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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Alaska man handed 'personal gift' from Putin after complaint over motorbike
With the US and Russia due to sit down again in an attempt to try and find a solution for the Ukranian War, a motorcycle has taken the centre stage of international relations Russian president Vladimir Putin has gifted an American man a Russian motorcycle after the Alaskan had complained to reporters that sanctions were making it difficult for him to get parts for his own model. An employee of the Russian embassy in the United States handed local man Mark Warren the keys to a new Ural motorcycle in the parking lot of the Anchorage Hotel. The Russian delegation were staying there ahead of the Russia-United States summit. The retired fire inspector said he is well aware that some people are disgusted he took an expensive gift from the Russian leader whose employee handed it over and told Mr Warren the bike was: 'a personal gift from the President of the Russian Federation.' The new khaki green Ural bike is valued at about $22,000 (£16,310) but its recipient was undeterred by the scrutiny of others and willingly accepted it despite the fact the Russian government is under U.S. Sanctions. Putin is also wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine and has an open warrant for his arrest. Mr Warren said: "I p***ed off all sorts of people. I took it. I could have not taken it, and probably p***ed off just as many people as doing that. I don't care.' The motorcyclist said he understood that people took a dim view of the Russian leader but told Anchorage Daily News that the goodwill gesture from Putin wasn't getting the Russian Federation anything in return from him directly. He confirmed: 'They're getting nothing from me. Nothing.' The Russian state media described the gift as a gesture of goodwill to the people of the United States. Mr Warren stated that he doesn't see himself as functioning as propaganda for the Russian government. The Alaskan was gifted the new motorcycle after a chance encounter with Russian reporters on the streets of his state's capital. Ahead of the summit, a pair of journalists saw him riding the Ural brand motorcycle he bought from his neighbour a few years ago to downtown Anchorage to run some errands. The two men who said they were from Russia's state television Channel 1 flagged him down, waving him to the side of the street, informed Mr Warren. He explained: 'They said, 'We need to talk to you.' I went over there, and there were two journalists, and they said, 'Do you realize this is a Russian motorcycle?' They were very nice, and then we got to talking about it.' The unlikely meeting saw the American become the star of a news segment about the effect of economic sanctions as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Mr Warren told Russian media that repairs to his bike had gotten expensive as affordable parts had become harder to find. The clip went viral in Russia and the media star soon received several phone calls, despite him not giving the journalists his phone number. He was told that the story had even reached President Vladimir Putin, who wanted to give him a new Ural motorcycle. The conversation put the bike directly into the geopolitical conflict at the heart of the summit. On its website, the company Ural which condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine said 'production ground to a halt due to [an] inability to import components and export bikes out of Russia caused by international sanctions laid on the country.' The company was founded in what was then Soviet Russia and is now headquartered in Washington state. Ural pulled all its production out of Russia after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, because sanctions prevented them from exporting bikes. At first, the retired man told his wife he thought the promise of a delivery of the new bike could be part of an elaborate scam but sure enough a sheet covering a motorcycle shaped object was ready to be unveiled in the Lakefront Hotel in Spenard's carpark by Russian officials. Mr Warren claimed it was a "good bike" and said he will likely sell his older one so he can ride his new present. When Russian reporters asked the recipient of Putin's gift about the summit between U.S. and Russian leaders, Mr Warren responded that he had been optimistic. 'I just said, 'I just hope something good comes out of it,'' he added.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Yahoo
What This Wild 1901 Murder Trial Tells Us About Black History
African American women's history is at once beautiful and haunting, and because my work emphasizes their experiences with the law, it can also be profoundly difficult and sad. When I first stumbled onto the case of Mary Wright, a young African American domestic accused of killing her white employer, I assumed her fate was sealed. But as I read through the court documents and press coverage, a unique tale unfolded. Mary's story is a timely account of a Black woman battling seemingly insurmountable odds. On a summer afternoon in 1901, Mary discovered her employer in a pool of blood on the floor of an upstairs hallway. Sarah, a widowed septuagenarian, had suffered a punishing beating; her skull was cracked open, and she lay in a battered heap. Mary went for help, and after the alarm was raised, a barely breathing Sarah was rushed to the hospital while authorities took Mary into custody. Philadelphia's criminal justice system was hardly known for impartiality, so Mary's was an especially precarious position. That Sarah Haggenbotham was among the city's wealthiest elite added another layer of complexity. But Mary tapped into key methods that Black women used at the turn of the century to help even the odds, maneuvers that mobilized their might and their minds. Under questioning, Mary carefully chose when to speak and when to be quiet. She described the bizarre events that occurred at the house shortly after they returned from the Anchorage Hotel on the Jersey shore—Sarah's son Jonathan Haggenbotham had purchased the storied resort. Mary said that Sarah feared her home had been burglarized. She noticed storage trunks had been broken open and ransacked. As if that wasn't alarming enough, Mary and Sarah encountered a strange white man in the house who hurled a brick at Sarah's head before running outside. When Jonathan came home later that day, he dissuaded Sarah from summoning the police. He said there was no immediate danger, and it seemed that nothing had been stolen. He went out again, and sometime thereafter Sarah was attacked. The authorities were skeptical of Mary's version of events as well as her repeated requests to speak with Jonathan—which they denied. She remained in police custody. When Sarah died without regaining consciousness, Mary's predicament went from bad to worse. Facing murder charges, Mary changed tactics. She weaponized her housekeeper knowledge to point the police in another obvious direction. Sarah had cut her trip to the shore short because she did not approve of Jonathan's fiancé, Clara Ferner—a thirty-eight-year-old woman who worked at his hotel. Mary said that Sarah and Clara argued over everything from drapes to dinner. Mary went further. She amended her original intruder story. She implied that Jonathan had hired the man to kill his mother, but that the man couldn't finish the job. The stranger told her that Jonathan was a cold soul and that he was killing his mother upstairs. As the man left, she went to check. She saw Jonathan standing over Sarah, who lay on the hallway floor, feebly asking her son, 'Why?' He responded that she had seen his face. Then he dropped the brick on her head. Mary was horrified, but Jonathan tried to soothe her; he gave her wine and told her that if she kept his secret, she would live well on the Jersey shore. Every word of Mary's new account found its way into local presses, and it sent shockwaves through Philadelphia's high society and everyday folk alike. When police arrested Jonathan, he cast a worrying image. He rocked back and forth in court and cried Mary's name aloud in some sort of twisted mantra—moving between entreaties for her to come to him and asking how she could betray him. This as his fiancé, Clara sat by his side trying to explain the proceedings. Spectators thought him to be having a mental crisis. That theory would be dispelled by another stunner, as a prison official made it plain: Jonathan had the tell-tale signs of the hypodermic needle on his arm. He was addicted to morphine. As authorities investigated Jonathan, they kept the pressure on Mary. She remained in a rat-infested cell while police tried to set her up. They had her beau visit and ask pointed questions while a detective in disguise listened from an adjacent cell. Mary held to her account. Even so, she was hardly out of the woods. Jonathan's family hired the city's former district attorney to help him navigate the case. The press also routinely depicted Mary as untrustworthy. The David and Goliath battle incensed the Black community, and Mary's congregation fundraised and got her a lawyer. This level of solidarity was vital for Mary's plight; collective organization has always sustained African Americans throughout periods of struggle and this instance was no different. Since Jonathan refused to submit clothes he wore on the day of the murder, there was little evidence beyond the word of a Black woman. The charges against him were dropped. Mary, conversely, was indicted for murder. As she languished in jail, she reportedly wept bitter tears. Those tears didn't just display her inner turmoil; they helped humanize her to the public. Tried in December, the strongest witness for the defense was also the most unexpected. Jonathan testified that he did not remember anything from his arraignment or that Mary had accused him of the murder. He did not recall his time in the county prison, either. It was simply too bizarre for the jury to believe—in the end, they acquitted Mary. Outmatched on every register, Mary Wright used her status as a servant to her advantage, and her emotional displays eroded narratives of her as a brutal killer. Her communal ties also gave her a fighting chance. Knitted together, these methods helped Mary and other Black women like her wring out the most unlikely of victories. You Might Also Like 4 Investment-Worthy Skincare Finds From Sephora The 17 Best Retinol Creams Worth Adding to Your Skin Care Routine
