U.S. "deeply troubled" as Russian court upholds ex-Marine Trevor Reed's prison sentence
CBSN
Moscow — A Moscow court upheld on Monday the nine-year prison sentence previously handed to former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, one of two Americans who U.S. officials say are being held hostage by Russia as bargaining chips for a potential prisoner exchange. Reed, a 29-year-old from Texas, has been detained since a 2019 drunken birthday party in Moscow.
His family said he was initially taken to a police station to sober up, but after being questioned by agents from the FSB, Russia's security service, he was charged with assaulting two police officers. A year later he was found guilty and handed the lengthy sentence. Reed pleaded not guilty and said the harsh sentence made him think his trial was "completely political." His lawyers said it was the harshest sentence ever handed down for the charge in Russia.Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.