International News
Putin May Seek Revenge On Wagner’s Employer- CIA Director
The director of the CIA, William Burns, has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to buy time as he decides how to handle Yevgeny Prighozin.
The Wagner mercenary group’s leader, Mr. Prigozhin, was in charge of a rebellion that took place in Russia a month ago.
According to William Burns, that revolt showed serious flaws in the authority structure Putin had established.
He warned the Aspen Security Forum that the president of Russia might yet seek revenge on Mr. Prigozhin.
“What we are seeing is a very complicated dance,” the CIA chief said on Thursday.
Mr Prigozhin has moved around but had been in the Belarus capital of Minsk recently as well as Russia, he said when asked about a recent video apparently showing the Wagner boss in Belarus.
Mr Putin is likely to be trying to buy time as he works out how best to deal with the leader of the Wagner group, Mr Burns added.
That mercenary group still has value for Russia’s leadership in places like Africa, Libya and Syria and so it was likely that Mr Putin would try and separate the group from its leader.
“Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold,” Mr Burns said. “In my experience, Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback so I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution.”
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden suggested there was a risk the Wagner boss could be poisoned.
“If I were he I’d be careful what I ate. I’d keep my eye on my menu,” the president quipped.
The CIA director echoed that line saying: “If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster.”
The intelligence agency did indeed have advanced knowledge of the mutiny, Mr Burns said, confirming previous reports.
A senior Russian army general, Sergei Surovikin, who was reported to have known about the Wagner mutiny in advance, also does not currently have “freedom of movement”, the CIA chief added.
William Burns confirmed the CIA had advanced knowledge of the mutiny
The mutiny was the most direct assault Mr Putin has seen in his 23 years in power, including by directly challenging the Kremlin’s justification for the war in Ukraine, with Mr Prigozhin saying it had been built on lies, Mr Burns said.
He added that what was most remarkable was that Russia’s leader felt compelled to do a deal with a man who used to be his caterer, the CIA chief said.
Mr Prigozhin is often referred to as “Putin’s chef” as he first came to prominence after providing catering services to Mr Putin and the military before founding the Wagner group.
Mr Putin has projected an image of himself as the arbiter of order in Russia, and so the 36 hours of the mutiny will have left many in the country with the question of “whether the emperor had no clothes or at least why is it taking him so long to get dressed”, Mr Burns said.
This would have resurrected deeper questions in the Russian elite about Mr Putin’s judgement, which have been there since his decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
If Ukraine makes further advances on the battlefield then that could lead more Russians to pay attention to Mr Prigozhin’s critique of the war, he said.
It should not come as surprise that Ukraine’s counter-offensive was proving a “hard slog”, the CIA head said, given that offence was harder than defence and the Russians had months to prepare.
“It is going to take time and it is not going to be easy to make progress. I am however an optimist,” Mr Burns said.
In addition, he claimed that by bombing Black Sea commerce and attributing it on the Ukrainians, Russia may have been engaging in a false flag operation.
Ferrari’s first fully electric car, the Luce, has made automotive history after a bespoke version of the vehicle sold for a record $40 million at a charity auction in California.
The tailor-made Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” was sold during Monterey Car Week on Saturday, becoming the most expensive new car ever sold at auction, according to collector car auction company RM Sotheby’s.
The winning bid was 36 times the car’s original estimate of $1.1 million.
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Ferrari USA celebrated the landmark sale in an Instagram post, saying, “The bids kept climbing. Then, history was made,” while describing the transaction as a new record for the highest-priced new car ever sold at auction.
The sale comes months after Ferrari unveiled the Luce in May. The electric model features a distinctive bubble-like design that differs significantly from the Italian automaker’s traditional angular styling and has received mixed reactions from some Ferrari enthusiasts.
Ferrari previously described the Luce as “a different sort of Ferrari for a different sort of Ferrari client.”
The Luce is powered by four electric motors, with one motor driving each of its four wheels.
The exclusive “Chassis 0” features a pearl-like semi-gloss finish with a personalised pigment that produces changing reflections ranging from green to violet when struck by light.
Its interior is equally distinctive, featuring Perla Le Mans metallic leather and black design elements against a predominantly white background.
Ferrari said proceeds from the record-breaking auction will go to The Ferrari Foundation to support educational initiatives.
Following the auction, the vehicle will return to Maranello, northern Italy, where it was built, before being delivered to the unnamed winning bidder in the first quarter of 2027.
Meanwhile, deliveries of the regular Ferrari Luce, priced at about €550,000 ($640,000), are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if the country obstructs efforts to reach a deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made the threat on Monday during an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing discussions between Oman and Iran concerning control and navigation through the strategic waterway.
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“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Yingst, referring to the talks between Oman and Iran while the United States pursues its own discussions with Tehran.
Iranian and Omani officials have been negotiating for weeks over future maritime navigation arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a major flashpoint amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Iran effectively restricted traffic through the waterway at the beginning of the war on February 28, while Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strategic route should be under US control.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory. Iran rejected the position, insisting that the crucial waterway would “remain Iranian.”
Before the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz was regarded as an open international waterway. The route is critical to global energy supplies and carries significant volumes of oil and other commodities.
Iran has used its control over the strait as leverage against US-led efforts to weaken its military capabilities and force Tehran to abandon its controversial nuclear programme.
Trump also called on Iran to surrender, saying Tehran should “put up the white flag of surrender.”
Despite the growing tensions and the political pressure surrounding the conflict ahead of the November midterm elections in the United States, Trump said he was not in a hurry to reach a deal.
He further disclosed that his administration maintains a direct back-channel with officials of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
“They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” Trump was quoted as saying.
Colombia’s outgoing President, Gustavo Petro, has warned that the country could descend into civil war following what he described as widespread fraud in the recent presidential election.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Petro claimed that the June presidential runoff was tainted by “algorithmic, systemic electoral fraud” involving a massive number of votes, insisting the results were manipulated against his political ally, Ivan Cepeda.
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“We are facing fraud and an undoubtedly profound institutional problem, namely the inauguration of an illegitimate president,” Petro said.
The outgoing leader alleged that “foreign money and foreign companies with the capacity to manipulate algorithms” interfered in Colombia’s electoral process, accusing external actors of influencing the outcome of the election.
Petro’s remarks come just days before president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is due to be sworn into office on Friday in the southwestern city of Cali, a departure from the longstanding tradition of holding presidential inaugurations before Congress in the capital, Bogota.
The Colombian leader also claimed that De la Espriella, who received the endorsement of United States President Donald Trump before the election, plans to extradite him to the United States on what he described as false charges.
Warning of the potential consequences, Petro said, “It’s crystal clear what a civil war in Colombia could look like,” arguing that public resistance to the incoming administration’s actions could trigger widespread unrest.
The political crisis has deepened further after the left-wing bloc in Congress, led by Cepeda, announced it would boycott De la Espriella’s inauguration and called for nationwide mobilization against the president-elect.
Observers have also raised concerns that Colombia could witness a return to violent street protests similar to those experienced between 2019 and 2021, which left dozens dead.
Despite having no prior political experience, De la Espriella has pledged to boost private investment, shrink the size of government by 40 percent, and intensify military operations against guerrilla groups and drug cartels as the country battles its worst surge in violence in a decade.
His inauguration is scheduled for Friday amid heightened political tensions and growing uncertainty over Colombia’s future.
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