1 UNITED STATES/RUSSIA
US ‘warned Russia ahead of terror attack in Moscow’
The US repeatedly alerted Russia that extremists were planning to attack large gatherings in Moscow ahead of last month’s concert hall attack that claimed at least 140 lives, the White House said.
The national security spokesperson, John Kirby (below), said that US officials passed on warnings – including one in writing – and dismissed Russian allegations that Ukraine was involved as “nonsense”.
“It is abundantly clear that Isis [Islamic State] was solely responsible for the horrific attack in Moscow,” he said.
Kirby spoke shortly after Russia’s investigative committee said it had uncovered evidence that the four gunmen who carried out the attack on 22 March were linked to “Ukrainian nationalists” and had received cash and cryptocurrency from Ukraine.
Kirby described the Russian allegations of Ukrainian involvement as “nonsense and propaganda”.
He said that the US provided several advance warnings to Russian authorities of extremist attacks on concerts and large gatherings in Moscow, including in writing on 7 March at 11.15am.
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2 UNITED STATES
Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years over FTX fraud
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul who perpetrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11bn in assets. His lawyer reiterated a pledge to appeal the sentence the same day.
The judge, Lewis Kaplan, issued the penalty in a Manhattan courtroom last Thursday. Bankman-Fried, the
