Ex-Olympian Pleads Not Guilty to Drug Trafficking; Russian Strikes Kill Civilians in Odesa; Other International News
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder pleaded not guilty to 17 felonies, including drug trafficking, in a California courtroom on Monday, according to The Guardian. Ryan Wedding, 44, is accused of cocaine distribution, conspiracy to murder, witness tampering, and money laundering. Authorities allege that Wedding turned to a life of crime after his snowboarding career ended.
In other international news, at least three people were killed and 23 wounded in a heavy Russian drone bombardment of Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Euronews reported. Among the wounded were two children and a pregnant woman. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for speedier US efforts to end Russia's almost four-year invasion of his country. The Odesa attack involved more than 50 drones, according to officials. A diplomatic push by the US to end the war has made some progress but has delivered no breakthrough on the key issue of what happens to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory that Moscow is demanding.
Also on Tuesday, eight men who were handed life sentences by Russian judges over a 2022 attack on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia issued a joint appeal to be freed, Euronews reported. They claimed they were unaware of the Kyiv-planned operation. The blast killed five people and badly damaged the Kerch Bridge, which was built after Russia annexed the region from Ukraine in 2014 and became a potent symbol of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's ambitions. The bridge has suffered two further major attacks in 2023 and 2025, both carried out by Ukrainian forces.
In the Netherlands, a Dutch court convicted an Eritrean man of people smuggling and extortion on Tuesday, sentencing him to the maximum 20 years imprisonment, Euronews reported. Tewelde Goitom, also known as Amanuel Walid, was found guilty of leading a criminal organisation that mistreated migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe and extorted money from their families in the Netherlands to pay for the crossings. Presiding Judge René Melaard called the case exceptionally serious because of both the nature and scope of the crimes.
Meanwhile, in the United States, President Donald Trump distanced himself from controversial remarks made by senior members of his administration regarding Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was shot dead by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis over the weekend, Sky News reported. Trump adviser Stephen Miller had called Pretti a "would-be assassin," but Mr. Trump disagreed. The shooting occurred just weeks after another officer from the same unit killed 37-year-old Renee Good in the same city.
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