An Australian army soldier and her husband accused of spying for Russia were denied bail on Friday, the first charges against suspected agents under sweeping Australian espionage laws passed in 2018.
Kira Korolev, 40, and her husband Igor Korolev, 62, are Russian-born Australian citizens who hold Russian passports. They did not appear in person and were represented by lawyers in the Brisbane District Court on charges of preparing to commit espionage.
They have not entered a plea and will next appear in federal court on September 20.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw previously told reporters the pair had worked together to access Australian Defence Force material relating to Australia’s national security interests.
“We allege they sought this information for the purpose of providing it to Russian authorities. Whether or not this information was handed over remains a key subject of our investigation,” Kershaw said.
While the pair are the first suspected agents to be charged under modern espionage laws, which also prohibit covert foreign interference in domestic politics, Australian security forces have disrupted alleged Russian spies in recent years.
Australia quietly expelled a large Russian spy network that included embassy and consulate staff as well as other agents using secret identities, a spy agency official and the media reported last year.
Police arrested the Korolev family at their Brisbane home on Thursday. She is an information systems technician in the Australian Defence Force, and her husband is self-employed. They moved to Australia more than a decade ago. The woman became an Australian citizen in 2016 and her husband in 2020.
Police allege the woman secretly traveled to Russia in 2023 during extended leave from the Australian military. The pair allegedly accessed the woman’s business account from their home in Brisbane and sent her confidential information sought in Russia.
Mike Burgess, the security secretary of the Australian Security Intelligence Service, declined to say how officers obtained the information. “The Ministry of Defense’s security awareness allowed us to intervene quickly and control the operation,” Burgess said.
Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted. Charges can be upgraded if sufficient evidence is found that information was shared with Russia, and the potential maximum prison sentence upon conviction could be 25 years or life.
The Russian Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment on Friday.
Russia last year accused Australia of anti-Russian hysteria after it canceled a lease on land where Moscow wanted to build its new embassy. The Australian government deemed the site a security risk because it was too close to Parliament House.
Burgess warned of foreign spies, “When we can support prosecution, we will support prosecution.”
While the pair are the first to be charged under the espionage section of the 2018 laws, two Australians have been charged with foreign interference offences under the same set of reforms criticised by China.
Melbourne businessman, community leader and Vietnamese refugee Di Sanh Dung was convicted in December last year of secretly working for the Chinese Communist Party.
The 68-year-old was sentenced in February to two years and nine months in jail for planning to commit an act of foreign interference, a charge he denied.
Australian businessman Alexander Sierzo was released on bail last month after being detained since his arrest in April last year. The 56-year-old has pleaded not guilty to a charge of recklessly aiding a Chinese intelligence agency and is awaiting trial.
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US President Joe Biden put his political career at stake after he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his rival, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the NATO summit on Thursday.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said while introducing the Ukrainian leader at the NATO summit in Washington.
Before he could douse the flames of the latest blunders, 81-year-old Biden, who is already struggling to convince the world that his re-election bid will not be disastrous due to his age, has now come under fire over his latest comments.
Democrats call on Biden to withdraw from race
Experts and leaders of his Democratic Party indicated that Biden may not be fit to lead the office due to his declining cognitive abilities after his disastrous debate against Trump on June 27 became a subject of ridicule worldwide.
13 of the 213 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have publicly appealed to the President to withdraw from the election race that ends on November 5.
Biden calls herself a black woman
The increased scrutiny against Biden comes because these are not just the mistakes he is remembered for. A week ago, the US President suffered an awkward verbal gaffe where he called himself a “black woman” during an interview with a private television channel.
This happened when he got confused with Harris while recalling his time as Vice President under Barack Obama.
Oldest President of the United States in history
These incidents have further fuelled the concerns of critics, who have long suggested that Biden is not fit for the post. If he is re-elected for a second term, he will become the oldest President in the history of the United States.
Trump wants to make a comeback while Biden is struggling
On the other hand, after a humiliating defeat in the 2020 elections, Trump is looking to use this opportunity to return to the political arena, the 77-year-old former President is under scrutiny due to his age, as some of his missteps have also come to light. However, he is ahead of Biden as voters remain skeptical about the Democratic leader’s age, which they see as a “liability”.
Biden’s medical report describes him as “fit”
Biden has consistently defended his health and insisted that he is in “good shape”. In February, his annual health report revealed that he was in “good” health.
At least 65 people, including seven Indian nationals, are reported missing after a landslide swept away two buses and pushed them into a swollen river in Nepal on Friday, according to media reports.
Two buses carrying 65 passengers went missing in the Trishuli river during a landslide in Simlatal district on the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district, My Republica news portal reported, quoting officials.
Chitwan district chief Indradev Yadav confirmed the incident.
According to Yadav, the Kathmandu-bound Angel bus and the Ganapati Deluxe bus, going from the capital to Gaur, collided at around 3.30 am.
Police said 24 people were on board the Kathmandu-bound bus and 41 on the Gaur-bound bus.
Three passengers of the Ganapati Deluxe bus managed to escape by jumping off the vehicle, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Details of 21 passengers travelling from Birgunj to Kathmandu on board Angel Deluxe have been received. According to the latest information, police said seven Indian nationals were among the bus passengers, MyRepublica reported.
Rescue workers have started clearing the landslide debris, Yadav said. Chief Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ expressed grief over the disappearance of the bus in the Trishuli river and issued instructions for immediate search and rescue operations.
I am deeply saddened by the death of about fifteen passengers and loss of property due to floods and landslides in various parts of the country when a bus was swept away by a landslide on the Narayangarh-Moglen road section. “I direct all government agencies, including the local administration, to effectively search and rescue the passengers,” Prachanda posted on X.
The Prime Minister also expressed grief over the loss of lives and property due to floods and landslides in various parts of the country. He called upon citizens to take necessary precautions.
Police inspector Bavish Raimal said Nepali police and members of the Armed Police Force are heading to the accident sites to carry out rescue operations.
Traffic on the Narayanghat-Mugling road section was disrupted due to debris caused by landslides at various places.
In a separate incident, at least 11 people were killed in landslides and floods caused by incessant rains in Kaski district on Thursday.
More than 1,800 people have lost their lives in a decade due to monsoon disasters. During this period, about 400 people lost their lives and more than 1,500 people were injured in the disaster.
US President Joe Biden said he has “no good reason” to talk to Vladimir Putin at this time unless the Russian leader changes his behavior.
The 81-year-old president made this remark in a long-awaited solo press conference at the end of the NATO summit in Washington on Thursday.
I have no good reason to talk to Putin now.’ Asked if he was willing to talk to Putin, Biden told reporters he was not willing to do much in terms of accommodating any changes in his behavior, but there’s no world leader I’m not willing to deal with.
But I think the general thing you’re saying is: Is Putin willing to talk? “I’m not willing to talk to Putin until Putin is willing to change his behavior and his idea that — look, Putin has a problem,” Biden said, despite a growing list of Democratic leaders dismissing concerns about his health, calling on Trump to step down from office. The 2024 presidential election after a disastrous debate with his Republican rival Donald Trump last month.
First of all, in this war that he supposedly won, and by the way, I guess, I shouldn’t give the exact number, but I think Russia had 17.3 percent of the Ukraine that it invaded, and now it’s time to go 17.4. He said: I mean in terms of the percentage of land taken.
It was not very successful. They did massive damage and loss of life, but they also lost more than 350,000 servicemen and soldiers killed and wounded. They have more than a million people, especially young people with technical qualifications, who are leaving Russia because they don’t see a future there. They have a problem,” the president said.
But what they do have control over is that they are very good at controlling and managing public anger in terms of how they use their communication mechanisms with people. They lie to constituencies. They absolutely lie about what is happening. The idea that we will be able to fundamentally change Russia in the near term is impossible, he told reporters.
So, my point is that I’m willing to talk to anybody, but I don’t see any inclination. The Chinese have a tendency to stay in touch with me because they don’t know where all this is going. Look at what happened in Asia. He said, we have strengthened the Asia-Pacific region more than any other country.
I have asked our NATO allies to bring groups from the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. I have met twice so far with the leaders of 14 island countries in the Pacific region and we have slowed down what is happening there. We have slowed the arrival of China. But there is still a lot of work to be done. Biden said, “It’s a moving target and I don’t take it lightly.” He used the news conference to strongly defend his foreign and domestic policy, dismissing questions about his ability to stay in office for another four years, declaring: “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to accomplish the mission. I’m in this to do the job.”
There have been concerns about Biden’s ability to serve another four-year term as president since his faltering performance in the presidential debate against Donald Trump last month.
Age and mental fitness have recently become a major issue in the US presidential race.
While Biden is the oldest president in US history, Trump, if elected in November, will be the second-oldest president.
