Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

Five members of the Russian feminist protest group Pussy Riot have been sentenced in absentia to lengthy prison terms by a Moscow court over performances critical of Russia’s military actions, according to reports from Rolling Stone and the group-affiliated media outlet Mediazona. The sentences, handed down last week, range from eight to 13 years. The women, Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova, were not present in court and are believed to be outside Russia. The charges relate to two separate incidents. The first was the release in December 2022 of a music video entitled Mama,…

A man detained moments after the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU) has been arrested on allegations of attempting to mislead police by falsely confessing to the crime. George Zinn, 71, was taken into custody on Monday and charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. State authorities said he was also booked on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, discovered on his mobile phone. Zinn was arrested after being discharged from hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for a medical condition. According to court documents filed by UVU…

Eurovision attracts more than 160 million viewers worldwide. Russia was banned from the competition following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A New York judge has dismissed the two most serious state charges against Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing of United HealthCare executive Brian Thompson, ruling that prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence to support claims the crimes were acts of terrorism. Mangione, who was arrested over Thompson’s death in December last year, had faced counts of first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism. Both charges were struck out on Tuesday by Justice Gregory Carro during a brief hearing at Manhattan criminal court. In a written decision, Justice…

A Kenyan court has issued an arrest warrant for a British national suspected of murdering Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was discovered in the grounds of a hotel near a British army base in 2012. High Court judge Alexander Muteti granted the warrant on Tuesday following an application by prosecutors, who confirmed that the suspect has been charged with murder. The move is intended to facilitate extradition proceedings from the United Kingdom to Kenya. Prosecutors told the court that UK-based witnesses will be called to testify at a future trial. “The witnesses are in the United Kingdom but we will avail…

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorising the deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, in what he described as a continuation of his administration’s military-led response to crime in Democrat-run cities. The move was welcomed by Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, who stood alongside the president in the Oval Office as he signed a memorandum establishing a Memphis Safe Task Force. “We’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” Trump said, referring to last month’s deployment of troops to the capital and the federalisation of its police force. Under the new initiative, National Guard personnel…

Maurene Comey, the federal prosecutor who handled high-profile cases against Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell and, most recently, music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has filed a lawsuit challenging her abrupt dismissal from the US Department of Justice, alleging it was politically motivated retaliation against her father, former FBI director James Comey. According to court filings, Comey was dismissed on 16 July without explanation, receiving only a brief email citing “article 2 of the United States constitution and the laws of the United States”. When she sought clarification, interim US attorney Jay Clayton reportedly told her: “All I can say is…

Luxury fashion conglomerate Kering, owner of brands including Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, has confirmed that hackers have stolen personal data belonging to potentially millions of its customers. The Paris-based group said the breach occurred in June and involved the theft of names, phone numbers and email addresses. No financial details, such as bank account numbers, credit card information or government-issued identification were taken. The cyber-attack has been attributed to the ransom-seeking group Shiny Hunters. In a statement issued on Monday, Kering said: “In June 2025, we identified that an unauthorised third party gained temporary access to our systems and…

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pledged the Trump administration’s full support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem, stating that Washington’s priorities remain the liberation of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas. Standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio made no reference to a possible ceasefire and avoided repeating earlier criticism of Israel over last week’s airstrike in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which targeted Hamas leaders. Asked whether further strikes on Qatar could be ruled out, Netanyahu said Israel would adhere to the principle that “terrorists would not have immunity where they are, wherever…

Washington and Beijing have reached a framework agreement concerning the transfer of TikTok to US-controlled ownership, according to Jamieson Greer, a United States trade representative. Speaking following negotiations with Chinese officials, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the deal was progressing, though he declined to disclose the commercial terms. “We have a framework for a TikTok deal,” Bessent told reporters after high-level talks in Madrid. “We’re not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It’s between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon.” The agreement marks a significant development in the protracted…