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☆ Griner receives WNBA Cares Community Assist Award
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 21, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) reacts after scoring against the Chicago Sky in the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 27 (Reuters) - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has received the season-long WNBA Cares Community Assist Award in part for her continued work in championing the safe return of wrongful detainees overseas, the league said on Friday. Throughout the 2023 WNBA season, Griner, who was freed from a Russian penal colony in a high-profile prisoner exchange last year, worked with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign that helps spread awareness about wrongfully detained Americans. "I know the opportunity, privilege and responsibility I have to make a difference in the lives of others, and I'll always remain committed to that," Griner said in a WNBA news release. During the season, Griner and the Mercury also hosted families and friends of wrongful detainees at their games.

Persons: Rick Scuteri, Griner, Viktor Bout, Frank Pingue, Ken Ferris Organizations: Phoenix Mercury, Chicago Sky, Footprint Center, Mercury, Griner, BG, Phoenix Rescue, National Basketball Association, Russia, Thomson Locations: Phoenix , Arizona, USA, Russian, Phoenix, Moscow, Ukraine, Toronto

A worker stores aluminium ingots at the foundry shop of the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter in Krasnoyarsk, Russia October 3, 2018. China, meanwhile, is emerging as an increasingly important market for Rusal's finished products as Western appetite for Russian metal shrinks. China shipped over a million metric tons of alumina in 2022, of which 843,000 metric tons went to Russia. China's imports of primary aluminium vs Russian-brand metalCHINA IMPORTS MORE RUSSIAN METALWhile Chinese alumina has been flowing to Russia, increasing quantities of Russian aluminium have also been entering China. But the world's largest producer is now operating close to a government-mandated capacity cap of 45 million metric tons.

Persons: Ilya Naymushin, Rusal, China wouldn't, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Rusal's, GAP, London Metal Exchange, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Hebei Wenfeng, Queensland, Australia, China, Ukraine, Russian, mushrooming, CHINA, Volgograd, Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Yunnan

☆ Russia tried to field an elite series of 'storm' units but ended up stuffing them with convicts instead, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The UK MOD said Russia tried to create elite "storm" units in Ukraine, but they were largely ineffective. The UK update said the debacle showed how Russia was struggling to field effective fighters. AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia tried to build up its "Storm Z" units as an elite fighting force but instead pivoted to stuffing them with convicts and other low-quality fighters, UK intelligence said. Fighters in the units and people with knowledge of them told Reuters this month that soldiers in storm units were seen as disposable. "Storm fighters, they're just meat," he told Reuters, adding that he disobeyed the instruction not to help them.

Persons: —, Russia's Organizations: MOD, Service, UK Ministry of Defence, Reuters, Institute for, Fighters Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Aleksei Navalny Forcibly Removed From Jail Cell After Protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | More About Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was forcibly removed from his cell by law enforcement officers on Monday after he had refused to leave it to protest a decision by prison authorities to take away his writing tools, his political allies said. Mr. Navalny, 47, was scheduled to appear in court via a video link from the penal colony where he’s been held since June 2022 for a hearing in the latest in a series of lawsuits he has filed against his prison’s authorities. But the screen in the courtroom remained dark and Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, later said that Mr. Navalny refused to leave his cell because his writing instruments had been confiscated. “After that, several individuals forcibly entered the cell and physically escorted him to the investigator’s office,” Ms. Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Reached for comment later, she said she had no new information about what occurred.

Persons: Aleksei A, Navalny, he’s, Kira Yarmysh, ” Ms, Yarmysh Organizations: Twitter Locations: Russian

☆ Five Prisoners Released in Venezuela After Opposition Deal, US Demands
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

CARACAS (Reuters) - Five people jailed in Venezuela, including well-known opposition figures, have been released, the opposition said around midnight on Thursday following an electoral deal with the government of President Nicolas Maduro and Washington's demand certain prisoners be freed. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday eased Trump-era sanctions on the Venezuelan oil and gas industry, in response to an election deal reached between the Venezuelan government and the opposition. A senior State Department official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, has threatened to reverse sanctions relief measures unless Maduro lifts the bans and frees prisoners. A U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday he expects movement in the near term on releases of wrongfully detained Americans. There are believed to be more than half a dozen American prisoners, several belonging to that category.

Persons: Nicolas Maduro, Joe Biden's, Washington, Antony Blinken, Gerardo Blyde, Roland Carreno, Will, Juan Requesens, Blyde, Carreno, Maria Corina Machado, Requesens, Mayela Armas, Vivian Sequera, Matt Spetalnick, Natalia Siniawski, Julia Symmes Cobb, Inti Landauro, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Barbara Lewis, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Trump, Venezuelan, U.S, U.S . State Department, First, State Department, Reuters, Popular, Maduro, Foro Penal, Organization of American Locations: CARACAS, Venezuela, Caracas, Maduro's, Foro, U.S

[1/2] Venezuelan journalist Roland Carreno of the opposition party Popular Will is being greeted by family members and colleagues after he was released from prison, in Caracas, Venezuela October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Luis Gonzalo Perez Acquire Licensing RightsCARACAS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Five people jailed in Venezuela, including well-known opposition figures, have been released, the opposition said around midnight on Thursday, following a deal with the government of President Nicolas Maduro and Washington's demand that certain prisoners be freed. Three U.S. citizens are still wrongfully detained in Venezuela, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols said on Thursday. A U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday he expects movement in the near term on releases of wrongfully detained Americans. For years the opposition has urged the government to free over 200 people that human rights organization Foro Penal considers political prisoners.

Persons: Roland Carreno, Luis Gonzalo Perez, Nicolas Maduro, Joe Biden's, Washington, Antony Blinken, Venezuela's, Gerardo Blyde, Juan Gonzalez, Jorge Rodriguez, Will, Juan Requesens, Blyde, Carreno, Maria Corina Machado, Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A, Nichols, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Joseph Ryan Cristella, Hernandez, Cristella, Requesens, Mayela Armas, Vivian Sequera, Matt Spetalnick, Marianna Parraga, Natalia Siniawski, Julia Symmes Cobb, Inti Landauro, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Barbara Lewis, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang, Rod Nickel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Trump, Venezuelan, U.S, First, State Department, Reuters, United States, State, Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S . State Department, Foro Penal, Maduro, Thomson Locations: Venezuelan, Caracas, Venezuela, Rights CARACAS, Bolivarian Republic, Maduro's, Three U.S, Los Angeles, Texas, Colombia, U.S

☆ Joan Laporta: FC Barcelona president under investigation for bribery and other crimes, according to court document
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Matias Grez | Patrick Sung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta is officially being investigated as a “suspect” in the ongoing alleged improper payment scandal, according to court documents obtained by CNN – the latest twist in a scandal overshadowing the club and Spanish soccer. The investigation relates to alleged improper payments made by Barça to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former leading refereeing official in Spain. CNN has reached out to FC Barcelona for comment from Laporta but has yet to hear back. Laporta began his second term as club president in 2021. “As such, the statute of limitations of the crimes referred to previously has not expired in respect to [Laporta], as well as those people who were members of the Board of Directors of FC Barcelona respectively during his leadership,” Wednesday’s court document read.

Persons: Joan Laporta, ”, Barça, Judge Joaquín Aguirre López, Enríquez Negreira, Javier, Aguirre López, “, –, Judge Aguirre López, Negreira, invoiced, Blaugrana, Xavi, Caso, Juan Manuel Serrano Arce, Laporta’s, Laporta, Pau Mosquera Organizations: CNN — FC Barcelona, CNN, Spanish, 1st, FC Barcelona, Mundo Deportivo, Caso, Prosecutors, CTA, Osasuna, Barcelona, Estadio El Locations: Spain, Barcelona, Spanish, Estadio El Sadar

☆ India same-sex marriage: The Supreme Court may be about to legalize it for millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But they’re up against a tough opponent: the ruling government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which argues that same-sex marriage is a “Western” concept without “any basis” in the constitution. Since then, India’s LGBTQ community – likely one of the world’s largest given its population of 1.4 billion people – has faced widespread marginalization from society. But Victorian laws governing same-sex marriage are one throwback to the colonial past his party has fought to retain. In 2018, after a decade-long battle, the Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era law that criminalized same-sex intercourse – though it left intact the legislation limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. Anand agreed, adding that what started off as a conversation in their home has morphed into a movement that has united India’s LGBTQ community.

Persons: Aditi Anand, Susan Dias, ” Anand, “, ” Weeks, Dias, Anand, Susan Dias India, ”, Dipa Chakraborty, India’s, –, Narendra Modi, Vivek, Vivek Kishore, Karan Johar, ” Vishwa, Suvir Saran, Saran, ” Saran, Anish Gawde, ” Gawde, ” Vivek, It’s Organizations: CNN, India’s, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Pride, Future Publishing, Bollywood, Pink List Locations: Mumbai, India, India’s British, England, Wales, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pink List India

Navalny aides said lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were being investigated on suspicion of belonging to an "extremist group". Later on Friday, a Moscow court remanded all three in investigative custody until Dec. 13, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram. Navalny told the judge on learning of the investigations against his lawyers. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights"As in Soviet times, not only political activists and political prisoners but also their lawyers are being persecuted." Navalny aide Leonid Volkov posted on the X social media platform that the three lawyers faced up to six years in prison if found guilty of belonging to an extremist group, "just for being Navalny's lawyers".

Persons: Navalny Putin, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptser, Vladimir Putin, Kobzev, Yulia Morozova, Putin, Leonid Volkov, " Volkov, they’re, Volkov, Alexander Marrow, Maxim, Peter Graff, Diane Craft Organizations: IK, REUTERS, Kremlin, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Vladimir Region, Basmanny, Germany, Siberia

The ruling, which extended Latin American’s trend of widening abortion access, happened a year after the court’s U.S. counterpart went in the opposite direction. Three years later, deeply conflicted by the inequality in abortion access, she became an activist and received training to become an acompañante. “We saw it in the United States.”Aguiar and her colleagues plan to keep advocating for reproductive rights. “To lead informative brigades and communicate that we can provide pills for those who can’t access abortion medication there.”It’s no coincidence that Lira’s views are influenced by migration. “But abortion access is just the tip of the iceberg.

Persons: —, P, Lira, ” Lira, Roe, Wade, ”, Sofia Aguiar, “, Eduardo Verástegui, Carlos Aguiar Retes, Rodrigo Iván Cortés, Aguiar, ” Aguiar, “ We’ve, Minerva, Monica Rosas, ” Rosas Organizations: World Health Organization, ”, Supreme, Information Group, Verástegui, Lira, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: TIJUANA, Mexico, U.S, Tijuana, Mexico’s, Mexican, Baja California, San Diego, Mexico City, GIRE, United States, California, Colombia, Central America

☆ El Salvador’s abortion laws are notoriously harsh. These women say they were convicted of homicide after having stillborn babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

CNN —A sign greets visitors arriving at a sun-filled two-story house in El Salvador’s capital. But within El Salvador, a largely Catholic and evangelical Christian country, some viewed the women’s accounts with skepticism and hostility. Again, the UN’s human rights office weighed in, calling El Salvador’s laws “draconian.”Two months later, 11 justices from El Salvador’s Supreme Court commuted Vásquez’s sentence, saying evidence in the case did not prove that she had taken any action to end her baby’s life. The Harvard professor has been studying these women’s cases and the impact of El Salvador’s abortion restrictions for years. This shows her after a visit in August 2018, six months after El Salvador's Supreme Court commuted her sentence.

Persons: Teodora Vásquez, they’ll, It’s, El Salvador, it’s, Vásquez, who’ve, “ We’ve, ” Vásquez, “, ”, Teodora, Oscar Rivera, Salvador Melendez, Jocelyn Viterna, ” Viterna, Viterna, Dana Sussman, —, Benedicte, Ra’ad Al Hussein, José Miguel Fortín Magaña, Jose Cabezas, El, ‘, ’ ” Vásquez, Libres, who've, Jessie Wardarski, “ I’ve, Jacqueline Castillo, “ It’s, ” Castillo, she’s, Mujeres, there’s, Marvin Recinos, She’s, Merlin Delcid, CNN’s Tierney Sneed Organizations: CNN, El, Getty, Hollywood, Amnesty, of Women, Harvard University, Salvadoran, Pregnancy, UN, Human Rights, El Salvador’s Institute of Legal Medicine, Reuters, Citizen Group, Harvard, Mujeres Libres El, Inter, American, of Human, “, of Steel Locations: El Salvador’s, “, Libres El Salvador, Mujeres, Salvadoran, El Salvador, United States, New York, El, San Salvador, Mujeres Libres, Mujeres Libres El Salvador, AFP

☆ They were lured from Cuba to fight Russia's war in Ukraine, then went dark. Their parents fear they are dead already.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two Cuban teenagers were lured into Russia's military after being promised "construction work". Their parents told Insider they were sent back to the front despite fainting on the battlefield. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementThe parents of two Cuban teenagers who were lured into fighting in Ukraine say they haven't heard from their sons in weeks. AdvertisementAdvertisement"They have killed them alive," he said, bluntly, suggesting that young Cubans like García and Díaz may never be able to leave Russia or Russian-held territory.

Persons: —, Alex Rolando Vegas Díaz, Andorf Antonio Velázquez García, Alain Lambert, Mario Velázquez, Andorf's, Velázquez, he's, I've, Cary Díaz, Lambert, García, Diana, Díaz, Hugo Achá, Achá, FHRC Organizations: Service, Cuban, Human Rights, Moscow, Russian, Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Ukraine, Russia, American, Mexico, Miami, Cuba, Cuban, Ryazan, Moscow, Russian, Ukrainian

☆ 'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

"Storm fighters, they're just meat," said one regular soldier from army unit no. He said he didn't know why the commander gave the order, but claimed that it typified how Storm-Z fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by officers. Three of the five Storm-Z fighters interviewed by Reuters, and the relatives of three other Storm-Z fighters, described nightmarish engagements that saw much of their squads wiped out. At a televised meeting with a small group of regular Russian servicemen, he said he was aware that two of their comrades, former prison inmates, had been killed in action. Three Storm-Z fighters said they were offered wages of about 200,000 roubles ($2,000) per month, though said they had been paid roughly half that amount, on average.

Persons: Polina Nikolskaya, Maria Tsvetkova, who've, Wagner, Reuters wasn't, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Josef Stalin, Artyom, Shchikin, Vladimir Rogov, Rogov, Shchikin's, Z, Igor, they'd, we've, Christian Lowe, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Maria Tsvetkova LONDON, Convicts, Storm, Reuters, Kremlin, 237th, Intelligence Team, Institute for, Red Army, 291st Guards, Rifle Regiment, 291st, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russia, Russian, Ukrainian, U.S, Soviet, Mordovia, Zaporizhzhia, Geneva, France, Siberia

☆ Russia pardoned a murderer who put his girlfriend through a meat grinder because he agreed to fight in Ukraine, his mom says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian murderer was pardoned after fighting against Ukraine with the Wagner group, his mom said. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Russian convicted murderer who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he killed his girlfriend and put her body through a meat grinder has been pardoned after fighting against Ukraine, his mother said. The mother of Dmitry Zelensky told the Russian media news outlet 59.RU that her son was pardoned after serving less than half of his sentence. AdvertisementAdvertisementAccording to 59.RU, Zelensky told investigators during an interrogation that he dismembered her body, processed it in a meat grinder, collected the bones in three bags, and threw them into the river. However, a July report by the independent Russian outlet Verstka alleged that Russian authorities were covering up crimes being committed by pardoned men.

Persons: Wagner, —, Dmitry Zelensky, Tatiana Melekhina, Zelensky, Galina Zelenskaya, Zelenskaya, Zelensky's, Yevgeny Prigozhin Organizations: Ukraine, Service, RU, Wagner Group, Russian Ministry of Defence, UK Ministry of Defence Locations: Russian, Chechen, Ukraine, Russia, Antratsit, Luhansk

☆ Donatella Versace slams Italian government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Milan CNN —Just days after Milan Fashion Week, Donatella Versace is making headlines not for her — albeit well-received — Spring-Summer 2024 collection but for her stance on the Italian government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Our government is set on taking away the rights of individuals to live as they wish,” Versace said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led coalition has pushed for ongoing measures to restrict LGBTQ rights. Many Italians are with us.”Versace, however, has long been a vocal advocate for gay rights. During her speech on Sunday, the designer recalled her late brother Gianni Versace coming out to her as gay when she was 11 years old.

Persons: Milan, Milan CNN —, Donatella Versace, Giorgia Meloni’s, Versace, ” Versace, Meloni’s, Andrzej Iwanczuk, Alessandro Zan, Zan, Donatella Versace’s, ”, ” Gabriele Piazzoni, “ Versace, Giorgia, ” Fabrizio Marrazzo, “ She’s, hasn’t, “, Marrazzo, Gianni Versace Organizations: Milan CNN, Milan, Catholic, CNN, Italy’s Gay Party, Capri Holdings, Versace Foundation Locations: Milan, Italy, Padua, Italian

REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - China's appetite for base metal imports appears to be growing. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVEChina's imports of primary aluminium surged to a near two-year high of 153,000 metric tons in August, bringing the year-to-date count to 755,000 metric tons. SLOW COPPER BOAT TO SHANGHAIRefined copper imports were 340,000 metric tons in August, the highest monthly tally this year. The country's refined zinc trade has reverted to net imports this year but volumes remain modest by historical standards. SHIFTING THE NICKEL MIXThere has been no pick-up in China's imports of refined nickel.

Persons: Florence Lo, they've, They've, China's, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Shanghai Futures Exchange, London Metal Exchange, LOVE, Malaysian, New, Democratic, China's CMOC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, contango, Shanghai, RUSSIA, U.S, New Zealand, SHANGHAI, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Indonesia

Baghdad, Iraq CNN —A popular Iraqi TikTok personality was shot dead on Monday in Baghdad, an Iraqi security source told CNN. Known on social media as “Noor BM,” 23-year-old Noor Alsaffar had over 370,000 followers collectively on Instagram and TikTok. While being queer is not explicitly banned under current Iraqi legislation, LGBTQ people are often targeted under vague morality clauses in its penal code. Alsaffar spoke in videos about facing threats on social media over choices of dressing. The Iraqi LGBTQ rights group, IraQueer, posted about Alsaffar’s death, adding the hashtags #Transphobia and #MuderOfTransPeople on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Persons: Iraq CNN —, Noor, Noor Alsaffar, Alsaffar, ” Khaled Almehna, Iraq’s Al, “ I’m, I’m, Samir Jermani, “, ”, Iraq “ Organizations: Iraq CNN, CNN, Twitter, Human Rights Watch Locations: Baghdad, Iraq, Iraqi, Sweden, Denmark, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia

What began as tentative support for legislative reforms and congressional power to decriminalize abortion has swelled into the so-called green wave, a political movement for abortion rights. In 2022, Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued a sweeping judgment that decriminalized abortion until 24 weeks of pregnancy. This is because criminalization denies more than access to a single health care service; it carries broader social harms. In Brazil, abortion criminalization betrays the constitutional promise of universal care. In Brazil, Black and brown women, poor and young women and women from the most vulnerable regions of the country are more likely to have abortions, to be arrested for having them and to die from them.

Persons: criminalization Organizations: Mexico’s, World Health Organization Locations: Colombia’s, Brazil

Navalny, 47, now faces a transfer to a "special regime" prison colony, the harshest grade in Russia's penal system, with the prospect of staying there until he is in his mid-70s. Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician who worked for Navalny, was sentenced to eight years in jail in August as part of the same trial. "For all of us - their colleagues and friends - this is constant pain," Navalny aide Leonid Volkov posted on X, formerly Twitter. The Kremlin has tried to portray Navalny as politically irrelevant, and Putin makes a point of never speaking his name. Moscow has cast him as an extremist and, without providing evidence, as a puppet of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Viktor Rogov, Vladimir Putin, Daniel Kholodny, Alexei, Kholodny, Navalny, Leonid Volkov, Putin, Russia's, Nelson Mandela, Vladimir Kara, Murza, PUTIN, scoundrels, Mark Trevelyan, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: IK, Navalny, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Kremlin, U.S . State Department, European Union, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Vladimir, Navalny, Moscow, Ukraine, Siberia, Melekhovo, Russia, Germany

CNN —A Russian court has rejected an appeal by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny against a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges, according to Russian state media RIA, in the latest crackdown on the outspoken Kremlin critic. Navalny was sentenced in August, after he was found guilty of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities and numerous other crimes. Navalny appeared at the hearing on Tuesday via video link from a penal colony in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow. Supporters of Navalny claim his arrest and incarceration are a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A joint investigation by CNN and the group Bellingcat linked the Russian Security Service to Navalny’s poisoning.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Navalny’s, ” Navalny, Daniel Kholodny, Novichok, Moscow’s Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russia’s Ministry, Internal Affairs, YouTube, Russian Security Service Locations: Vladimir, Moscow, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Berlin, Siberian, Omsk, Ukraine

Adding Ukraine to NATO and the European Union would be the biggest geopolitical shift in our lifetime. If we bring Ukraine into that European Union, that would be one of the most consequential geopolitical tipping points since East Germany was united with West Germany. Who was the Russian spy in East Germany who was introduced to international relations by running the KGB there? It was Vladimir Putin whose big introduction to geopolitics was watching the magnet of the West melt down East Germany and lead to the unification of these two countries. The big decision point going forward is, when do we say to the Ukrainians we may have to settle for a dirty deal?

Persons: I’m Tom Friedman, they’re, Who, Vladimir Putin, Putin, we’re, I’ve, We’re, Peter the, It’s, Dostoevsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Sakharov Organizations: Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Orthodox Church, European Union, NATO, EU, Union, East Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Saint, NATO, Russia, East Germany, West Germany, East Germany’s Germany, Russian, Germany, Siberia

The so-called “hijab bill” will be enacted for a three-year trial period. On Thursday, the Iranian parliament passed a controversial bill ramping up penalties against women who do not wear the hijab properly. Those who collude with foreign media and governments to promote nudity, improper hijab, or improper dress, face up to 10 years in prison, the new bill adds. Those who are found guilty of ridiculing or insulting the hijab face a fine, in addition to a possible travel ban up to two years, the bill says. The draft law would also mandate broader gender segregation in universities – common hotbeds of civilian protests – and other public spaces.

Persons: CNN —, Mahsa, ”, Majid Asgaripour, Amini’s, ” Sanam Vakil, Hossein Raeesi, Raeesi, General Saeed Montazerolmahdi Organizations: CNN, Guardian Council, Reuters, UN, Authorities, Chatham, Carleton University Locations: Islamic Republic, Tehran, East, North Africa, London, Iranian, Ottawa, Canada, Iran

☆ Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich Appears in Russian Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal whom Russia accuses of espionage, appeared on Tuesday at a hearing in a Moscow court to appeal a ruling that had extended his pretrial detention. The ruling, in August, extended his detention by three months. He has been detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison on espionage charges that he, the U.S. government and The Journal have vehemently denied. Lefortovo jail is infamous for the near-isolation and often harsh conditions imposed on its inmates. If convicted, Mr. Gershkovich would face up to 20 years in a Russian penal colony.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, Gershkovich Organizations: Wall Street Journal, United Locations: American, Russia, Moscow, U.S, United States, Russian

☆ The tumultuous life of Alexei Navalny, Russia's outspoken dissident who has been sentenced to 19 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Alexei Navalny, Russia's most famous living dissident, made a name for himself as an anti-corruption blogger. In 2013, Navalny ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Moscow and — despite a conviction that barred him from running — also attempted to run for president in the 2018 election. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. He dubbed Putin's political party United Russia "the party of Crooks and Thieves," and called Putin "a thieving little man in a bunker." He's now locked in a remote penal colony that's typically reserved for those accused of violent crimes and incarcerated people serving life terms.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Navalny, —, Alexei Navalny —, Vladimir Putin —, Crooks, Putin, Russian agents.He, He's Organizations: Service, Putin Locations: Moscow, Wall, Silicon, United Russia, Russian, Germany, Russia

☆ Luis Rubiales: what to expect as court case begins over Jenni Hermoso kiss
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Emma Pinedo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Hermoso says that she did not want to be kissed and that she felt "vulnerable and victim of an aggression". After weeks of resisting calls to step down as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rubiales finally quit on Sept. 10. He maintains the Hermoso kiss was "spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual". SPANISH CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGSRubiales appeared before a High Court judge on Friday over a complaint of sexual assault and coercion stemming from the allegedly unsolicited kiss. Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for three months from all football-related activities by world soccer governing body FIFA since Aug. 26.

Persons: Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales, Kim Hong, Luis Rubiales, Jenni Hermoso's, Hermoso, Rubiales, Marta Durantez Gil, Francisco de Jorge, TAD, Queen Letizia, Sofia, Emma Pinedo, Rohith Nair, Andrei Khalip, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA World, Qatar, Khalifa, Royal Spanish Football Federation, REUTERS, Rights, FIFA, Administrative, Sports Council, Spain's women's, Thomson Locations: Japan, Spain, Doha, Qatar, Rights MADRID, Spanish, Hermoso, Bangalore

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