A prominent Russian legislator and two of his aides have been charged with running a disinformation campaign targeting U.S. citizens, including lawmakers, for several years, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Driving the news: Aleksandr Babakov, 59, and two staffers allegedly operated an "international foreign influence and disinformation network to advance the interests of Russia," between 2012 and 2017, according to an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.
Russia's defense ministry said Thursday that the Moskva cruiser, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, sank while being towed in a storm due to damage incurred in a fire, according to Russian state media.
Why it matters: The loss of the Moskva is a devastating symbolic blow to Russia on the 50th day of its invasion of Ukraine. It's the largest military vessel to sink in decades.
A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found British national El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all charges related to his membership in an ISIS cell also known as "the Beatles," which kidnapped, tortured, and beheaded prisoners, AP reported.
Why it matters: Elsheikh's conviction makes him the "first and only" member of the notorious ISIS cell to be convicted by an American jury, per the Washington Post.
Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Representative Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) arrived Thursday in Kyiv, in what they described as a show of support to Ukraine, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Daines and Spartz are the first American officials to visit Ukraine since the start of the war.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog said Thursday that it would be "very important for our region" if the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were to "fix" their relationship.
Why it matters: U.S.-Saudi relations have been rocky since the election of President Biden, who promised on the campaign trail to make the Kingdom a "pariah," and later released an intelligence report directly blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“The Brothers García,” a hit Nickelodeon show about a middle-class Latino family that ended 18 years ago, is coming back on air — this time, as the "The Garcías" on HBO Max.
Why it matters: Shows about and starring Latinos have gotten the short drift by studios, usually getting poor advertising budgets and a short lifespan.
Russia's war in Ukraine is unleashing a "perfect storm" that threatens to further devastate the economies of poorer countries already facing food, energy and financial crises, the UN warned this week.
Driving the news: More than 870,000 people who fled Ukraine since Russia's unprovoked invasion have since returned, UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in their latest update.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed Wednesday that its Moskva missile cruiser was badly damaged in a fire — hours after Ukrainian forces claimed they'd struck the vessel in the Black Sea.
Why it matters: The Moskva is the most essential ship in the Russian Black Sea fleet, with cruise missiles that have a range of at least 440 miles, per Reuters.
Russia has threatened to bolster its defenses in the Baltic, including deploying nuclear weapons to the region, if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, according to Reuters.
Driving the news: Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, issued the warning Thursday, per Reuters. Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Sweden and Finland, two historically neutral countries, into joining the defensive alliance.
Labour Party leaders and advocates slammed a plan announced by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday to fly some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and settlement in what he called an effort to stop those "illegally" migrating to the country via "unseaworthy" boats on the English Channel.
Driving the news: Yvette Cooper, a British politician and a member of the opposition Labour Party, called the plan "unworkable, unethical [and] extortionate."
Why it matters: The impounding of the world's biggest superyacht by volume highlights the "wider impact" of penalties imposed by the West on super-rich Russians accused of having having close links to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, per Bloomberg.
