Ukraine jails two spies for treason
KYIV: Ukraine said it had sentenced a husband and wife to 15 years in prison for providing information to Russia that allowed its forces to launch a rocket strike at a hospital.
Prosecutors have opened thousands of cases into alleged collaboration with Moscow’s forces since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) also said it had detained a former soldier whom it accused of helping Russia plot strikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
The husband and wife – sentenced on treason charges – were accused of providing information on Ukrainian army positions, including “places of inpatient treatment for wounded Ukrainian soldiers”, the SBU said in a statement.
“It was at their direction that the occupiers shelled a local hospital” in the southern city of Kherson, it said.
They were allegedly recruited by Russia’s FSB security service after responding to an advert in a Russian Telegram channel offering payments in exchange for intelligence on Ukrainian positions.
Russian forces shelled a number of medical facilities in Kherson after Ukraine retook control of the southern city in November 2022.
The SBU also said it had detained a former serviceman accused of helping Russian forces “co-ordinate” attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region.
It said the suspect, who faces up to eight years in prison, had tried to flee to Russian-held territory.
“He was encouraged to take these steps by his parents, who live in occupied territory,” a statement read.
Ukrainian forces also said they had repelled a Russian sabotage group in the northeastern Sumy region. The Russian forces were pushed back with artillery and mortar fire.
Meanwhile, the arrest of a senior Russian official who revelled in luxury while overseeing military infrastructure projects could herald a reshuffle around Vladimir Putin.
Timur Ivanov, the deputy defence minister, was detained for allegedly taking large bribes, although some reports suggest that he is being investigated for alleged treason.
LONDON: Boris Becker has agreed a settlement over his debts that will result in the six-times grand slam title winner being discharged from a bankruptcy order.
The German tennis star was declared bankrupt in 2017 with debts of almost $100m.
Becker, 56, a six-times grand slam title winner, was found guilty of hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets.
He was jailed in Britain for two and a half years in 2022 and deported to Germany after serving eight months.
Several months before the 2016 election, Mr Howard interviewed former Playboy model Karen McDougal about her alleged year-long affair with Mr Trump and signed an AMI-funded $US150,000 contract to keep her quiet.
When his mother asked why he was travelling to California to interview her if the story would not be published, Mr Howard referenced the “favours” he was doing, and said he had ensured that his actions were known him and Mr Pecker.
The AMI boss told the court that Mr Howard described Ms McDougal as a “12 out of 10” after meeting her.
The Australian believed her claim of a year-long tryst with Mr Trump was true, the court heard, but she wanted to be paid off rather than going public because she said she “didn’t want to be the next Monica Lewinsky”.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, in arguing for the messages only to to be admitted as evidence, told Judge Juan Merchan of Mr Howard: “He is a coconspirator … His state of mind is relevant.”
Mr Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove said the text exchange was with Mr Howard’s mother, only to be immediately shouted down by Mr Steinglass, who described the other person in the exchange as “a first-degree relative”.
Judge Merchan said the messages would be inadmissable “for the time being” because they represented a private conversation rather than a business record.
The exchanges detailed in court also included Mr Howard’s messages with his mother on the night of the 2016 election in which he said: “At least if he wins, I’ll be pardoned for electoral fraud.” Mr Harris said his client was engaging in “gallows humour”.
Mr Pecker said he was invited by Mr Trump for a “thank you dinner” at the White House in 2017, when the president asked him: “How’s Karen doing?” Mr Howard also attended and posed for photos he later sent to Ms McDougal’s lawyer with the message: “Surreal last night.”
In 2018, Mr Cohen’s office and home were raided by the FBI in a federal investigation of the saga which resulted in Mr Trump’s lawyer being sentenced to three years in jail.
Mr Howard, a former Seven Network reporter, is not expected to testify at the trial, with Mr Pecker telling the court earlier this week Mr Howard was in Australia and had a spinal condition that meant he was unable to travel to New York.