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Voormalige vriend van minister Rubio veroordeeld tot tien jaar

WASHINGTON (ANP/AFP) - Voormalig congreslid en vriend van de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio, David Rivera, is vrijdag veroordeeld wegens het heimelijk lobbyen voor Venezuela bij de Amerikaanse regering, aldus media in de VS.

Volgens de aanklagers werd Rivera door de toenmalige Venezolaanse regering-Maduro ingehuurd tijdens de eerste ambtstermijn van de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump. Hij zou zijn ingezet om zijn Republikeinse contacten te gebruiken om Washington ervan te overtuigen een milder beleid ten aanzien van Venezuela te voeren.

Rubio getuigde nog in maart dat Rivera ooit een hechte vriend was geweest en dat de twee een appartement deelden toen ze allebei nog congreslid waren voor de staat Florida. Rubio zei dat hij niets wist over Rivera's vermeende contacten met Venezolaanse regeringsfunctionarissen en dat hij anders zou hebben gehandeld als hij het had geweten.

Rivera voerde ter verdediging aan dat zijn politieke activiteit erop was gericht om de Venezolaanse president Maduro ten val te brengen.

2026-10-03 00:56:21

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Several people injured after vehicle hits crowd in Newcastle waiting to farewell Knights team bus

Driver arrested at the scene after a vehicle struck multiple people in a crowd

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A car has crashed into a crowd of people in Newcastle injuring several as fans waited to farewell the Knights team bus before the NRL grand final.

New South Wales police said that emergency services were called to Newcastle Link Road at the Transfield Drive roundabout in Wallsend about 9.30am on Saturday after reports a vehicle struck multiple people in a crowd.

2026-10-03 00:51:35

Cyclospora found at Mexican farm linked to lettuce outbreak, FDA says

Announcement from US officials comes after CDC declared end to outbreak that infected nearly 13,000 people

The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday its inspectors had detected cyclospora at the Mexican farm blamed for the largest foodborne illness outbreak of the parasite in US history.

FDA inspectors said Friday they found cyclospora in two places: a wastewater tank and a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation. They said it was unclear how the lettuce became infected.

2026-10-03 00:27:28

Pint-sized gains: the Australian brewers crafting refreshingly sustainable beers

As the weather warms up, renewable and refillable brews can help reduce the environmental cost of a cold one

Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com

It’s no secret that Australians love getting on the beers: we consume 69m litres of the stuff every year.

With that comes a significant packaging and environmental footprint, as commercially produced drinks generate emissions in both production and transportation. Australians drink and dispose of an estimated 17bn bottles and cans a year, fewer than half of which are recycled.

2026-10-03 00:00:44

Behemoth! review - Pedro Pascal classical music drama hits all the wrong notes

New York film festival: The actor stumbles through Tony Gilroy’s forgettable film marred by stylistic gimmicks

Tony Gilroy has built a sturdy career as the director of the Bourne films and show runner of the popular Star Wars spin-off Andor. He directed Tilda Swinton all the way to an Oscar for her remarkable performance in the legal potboiler Michael Clayton.

As the first feature film he has directed since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy, the classical music drama Behemoth! promised to be an intriguing return from a master of threading the needle between slick action and deeply felt drama. His new film comes with a score from nine A-list composers who have banded together and called themselves The Behemoth! Collective, a stacked cast and a womanizing central character who looks phenomenal in a tux: “Tár for straight men”, as a friend of mine put it.

2026-10-03 00:00:43

Slashdot

News for nerds, stuff that matters

The University of Washington Is Moving a Graduate Program to Microsoft's Campus

Longtime Slashdot submitter theodp writes: GeekWire reports that the University of Washington has moved its Global Innovation Exchange {GIX) program to Microsoft's campus in a rent-free deal (UW News release). GIX, an institute supporting tech leaders that offers an MS in Technology Innovation, is the first UW program to set up full-time operations at Microsoft, whose headquarters are just across Lake Washington from the university's main campus. Microsoft provided a $42 million in-kind donation to establish the embedded facility; the UW is leasing the new 48,500-square-foot GIX space in Microsoft's Building 92 rent-free. GIX debuted in 2015 as a partnership of the UW and China's Tsinghua University and received $70 million in Microsoft support at the now-abandoned GIX location in Bellevue (the Steve Ballmer Building), although indications are that a long-term arrangement did not come together as intended. In a Thursday LinkedIn post, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote: "Last night we opened a door unlike any other. At the heart of Microsoft's campus, step into the new home of the UW's Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) and you cross from Microsoft into the University of Washington. No one has ever put a great research university and a leading technology company under the same roof quite like this. As far as I know, no one has even tried. The timing matters. Artificial intelligence is advancing fast. The question is whether the people building it understand the world it's changing. This calls for a new style of education and leadership. We need leaders who understand the technology deeply and see things through other people's eyes. Leaders who learn by collaborating on real projects with people from different countries and disciplines. That's what GIX is built for. Students will learn from faculty across the UW, take classes taught by Microsoft employees, and be mentored by people from across our industry here in the Pacific Northwest." Interestingly, Smith's contention that UW GIX students will benefit from a 'new style' of Microsoft and industry-influenced education sounds a lot like Smith's contention that K-12 school children are better off thanks to a new style of Microsoft and industry-influenced education. In an interview last month, Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools author Natasha Singer told NPR (podcast, transcript), "For my book, I spoke to Brad Smith, who's the president of Microsoft, and he has been one of the leaders in the tech industry pushing for [K-12] computer science [and now AI literacy] in schools. [...] And Brad Smith said, philanthropy in the private sector is doing this work because public schools have failed to do what they were supposed to do. And his view is that public schools should be teaching modern subjects like computer science, and they were not equipped to do it fast enough and the tech industry stepped in to help. And is it better than if schools were able to do this themselves? He said, no, but it's certainly better than nothing. And he said to me, you know, think about where we would be on computer science if the tech industry hadn't stepped up. [...] Well, I've been having this conversation with him for 10 years, and when we started having it 10 years ago, I said to him, I get that, but when big tech companies put their finger on the scale, it tips education in certain ways that not only favor the tech industry but can obscure equally or more important things." So, is "The University of Washington at Microsoft" a good or bad idea?