City Moscow Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The daughters of a British aid worker who reportedly died after being captured by Russian forces in Ukraine claim they've been told to stump up £10,000 to bring their dad's body home.

Brittney Griner's legal team has appealed against the American basketball star's guilty verdict and nine-year prison sentence on drug smuggling charges in Russia, the lawyers said on Monday.Griner was arrested for carrying vape cartridges containing with marijuana in a Moscow airport in February amid soaring tension between Washington and Moscow, and just before Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his ongoing assault on Ukraine.The athlete was on her way to Yekaterinburg, in western Russia, to play for a local team during the WNBA's off-season.Griner pleaded guilty to the charge but sought leniency, saying that she packed the cartridges inadvertently and marijuana was prescribed to her by a doctor in the U.S. to help her cope with pain from injuries sustained during her basketball career. In early August, a court in the Moscow region found her guilty.Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as being «wrongfully detained,» moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — effectively the U.S.

Brittney Griner have filed an appeal against her prison sentence, Russian news agencies reported on Monday. Griner, an American basketball star for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after being found guilty for drug possession. Griner was detained by Russian police at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on February 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Brittney Griner‘s defense team has officially filed an appeal of her conviction.

K.J. Yossman A Russian court has failed to save “Peppa Pig’s” bacon.Entertainment One (eOne), who own the “Peppa Pig” franchise, sued Vietnamese media company Sconnect in both Russia and the U.K.

Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who became a symbol of fearless dissent when she interrupted a live TV broadcast in March to protest her country’s invasion of Ukraine, has been placed under house arrest in Moscow pending a trial related to a fresh anti-war protest in July.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe first feature by Berlin-based visual artist and filmmaker Ann Oren, which is titled “Piaffe,” is launching on Aug. 11 from the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande.Described by the director as “a love letter to the less recognized magicians of cinema and a playful celebration of otherness,” this German film is produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens and Fabian Altenried of Berlin-based Schuldenberg Films.Beijing-based Rediance, as previously announced, has taken international sales.“When her sibling Zara suffers a nervous breakdown, the introvert Eva is forced to take on Zara’s job as a foley artist.

Basketball player Brittney Griner has been found guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent in a Russian court today and sentenced to nine years in prison, CNN reports. The Phoenix Mercury player was detained near Moscow earlier this year after security discovered a small amount of the drug in her luggage.

Bad Bunny has officially kicked off the World’s Hottest Tour and you can check out the setlist right here!

Justin Bieber offered up his help after U. S. basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia on Thursday.

Out lesbian US basketball player Brittney Griner was convicted by a Russian court on charges of drug possession and smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday. US President Joe Biden denounced the verdict and sentence as “unacceptable” and called on Russia to release the athlete immediately so that she could be with her “her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates”. President Biden added that he would work to bring both Griner and Paul Whelan, another American imprisoned in Russia under an espionage charge, home.  Brittney Griner with wife Cherelle.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years behind bars in a Russian prison on charges of smuggling drugs into the country. Wow.

Hoping for a solution. After Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling in Russia, plenty of WNBA players and other celebrities weighed in to express their support for the athlete.

American basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to 9 years in prison and given a fine of 1 million rubles (approximately $16,500) by a Russian court on Thursday, after she was found guilty of drug possession and smuggling. Prosecutors had asked that she receive 9 1/2 years in prison.The trial concluded nearly six months after Griner's arrest at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy, with Washington proposing a prisoner exchange.

Brittney Griner, the two-time U.S. Olympic gold medal basketball player and WNBA star, was found guilty Thursday in Russia of drug smuggling and possession and sentenced to nine years in jail. The news comes six months after Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport while entering the country with cannabis oil in her luggage.

American basketball star Brittney Griner was found guilty of drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court on Thursday. Prosecutors have asked that she receive 9 1/2 years in prison.

Brittney Griner made her first court appearance Tuesday since the Biden administration revealed it was prepared to engage in a prisoner swap to free Griner and another U.S. citizen in Russian custody, Paul Whelan.Griner was detained in February in a Moscow airport and later charged with drug smuggling.

Russia has added to its so-called stop-list, barring a further 39 British politicians, officials, business people and journalists from entering the country including TV presenter Piers Morgan. 

President Vladimir Putin has issued a chilling threat as he claimed the Russian navy is set to receive 7,000mph nuclear missiles. Speaking on Russia’s Navy Day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg, Putin praised Tsar Peter the Great for making Russia a great sea power.

Sir Christopher Meyer, the UK’s former ambassador to the U.S., has died aged 78.

Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, offering the first public glimpse at U.S.

reported by Deadline. Born in the city of Kumamoto on the Japanese island of Kyushu, Shimada landed her first TV role in the 1970 drama “Osanazuma.” Her other TV credits include “Kamen Rider,” “Karei-naru Ichizoku” and “Shiroi Kyoto.”In “Shōgun” — which was based on the James Clavelle novel — the actress portrayed Hosokawa Gracia, a real-life member of the aristocratic Akechi family.

Brittney Griner continued in Moscow on Tuesday, with her defense team presenting additional evidence to support their position that the basketball player brought cannabis-infused oil cartridges to Russia by accident.Griner's lawyers presented negative drug tests, and a drug expert testified that frequent marijuana users would continue testing positive long after the last use.The expert, Mikhail Tetyushkin, said that medical marijuana is increasingly common in countries around the world, including the United States. He said it is often used by athletes to alleviate pain after sustaining physical trauma, supporting the defense's argument that Griner only used cannabis for medical purposes under doctor's supervision.«It is clear that if the use is constant, it affects the nervous system, decreases the speed of reaction and thinking, decreases physical activity and the ability to perform highly coordinated movements, so professional athletes cannot use them all the time,» Tetyushkin told journalists after the hearing.«The position of the defense is not that Brittany was allowed to bring banned substances into Russia.

Japanese actress Yoko Shimada, known for her portrayal of Mariko in the 1980 miniseries Shōgun,  a role which earned her a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination, has died. According to Japanese media, Shimada died Monday, July 25  from complications of colorectal cancer at a Tokyo hospital. She was 69.

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for months after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, and it is unclear when she will be able to return to the United States.The Phoenix Mercury player is currently in the middle of a trial in Moscow and faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Brittney has an uphill battle to have her criminal case acquitted in a trial that experts say is unlikely to be fair and that Russian authorities are using her as a diplomatic bargaining chip amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The Olympic gold medalist has played in Russia for the last seven winters, earning more than $1 million per season -- more than quadruple her WNBA salary, according to the Associated Press.

Christopher Vourlias Two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund will receive an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 28th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which will open Aug. 12 with the Swedish director’s 2022 Cannes winner “Triangle of Sadness.”Östlund’s English-language debut, which earned a rowdy eight-minute standing ovation in Cannes, is a provocative social satire starring Harris Dickinson as a male model struggling with his shallow industry and the unchecked capitalism he benefits from, and Woody Harrelson as the rabid Marxist captain of a cruise for the super-rich.

Legislation introduced yesterday in the Duma — the lower house of the Russian parliament — would classify media content determined to be “promoting” LGBTQ relations as “propaganda” under federal law.

Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who daringly interrupted a live TV broadcast to protest her country’s invasion of Ukraine, was briefly detained by Russian authorities for a second time over the weekend.

Vladimir Putin is deploying soldiers to the front line in Ukraine from notorious Russian prisons with a fierce reputation. Criminals from jails will bolster the ranks of the invading forces with the promise of almost £2,800 and their sentences scrapped if they comply.

entered a guilty plea before the court, which analysts believe may have been her best chance at securing an eventual pardon, or at least leniency, given the Russian court system's near-perfect conviction rate.Maria Blagovolina, one of the lawyers representing Griner, said her legal team had presented evidence Friday including «characterization materials, medical records and tax returns.» Among the medical documentation was a doctor's prescription for the substance that Griner admitted bringing into Russia mistakenly as she packed her bags in a rush.  Friday was the fourth hearing in the Phoenix Mercury player's trial. She's facing up to 10 years in prison on drug possession and smuggling charges.

A British man who was reported to have been detained by Russian forces while working as a humanitarian aid volunteer in Ukraine has died, separatist rebels have claimed.

LIVE – Updated at 19:33Follow all the action as the women’s semi-finals take place on Thursday at Wimbledon. Ons Jabeur, the No 2 seed, opened the action on Centre Court against her good friend Tatjana Maria. Both players had reached a grand slam semi-final for the first time in their careers, but Jabeur was clear favourite.

Brittney Griner pleaded guilty in Russia on Thursday to drug possession and smuggling charges, telling a Moscow court she brought marijuana into the country by accident.Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after Russian officials claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage. A Russian judge ordered Griner, the Phoenix Mercury center who played in Russia during the WNBA off-season, to remain in custody.«I would like to plead guilty on the charges against me, but I had no intention on breaking any Russian law,» she said in court.

Paul Whelan have said they are “astonished” that US President Joe Biden has not spoken to them personally while he remains detained in Russia. Elizabeth Whelan, the 49-year-old’s sister, said the Biden administration had not spoken with them since May in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. Hours earlier, Mr Biden said he and vice president Kamala Harris had spoken with the wife of the WNBA star Britney Griner amid her trial in Moscow and calls from her supporters for her release.

Brittney Griner, sooner rather than later.Brittney, whose trial began last week, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after Russia claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage. A Russian judge ordered Brittney, the Phoenix Mercury center who played in Russia during the WNBA off-season, to remain in custody for the trial's duration. If convicted on drug smuggling charges, Brittney could face 10 years in a Russian prison.

Brittney Griner was delivered to the White House on Monday morning, according to the Griner family, who provided excerpts to reporters. In her letter, the imprisoned WNBA star pleaded with the president not to forget her, and said her already deep appreciation for Independence Day has taken on new meaning this year. «I'm terrified I might be here forever,» wrote Griner, who has been detained in Russia since mid-February. «On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran.