Stand-up comedian gets nearly 6 years in Russian prison over joke about war veteran
CBSN
A Russian stand-up comedian was sent to a penal colony for almost six years Wednesday for a joke about a war veteran who lost his legs, the latest conviction in a sweeping crackdown on those who question the war in Ukraine. In:
A Russian stand-up comedian was sent to a penal colony for almost six years Wednesday for a joke about a war veteran who lost his legs, the latest conviction in a sweeping crackdown on those who question the war in Ukraine.
Moscow-based Artemy Ostanin told a story on stage last year about bumping into a disabled ex-soldier on the metro, who he called a "legless skater."
Pro-Kremlin figures and media outlets spread a clip of the joke online, calling for the comic to be punished for insulting Russian soldiers wounded in the war in Ukraine.
A Moscow court also found Ostanin guilty of inciting hatred and insulting religious feelings over a separate joke about religion.
"The final sentence for Ostanin is imprisonment for five years and nine months in a general regime penal colony," judge Olesya Mendeleyeva was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Milan, Italy — American star Lindsay Vonn participated in an official Olympic training event for Women's downhill skiing on Friday, hitting the slopes at the Winter Games for the first time after rupturing her left ACL when she crashed in a World Cup race in the Swiss Alps a week ago. In:
One day before the Opening Ceremony at the Winter Olympics in Milan, officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency addressed claims in a German tabloid that male skiers could be injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid to gain an advantage in the Games.
The U.S. and Russia have agreed to reestablish high-level military-to-military communication that was suspended in the fall of 2021 before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. military's European Command announced on Thursday.
Kyiv - U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced Thursday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners during the second round of U.S.-mediated peace talks between the two countries in Abu Dhabi. In:
France's navy seized over four tons of cocaine from a ship in the south Pacific and also intercepted a boat trafficking cocaine in the Caribbean Sea, the country's armed forces minister said on Thursday. In:
A Russian stand-up comedian was sent to a penal colony for almost six years Wednesday for a joke about a war veteran who lost his legs, the latest conviction in a sweeping crackdown on those who question the war in Ukraine. In:
Berlin — Poland's leader said Wednesday that the country would look into possible links between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Russian intelligence services, amid growing concern that the Epstein scandal may have implications beyond criminal justice that touch on national security for the European nation. In:
London — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles II who was previously known as Prince Andrew, has moved out of his sprawling Royal Lodge home in Windsor as further details emerge about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Ramy Inocencio contributed to this report. In:
Hong Kong — China will ban hidden door handles on cars, commonly used on Tesla's electric vehicles and many other EV models, starting next year. In:
The crew of a speedboat tossed more than 100 packages of cocaine into the Pacific Ocean while fleeing the Colombian navy, authorities said Tuesday, as the leader of the country was visiting President Trump in Washington amid mounting pressure from the U.S. to curb drug trafficking. Colombia is the world's largest cocaine-producing nation. In:
Kyiv — It was another frigid morning without power in Dorohozhychi, a neighborhood in the northwest of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. In:
A 13-year-old boy is credited with saving the lives of his mother and two younger siblings with an hourslong swim after the family was swept out to sea off the Australian coast. In:
A wild bull elephant killed a tourist in central Thailand's Khao Yai National Park on Monday, a park official said, the third fatality linked to the same animal. In: