US Attorney General William Barr is expected to release a nearly 400-page report on April 18, excluding tables and appendices, detailing the findings and analysis of special prosecutor Robert Mueller in his investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, as well as Mueller's reasons for concluding there was no collusion between US President Donald Trump and Moscow.

Under confidentiality rules, some information in the report will be omitted, including grand jury interviews, documents collected by intelligence and evidence related to other investigations. Experts say the release of the documents could be a turning point for the Trump administration, causing new tensions in the US Congress and affecting the 2020 presidential race.

President Maduro: US sanctions make Venezuela stronger

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro participates in a pro-government march in Caracas on February 23, 2019. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said new US sanctions aimed at restricting Caracas' ability to conduct international financial trade will make the country stronger. According to the Venezuelan leader, the country's Central Bank is capable of overcoming these sanctions.

On April 17, the US imposed new sanctions on Venezuela, targeting the Venezuelan Central Bank and its director. US National Security Advisor John Bolton said the move would send a strong warning to outside actors and prevent them from deploying military assets to Venezuela to support President Maduro.

Malaysian Prime Minister in list of 100 most influential people in the world

After nearly a year in power for his second term, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. In a brief biography of Prime Minister Mahathir on Time Magazine 100, Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown wrote that the 93-year-old Malaysian leader is a “strong old warhorse who has shone in a fierce election campaign.”

The editor of the newspaper that has reported extensively on the scandal at the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) State Investment Fund stressed: “When fighting for power, you don’t necessarily have to be young… Look at the example of Mahathir Mohamad, who at the age of 92 decided to put his retirement on hold last year to run for office and defeat former Prime Minister Najib Razak.”

US airport employee admits to spying for China

Ms. Ying Lin. Screenshot New York Daily News

An Air China employee who worked at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City has pleaded guilty to working for the Chinese military. Ying Lin, a Chinese-American, admitted to working under instructions from a military attaché at the Chinese permanent representative office at the United Nations in New York, according to court indictments.

Ms. Lin, 48, worked for Air China from 2002 to 2015 at John F. Kennedy Airport and then at Newark Liberty (New York) since April 2016. Ms. Lin said the misconduct began after she was promoted from flight attendant to VIP manager in January 2010. She confessed to secretly smuggling mysterious packages, without security checks, onto planes from New York to Beijing, "at the direction of officials and Air China." In return, the Chinese government allowed Lin to buy duty-free alcohol and electronic devices (which are only privileges for diplomats), according to the indictment.