US rejects 'business as usual' with Putin after G-20 invite
The United States said on Friday that the world cannot deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin as before after Indonesia invited him - as well as Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky - to November's Group of 20 (G-20) summit.
President Joe Biden "has expressed publicly his opposition to President Putin attending the G-20. We have welcomed the Ukrainians attending," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
"We have conveyed our view that we don't think they should be a part of it publicly and privately," she said.
She indicated that the US was in touch with the Indonesians and that the invitation to Russia came before its invasion of Ukraine.
Emotional Pentagon spokesman slams Putin's 'depravity'
An emotional Pentagon spokesman lashed out on Friday at Russian President Vladimir Putin's "depravity" in Ukraine, questioning how any moral person could defend bombing hospitals and summary executions of innocent people.
John Kirby, the former US Navy admiral who has briefed journalists on camera five days a week since the war began on Feb 24, lost his composure momentarily as he spoke of atrocities committed in Ukraine.
"It's hard to look at what he's doing in Ukraine, what his forces are doing in Ukraine, and think that any ethical, moral individual could justify that," Kirby said haltingly, when asked how the US government assessed the Russian leader's mental state.
ISIS 'Beatle' Alexanda Kotey sentenced to life in US jail
Alexanda Kotey, part of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles," was sentenced to life in jail by a United States court on Friday.
Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national, pleaded guilty in September, admitting his responsibility for the deaths of four American hostages in Syria as well as the kidnapping and torture of some 20 other journalists and relief workers.
He was captured along with another former "Beatle," El Shafee Elsheikh, by a Kurdish militia in Syria in January 2018 and handed over to US forces in Iraq before being flown to the United States in 2020 to face trial.
Trump finally posts on Truth Social: 'I'M BACK!'
Former US president Donald Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social for the first time since the app he founded launched two months ago, saying "I'M BACK!"
Mr Trump broke his silence as billionaire Elon Musk sealed a US$44 billion (S$60.75 billion) deal to buy Twitter, which last year permanently banned Mr Trump citing a risk of further violence following the Jan 6, 2021, siege by a pro-Trump mob of the US Capitol.
Republicans cheered Mr Musk's buyout of the social media platform in the hope that the Tesla chief executive, who has vowed to relax content moderation practices to restore free speech, will invite Mr Trump back to the site.
Football: Spurs' Antonio Conte labels PSG links 'fake news'
In the clearest indication that his future lies in north London, Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte branded rumours linking him to French champions Paris Saint-Germain as "fake news" on Friday.
The 52-year-old Italian, who has been the subject of intense speculation with Mauricio Pochettino mooted to move the other way, was addressing a room of about 20 print and broadcast journalists at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre in Enfield ahead of Sunday's English Premier League match against Leicester City.
When asked if he would be back at the sprawling facility that features 20 full-size pitches for the senior men's and women's team as well as the academy next season, he said: "It's good that other clubs appreciate my work, but I don't like it when people try to invent news only to create problems.
