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Jared Kushner is pushing back on a report involving a hacked iPhone, international spies and billion-dollar transfers from foreign governments. An upcoming book by journalist Matthew Cole claims Kushner, who is President Trump's son-in-law, had access to more than $2 billion in "slush money funds" from Middle Eastern leaders in an attempt to influence U.S. foreign policy.
An excerpt of the book released Thursday details allegations encompassing Kushner's time as a senior White House adviser during the first Trump administration, which included a lead role in U.S. policy in the Middle East. Kushner had a major hand in negotiating key foreign policy deals that involved Israel, the Gulf states, China and Russia during that period.
Kushner and his legal team released fiery statements Thursday night categorically denying all accusations against him. Kushner said, "The allegations made by this author are completely insane and never happened." His attorney called them "false and defamatory" and said they intend to pursue legal action against those responsible, but did not specify whom.
The new book, "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East," alleges Kushner had access to billions of dollars in undisclosed foreign bank accounts intended to pay for "influence within the U.S. government." An excerpt from the book that was published in "Vanity Fair," but not independently verified by CBS News, says Dutch intelligence agents learned the Russians had hacked Kushner's iPhone in 2017 after flipping a Russian spy and subsequently gained access to Kushner's phone as well.
According to the report, "when Kushner used the phone, they could see his screen. Almost as soon as they got inside, the intelligence service began capturing every image of Kushner's screen as he used it." At the time, Kushner served as a senior White House adviser to President Trump, including on Middle Eastern diplomacy.
The report alleges Dutch spies witnessed him log into a United Arab Emirates account that had allegedly received hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank in Azerbaijan, and claims the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE put at least $2 billion into multiple bank accounts linked to Kushner, including an account with Israel's Central Bank.
According to the book excerpt, the owners and managers of the accounts were often disguised as official government entities or charities, but the funds were actually intended for "off-the-books diplomatic objectives" such as striking a deal to end the Israeli-Palesteinian conflict. The report also claims Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman put roughly $1 billion into at least one account for Kushner, citing a "person with knowledge of the money" saying "its allocation was for Kushner's personal benefit."
Kushner forcefully denied the accusations leveled in the "Vanity Fair" excerpt, writing in part, "The allegations made by this author are completely insane and never happened." "We denied every claim on the record, yet the author provided not a single shred of verifiable evidence to substantiate them," he said.
"No bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers, transaction dates, or other verifiable details were provided to support these extraordinary accusations," he said. CBS News reached out to the White House, which referred us to a statement from Steven Cheung, who is assistant to the president and White House director of communications.
Cheung said the "bull**** Vanity Fair article comes from a book that is complete fiction, and was fabricated from the warped mind of failed spy thriller writer." "He presents no evidence or even a shred of documentation. Just mysterious words from unnamed sources," Cheung said on X. This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jared-kushner-pushes-back-report-hacked-phone-spies-transfer/
The quickest and most affordable response to historically high diesel prices is also the simplest: Use less of it.Why it matters: Diesel is so entrenched in farming, trucking and other industries that even soaring prices aren't enough — at least not yet — to prompt a wholesale shift to alternatives from electric semi trucks to manure-powered tractors.Catch up fast: Diesel prices have climbed to record highs since the U.S. war with Iran began in March, rising faster than gasoline amid global oil supply disruptions.Diesel averaged $6.31 a gallon Thursday, up 74% from a year ago, according to AAA.
Regular gasoline averaged $4.27, up 39%.The big picture: Gasoline gets the attention, but diesel is the workhorse of the American economy. It powers grocery trucks, tractors, freight trains, construction equipment, hospital backup generators and even school buses.Driving the news: The price spike is hitting farmers during the fall harvest."Farmers buy diesel by the truckload, so we're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in diesel, and when it goes up the way it has spiked, that's the difference between profit and loss in a year," said Curt Blades, senior vice president at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, a trade group representing tractor makers and other heavy-equipment manufacturers.The financial pain varies: Trucking companies can often pass higher fuel costs to customers through surcharges.
Farmers, who have little control over crop prices, generally can't.The economic pressure has become political ahead of the midterm elections.President Trump announced $8 billion in one-time aid for farmers at a campaign rally in Kansas on Monday, where Republicans face a competitive Senate race."It's a bit too soon to tell the impact," Blades said of the aid package, though he welcomed support during harvest.State of play: Trucking and agricultural equipment experts say the most immediate savings come from using existing diesel engines more efficiently.Truckers can slow down and reduce idling.Farmers are increasingly using GPS-guided tractors to avoid covering the same ground twice, a practice known as precision agriculture.Biodiesel and renewable diesel can reduce petroleum dependence without replacing existing engines, but government blending requirements — rather than high diesel prices alone — are driving growth, according to Clean Fuels Alliance America, an industry trade group.Zoom in: Batteries that power truck drivers' sleeping quarters without idling the engine are gaining traction.Nevada-based Dragonfly Energy sells systems that recharge through the truck's diesel-powered engine while driving, then power air conditioning and other appliances while parked.The company projected a 160% increase in third-quarter trucking revenue, a bright spot amid otherwise sluggish financial performance.Texas-based Stevens Transport says 400 of its trucks use Dragonfly's batteries, cutting diesel consumption by about 4% compared with trucks using smaller diesel engines to power their sleeping quarters.The approach illustrates a fundamental tension in energy transitions: Does technology incrementally change an industry or revolutionize it?"We haven't even mastered leaving the truck off when it's not moving, let alone moving it with electricity," said Wade Seaburg, Dragonfly's chief commercial officer.
"Let's master the little things first, and that's been a well-received message.""Think evolutionary rather than revolutionary," said Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, a nonprofit researching fuel-saving trucking technologies.Zoom out: The same logic applies across diesel-dependent industries. Expensive equipment lasts for years, and switching fuels often requires new infrastructure and vehicles."The fact diesel fuel prices are higher matters in the calculations, but it doesn't make the challenges of these alternatives any easier," Roeth said.Yes, but: More dramatic changes are still percolating, particularly in electric trucking.Forum Mobility, which builds shared charging depots and leases electric trucks, says electric trucks have a roughly 40% fueling cost advantage over diesel in California, where diesel prices have topped $8 a gallon.The company has commitments from 25 carriers for 330 Tesla Semis and is building four additional charging depots in California.Meanwhile, on the farm, equipment maker New Holland has spent more than a decade bringing methane-powered tractors to market, including ones that can run on fuel made from livestock manure, after abandoning an expensive hydrogen tractor project."The increase in diesel prices has generated a little more interest," said Sean Dorosz, a product marketing manager at New Holland.
But "I don't think it's going to be the one thing that makes them write a check to buy a methane tractor."Access to manure-derived fuel and state incentives also shape the economics.The bottom line: High diesel prices are strengthening the case for alternatives. Making them practical is a much slower process.
According to the credit rating agency, Hungary’s 2027 draft budget supports its aim of meeting the conditions for adopting the euro by the end of the decade.
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsWhile less red tape will be welcome news for small businesses, the chancellor is still facing pressure from bigger companies in the UK for more support.Earlier this month some of the UK’s biggest retailers and hospitality businesses, including Tesco, Costa Coffee and the Co-op, met John Healey to urge him to cut the cost of employing young people in his first budget.It’s not right that pointless bureaucracy gets in the way of people working hard to build something that matters to their high street.So we’re getting government off their backs and giving businesses the breathing space to grow.
Because when businesses succeed, they create good jobs, strengthen their communities and bring growth to every part of the country.”British firms are fed up with form-filling and pointless paperwork that eats into valuable time and money when they simply want to get on with running their businesses.That is why we are cutting unnecessary bureaucracy and giving businesses the breathing space they need to invest, innovate and create good jobs.”The test now is delivery.
Cutting unnecessary admin can free firms to invest, compete and grow – and business will want to see that ambition translated quickly into meaningful reductions in the burden they face.” Continue reading...
With US support increasingly uncertain, Europe must mobilise its financial and industrial power to defend itself.
Korean shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai Co. said Friday it will establish a joint venture with U.S. engineering and construction company Kiewit to build a new shipyard in the United States. HD Hyundai and Kiewit signed an agreement in Houston on Thursday (local time) to establish the joint venture, tentatively named HD-Kiewit Shipbuilding LLC.
The joint venture plans to begin construction of the shipyard next year, with full-scale operations targeted for 2029. Under the partnership, HD Hyundai will provide shipbuilding technology and production expertise, while Kiewit will leverage its engineering and construction capabilities to support the development of the facility.
HD Hyundai said the project is significant as it involves building a new shipyard rather than upgrading an existing facility, a move expected to help expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity and strengthen domestic supply chains. The joint venture will explore business opportunities in U.S. Navy logistics support vessels and commercial ships, while also considering the production and supply of ship blocks and modules to U.S. shipyar
US president says Starshield military communications system is back, but declines to comment on whether he spoke to Musk on the matter. What we know on day 1,703Donald Trump has claimed that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk fully restored Ukraine’s Starlink access, restrictions on which have hampered Ukraine’s attack missions and air defence.
However, a senior European official told the Associated Press on Thursday that nothing has changed in the operation of the military-grade Starshield service. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had called Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the system.
Trump on Thursday appeared to confirm that the service had been down, but claimed it was once again working at optimal speeds. “You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “I guess the bottom line, he put it back.”Questions over who ordered interruptions to Starshield – which plunged relations between Kyiv and Washington to a new low – have ignited a blame game within the Trump administration and its allies.
Trump has denied being involved in the decision concerning the slowdown, while US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said that decisions regarding Ukraine’s access to Starlink were up to its parent company SpaceX and Musk, not the White House. Musk last week posted to X: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government.
Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday – before Trump’s latest comments – that Starlink had not been fully restored.Russia pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight, after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin to discuss the resumption of peace talks.
Russia’s aerial attacks hit 12 regions of Ukraine, killing at least four people and wounding scores of others, including five children, Zelenskyy said on social media Thursday. Two women, aged 50 and 60, were killed and dozens of other people were wounded in a Russian strike on a market in Lozova, in Ukraine’s northeeastern Kharkiv region, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the regional military administration.
Another person was killed in other strikes on Kharkiv.Downing Street has rejected the description of Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Witkoff after meeting the Russian president. When asked about the US envoy’s comments, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We certainly do not recognise that characterisation, and President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the frontline.”
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha chided Witkoff for flattering Putin, saying on social media the latest “brutal” Russian attacks demonstrate “what Russian ‘humanism’ truly sounds like.”Nato member Denmark said on Thursday it has agreed to buy its first long-range precision missiles as it seeks to bolster its security to deter Russian aggression in Europe, drawing condemnation from Moscow.
Defence minister Jeppe Bruus said the new missile systems would boost Denmark’s capabilities and enable strikes “behind enemy lines” if attacked. “We’re in a serious and deteriorating security situation and that is why we are building up the defence and strengthening our combat power,” he said.
The Russian embassy in Copenhagen said Denmark’s missile policy aimed at confrontation with Moscow and warned of “inevitable disastrous consequences”.Romania will accelerate development of surveillance capabilities and equipment to counter mines and drones in the Black Sea after a series of drone attacks on commercial ships off its coast, its top defence council said on Thursday.
At least seven cargo ships have been hit near the coasts of Nato members Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with 30 sailors reported dead or missing.No deals should be made to buy gas from Russia as long as Moscow’s war in Ukraine continues, Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo said in Kyiv on Thursday.
The EU banned Russian pipeline gas under short-term contracts from 17 June, and will apply it to long-term contracts from 1 November next year. Senior Russian political and energy officials meanwhile have urged the EU to reconsider plans to ban imports of Russian LNG, arguing the bloc’s low storage levels had put Europe in a precarious position.
“I hope there is still time to reconsider these decisions,” Leonid Mikhelson, the head of Novatek, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, told an economic forum in Istanbul on Thursday. “Europe should support its industry, in my view. There is still time.” Continue reading...
The payment provides the initial capital for a fund designed to support economic diversification, industrial development, export…
Andy Burnham | Protecting jobs and strengthening energy security in the short term does not mean wavering on Labour’s deep commitment to a cleaner, greener futureOn Wednesday, the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, gave the go-ahead for gas production to begin at the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea.
This has been the subject of fierce debate for many years, with strong views on both sides. I want to explain what the decision means and how it fits with Britain’s climate commitments.At a time of acute global instability, it makes sense to responsibly use our resources here at home.
Gas from this field will begin heating our homes and powering our businesses this winter. In the longer term, it will significantly strengthen our energy security by increasing domestic gas production by about 6% and support the UK’s energy supply for more than a decade.
Wednesday’s decision will also protect hundreds of jobs in Scotland and add almost £3bn to the UK economy over the lifetime of the project.Andy Burnham is prime minister of the United KingdomDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
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Korea's semiconductor export boom, driven by global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, is expected to give private consumption a more meaningful boost starting next year, a central bank report showed Thursday. "Recently, the Korean economy has seen a significant acceleration in growth, driven by the strong semiconductor market, but the pace of growth in private consumption remains relatively modest," a report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK) said.
Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 3.8 percent in the first half from a year earlier, while private consumption expanded 2.6 percent over the same period. The economic growth was supported by robust exports, led by strong semiconductor shipments. In September alone, exports soared 83.5 percent on-year to a record $120.9 billion, while semiconductor exports surged 263 percent to an all-time high of $60.3 billion.
The BOK report said private consumption has continued to recover since hitting a low in the first quarter of 2025, with the strength and sustainability of the recovery depending on how broadly the benefits of the
India’s edible oil demand continues to grow, supported by population growth, urbanization and changing diets. Imports may reach 17 million tonnes in the next oil year starting November as production of soybean and other oilseeds remains uncertain.