Swedish ski star Frida Karlsson says she stood up for women in stalker case
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Frida Karlsson, a Swedish cross-country skiing world champion, said she was standing up for women by bringing the issue of stalking into the public gaze after being 'victimized' by a man in an ordeal lasting more than a year.
A man in his 60s was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay 40,000 kronor ($4,100) in damages after being convicted of stalking Karlsson for a year and four months, according to Swedish news agency TT.
According to the indictment, the man called Karlsson 207 times, left her voicemails and text messages and approached her, including outside her apartment, TT reported. More than 7,000 pictures were found on the man's phone, most of them of Karlsson.
The 25-year-old Karlsson, who was a team bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and has just won her first individual world championship title, spoke about her stalking case for the first time this week while at a training camp for Sweden's winter athletes in the Greek island of Crete.
'This particular issue of stalking is something that affects many people and that was one of the reasons we reported this to the police,' Karlsson said at a news conference.
'It affects more than just public figures. It's mainly women who are being victimized and that's also why I'm doing this now.'
Karlsson was glad to have gone through the trial and 'had my say.'
'Everyone should speak up when something is wrong and when someone crosses the line,' she added. 'And I hope that everyone who is victimized does so.'
In February, a man who was found guilty of stalking U.S. Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu was given a five-year restraining order. He also was sentenced to an 18-month community service order that includes 200 hours of unpaid work.
Karlsson is hoping the man gets 'the punishment he deserves.'
'Then it could possibly set a kind of standard, not only for me but for everyone else who is victimized as well."
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Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Israel retrieves body of Thai hostage as 95 more people reported killed in Gaza offensive
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel said Saturday that it had retrieved the body of a Thai hostage abducted into the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, as the Israeli military continued its offensive, killing at least 95 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza's health ministry. Nattapong Pinta's body was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta came to Israel to work in agriculture. Israel's government said that he was seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. Thailand's foreign ministry reported that the last Thai hostage in Gaza was confirmed dead, and said the bodies of two others are yet to be retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza. Israel says more than half are dead. Families were rallying again Saturday evening in Israel, calling for a ceasefire deal that would bring everyone home. Israel's defense minister said that Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area in southern Gaza. The army said that he was seized by the Mujahideen Brigades, the small armed group that also took two Israeli-American hostages, Judith Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies were retrieved on Thursday. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the agricultural workers lived on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first. A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the war, according to Thailand's foreign ministry. Separately, Hamas issued an unusual warning about another hostage, Matan Zangauker, saying Israel's military had surrounded the area where he's being held and that any harm that came to him during a rescue attempt would be Israel's responsibility. Israel's military didn't immediately comment. Israel continues its military offensive Four Israeli strikes hit the Muwasi area in southern Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis. In northern Gaza, one strike hit an apartment, killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital 'Stand up, my love,' one weeping woman said, touching the shrouded bodies. Another strike in Gaza City killed six members of a family, including two children, according to the Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals. Israel said that it was responding to Hamas' 'barbaric attacks' and dismantling its capabilities. It said it takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Reports say some of the dead tried to get food aid Staff at Nasser hospital, which received the bodies of six people over the past 24 hours, said that they were killed while on their way to get food aid. Much of Gaza's population of more than 2 million relies on aid after widespread destruction of agriculture and markets as well as a recent Israeli blockade. Experts have warned of famine. Israel's army said that despite warnings that the aid distribution area is an active combat zone during nighttime hours, several suspects attempted to approach troops operating in the Tel al-Sultan area overnight 'in a manner that posed a threat.' The army said that troops called out, but as the suspects continued advancing, they fired warning shots. An army official who couldn't be named in line with military procedures said that the shots were fired about a kilometer (half-mile) from the distribution site. Over the past two weeks, shootings have occurred frequently near the new hubs where thousands of desperate Palestinians are being directed to collect food. Witnesses say nearby Israeli troops have opened fire, and more than 80 people have been killed , according to Gaza hospital officials. Israel's military has said that it fired warning shots or, in some instances, at individuals approaching troops. The hubs are run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation , a new group of mainly American contractors. Israel wants GHF to replace humanitarian groups in Gaza that distribute aid in coordination with the United Nations. A GHF spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group's rules, said that it didn't feed Gaza residents on Saturday and blamed Hamas threats. There was no immediate Hamas response. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid under the U.N.-led system. The U.N. and aid groups deny there's significant diversion of aid to militants and say the new system — which they have rejected — allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and won't be effective. The U.N says it has been unable to distribute much aid under its own system because of Israeli military restrictions on movements and insecurity. Separately, Palestinians lined up at a soup kitchen in Gaza City for handouts on the second day of Eid al-Adha . 'I have been standing here for more than an hour and a half. I feel I have a sunstroke, and I am in need,' said the waiting Farida al-Sayed, who said she had six people to feed. 'I only had lentils, and I ran out of them.' Death tolls since the war began Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered dozens of bodies. Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. The offensive has destroyed large parts of Hamas-run Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians. ___ Mohammad Jahjouh reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip. Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut. ___ Follow the AP's war coverage at ___ A previous version of this story was corrected to show that the previous bodies were recovered on Thursday, not Friday. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
An AP discussion on the courts, lawyers and testimony inside the Diddy, Weinstein and Mangione cases
NEW YORK (AP) — Julie Walker, AP radio correspondent: We're here to talk about three big cases in New York. Sean "Diddy" Combs charged with sex trafficking and racketeering by the Feds. He pled not guilty. Down the street in state court, Harvey Weinstein's retrial by the Manhattan DA on rape and sex assault charges. He also pled not to guilty. And then there's Luigi Mangione. He's charged by both the state and the Feds with killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and has also pled not guilty. Joining me now, two of the Associated Press reporters covering the cases and the courts, Larry Neumeister and Mike Sisak. And I'm Julie Walker. All right, let's start with Sean "Diddy" Combs, what's been going on with that trial? Larry Neumeister, AP courts reporter: They're fascinated by a celebrity on trial. And as part of that, I've been trying to figure out what was he really called around his office? Was he called Diddy? Was he call Puff Daddy? Was called he Puff? Was he, called you know, Sean Combs? A lot of the witnesses seem to have called him Puff every day at the office. So that's my first takeaway from the trial. Mike, how about you? Michael Sisak, AP law enforcement reporter: I think it's fascinating that you have Sean Combs on trial at the same time as Harvey Weinstein's retrial, because you have the arc of the #MeToo movement playing out in the entertainment industry and across different aspects of the entertainment industry. Harvey Weinstein's allegations in 2017 really kickstarted the #MeToo movement. He then had his trial in 2020. Now we're sort of on the other side of that arc where it's Sean Combs opening a window into the hip-hop industry, into the music industry, certainly the most famous, most well-known person from that aspect of entertainment, on trial, and you see the media and public attention gravitating to the Combs trial, to the Diddy trial, much more so than the Weinstein retrial, in part because of the fascination with celebrity. NEUMEISTER: And plus, I think with Weinstein, he's convicted out in LA. So, because he's already, you know, going to be in jail, even if he got exonerated at this second trial, he's still sentenced to a long time in prison. SISAK: He has a form of cancer, he has heart issues, he has all of these things that have only gotten worse, his lawyers say, since that first trial. But to your point, Larry, yes, he is convicted in Los Angeles, and the retrial in New York was caused by an appeals court overturning that 2020 conviction. WALKER: So, to sum it up for just one moment, two very different men, but at one point, very powerful, thought to be very untouchable. And I want to get back to both of them, but I want a pivot just for a minute and remind everyone that we're also talking about Luigi Mangione. SISAK: The fascinating thing about the Mangione case is that he could wind up in both courthouses. You have Diddy in the federal courthouse, you have Weinstein in the state courthouse, and Mangione faces murder charges in both the federal jurisdiction and the state jurisdiction. And initially, we thought and were told by prosecutors that the state case would proceed first. Now the state case, the maximum punishment would be life in prison. However, the Trump administration has gone ahead and filed paperwork indicating that they will seek the death penalty in the federal case, that case appears like it will now be the first one out. His next court date in the federal case is not until December. NEUMEISTER: Seeking the death penalty right off the bat adds one year to everything, and probably two to three years in the long run, because everything will get appealed to the hilt, certainly if they found the death-penalty. But the last time I saw in Manhattan them, the prosecutors seeking a death penalty, was in 2001, and it was two guys charged in an attack on two African embassies that like over 100 people. I think it's hard to win a death penalty case in Manhattan. WALKER: Now the other interesting thing is that Luigi Mangione and Sean "Diddy" Combs are in the same jail right now. SISAK: Yeah, Mangione and Combs are both at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which is a federal jail that has been in the headlines not only because of the celebrity guests there. Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency scammer, was also detained there, but also because that jail has a lot of problems. It's the only federal jail in New York City now. They closed the one in Manhattan where Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide. NEUMEISTER: And you know what, we've had a lot of celebrities appear in the federal courts in Manhattan. I mean, over the years, we had Martha Stewart convicted here. We had, just in the last year or two, we had Robert De Niro in the Robert De Niro civil trial. Well, one thing that's interesting about this Sean Combs trial that I don't think I've ever seen is so many witnesses that are subpoenaed to appear in the trial. We must have had a good four or five witnesses who were subpoenaed to appear. A couple of them said they definitely didn't want to testify. One of them would have pleaded the fifth, but was given immunity. So he testified. He said it was the last place he wanted to be. And what that enables is the defense to really kind of co-opt them as their witness. WALKER: You're talking about the ex-assistant. NEUMEISTER: Yes, George Kaplan, I believe is his name, and he appeared and said all these wonderful things about Sean Combs. He still sends him birthday greetings every year, although he did remark that he invited Combs to his wedding and Combs didn't even respond. So, you know, I don't know how that plays to the jury. But yeah, you know, there's so many witnesses and the defense lawyers more than I've ever seen in I think any trial I've witnessed in 33 years covering the courts, the defense lawyers keep treating a lot of these witnesses as their friendly witness. WALKER: I want to get back to the defense and his defense team, but let's talk about the jury for a minute, because a lot of people ask me about that since I have been in court with the two of you. And obviously, you know, the jury is anonymous. Eight men, four women, and then the six alternates, and it's like a slice of life from New York. NEUMEISTER: Well, there's many kinds of anonymous juries, and this is not a super anonymous jury like you have at a terrorism trial where by the end of the trial, all you know is they had numbers. It doesn't seem to be the kind of anonymity that jurors sometimes get to protect their safety or things like that. So, it's more of a milder version of an anonymous jury. But one thing I've seen with this jury that I've hardly ever seen with a jury is incredible attention to every witness. They turn in their chairs, they're pointed toward the witness, they're scribbling notes like mad. I've never seen so much as a juror yawn, although I did see Kid Cudi, he was yawning several times. SISAK: To your point, Larry, I think, you know, you talk about the anonymous jury, or at least the anonymity in that we don't know their names. These high profile cases, more and more, you're seeing judges take extra steps to protect the jury. And in the case of Sean Combs, you also had allegations of witness tampering, witness interference, leading to his arrest in September of 2024. So that could also explain why some of these witnesses are reluctant to come forward. NEUMEISTER: That's the main reason he wasn't given bail, is that they felt he was a threat to witnesses and had reached out to a couple of them. WALKER: Now, in New York, court cases are not televised. We do have sketch artists who are allowed to be in the courtroom, and then we are able to show those sketches. And we see a very different looking Diddy. His hair is completely gray, his goatee gray. He is allowed to wear his own clothes, as is Harvey Weinstein. Let's talk a little bit about what we're actually seeing that people aren't privy to. SISAK: What we've learned from this trial is that Sean Combs, according to his assistant who testified, was using Just For Men to hide gray hair and he had jet black hair up until the time he was arrested and put in jail last year. And then we also learned that hair dye is not allowed in jail. So in court, he has had this gray salt and pepper hair, goatee. He has been allowed to wear for the trial, sweaters, button down shirts, khakis and the like. It's a stark difference in look. NEUMEISTER: I'll tell you though, the guy is so involved with his defense, it's like off the charts, kind of amazing. I don't think I've ever seen this to this degree before. There was a witness, it was Kid Cudi, where at the end of his testimony, the prosecutors got him to say he believed Sean Combs was lying when he said he didn't know anything about his car when he brought it up. Kid Cudi's car was exploded in his driveway one day with a Molotov cocktail. And absolutely destroyed. And so he had a meeting with Sean Combs some weeks after that. And at the very end of the meeting, he said, brought up the car. And Sean Combs said, 'oh, what are you talking about? I don't know anything about that.' And after, as soon as that, the prosecutor finished asking the questions, got that response, then two lawyers, one on each side of Combs looked to him Combs said no, and only then did the lawyers inform the judge that there would be no more questioning. SISAK: I recall being in the courtroom earlier in the trial when some images were shown from some of the videotapes at issue here with these sex marathons that have become known in his parlance as "freak-offs." And there was a binder of some of these images, and Combs was sitting next to his lawyer and waved over, hey, I want to see those, and he's looking through them and he's holding the press, the public. We were not allowed to see these images. Their graphic images. The defendant, of course, was allowed to see them and he held them in a way that we could not see what he was looking at. And then he passed it back. And then other times he's hunched over a laptop computer looking at exhibits that are showing text messages and emails that were exchanged over the years with various people involved in the case. And then when there are breaks, we see him standing up, stretching, turning around, looking at his supporters in the gallery. His mother has been there. Some of his children have been there, some of his daughters have left the courtroom during the especially graphic testimony. But at other times, when his children are there, when his supporters are there, he's shaping his hands in the shape of a heart. He's pointing at them. He's saying, I love you. He's whispering. There was a moment when another reporter and I were sitting in the courtroom during a break and Sean Combs turns around, there's nobody in front of us and he asks us how we're doing. We say hi back to him because you're in such close proximity. We're only 10 feet apart or so. I'll pivot quickly to the Harvey Weinstein case where there's not as much of that because while Harvey Weinstein does have a contingent of supporters, it's mostly paid supporters, his publicist, his lawyers, his jury consultant. People that he will wave to and talk to and acknowledge as he's being wheeled into the courtroom. He uses a wheelchair to get in and out of court. One of the interesting things that ties the Sean Combs case and the Luigi Mangione case is one of the lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, represents both of those men. Karen Friedman Agnifilo is the lead defense attorney for Luigi Mangione. She is married to Marc Agnifilo. They are partners in the same law firm and Marc Agnifilo is ostensibly the lead attorney for Sean Combs. He is also assisting on Luigi Mangione's defense, both in the state and federal case. WALKER: In the beginning of the Combs case, the jury was shown that explosive video that the public already saw in the L.A. hotel hallway of Combs dragging Cassie and kicking her when she's on the ground and he made a public apology on his social media to her. And his lawyers have said that he's not a perfect person and he has anger issues, but he's not charged with domestic abuse. SISAK: The refrain from the defense has been that, if anything, there could have been domestic violence charges brought against Sean Combs back in 2016. Those charges would have been brought in a California court by Los Angeles police. There has not been any real discussion of an investigation in 2016 of any effort to charge Sean Combs with domestic violence at that time. So, in some sense, while it's a thread that the defense is pulling, that he's actually charged with sex trafficking and racketeering in this federal case, it almost is a bit of apples and oranges in the sense that the violence that the defenses conceding to, prosecutors allege, was part of the mechanism of the racketeer of the sex trafficking. In other words, they allege that Sean Combs used violence to keep people quiet, to people compliant. NEUMEISTER: And a lot of charges like domestic violence are all kind of things they could have brought against Sean Combs years ago. Well, there's a statute of limitations that would rule out certain charges. And certain charges just, there is no federal domestic violence charge. So when the feds go after somebody, they look for what kind of charges are federal crimes. And in this case, sex trafficking, bringing people across state lines to do illegal sex acts, or racketeering, which can involve many different things, including that 2016 tape of Cassie being beat up by Sean Combs by the Elevator Bank in that Los Angeles hotel. That, actually, is a centerpiece of the evidence against Combs in this case. WALKER: The point is that that hallway video of Diddy beating up Cassie is actually part of the case of racketeering because he's using violence to control people. NEUMEISTER: Listen, there's violence all through this, right Mike? SISAK: The Kid Cudi arc in this narrative, which is in 2011, Cassie, who's the longtime girlfriend of Sean Combs, starts dating Kid Cudi. Combs is upset about that, according to this witness, Capricorn Clark. Combs comes into her home holding a gun, kidnaps Capricorn Clark, takes her to Kid Cudi's home, where according to Clark, Combs was intent on killing Kid Codi. Now, Cudi was not there. He testified at this trial, so Combs is alleged wish of killing him did not come to fruition, it may be a bit of a crafty strategy by the defense in this case to own the things that they cannot otherwise explain away. They are owning the things the jury eventually is going to see. The video of the 2016 assault at the hotel in Los Angeles. A video, by the way, that was suppressed from public view until it aired last year on CNN. NEUMEISTER: And that is part of the racketeering charge, it's alleged that he used all of his employees and his whole security staff to cover up these things. So, when that happened in 2016 at that L.A. hotel, they paid like $100,000 to try to get the copy of the security video so it would never become public. WALKER: I think we've covered so much that I'm not sure what we have left to cover, although there probably is more. But are there any big points or big arcs that you think are worth mentioning? NEUMEISTER: In the beginning, the first week, it was all Cassie's testimony and there was so much evidence in everything and her testimony about sexual acts and such but last week it seems all about violence and threats and how he would have used his employees to cover up the crimes. SISAK: We've heard from Cassie about the freak-offs. We've heard from some of the male sex workers that were involved. And then we're seeing other pieces of evidence that prosecutors say show the depravity of these events and then also the network of people that Combs relied on to keep them secret, to keep going, but to keep them secret. WALKER: Well, I think that that about sums it up. The judge in the beginning said he wanted to be done by July 4th. SISAK: We've had people ask us, all three of us that have been in court at various times, what do you think of the prosecution's case so far? And as reporters, we don't have opinions on things, but I would urge caution whenever there's a case, let the presentation play out, get to the end of the prosecution case, but also listen to the cross-examination, listen to what the defense puts on. Often defendants will not testify on their own behalf because it can be perilous, but there are cases where it might be advantageous. NEUMEISTER: When there's celebrities involved, it's a wild card, where you really can't predict what's going to happen and how that's going to play into the jurors' minds and everything else.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Yemen's al-Qaida branch leader threatens Trump, Musk and others
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The leader of al-Qaida's Yemen branch has threatened both U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in his first video message since taking over the group last year. The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, also included calls for lone-wolf militants to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza. The video of al-Awlaki's speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk's businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla. 'There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate.' Yemen's al-Qaida branch long thought to be most dangerous Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected U.S. drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaida still operating after the 2011 killing by U.S. Navy SEALs of founder Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2022, a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, who also helped plot 9/11. The Sept. 11 attacks then began decades of war by the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State group. Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million U.S. bounty on his head, as Washington says al-Awlaki 'has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.' He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024. Israel-Hamas war a focus of the Houthis as well AQAP seizing onto the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen's Houthi rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships. The U.S. Navy has described their campaign against the Houthis as the most intense combat it has faced since World War II. The Trump administration also launched its own intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president's recent trip to the Middle East. The Houthis' international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen's long-stalemated war. Al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which U.N. experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies and ransom operations, according to the U.N. The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the militants keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces who have battled the Houthis. 'As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the 'Arab and Muslim world's resistance' against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza,' said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert of the Basha Report risk advisory firm. 'For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters.'
