Politics

Anna Alexandrova is on trial for allegedly spreading fake news about the Russian army I’m sitting in a courtroom in the town of Pushkin, 400 miles north-west of Moscow. Opposite me is the “aquarium” – the glass and metal box where the defendant is locked, the courtroom cage that makes anyone on trial in Russia look like a dangerous criminal. …

The headline in this morning’s Kommersant newspaper captured the drama. “Vladimir Putin draws his red line.” Will the West cross it? And, if it does, how will Russia respond? Speaking in St Petersburg, President Putin sent a clear warning to the West: don’t allow Ukraine to use your long-range missiles to strike Russian territory. Moscow, he said, would view that …

Russia has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats it has accused of spying. The country’s security service, the FSB, said in a statement it had received documents indicating Britain’s involvement in inflicting “a strategic defeat” on Russia. The UK Foreign Office said the accusations against the diplomats were “completely baseless”. While the BBC understands the diplomats involved left Russia …

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not signal any decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia after talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington. When asked if he had persuaded Biden to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, Sir Keir said they had had “a long and productive …

The prison sentence for one of the former paramedics convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain was vacated Friday by a Colorado district court judge. Peter Cichuniec had been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide last year and will now only face a four-year probation period. Jeremy Cooper, left, and Peter Cichuniec, center In a motion to reduce his sentence, his attorneys wrote …

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a powerful leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty Friday in a U.S. drug trafficking case that accuses him of engaging in murder plots and ordering torture. Participating in a New York court hearing through a Spanish-language interpreter, Zambada gave yes-or-no answers to a magistrate’s standard questions about whether he understood various documents and procedures. Asked how …

Justin Timberlake spoke out after taking a plea deal in his DWI case on Long Island. Timberlake, 43, appeared in court Friday in Sag Harbor and agreed to plead guilty to driving while ability impaired (DWAI), a lesser traffic violation. The DWI charge against him was dropped.  The plea deal included a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge, as well as 25 …

A military court in Congo handed down death sentences Friday to 37 people, including three Americans, after convicting them on charges of taking part in a coup attempt. The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian and Canadian, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that included attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted …

In an operation last month, Iraqi forces and American troops killed a senior commander with the Islamic State group who was wanted by the United States, as well as several other prominent militants, U.S. Central Command and Iraq’s military said on Friday. The Aug. 29 operation in Iraq’s western Anbar province also involved members of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service …

A Blackhawk helicopter approaches for landing past an American flag and POW/MIA flag at the Pentagon, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Washington.  Four ISIS leaders were killed as part of a U.S.-Iraqi raid in Western Iraq on Aug. 29 that killed 14 operatives, the U.S. military said on Friday. The U.S. disclosed the operation in August; it also injured seven …