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Dual Russian-U.S. citizen charged with acting as Kremlin spy: DOJ
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She was born within the Soviet Union and emigrated to the U.S. at 30. 9 years later, in 1999, she turned an American citizen.
Then greater than a decade later, the Division of Justice alleges, she turned a spy on behalf of Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Elena Branson, 61, is accused of flouting the Overseas Agent Registration Act, or FARA, and failing to correctly inform the U.S. authorities she was engaged on behalf of the Kremlin.
File – Russian President Vladimir Putin offers a thumbs-up as he attends a foundation-laying ceremony for the third reactor of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Turkey, through a video hyperlink in Moscow, Russia March 10, 2021.
(Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin through REUTERS)
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“Elena Branson… actively subverted overseas agent registration legal guidelines in the USA in an effort to promote Russian insurance policies and beliefs,” in accordance with Damian Williams, the U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of New York. “Branson is alleged to have corresponded with Putin himself and met with a high-ranking Russia minister earlier than founding a Russian propaganda middle right here in New York Metropolis, the Russian Middle New York.”
FARA requires overseas brokers to register and disclose their work in the event that they have interaction in political or public relations work “on behalf of a overseas principal,” in accordance with the Justice Division.
The 36-page, six-count legal criticism, filed in federal court docket Tuesday, alleges that Branson’s subterfuge started in 2011. She is also called Elena Chernykh, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
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She is accused, amongst different issues, of participating in a Putin-backed marketing campaign to make use of Russian diaspora to unfold pro-Kremlin propaganda and to community Russian residents with influential Individuals – and corresponding instantly with Putin and different Kremlin officers.
She allegedly tried to arrange conferences between a Moscow official and U.S. politicians and enterprise leaders in March and April 2016.
In 2013, she additionally allegedly arrange a U.S.-based group, funded by the Kremlin, that hosted annual pro-Russia occasions. A 12 months later, prosecutors declare she arrange a pro-Russian web site and promoted Kremlin propaganda. She allegedly helped Russian nationals apply for visas to enter the U.S. below false pretenses. And in 2019, she allegedly lobbied Hawaii lawmakers to not rename a former Russian fort situated on Kauai.
Branson emigrated to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1991, in accordance with court docket paperwork, and have become an American citizen in 1999.
Convicted Russian agent Maria Butina, who was launched from a Florida jail after which deported by U.S. immigration officers, meets with journalists upon her arrival at Sheremetyevo Worldwide Airport outdoors Moscow, Russia October 26, 2019.
(REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva)
After fleeing the U.S. in 2020 following questioning by the FBI, she advised Russian RT host Maria Butina that she left partially as a result of she was scared she’d get arrested. Butina pleaded responsible to related costs in 2018, served time in jail and returned to Russia after her launch.
Branson is at the moment “at giant” in Russia, in accordance with the DOJ.
She faces costs of conspiring to behave as an agent of a overseas authorities with out notifying the legal professional normal, performing as an agent of a overseas authorities with out notifying the legal professional normal, conspiring to evade FARA registration, willfully failing to register below FARA, conspiring to commit visa fraud and mendacity to the FBI.
If convicted on all counts, she might face a most of 35 years in jail.
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Isabelle St. Cyr, a transgender beauty pageant competitor who competed in Miss Maine USA over the weekend, opened up about an interaction with Jordon Hudson behind the scenes.
Hudson was the second runner-up in the pageant amid a tumultuous few weeks that started when she shut down a question for her boyfriend Bill Belichick about how the two met. The interruption was during Belichick’s CBS interview about his new book in which he described Hudson as his “creative muse.”
Isabelle St. Cyr, 24, of Monson smiles at the Holiday Inn by the Bay after making history as the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Maine USA pageant. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
St. Cyr said the conversation with Hudson was about the media scrutiny they both received coming into the pageant.
“We had a conversation backstage and we were like, ‘You know, the media hasn’t necessarily been kind to us.’ We just kind of talked about how we’ve dealt with it, how to move forward, how to remain positive and when to comment and not to comment,” St. Cyr told People in a story published Tuesday. “I really appreciate her willingness to talk to me about the media coverage.”
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Jordon Hudson is among the contestants posing on stage after the Miss Maine USA pageant in Portland on Sunday. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
St. Cyr lamented the media coverage and said they both expected negativity because “that’s how people get clicks.” St. Cyr said Hudson helped her realize they were not alone in that regard.
“And she admits that a lot of backlash still showed up to the pageant that night to compete, and I as well, with a lot of backlash and a lot of people saying that I shouldn’t be there.”
Shelby Howell, of Bangor, was named Miss Maine USA.
St. Cyr, of Monson, was a semifinalist. Hudson, who represented Hancock, won the “style” award.
Hudson appeared to have a message for critics during the event. She was asked how she was doing before launching into her answer.
“I’m feeling an immense amount of pride right now,” she said via Mass Live. “I hope anyone who’s watching this finds the strength to push through whatever it is that they’re going through and embodies that hate never wins.”
When asked what moment in life she would want to go back to, Hudson said she wished she could be transported back to her family’s fishing boat.
Jordon Hudson, the girlfriend of Bill Belichick, at the Loudermilk Center for Excellence on Dec. 12, 2024. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
“I think about this often because there’s a mass exodus for fishermen occurring in the rural areas of Maine, and I don’t want to see more fishermen leave this place,” she said. “As your next Miss Maine USA, I would make a point to go to communities… to go into the government and advocate for these people so that they don’t have to think about these memories as a past moment.”
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On April 28, controllers at a Philadelphia facility managing air traffic for Newark Liberty International Airport and smaller regional airports in New Jersey suddenly lost radar and radio contact with planes in one of the busiest airspaces in the country.
On Monday, two weeks after the episode, Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, said that the radio returned “almost immediately,” while the radar took up to 90 seconds before it was operational.
A Times analysis of flight traffic data and air traffic control feed, however, reveals that controllers were struggling with communication issues for several minutes after transmissions first blacked out.
The episode resulted in multiple air traffic controllers requesting trauma leave, triggering severe flight delays at Newark that have continued for more than two weeks.
Several exchanges between pilots and controllers show how the outage played out.
Outage Begins
Air traffic recordings show that controllers at the Philadelphia facility first lost radio and radar communications for about a minute starting just before 1:27 p.m., after a controller called out to United Flight 1951, inbound from Phoenix.
The pilot of United 1951 replied to the controller’s call, but there was no answer for over a minute.
1:26:41 PM
Controller
OK, United 1951.
1:26:45 PM
Pilot
Go ahead.
1:27:18 PM
Pilot
Do you hear us?
1:27:51 PM
Controller
How do you hear me?
1:27:53 PM
Pilot
I got you loud and clear now.
Two other planes reached out during the same period as United 1951 — a Boeing 777 inbound from Austria and headed to Newark, and a plane whose pilot called out to a controller, “Approach, are you there?” Their calls went unanswered as well.
Radio Resumes, With Unreliable Radar
From 1:27 to 1:28 p.m., radio communications between pilots and controllers resumed. But soon after, a controller was heard telling multiple aircraft about an ongoing radar outage that was preventing controllers from seeing aircraft on their radarscopes.
One of the planes affected by the radar issues was United Flight 674, a commercial passenger jet headed from Charleston to Newark.
1:27:32 PM
Pilot
United 674, approach.
1:27:36 PM
Controller
Radar contact lost, we lost our radar.
1:30:34 PM
Controller
Turn left 30 degrees.
1:31:03 PM
Pilot
All right, we’re on a heading of 356. …
1:31:44 PM
Controller
I see the turn. I think our radar might be a couple seconds behind.
Once the radio started operating again, some controllers switched from directing flights along their planned paths to instead providing contingency flight instructions.
At 1:28 p.m., the pilot of Flight N16NF, a high-end private jet, was called by a controller who said, “radar contact lost.” The pilot was then told to contact a different controller on another radio frequency.
About two and a half minutes later, the new controller, whose radar did appear to be functioning, instructed the pilot to steer towards a location that would be clear of other aircraft in case the radio communications dropped again.
Flight N426CB, a small private jet flying from Florida to New Jersey, was told to call a different radio frequency at Essex County Airport, known as Caldwell Airport, in northern New Jersey for navigational aid. That was in case the controllers in Philadelphia lost radio communications again.
1:27:57 PM
Controller
If for whatever reason, you don’t hear anything from me further, you can expect to enter right downwind and call Caldwell Tower.
1:29:19 PM
Controller
You just continue on towards the field. They’re going to help navigate you in.
This is in case we are losing our frequencies.
1:29:32 PM
Pilot
OK, I’m going over to Caldwell. Talk to you. Have a good afternoon.
Minutes Later, Radar Issues Persist
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, aircraft reappeared on radarscopes within 90 seconds of the outage’s start, but analysis of air traffic control recordings suggest that the radar remained unreliable for at least some radio frequencies for several minutes after the outage began around 1:27 p.m.
At 1:32 p.m., six minutes after the radio went quiet, Flight N824TP, a small private plane, contacted the controller to request clearance to enter “Class B” airspace — the type around the busiest airports in the country. The request was denied, and the pilot was asked to contact a different radio frequency.
1:32:43 PM
Pilot
Do I have Bravo clearance?
1:32:48 PM
Controller
You do not have a Bravo clearance. We lost our radar, and it’s not working correctly. …
If you want a Bravo clearance, you can just call the tower when you get closer.
1:32:59 PM
Pilot
I’ll wait for that frequency from you, OK?
1:33:03 PM
Controller
Look up the tower frequencies, and we don’t have a radar, so I don’t know where you are.
The last flight to land at Newark was at 1:44 p.m., but about half an hour after the outage began, a controller was still reporting communication problems.
“You’ll have to do that on your own navigation. Our radar and radios are unreliable at the moment,” a Philadelphia controller said to a small aircraft flying from Long Island around 1:54 p.m.
Since April 28, there has been an additional radar outage on May 9, which the F.A.A. also characterized as lasting about 90 seconds. Secretary Duffy has proposed a plan to modernize equipment in the coming months, but the shortage of trained staff members is likely to persist into next year.
NEW YORK — The sting of this Celtics season is going to last a while, and not just because they were embarrassed by the Knicks in Game 6 to end their season. Jayson Tatum’s ruptured right Achilles tendon casts question marks on the organization going forward. Considering the C’s were already set for a transformational offseason, there’s a lot of uncertainty going forward.
But, for now, Celtics fans should reflect back on this two-year group. They were special. They accomplished their goal by winning the 2024 NBA title. They’re already immortalized for that. And, when looking back at this core, they should be remembered fondly and in a positive light.
Yes, there were frustrating moments. This probably isn’t even a conversation — at least for now — if the Celtics didn’t blow Games 1 and 2 to the Knicks. Old bad habits kicked in and the C’s didn’t look like reigning champions. That slimmed their margin for error, then once Tatum went down, this series was going to be difficult to win. Ultimately, the Celtics couldn’t accomplish their lofty goal of going back-to-back.
Most importantly, appreciate what this group did: They maximized their talent. That doesn’t always happen. There was no bickering or moaning about touches, playing time or whatever. Plenty of NBA teams are fractured because of individualistic motives. That’s part of being in the league. C’s fans are familiar with that when a promising 2018-19 season ended in a dud, also during the second round.
There was none of that drama over the past two seasons — that should be appreciated, too. This group realized the opportunity in front of them with a loaded roster, so all they did was work toward getting better. All you can do in this league is to put yourself in a position to win, and the Celtics did that for two seasons.
“I just love playing with the guys that we have in that locker room,” Derrick White said. “Just a great group of guys that compete at a high level. Off the court, we just had a lot of fun. And I think that’s just what I’ll probably the most proud of: is just being able to say that I put on a Boston Celtics uniform with some amazing group of people.”
The Celtics weren’t perfect. They lost in the second round to a Knicks team that executed when it mattered, and for that, the C’s only have themselves to blame. Then their injury luck turned for the worst as Tatum going down like he did also took an emotional toll. But the Knicks deserved to win since that’s what they did, taking four out of six games against the heavily-favored Celtics.
So, the Celtics will process how this season went over the next few days ahead of the offseason. Then the front office will inevitably get to work, whether that’s the draft, free agency, trades or whatever tool they can muster to upgrade the roster. There will likely be departures to key guys since that’s how the salary cap works. But this group was special — Banner No. 18 is proof of that.
“I told the guys in the locker room, one of the honors of my life was to be able to coach this group of guys,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So you go down the list, every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior and they’ve done a lot of great things in this league. And it’s an honor to be able to share the locker room with them and be next to them on the court and be in the arena with them. So, I’m grateful for that.”
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