBC.
Trump fired back Thursday evening, calling Earnest "foolish" during a "Thank You" rally in Hershey, Pa.
"I don't know if he's talking to President Obama," Trump said of Earnest, without addressing the hacking controversy directly. "You know, having the right press secretary's so important. Because he is so bad, the way he delivers a message ... The president is very positive, but he's not positive. And I mean, maybe he's getting his orders from somebody else? Does that make sense? Could that be possible?"
The White House officials' comments only escalate the feud between Trump allies and Democratic figures over Russia's alleged hacking.
U.S. intelligence officials have linked the hacking to Russia's intelligence agency and its military intelligence division. Moscow has denied all accusations that it orchestrated the hacking of email accounts of Democratic Party officials and Clinton's campaign chief, John Podesta, and then leaked them to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
But lawmakers seeking a briefing this week on potential conflicts in the record about Russia's role were rebuffed, fueling GOP concerns on Capitol Hill about what the intelligence says.
U.S. officials have not contended that Trump would have been defeated by Clinton on Nov. 8 if not for Russia's assistance. Nor has there has been any indication of tampering with the vote-counting.
The Kremlin flatly rejected the claim of Putin's involvement, with Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing it Thursday as "laughable nonsense."
The dispute over Russia's role is fueling an increasingly public spat between Obama's White House and Trump's team that is threatening to spoil the delicate truce that Obama and Trump have forged since Election Day.
Although the president and president-elect have avoided criticizing each other publicly since Trump's win, their aides have been more openly antagonistic. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's senior transition adviser, said it was "breathtaking" and irresponsible that the White House had suggested Trump knew Russia was interfering to help his campaign.
Trump and his supporters insist the Democrats' outrage about Russia is really an attempt to undermine the validity of his election victory. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a Trump ally, called it "disgraceful" as he spoke to reporters amassed in Trump Tower after meeting with the president-elect.
"Right now, certain elements of the media, certain elements of the intelligence community and certain politicians are really doing the work of the Russians," King said.
There has been no specific, persuasive evidence shared publicly about the extent of Putin's role or knowledge of the hackings. That lack of proof undercuts Democrats' strategy to portray Putin's involvement as irrefutable evidence of a directed Russian government plot to undermine America's democratic system.
The tough talk from Obama came in an interview scheduled to air on National Public Radio Friday. It followed complaints of Republican lawmakers that federal authorities refuse to brief them on investigations into Russia's role in leaking tensof thousands of damaging emails from top Clinton campaign officials.
"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action," Obama said. "And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be."
Earlier Thursday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters during the daily White House briefing that "Mr. Trump obviously knew that Russia was engaged in malicious cyber activity that was helping him, [and] hurting [Democrat Hillary] Clinton ... "These are all facts that are not in dispute."
Earnest pointed out that Trump had encouraged Moscow during a news conference to find missing emails from Clinton's private server. Trump has said he was joking.
"I don't think anybody at the White House thinks it's funny that an adversary of the United States engaged in malicious cyber activity to destabilize our democracy," Earnest said. "That's not a joke."
Earnest, without mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin by name, also said "only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," repeating the words from an October U.S. intelligence assessment.
Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, connected the dots further, saying it was Putin who was responsible for the Russian government's actions.
"I don't think things happen in the Russian government of this consequence without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," Rhodes said on MSNBC.
Trump fired back Thursday evening, calling Earnest "foolish" during a "Thank You" rally in Hershey, Pa.
"I don't know if he's talking to President Obama," Trump said of Earnest, without addressing the hacking controversy directly. "You know, having the right press secretary's so important. Because he is so bad, the way he delivers a message ... The president is very positive, but he's not positive. And I mean, maybe he's getting his orders from somebody else? Does that make sense? Could that be possible?"
The White House officials' comments only escalate the feud between Trump allies and Democratic figures over Russia's alleged hacking.
U.S. intelligence officials have linked the hacking to Russia's intelligence agency and its military intelligence division. Moscow has denied all accusations that it orchestrated the hacking of email accounts of Democratic Party officials and Clinton's campaign chief, John Podesta, and then leaked them to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
But lawmakers seeking a briefing this week on potential conflicts in the record about Russia's role were rebuffed, fueling GOP concerns on Capitol Hill about what the intelligence says.
U.S. officials have not contended that Trump would have been defeated by Clinton on Nov. 8 if not for Russia's assistance. Nor has there has been any indication of tampering with the vote-counting.
The Kremlin flatly rejected the claim of Putin's involvement, with Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing it Thursday as "laughable nonsense."
The dispute over Russia's role is fueling an increasingly public spat between Obama's White House and Trump's team that is threatening to spoil the delicate truce that Obama and Trump have forged since Election Day.
Although the president and president-elect have avoided criticizing each other publicly since Trump's win, their aides have been more openly antagonistic. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's senior transition adviser, said it was "breathtaking" and irresponsible that the White House had suggested Trump knew Russia was interfering to help his campaign.
Trump and his supporters insist the Democrats' outrage about Russia is really an attempt to undermine the validity of his election victory. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a Trump ally, called it "disgraceful" as he spoke to reporters amassed in Trump Tower after meeting with the president-elect.
"Right now, certain elements of the media, certain elements of the intelligence community and certain politicians are really doing the work of the Russians," King said.
There has been no specific, persuasive evidence shared publicly about the extent of Putin's role or knowledge of the hackings. That lack of proof undercuts Democrats' strategy to portray Putin's involvement as irrefutable evidence of a directed Russian government plot to undermine America's democratic system.
China 'seizes US vessel' in S China Sea
The US has issued a formal request to China to deliver an unmanned underwater drone that was seized in international waters, US officials say.
The Chinese navy seized the US underwater research vessel in the South China Sea on Thursday, the US alleges.
The incident took place just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve it.
The device, dubbed an "ocean glider", was used to test water salinity and temperature, officials say.
The data was part of an unclassified programme to map underwater channels, Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told reporters.
"It was taken" by China, Capt Davis said during a press briefing on Friday.
"The UUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea," he added.
"It's a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water - that it was US property."
The Chinese navy seized the US underwater research vessel in the South China Sea on Thursday, the US alleges.
The incident took place just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve it.
The device, dubbed an "ocean glider", was used to test water salinity and temperature, officials say.
The data was part of an unclassified programme to map underwater channels, Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told reporters.
"It was taken" by China, Capt Davis said during a press briefing on Friday.
"The UUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea," he added.
"It's a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water - that it was US property."
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