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Russian network that ‘paid European politicians’ busted, authorities claim

A Russian-backed “propaganda” network has been broken up for spreading anti-Ukraine stories and paying unnamed European politicians, according to authorities in several countries.

Investigators claimed it used the popular Voice of Europe website as a vehicle to pay politicians.

The Czech Republic and Poland said the network aimed to influence European elections.

Voice of Europe did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Czech media, citing the countries intelligence agency BIS, reported that politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary were paid by Voice of Europe in order to influence upcoming elections for the European Parliament.

The German newspaper, Der Spiegel, said the money was either handed over in cash in covert meetings in Prague or through cryptocurrency exchanges.

Pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk is alleged by the Czech Republic to be behind the network.

Mr Medvedchuk was arrested in Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion, but later transferred to Russia with about 50 prisoners of war in exchange for 215 Ukrainians.

Czech authorities also named Artyom Marchevsky, alleging he managed the day-to-day business of the website. Both men were sanctioned by Czech authorities.

Poland’s intelligence agency said it had conducted searches in the Warsaw and Tychy regions and seized €48,500 (£41,500) and $36,000 (£28,500).

“Money from Moscow has been used to pay some political actors who spread Russian propaganda,” BIS said in a statement.

It added that the sums amounted to “millions” of Czech crowns (tens of thousands of pounds).

The alleged propaganda network “aimed to carry out activities against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” BIS said.

BIS did not name the politicians allegedly involved. However, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo alleged they included members of the European Parliament.

“It came for example to light that Russia has approached MEPs, but also paid [them], to promote Russian propaganda here,” Mr De Croo told Belgian MPs.

The Voice of Europe website was offline on Thursday. An archived version of its homepage showed several articles highlighting internal divisions within European countries and expressing scepticism about support for Ukraine.

These included: “Protest in Prague: people’s voice against corruption, military support for Ukraine, and government”, and “Ukraine’s army faces a mounting troop shortage amid ongoing challenges”.

Voice of Europe had more than 180,000 followers on Twitter/X. The publication did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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Six Russian journalists have been detained by authorities. They include one who covered Navalny

Authorities in Russia have detained six journalists across the country this month, including a journalist who covered the trials of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny for several years, media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders said Thursday.

Antonina Favorskaya was detained and accused by Russian authorities of taking part in an “extremist organization” by posting on the social media platforms of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Russian human rights group OVD-Info said. Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony in February.

Favorskaya covered Navalny’s court hearings for years and filmed the last video of Navalny before he died in the penal colony. She is one of several Russian journalists targeted by authorities as part of a sweeping crackdown against dissent in Russia that is aimed at opposition figures, journalists, activists and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Two other journalists, Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, were also temporarily detained after they came to meet Favorskaya in the detention center where she was being held, Reporters Without Borders said, adding that their homes were searched and equipment seized.

Ekaterina Anikievich, of the Russian news site SOTAvision, and Konstantin Yarov from RusNews, were also detained by police while covering the search of Favorskaya’s home. Yarov was beaten by police, threatened with sexual violence and taken to a hospital, Reporters Without Borders said. Yarov is accused of “disobedience” towards police and risks 15 days of detention, the group said.

In Ufa, 1,300 kilometers (around 800 miles) east of Moscow, Russian authorities detained Olga Komleva, a reporter for RusNews, on Wednesday. They also accused her of extremism and involvement with Navalny and his organization, Reporters Without Borders said.

OVD-Info said that Favorskaya was initially detained on March 17 after laying flowers on Navalny’s grave. She spent 10 days in jail after being accused of disobedience towards the police, but when that period of detention ended, authorities charged her again and ordered her to appear Friday in Moscow’s Basmanny District Court, OVD-Info said.

Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation has been designated an extremist organization by Russian authorities, which means that people associated with it potentially face prison sentences if they continue to be involved in its work.

Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, said that Favorskaya didn’t publish anything on the Foundation’s platforms and suggested that Russian authorities targeted her because she was doing her job as a journalist.

“What darkness,” Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Authorities in northwest Mexico rescue 42 people after mass kidnappings by criminal groups

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said they rescued 42 hostages, including 18 children, from criminal groups Saturday after a wave of kidnappings in Sinaloa state, where more than 600 special force troops were sent to beef up security.

Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha said an intensive operation by police and military forces was still trying to find 24 more people who were kidnapped.

Kidnappings en masse took place Friday in different areas of the La Noria region, outside Sinaloa’s capital city of Culiacan. Members of criminal groups made hostages of at least three families, local public security chief Gerardo Mérida said.

Federal authorities sent special forces troops to Sinaloa to search for the missing people. An additional 300 soldiers and a National Guard battalion are also operating in the area.

Local authorities have not said who was behind the mass kidnappings, which took place one day after three people were killed in the state’s Badiraguato region.

Culiacan and other cities in the state have been the scenes of violent incidents in recent years, with killings by members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

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Greek authorities seize 3.75 million capsules of contraband nerve pain drug pregabalin

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities said Saturday they seized more than three tons of the prescription nerve pain drug pregabalin and impounded a yacht registered in the United Kingdom.

The operation took place Thursday night at the port of Lavrio, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Athens, the coast guard said.

On the yacht, the coast guard found 3.75 million capsules of Nervigesic, a brand name used by Indian pharmaceuticals firm HAB Pharma for pregabalin. The capsules were packaged in 500 cardboard boxes weighing nearly 3.15 tons, the statement said.

Pregabalin is used to treat nerve pain caused by a variety of conditions, such as diabetes and shingles, and also to treat a type of seizure called partial seizure because it has its origin at a single location in the brain.

The raid was ordered based on information from Greece’s “National Intelligence Agency about the activity of networks of Egyptian nationals in Greek territory,” the statement said.

The yacht and its contents remain at the Lavrio port while local authorities conduct an investigation, the coast guard said.

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Hiker found dead on remote Phoenix trail was probably a victim of the heat, authorities say

An Oregon woman who went missing on a hike in north Phoenix has been found dead and it appears to be heat-related, according to authorities.

Phoenix Fire Department officials said Jessica Christine Lindstrom, 34, went hiking around 8:30 a.m. Friday and was declared missing about nine hours later by Phoenix police.

Jessica Christin Lindstrom in undated family photo.

Phoenix Police Department

Fire Department Capt. Scott Douglas said drones and technical rescue teams were used during a five-hour search before Lindstrom’s body was found on a remote trail on the north side of the Deem Hills Recreation Area.

Douglas said it will be up to the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner to determine a cause of death, but preliminary information suggests Lindstrom was overcome by the heat while hiking.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Lindstrom was in town from Oregon, where it doesn’t get this hot,” Douglas said.

Authorities said Lindstrom, who formerly lived in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria, was a registered nurse in Oregon and was visiting family.

CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV spoke with Lindstrom’s father, who described her as energetic, strong-willed, and a great mom to her four little boys. When she was living in Arizona, he said, she hiked the same trails often with her husband.

Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, reported Wednesday that 39 heat-associated deaths have been confirmed this year as of July 29 with another 312 deaths under investigation.

At the same time last year, there were 42 confirmed heat-related deaths in the county with another 282 under investigation.

Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, reported 425 heat-associated deaths in all of 2022, more than half of them in July.

The National Weather Service said July was the hottest month in Phoenix on record, with an average temperature of 102.7 Fahrenheit. That topped the previous record of 99.1 degrees set in August 2020.

Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more and longer than most cities during the recent heat spell, with several records including 31 consecutive days over 110 degrees. The previous record was 18 straight, set in 1974.

The National Weather Service said metro Phoenix was under an excessive heat warning through Monday night, with near-record high temperatures expected to reach between 110 and 114 Sunday and Monday.

Saturday’s high of 116 broke the previous record of 115, which was set on that date in 2019.

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He was on a hammock, camping in southeast Colorado. Then, authorities say, a bear bit him.

A man camping near the Purgatoire River in Trinidad in southeast Colorado was bit by a bear Saturday night but is expected to survive.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the camper was resting in a hammock when he apparently startled a bear that was next to him.

The bear left a two-to-three-inch wound in the man’s arm before wandering off, according to CPW.

A photo shows the bite marks left by a bear on a man camping in Trinidad, Colo. on August 6, 2023.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

“Bear attacks are rare and we take them very seriously,” said Mike Brown, CPW’s area wildlife manager for the region. “We are doing everything we can to locate this bear. And we continue to investigate the incident. Luckily, the victim’s injury appears to be relatively minor.”

If captured, the bear will be euthanized, per agency policy, according to CPW.

The camper, who CPW officials did not publicly identify, said he heard rustling noises around 10 p.m. He turned on his headlamp and then the bear bit him. The man went to a local motel and called an ambulance.

Now, CPW and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are searching the area with teams of trappers, inspectors and dogs. A trap was set up near the campground where the bear bit the man, in case it returns.

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Fiery mid-air collision of firefighting helicopters over Southern California kills 3, authorities say

Two firefighting helicopters collided in mid-air Sunday evening while battling a blaze in Riverside County, Calif., killing all three people on one of them, CalFire said, adding that the other landed safely.

CBS News Los Angeles says a “fiery mid-air collision” occurred.

Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher told reporters those killed were a CalFire division chief, a CalFire captain and a contract pilot. He said the crash sparked an additional four acre fire that was extinguished.

firefighting-helicopter-crash-possible-mid-air-collision-riverside-county-california-080623.jpg — Burned area near site of crash of firefighting helicopter in Riverside County, Calif. on August 6, 2023. The scorched earth may be from the crash or the fire, authorities said.

CBS New Los Angeles

No one on the chopper that landed was hurt, officials said.

“Although this was a tragic event, we are also thankful today that it wasn’t worse,” Fulcher said.

Sheriff’s deputies responded at 7:20 p.m. to an air emergency as crews were battling the Broadway Fire near Cabazon, according to a post by the Riverside County Sheriff’s office on X, formerly known as Twitter.

CBS News Los Angeles says the collision happened over Native American land.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

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“Multiple passengers” dead in bus crash on Pennsylvania interstate, authorities say

“Multiple passengers” were killed in a collision late Sunday night between a charter bus and passenger vehicle on Interstate 81 in Dauphin County in southeast Pennsylvania, state police said.

The bus, carrying 45-50 passengers, flipped on its side and came to rest on the right berm, police said, adding that multiple people were taken to Hershey Medical Center suffering from various injuries.

The Chambers Hill Fire Department was opening up as a reunification center for passengers. The Red Cross was to be there as well.

Dauphin County is home to the state capital, Harrisburg, and Hershey Park.

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Firefighting helicopter crashes, may have been involved in mid-air collision, authorities say

A firefighting helicopter crashed in Southern California Sunday while fighting a blaze in Riverside County, emergency officials said.

The helicopter was performing work under contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fire captain and spokesman Richard Cordova said.

Sheriff’s deputies responded at 7:20 p.m. to an air emergency as crews were battling the Broadway fire near Cabazon, according to a post by the Riverside County Sheriff’s office on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The department is still investigating the crash and whether other aircraft were involved, Cordova said.

CBS News Los Angeles says a “fiery mid-air collision” occurred.

The station says the incident took place on Native American land, where firefighters were fighting a 20-acre fire, adding that it was unclear whether a burn area near the crash site was from the ongoing fire or from the impact of the collision.

Details weren’t immediately available on the number of injuries or fatalities.

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Passenger injures Delta flight attendant with “sharp object” at New Orleans’ main airport, authorities say

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight that had just arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans got into what a source at the carrier depicted to CBS News as a “physical altercation” with a flight attendant Wednesday afternoon.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Nelson Montgomery, 39, of New Orleans, “is believed to have injured himself using a sharp object,” then “grabbed a flight attendant” and injured her with it.

“She suffered two superficial lacerations … and was later treated on scene,” the statement said, adding that Montgomery “was subdued by several passengers and held until deputies arrived at the aircraft to arrest him.”

Montgomery was treated at a local hospital for injuries that aren’t considered life-threatening, the statement continued, and was to be booked on charges of aggravated battery, disturbing the peace, and simple battery.

The airport declined to comment to CBS News.

There was no word on what prompted the alleged actions by the passenger.

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