(Vatican Radio) A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied allegations that the Kremlin has collected compromising information about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The comments came after Moscow already denied any involvement in a cyber hacking and propaganda campaign to influence the recent presidential elections in the United States. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: "Pulp fiction". That's how Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov describes claims that Russia has compromising personal and financial information about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. In a statement, Pescklov said the allegations are aimed at harming bi-lateral relations between the U.S. and Russia.Even President Elect Trump reacted. He used social networking service Twitter to rubbish the allegations saying in one messages: "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I have nothing to do with Russia – No deals, no loans, no nothing."U.S. intelligence ...
(Vatican Radio) A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied allegations that the Kremlin has collected compromising information about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The comments came after Moscow already denied any involvement in a cyber hacking and propaganda campaign to influence the recent presidential elections in the United States.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
"Pulp fiction". That's how Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov describes claims that Russia has compromising personal and financial information about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
In a statement, Pescklov said the allegations are aimed at harming bi-lateral relations between the U.S. and Russia.
Even President Elect Trump reacted. He used social networking service Twitter to rubbish the allegations saying in one messages: "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I have nothing to do with Russia – No deals, no loans, no nothing."
U.S. intelligence agencies are reported to have presented a classified report about the material, obtained by Russian agents, to both Trump and the outgoing president, Barack Obama.
'FAKE NEWS'
After news reports were published about the briefing, Trump tweeted: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!"
It was attached to wider findings of alleged ongoing ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin and interference by Russia into the US election.
Though both Putin and Trump deny the allegations, the US intelligence community seems convinced about its finding.
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told the U.S. Senate’s Intelligence Committee: "We have high confidence that President Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election."
He added that the "goals of this campaign were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process."
Putin and the Russian government, he said, "also developed a clear preference for President-elect [Donald]) Trump.
Russia aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possibly by discrediting Secretary Clinton [as presidential candidate] and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him."
While several Republican and Democratic senators have expressed concern about the situation, possible closer ties between Trump and Putin are especially closely watched in former Soviet satellite states where officials fear it could harm their security.
A photo shows a view of the National Assembly in Paris on June 10, 2024, a day after the European Parliament elections. / Credit: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, Jul 6, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).A French parliamentary report released on July 2 has shed light on disturbing cases of abuse in schools while also reigniting a longstanding national debate over the balance between state oversight and freedom of education. The report, resulting from a five-month inquiry into violence within the school system, proposes a series of measures aimed at better protecting minors. However, its heavy focus on Catholic private institutions under state contract has raised concerns about potential political bias and the future of educational pluralism in France. The inquiry was led by parliamentarians Violette Spillebout, from President Macron's centrist party Renaissance, and Paul Vannier, from the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI). While the report f...
Pope Leo XIV, speaking in English, expressed his "sincere condolences" to "families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters, who were at the summer camp, in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe river in Texas in the United States" after praying the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on July 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jul 6, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed for the victims and families affected by the recent flood disaster in Texas.The Holy Father, speaking in English, expressed his "sincere condolences" to "families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters, who were at the summer camp, in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe river in Texas in the United States" after praying the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.More than 20 children attending the all-girls summer camp are currently missing after flash floods struck Texas Hill Country in the early h...
Archbishop Benjamin Phiri of Zambia's Archdiocese of Ndola. / Credit: Archdiocese of NdolaACI Africa, Jul 6, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Benjamin Phiri of Zambia's Archdiocese of Ndola has called on journalists and media in the South African nation to resist sensationalism and distorting of facts as the country prepares for general elections in August 2026.In his homily on Sunday, June 29, the solemnity of Apostles Peter and Paul, Phiri called for responsible and ethical journalism."When you report in order to educate, you do not tell lies. You tell the facts as they are," he said during a Mass marking the 40th anniversary of St. Peter the Apostle Mushili Parish of his metropolitan see.The archbishop faulted journalists, "whose narratives fuel more conflict than resolve issues because of the practice of pitting one against the other.""You want that political party to fight against that political party; you want that person there to be fighting the other person there. Is th...
