
Navalny appears in court for first time since ending hunger strike, saying 'I'm just an awful skeleton'
CNN
A judge in Moscow upheld a defamation conviction Thursday against jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who joined a court hearing via videolink, in his first public appearance since he went on hunger strike.
The visibly gaunt Navalny used the platform to launch a broadside against President Vladimir Putin and his government, likening him to the foolish "naked king" from "The Emperor's New Clothes" children's tale and calling the judge and prosecutors "traitors." The activist was jailed in February in a separate case for breaking parole conditions, despite being in Germany recovering from poisoning with the military grade nerve agent Novichok when he was accused of failing to report to parole officers. Navalny blames the Kremlin for the attempt on his life, which the government has repeatedly denied.
Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani bitterly clashed over age and experience Thursday in the final debate before New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, as Cuomo warned that electing the progressive state assemblyman is unprepared for the job and Mamdani hammered the former governor over scandals during his time in Albany.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security posted a striking graphic on its official X account. Uncle Sam, a symbol of American patriotism, is depicted nailing a poster to a wall that reads, “Help your country… and yourself.” Written underneath the poster is the sentence, “REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS,” and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement hot line.