US Business

Disgraced former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has appealed her conviction and 20-year sentence for helping late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, a court filing showed Thursday.

Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim filed the appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit last week, the docket showed.

The document did not detail Maxwell’s arguments for throwing out the conviction, but her attorneys have previously claimed that a juror biased the verdict.

Her legal team have also argued that some of the victims were above the age of consent in certain states where the abuse occurred. 

The Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell was found guilty on five of six counts, the most serious for sex trafficking minors, late last year.

The charges stemmed from crimes committed against four women between 1994 and 2004.

Prosecutors successfully proved that she was “the key” to Epstein’s scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them.

New York judge Alison Nathan described Maxwell’s crimes as “heinous and predatory” when she sentenced the 60-year-old last week.

Maxwell’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued during her high-profile trial that their client had been pursued by prosecutors only because Epstein had evaded justice.

The money manager hanged himself in jail in 2019 aged 66 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial in New York.

In April, Nathan rejected Maxwell’s claim that she should receive a new trial because a juror had boasted of convincing fellow panelists to convict by recalling his own experiences as a sex abuse victim.

Maxwell’s circle once included Britain’s Prince Andrew, former US president and real estate baron Donald Trump and the Clinton family.

Boeing’s CEO said the company could cancel the 737 MAX 10 if regulators don’t certify the jet before new crew alerting system standards take effect in December, according to a report Thursday.

The airplane manufacturer confirmed comments by Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun, who told Aviation Week that shelving the MAX 10 “is not that threatening” in light of some of the other challenges the company has faced in recent years.

“The (737-10) is a little bit of an all-or-nothing,” he told the publication.

Calhoun has previously spoken hopefully of solving the problem, which could be resolved by Congress if the plane is not certified in time.

But the Federal Aviation Administration has been taking longer to approve Boeing planes after criticism of the agency in the wake of two fatal crashes of earlier versions of the 737 MAX that left the plane grounded globally for more than a year.

A December 2020 law enacted by the US Congress required the FAA to only certify planes equipped with a flight crew alerting system designed to help pilots prioritize warnings and advisories activated during flight.

The alerting system in the 737 MAX 10 shares the traits in the earlier MAX planes and does not meet the new standards. Boeing has argued the benefit of the MAX 10’s “commonality” with earlier versions of the jets, which enables pilots experienced in earlier version of the MAX to easily transition to the MAX 10.

The system requirement under the 2020 law — which was passed amid criticism of both Boeing and the FAA after the MAX crashes — takes effect on December 27, 2022, effectively establishing a two-year exemption for jets already in the certification process.

The requirement can be extended only by new US legislation, setting the stage for what Aviation Week described as a “looming standoff” between Boeing and Congress.

“As we have said, we are working transparently with the FAA to provide the information they need, and are committed to meeting their expectations and those of our customers to certify and deliver the 737-10,” a Boeing spokesperson said. “Safety remains the driving factor in this effort.”

The FAA declined to give a timetable for the MAX 10.

“Safety dictates the timeline of certification projects,” an FAA spokesperson said. “We cannot discuss ongoing certification projects.”

Michel Merluzeau, an aviation expert at AIR Inc., said cancelation of the MAX 10 could result in a year of lost production on the jet. Even more important, such a move would position rival Airbus to make further gains in the narrow-body airplane market, he said.

Russian forces left a trail of destruction Thursday while seeking to push deeper into the eastern Donbas region, as the Kremlin warned its campaign had not yet started in earnest.

Diplomatic tensions meanwhile mounted between Ankara and Kyiv, where Ukrainian officials have accused Turkey of ignoring calls to seize grain being transported by a Russian ship.

A Russian air strike in the eastern industrial city of Kramatorsk left at least one dead and several others wounded earlier in the day, as Russian seeks full control of the surrounding Donbas.

The explosion left a gaping crater next to a hotel and residential buildings and several cars were on the fire, AFP journalists said, as emergency services arrived on the scene.

It came ahead of a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin to lawmakers in which he said that Moscow’ offensive in Ukraine had not yet begun “in earnest”.

He also sounded a note of menace towards the West, telling the alliance that has coalesced against his invasion of Ukraine that if they wanted to defeat Russia on the battlefield “let them try”.

He accused “the collective West” of unleashing a “war” in Ukraine and said Russia’s intervention in the pro-Western country marked the beginning of a shift to a “multi-polar world.”

The head of Ukraine’s battled-scarred Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko announced before the strike on Kramatorsk that Russian bombardments had killed at least seven people over the past 24 hours.

The fatalities came after Ukrainian officials re-issued urgent pleas for civilians in the surrounding region to flee, as Russian forces turn their sights on the nearby eastern city of Sloviansk.

Vitaliy, a plumber, told AFP in the industrial hub that his wife and her daughter from a previous marriage, who is six months pregnant, were evacuated from the city the day before.

“Tomorrow I will join the army,” he said.

– ‘Well fortified’ –

Sloviansk mayor Vadym Lyakh said around 23,000 people remained from a pre-war population of 110,000.

“Evacuation is ongoing. We take people out every day,” he said.

“The city is well fortified,” he added, claiming Russian forces had been unable to surround the city.

Sloviansk is Russia’s next target after their capture of the nearby sister cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Russian forces captured the cities in the Lugansk region after long battles, consolidating their hold in the east after failing at the start of the February invasion to take the capital Kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

Despite the raging conflict, Kyiv took the time to hail outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of the embattled country’s keenest allies throughout the war.

Johnson said that even though he was heading towards the exit, Britain would continue supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes”. 

“We all welcome this news with sadness. Not only me, but also all of Ukrainian society,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, after Johnson resigned as leader of Britain’s Conservative party, paving the way for the selection of a new prime minister.

“We don’t doubt that Great Britain’s support will continue, but your personal leadership and your charisma made it special,” he said.

A diplomatic crisis too was flaring between Ukraine and Turkey over the apparent transport by Russia of grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine.

Kyiv says that a 7,000-tonne vessel, the Zhibek Zholy, set off from Ukraine’s Kremlin-occupied port of Berdyansk after picking up confiscated wheat and called last week for Turkey to seize it.

The marinetraffic.com website on Thursday showed the vessel moving away from Turkey’s Black Sea port of Karasu before apparently switching off its transponder and disappearing from view.

Ukraine said it was “deeply disappointed” that Turkey had not acted on its request to seize the ship.

– ‘Control over Snake Island’ –

Despite Ukraine’s recent territorial losses, Zelensky in an evening address on Wednesday had praised new heavy Western artillery for boosting Ukraine’s firepower.

“Their accuracy is exactly as it should be,” he said.

“Our defenders inflict notable blows on warehouses and other points which are important for the logistics of the occupiers,” he said.

Ukraine also said it had regained control of Snake Island in the Black Sea, after raising its flag there this week following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Senior military official Oleksiy Gromov said Ukrainian forces had “effectively re-established… control over Snake Island,” but did not specify whether there was a lasting military presence on the rocky outcrop.

Russia said it pulled back from the symbolic island last week in a gesture of “good will”, but has since continued targeting positions on the island.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out “precision” missile strikes on the island early Thursday, killing Ukrainian soldiers and forcing survivors to flee.

Finland meanwhile passed legislation to build stronger fences on its border with Russia, as the country seeks to join NATO following the invasion. 

burs-jbr/gw/cdw

James Caan, the US actor best known for playing Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather,” has died aged 82, his manager said Thursday.

Caan, who also had roles in “Misery,” “Thief” and “Rollerball,” received an Oscar nomination for his tragic portrayal of a mafia family’s eldest son in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic “The Godfather.”

“It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6,” Caan’s family said in a tweet posted to his account.

Caan’s manager confirmed the news to AFP.

“Jimmy was one of the greatest. Not only was he one of the best actors our business has ever seen, he was funny, loyal, caring and beloved,” wrote Matt DelPiano.

“Our relationship was always friendship before business. I will miss him dearly and am proud to have worked with him all these years.”

Caan started working as an actor in 1960s Hollywood, with small roles in films by acclaimed directors including Billy Wilder (“Irma La Douce”), Howard Hawks (“El Dorado”) and Coppola (“The Rain People.”

But his turn as hot-tempered Sonny Corleone, whose slaying in a hail of bullets at a toll booth became one of the defining scenes in “The Godfather,” established him as a major actor with an Academy nomination.

He briefly reprised the role in a small cameo for “The Godfather Part II.”

Later standout roles included a violent athlete in Norman Jewison’s “Rollerball,” a jewel thief in Michael Mann’s “Thief” (1981) and a kidnapped writer in Rob Reiner’s “Misery” (1990).

“So sorry to hear the news. I loved working with him,” tweeted Reiner.

Caan’s publicist also confirmed his passing, but declined to provide any further details including cause of death.

His family signed off their tweet “End of tweet,” emulating Caan’s habit of doing so while he was alive.

US basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to drug smuggling charges in a Russian court but denied intending to break the law in a case that has further inflamed tensions between Moscow and Washington. 

The two-time Olympic gold medallist and WNBA champion, detained days before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, faces up to a decade behind bars for bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country.

The 31-year-old basketball star told a court in the town of Khimki outside Moscow that she “would like to plead guilty” to all the charges, but stressed she had “no intention” of breaking any Russian law.

“I was in a rush packing. And the cartridges accidentally ended up in my bag.”

The athlete, who is six-foot-nine (2.06 metres) tall, wore a red T-shirt and matching trousers. She walked into the courtroom with her tattooed arms handcuffed to a Russian guard. 

Her lawyer Alexander Boykov called for “as soft a sentence as possible”. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that US embassy officials attended Griner’s trial and delivered to her a letter from US President Joe Biden.

“We will not relent until Brittney, Paul Whelan, and all other wrongfully detained Americans are reunited with their loved ones,” Blinken tweeted.

Griner’s lawyer Boykov said she had “appreciated” receiving the letter from Biden, who said on Wednesday that he would make bringing her home a “priority.”

– ‘Negligence’ –

Moscow hit back, saying that US “hype” over Griner would not help her case.

“The hype and working on the public, with all the love for this genre among modern politicians, currently only disturbs” the court procress, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

“It does not just distract from the case but creates interference in the core sense of the word. Silence is needed here.” 

In a call with Griner’s wife, Biden said the star was “wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances”. 

The US leader said he had written to the WBNA star, after she had sent him a hand-written letter presented to the White House on July 4, US Independence Day. 

“I realise you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees,” Griner wrote.

“Please do all you can to bring us home.”

But Ryabkov said letters between the two would not help the star’s fate.

“It is not correspondence of this kind that can help, but a serious perception by the American side of the signals they received from Moscow, through specialised channels,” he said. 

Another member of Griner’s defence team, Maria Blagovolina, said it was her client’s decision to plead guilty.

“Brittney stressed that she committed the crime by negligence,” Blagovolina said.

“We hope that this circumstance, together with the evidence of the defense, will be taken into account by the court.”

– New hearing –

The professional basketball player was detained in February in the days before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, with the United States and its allies imposing unprecedented sanctions on Moscow in response.

Her case has become a new sticking point in ties between the United States and Russia, with Washington putting its special envoy in charge of hostages on the case. 

Griner came to Russia in February to play club basketball during the US off-season — a common path for American stars seeking additional income.

She was detained at a Moscow airport after she was found carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage. 

US authorities initially kept a low profile on the case, which was not made known to the general public until March 5, but have since upped the ante.

Russian law is strict in such cases and other foreigners have recently been handed heavy sentences on drug-related charges.

Last month, a Moscow court sentenced a former US diplomat, Marc Fogel, to 14 years in prison for “large-scale” cannabis smuggling.

Russia and the United States regularly clash over the detention of each other’s citizens and sometimes exchange them in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War.

The next hearing in the case will be held on July 14.