STATUS UPDATES
A week in which a Russian stepped up, a king got an appliance and a banana caused a brouhaha
SETTLED A legal dispute between the U.S. government and filmmaker Mark Boal. He said a settlement stops the army’s plan to subpoena 25 hours of recorded interviews with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who faces courtmartial. Boal sued the government in July after a prosecutor on Bergdahl’s case argued the interviews were necessary to the case. Excerpts were featured in some Serial episodes.
ARRESTED A woman who tweeted a picture that didn’t meet Saudi Arabian standards. The woman reportedly went out wearing a multicoloured dress, a black jacket and ankle boots, uncovered by a hijab or loose-fitting abaya. She tweeted a photo of her outfit late last month, and after the post circulated, police this week announced they had arrested her for “violations of general morals.”
RUNNING Opposition politician Alexei Navalny, for the Russian presidency in 2018. Navalny, who led protests against President Vladimir Putin in 2011, was charged in several cases he called politically motivated, receiving a suspended sentence for embezzlement. He faces retrial after the conviction was overturned. Putin, 63, or a designated successor would seem a safer bet to win.
ACCOMMODATED A Ugandan king facing terror charges. A court ruled Charles Mumbere, 64, the king of Rwenzururu, should have a private cook and a fridge in prison. He got these privileges because of his hypertension and diabetes, the BBC reported. The king was arrested last month after a raid on his palace in western Uganda, and is at a Kampala prison.
SUED An Australian supermarket chain, over a wayward banana. On the day a woman won about $90,000 in court after slipping on a grape in a supermarket, Rakesh Dhody made a similar claim. The 63-year-old said he slipped on a banana and broke a finger. He’s seeking about $50,000. The company will offer “reasonable” expenses, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
RELEASED Ancient treasures, to Ukraine, if a Dutch court decision is followed. The items loaned to a Dutch museum should not be handed to the Crimean museums they came from, the court ruled. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while the collection was on display in Amsterdam. The judges said Ukrainian courts should rule on the rightful owner. The Crimean museums can appeal.
STOPPED Excessive spending in Brazil — two decades from now. The Senate passed a controversial law to limit public spending to inflation for the next 20 years. President Michel Temer had staked his credibility on cutting spending, the U.K. Guardian reports, which soared under his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff. The move has sparked public protests.
IGNORED Theresa May at an EU summit. An awkward video shows the British PM fidgeting while other European leaders greet each other warmly at a Brussels meeting. “Oh CRINGE Theresa May has got no mates,” was one of the tweets the Daily Telegraph highlighted. Nobody said Brexit would be easy. (Well, a few did.)