WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
Two Montana men, who are brothers, pleaded guilty to a felony charge for their actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Joshua Calvin Hughes, 38, and Jerod Wayne Hughes, 37, both of East Helena, Montana, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to obstruction of an official proceeding.
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, the brothers attended a rally near the Ellipse. They then walked toward the U.S. Capitol, where they illegally entered the Capitol grounds. They joined a group of rioters on the northern set of stairs on the west side of the Capitol Building. They were part of the crowd that pushed past a line of law enforcement officers at the top of the staircase, forcing the officers to retreat. Both men entered the Capitol Building at approximately 2:13 p.m. through a window next to the Senate Wing Door that had been shattered by other rioters. Joshua and Jerod Hughes were among the first rioters to enter the Capitol Building on Jan. 6.
Once in the building, Jerod Hughes joined another rioter in trying to kick open the Senate Wing door. The brothers kept moving, following other rioters who were chasing a Capitol Police officer into the Ohio Clock Corridor. During a stand-off there, Jerod Hughes screamed and made aggressive gestures towards the officers. They then moved towards and entered the Senate Gallery. By approximately 2:48 p.m., they entered the Senate Chamber, among the first rioters there. They walked among the senators’ desks for approximately two minutes and then left the Capitol Building.
Both men were arrested on Feb. 1, 2021, in Montana. They are to be sentenced on Nov. 22, 2022. They face a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding, as well as potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office and its Helena, Montana Resident Agency, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Joshua Hughes as #42 on its seeking information photos, as well as the Metropolitan Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the 19 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 860 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
UKRAINE
FEARS ABOUND OVER NUCLEAR PLANT
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Aug. 31, the latest stage in their efforts to inspect conditions at the embattled nuclear power plant there.
Speaking to reporters, agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed confidence that they will be able to safely conduct their technical mission, which follows months of consultations amid fears of a potential catastrophe at Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
The mission will take a few days, he said, though adding that it could be “prolonged” if they can establish a continued presence at the site.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been occupied by Russian forces since the early weeks of the conflict and has come under repeated shelling in recent weeks.
Asked if he believed Russia will allow the agency to see what is really happening there, Grossi responded that his team is made up of very experienced people.
“I bring here the best and the brightest in safeguards, in safety, in security, and we will have a pretty good idea of what’s going on,” he said.
Grossi was also asked by a journalist, how they could help avoid a feared meltdown or nuclear incident at the plant.
“This a matter of political will,” he said. “It’s a matter that has to do with the countries that are in this conflict, in particular the Russian Federation, which is occupying the place.”
Grossi is leading the 13-member mission from the Vienna-based IAEA, which set out for Ukraine on Aug. 29. He met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital, Kyiv, the following day.
The team’s priorities include ensuring nuclear safety and security at the plant, as well as undertaking vital safeguard activities, and assessing the working conditions of the Ukraine personnel working there.
RUSSIA
GORBACHEV REMEMBERED
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has paid warm tribute to the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose death aged 91 was announced on Aug. 30, describing him as the person who “more than any other” brought about the peaceful end of the Cold War, which had dominated international relations since the 1940s.
Guterres said he was deeply saddened to hear the news of his passing in Moscow, announced by Russian State news agencies, which reported that he had died after a “long and grave illness.”
He also extended his heartfelt condolences to the whole Gorbachev family, and to the people and Government of the Russian Federation.
“The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.”
Mr. Gorbachev became Soviet leader in 1985, when nuclear tensions between East and West were still running high, with a reformist program designed to revive the economy and modernize the political system, adopting the policies of “perestroika”, and “glasnost”, or openness.
He ended the Cold War by successfully negotiating with US President Ronald Reagan to abolish a whole class of missiles through the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, ended the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and precipitating the breakup of the Warsaw Pact, Soviet domination of eastern Europe, and ultimately the Soviet Union itself, all in the space of just six years.
In 1990, lauded internationally, but suffering increasing criticism at home, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for the leading role that he had played in the “radical changes in East-West relations”, according to the judges.
The Secretary-General noted in his statement, that in receiving the prize, “he observed that ‘peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity.’ He put this vital insight into practice by pursuing the path of negotiation, reform, transparency and disarmament.”
Gorbachev faced a coup initiated by hardline communist elements in 1991, and was arrested while on a Black Sea vacation, but the then party leader in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin, effectively ended the Soviet army-backed uprising in the capital, and ushered Mr. Gorbachev into retirement, and the final dissolution of the USSR.
