Dec 13, 2018 - World

Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina pleads guilty to conspiracy charges

Maria Butina. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Maria Butina has pleaded guilty in a D.C. federal court to conspiracy charges alleging that she acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the Russian government. She has agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities and faces up to five years in prison.

The big picture: In a copy of the plea deal obtained earlier this week by ABC News, Butina admitted that she and her American boyfriend, Republican operative Paul Erickson, agreed and conspired with a Russian government official to seek to "establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics." One of the ways Butina allegedly developed relationships with American politicians was through her involvement with the NRA. She is the first Russian national convicted for seeking to influence U.S. politics during the 2016 campaign.

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Zachary Basu
Updated 4 mins ago - World

Police and protesters clash in Belarus after "Europe's last dictator" claims election win

Protesters and riot police clash in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday during a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko's claim of a landslide victory. Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus' capital Minsk after a government exit poll predicted Sunday that President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly beaten a pro-democracy opposition candidate.

Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic now threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator."

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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 33 mins ago - World

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in June. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been arrested for "collusion with foreign powers" and the offices of his newspaper raided, said Mark Simon, an executive at the tycoon's media firm Next Digital on Monday.

Why it matters: He was arrested under the new national security law that gives Beijing more powers over the former British colony. Lai is the most prominent person arrested under the law — which prompted the U.S. to sanction Chinese officials, including Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, over Beijing's efforts to strip the territory of its autonomy.

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Axios
Updated 43 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 19,861,683 — Total deaths: 731,326 — Total recoveries — 12,115,825 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 5,044,864 — Total deaths: 162,938 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
  3. Politics: Pelosi says states don't have the funds to comply with Trump's executive order on unemployment — Mnuchin says Trump executive orders were cleared by Justice Department.
  4. States: New York reports lowest rate of positive coronavirus test results since pandemic began
  5. Public health: Ex-FDA head: U.S. will "definitely" see 200,000 to 300,000 virus deaths by end of 2020. 
  6. Schools: 97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks — Nine test positive at Georgia school where photo showing packed hallway went viral .
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