Alexi Navalny dead: The most prominent Russian opposition leader, Alexi Navalny has died in a Russian prison according to Russia’s Prison Service. The Russians said that Navalny was on a walk for exercise at a prison colony in the Arctic when he collapsed and could not be revived. Navalny had been sentenced to 19 years in prison for speaking out against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Navalny had survived previous attempts to kill him. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said that it is clear that Navalny was killed by Putin. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in an interview on NPR this morning pointed out that the Putin regime has a long history of doing harm to its opponents.
Fake report by informant: FBI informant Alexander Smirnov has been charged with making up his report that President Biden and his son Hunter were paid $5 million by Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Republicans used the allegedly fake report as the basis for investigating Hunter Biden and trying to move forward with their impeachment of Joe Biden. Smirnov appeared in federal court in Las Vegas yesterday but did not enter a plea. The hearing was closed to the public because the government was concerned about classified material being exposed.
Willis’ testimony: In a surprise move, Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis began testifying yesterday in a hearing to decide whether she will be removed from handling the conspiracy case against Donald Trump and a group of co-defendants for trying to steal the presidential election in Georgia. She denied that her personal relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, who she hired as a prosecutor in the case, resulted in any personal gain. Attorneys for Trump and some of the other defendants want her removed from the case, which also would result in her office being blocked from continuing the prosecution.
Truth Social: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Digital World Acquisition Corp. to merge with Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Trump, who would hold 58% of the merged company, could find that his stock is worth around $4 billion. Truth Social has had fewer than 7 million people following Trump compared with about 87 million who follow Trump on Twitter, now known as X.
Suspects captured: Israel said that its raid on Nasser Hospital in Gaza has resulted in the capture of 20 suspects for taking part in the Oct. 7 raid on Israel by Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said that a power failure at the hospital has caused the deaths of five patients. President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday and reportedly pressured him to have Israel resume participating with Hamas to arrange a cease-fire.
Marriage: Despite opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greek government has passed a law making same-sex marriage legal. That makes Greece the first Christian Orthodox country to allow same sex marriages. There had been demonstrations in Greece showing opposition to the same-sex proposal. Greece joins 14 other members of the 27-nation European Union that have legalized same-sex marriage.
