Skip to main content

Russian media: Griner pleads guilty in Russia drugs trial

By The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) _ Russian news agencies say jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges during her trial in Moscow.

The reports quoted Griner as pleading guilty to the charges at Thursday’s court hearing. They said that speaking through an interpreter, Griner said she had acted unintentionally because she was packing in haste.

Griner was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters with cannabis oil allegedly were found in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs.

The trial of the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist began last week.

Cyprus plans mass livestock vaccination to halt spread of foot-and-mouth disease

By The Associated Press
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Wednesday it plans to vaccinate thousands of goats, sheep, hogs and cows in an effort to contain an outbreak of a foot-and-mouth disease that threatens exports of halloumi cheese and will result in the culling of at least 13,000 animals. Agriculture and Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou said European Union experts are in the country to oversee an initial round of vaccinations at livestock farms inside a three-kilometer (1.9 mile) radius from the outbreak’s epicenter. So far, 11 farms have been affected by the outbreak in four communities close to the country’s southern coastline. Crews have been deployed to spray disinfectant on vehicles entering the exclusion zone to avoid any possible transfer of the highly-contagious viral disease that induces fever and blister-like sores in the mouth, drastically reduces milk production and leaves animals weakened. “Strictly obeying biosecurity measures is absolutely essential as they are a key tool to containing the virus,” Panayiotou told a news conference, adding that private veterinarians have been recruited to help state authorities administer the vaccine.
Read Next Story

Related News

Cyprus plans mass livestock vaccination to halt spread of foot-and-mouth disease

With rocks, clubs and flammable liquid, Jewish settlers descend on a Palestinian hamlet

The home of the ‘Mona Lisa’ has a new boss to steer the Louvre out of crisis after jewel heist