beetroot recipes: Morning Brief: Pussy Riot Members Released From Russian Jail

Monday, December 23, 2013

Pussy Riot Members Released From Russian Jail

Top News: The two jailed members of the all-woman punk band Pussy Riot were released Monday morning under Russia's new amnesty law. Maria Alyokhina, 25, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, had been sentenced to two years in prison for "hooliganism" after a protest performance against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.

The amnesty law, which was signed by the Russian parliament last week, has prompted the release of Russia's highest profile political prisoners, including the long-jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the members of a Greenpeace crew who were arrested during a protest of artic oil exploration. Khodorkovsky, who has been considered Russia's most prominent political prisoner, was not pardoned by the new law, but was granted clemency by Putin. The amnesty law is thought to affect some 20,000 prisoners.

Both members of Pussy Riot dismissed their early release as a cynical "PR stunt" to soften Russia's image ahead of the Winter Olympics, which are being hosted in Sochi in February. The women were to be released in March 2014.

South Sudan: Fighting that began last week with a clash between a faction of the presidential guard loyal to the ousted vice president and government forces has spread, leaving hundreds dead and causing some 40,000 South Sudanese and foreigners to seek refuge at United Nations bases. The U.S. government was joined by other states in calling for its citizens to leave the country -- 380 Americans and 300 foreign nationals have already left on military and charter flights.

Fifteen Americans were evacuated by helicopter from a surrounded U.N. base in Bor Sunday, just a day after four U.S. servicemen were wounded when their rescue attempt ran into small arms fire.

Asia

Apple has signed a deal with Chinese telecom China Mobile to bring the iPhone to its network, which is the world's largest with 760 million subscribers. China Mobile was one of three companies to be awarded 4G licenses earlier this month.
The owners of a Bangladeshi garment factory have been charged with culpable homicide in the deaths of 112 workers who were killed in a fire last November.
Leaders from Thailand's ruling party skirted demonstrations to register for the upcoming elections. Thousands of protesters had surrounded the registration site in Bangkok demanding reforms -- the government has announced it does not plan to use force against the demonstrators.

Europe

Freed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khordorkovsky announced that he has no plans to go into politics, but will work for the release of other political prisoners in Russia.
Protesters in Turkey set fire to barricades on the streets of Istanbul as police fired water cannons and tear gas on Sunday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose party is suffering amidst corruption investigations, dismissed the upheaval as a "dark plot" by outside forces.
Hundreds of Afghan asylum seekers in Belgium have established a protest camp in the town of Mons, demanding to meet with the prime minister and seeking assurance that they won't be expelled.

Africa

Somalia's parliament has approved a new prime minister, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed, after the former prime minister was ousted in a vote of no confidence.
The European Union has banned arms sales to the Central African Republic, following a U.N. Security Council resolution earlier this month to prevent arms from reaching the country.
A British Airways plane headed to London clipped its wing on an airport building in Johannesburg, South Africa, as it was preparing to take off. Four ground-employees sustained minor injuries but no passengers were hurt.

Middle East

Three Egyptian activists who were leading figures in the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak were sentenced to three years in prison on Sunday. The men were convicted of violating a new law that prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people without authorization.
Libya suffered its first suicide bombing since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi when a car bomb at a military checkpoint near Benghazi killed 14.
Russian trucks arrived in Syria to help transport the country's chemical weapons materials for destruction. The trucks will move chemicals from 12 sites to the port city of Latakia, where they will be shipped out for disposal.

Americas

The CIA allegedly helped the government of Colombia kill at least two dozen members of the FARC insurgency, according to former U.S. and Colombian officials.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down three laws that effectively banned prostitution on Friday, finding that the laws violated the "security of the person." The 71-page decisions claimed, "Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes."
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed legislation allowing foreign companies to drill for oil and gas in Mexico for the first time since the oil fields were nationalized in 1938.

-By Thomas Stackpole

AFP/Getty Images

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