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Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, the heads of Russian and U.S.intelligence agencies have agreed to maintain open lines of communication, signaling a potential avenue for dialogue amidst the continuing conflict in
Washington. A veteran CIA agent who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted more than two dozen women while on assignments around the world was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison after an emotional hearing in which some of the victims described being duped by a man who seemed kind, polite and part of an agency “that is supposed to protect the world from evil.”
Brian Jeffrey Raymond, graying and wearing an orange prison uniform, sat dejected as he heard his sentence after one of the most egregious cases of misconduct in the intelligence agency’s history. His actions were captured in his collection of more than 500 photographs, some of which showed him humping and groping the naked, unconscious bodies of his victims.
“It’s safe to say without a doubt that he is a sexual predator,” said federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in imposing the maximum sentence that prosecutors had sought. “You’re going to have time to think about this.”
According to prosecutors, the sexual assaults by Raymond, 48, date back to 2006 and extend throughout his career through Mexico, Peru and other countries, always following a similar pattern.
He lured women he met on Tinder and other dating apps to the apartment the government rented for him, drugging them while serving them wine and snacks. Once they were unconscious, he would spend hours posing their naked bodies before photographing and sexually assaulting them. Sometimes he would pry open their eyelids, and other times he would put his fingers inside their mouths.
One by one, about a dozen of Raymond’s victims, identified only by numbers, told the court how the seasoned spy turned their lives upside down. Some said they only learned what happened to them after the FBI showed them photos of themselves being sexually assaulted while unconscious.
“My body looks like a corpse on his bed,” one victim said of the photos. “Now I have these nightmares where I see myself dead.”
One of them described having suffered a nervous breakdown. Another spoke of falling into a recurring trance that made her run stop signs while driving. Many described how their self-confidence and ability to trust others were destroyed forever.
“I hope the consequences of his actions haunt him for the rest of his life,” said one of the women, who, like the others, stared at Raymond as they walked away from the stand.
Raymond read from a prepared statement in which he told the judge he had spent countless hours contemplating his “downward spiral.”
“I betrayed everything I stood for and I know that no apology will ever be enough,” she said. “I have no words to describe how sorry I am. I am not like this and yet I became this.”
Raymond was born in San Diego, is a former White House intern and is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin. He pleaded guilty to four of 25 federal charges, including sexual abuse, coercion and transportation of obscene material. As part of his sentence, the judge ordered him to pay $10,000 to each of his 28 victims.
#CIA #agent #sentenced #years #prison #sexually #assaulting #women
– 2024-09-19 16:54:02
Ekaterimburgo. American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for 15 months on espionage prices that he denies, appeared earlier than a court docket in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday on the primary day of his trial, which is being held behind closed doorways.
Russian justice has by no means detailed its accusations towards the journalist from Wall Avenue Journal.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 by the Russian safety providers (FSB) and have become the primary Western journalist since Soviet instances to be charged with espionage in Russia.
On Wednesday he appeared in a clear cubicle on the Sverdlovsk regional court docket along with his head shaved and carrying a darkish checkered shirt. She smiled at some reporters and greeted them with a barely audible “whats up.”
The accredited press briefly had entry to the courtroom earlier than the beginning of the trial, which is being held behind closed doorways.
A court docket spokeswoman, Irina Toshcheva, stated the following listening to can be held on August 13 and that the press wouldn’t be allowed to movie the journalist once more earlier than the decision was introduced on an as but undetermined date.
The press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) refused to say the place Gershkovich will stay, presently being held in pre-trial detention in Moscow, 1,400 km from Yekaterinburg.
“Farce of a trial”
The White Home denounced a “sham of a trial,” reiterating that Gershkovich “has by no means labored for the” American authorities, that “he’s not a spy” and that “he ought to by no means have been detained.”
Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby indicated that Washington “will proceed to do every thing attainable” to free the journalist.
The US embassy in Moscow stated its representatives had been in a position to attend a part of the listening to on Wednesday.
“Throughout this time period, the Russian authorities haven’t offered any proof to corroborate the accusations,” he denounced, and reiterated that the journalist is getting used as a “bargaining chip” by Russia “to realize political targets.”
Gershkovich, who additionally labored for AFP in Moscow in 2020 and 2021 and faces as much as 20 years in jail, is accused of getting collected confidential data on behalf of the CIA about one of many nation’s major arms producers, Uralvagonzavod.
This firm produces T-90 tanks utilized in Ukraine, the brand new technology Armata tank and freight vehicles, amongst others.
Gershkovich, his newspaper and his family members reject these accusations, as does the USA authorities, which believes that Russia has mounted the case to change the journalist for a number of Russians detained in Western international locations.
“It’s outrageous to see him in court docket for a rigged trial, performed in secret and based mostly on totally fabricated allegations,” Wall Avenue Journal executives Almar Latour and Emma Tucker stated in an announcement Wednesday.
Negotiations for an change
Gershkovich’s household, in the meantime, asserted that “Evan is a journalist and journalism will not be a criminal offense” and requested the USA authorities to do “every thing attainable to convey him residence.”
Though he was held in pre-trial detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo jail, he’s presently on trial in Yekaterinburg within the Urals area, the place he was arrested.
A senior chief of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Ryabkov, revealed final week that Russia has made a proposal to Washington for a prisoner change, with out revealing the small print. In keeping with him, “the ball is within the court docket of the USA.”
This Wednesday Riabkov, quoted by the Interfax company, requested the USA to “significantly” research the “indicators” despatched by Moscow on this difficulty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that negotiations are underway and hinted that he may ask for the discharge of Vadim Krasikov, sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for having murdered a former Chechen separatist commander in Berlin in 2019 on Moscow’s orders.
A number of People are being held in Russia, together with Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, arrested final yr for violating the “overseas brokers” regulation, and former Marine Paul Whelan, who’s serving a 16-year jail sentence for espionage, a cost he denies.
Gershkovich, the son of Jews who emigrated from the Soviet Union, grew up in New Jersey and had been working in Russia since 2017 for numerous media retailers.
In among the hearings about his preventive detention he appeared jovial and smiling. In a letter printed in 2023 he stated “to not lose hope.”
#Trial #begins #Russia #American #journalist #Evan #Gershkovich
– 2024-07-01 18:17:58
A former CIA agent has pleaded responsible to spying for China, the US Justice Division introduced Friday.
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was born in 1952 in Hong Kong, moved to Hawaii at a younger age and have become a naturalized American. He admitted that in 2001 he handed over a major quantity of categorised US nationwide safety data in a gathering with Shanghai intelligence brokers, although he had not labored for the CIA for the earlier 12 years.
The assembly was reportedly organized by one other former CIA agent, a naturalized American initially from Shanghai. On the third day of contacts at a Hong Kong lodge, Chinese language brokers supplied “$50,000 in money, which Alexander Yuk Ching Ma counted,” in accordance with the US Justice Division briefing. The 2 males then “agreed to proceed aiding” Shanghai’s intelligence company.
In 2003 Ma was employed by the FBI in Hawaii to supply linguist companies. The FBI knew of Ma’s ties to Chinese language intelligence and recruited him to work in an remoted workplace “the place his actions might be monitored,” the US Division of Justice mentioned. Ma labored for the FBI till 2012.
The US Justice Division didn’t say how Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, who faces as much as 10 years in jail, was uncovered.
#USA #CIA #agent #spy #China
이해나 기자 | 김예경 인턴기자
입력 2024/04/25 13:59
[해외토픽]
스칼렛 카이틀린 월렌은 생식기 흥분 장애 치료를 위한 수술을 받았다./사진=뉴욕 포스트
지난 23일(현지시간) 미국 매체 뉴욕 포스트는 15년 동안 ‘생식기 흥분 장애(Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder, PGAD)’를 앓은 영국 스칼렛 카이틀린 월렌(21)의 사연을 공개했다. 생식기 흥분 장애는 성욕이 있거나 성적 자극도 없는데, 외성기에 원치 않은 비정상적 성적 흥분이 지속돼 심리적 고통을 받는 질환이다. 과잉 성욕이거나 성중독과는 다르다. 월렌은 이 증상을 6살 때부터 겪었다. 오랜 기간 지속되는 고통에 학교를 다니기 힘들었고 평범한 또래들과 어울리기도 힘들었다. 월렌은 “생식기에 불이 붙은 것 같은 고통이 발생한다”며 “언제 증상이 나타날지 몰라 사람들과 오래 함께 있을 수 없다”고 말했다. 월렌은 2020년 평범한 대학 생활을 위해 샌디에이고 성 의학 클리닉을 방문했다. 의사는 “월렌의 골반 신경이 선천적으로 촉각에 과민하다”며 “이것이 생식기 흥분 장애가 발생한 원인”이라고 말했다. 또한 월렌이 그동안 복용해 왔던 SSRI(우울증·불안 장애 등을 치료하는 항우울제) 때문에 성 기능 장애가 생긴 것으로 봤다. 윌렌은 지난 2023년 통증을 느끼는 질 부분을 제거하기 위해 전정 절제술(질 입구 주변의 영역 일부를 외과적으로 제거하는 수술)을 받았다. 전정은 여성 성감대의 한 부위로, 양측 소음순이 갈라지는 부위에 위치한다. 월렌은 “성 기능 장애로 인해 모든 질을 제거하면 자연스러운 성적 흥분을 다시 느끼지 못할 가능성이 크다”며 “언젠가는 평범한 삶을 살 수 있을 것이라는 희망을 품고 있다”고 말했다.
여성의 생식기 흥분 장애의 대표 증상으로 ▲음핵의 찌릿찌릿함 ▲질이 흥분된 것처럼 부푼 느낌 ▲질 윤활액 증가 ▲자발적 질 움찔거림 ▲유두 발기 ▲음핵 발기 등이 있다. 여성은 이에 따라 기능적 이상이나 다른 신체장애가 생기진 않지만 큰 고통을 느낀다. 실제 매일 원치 않는 오르가슴을 수십 회씩 경험해 탈진한 20대 여성 사례도 있다. 또한 생식기 지속 흥분 장애 환자는 ▲공황 ▲우울감 ▲불안함을 겪기 쉬워 심리적으로 매우 취약한 상태다. 생식기 지속 흥분 장애의 원인으로는 ▲골반 혈관 기형 ▲신경 이상 ▲약제의 부작용 ▲성호르몬의 변화 ▲기타 신체 및 정신적 요소가 거론된다. 대부분은 명확한 원인을 알 수 없지만, 다행히 치료는 가능하다. 대부분 약물을 이용해 보존 치료를 한다. 안정제를 사용하거나 증상을 악화하는 요소를 제거하는 방법 등이 쓰인다.
#성기가 #원치 #않게 #흥분 #지속 #결국 #수술까지 #영국 #20대 #女 #사연 #봤더니
2024-04-25 04:59:00
전종보 기자
입력 2024/04/08 21:30
사랑니로 인해 인접치가 손상된 모습 / 서울대치과병원 제공
사랑니는 똑바로 자라지 않고 옆으로 비스듬히 나는 경우가 많다. 기본적으로 최후방에 위치한 데다, 맹출(치아가 정상 위치까지 이동하는 것) 공간 또한 부족하기 때문이다.
이처럼 비스듬히 자란 사랑니는 주변 치아에도 영향을 미친다. 사랑니가 수평 방향으로 맹출하면 인접치 표면이 침식되는 치아 우식이나 치주염 등이 발생할 위험이 있으며, 치아 머리 주변으로 염증이 생기는 치관주위염의 원인이 되기도 한다. 치관주위염은 사랑니 주변 부기, 통증과 함께 개구(開口) 장애 등을 유발한다.
문제는 발치에 대한 두려움 때문에 통증, 불편함이 있어도 사랑니를 방치하는 사람들이 적지 않다는 점이다. 그러나 인접치가 손상되거나 치관주위염이 발생했을 때, 물혹, 종양이 생겼을 때는 적극적으로 발치를 고려해야 한다. 서울대치과병원 서미현 교수는 “발치 후 불가피하게 통증이 나타날 수 있다”며 “통증이 우려된다면 마취가 풀리기 전에 처방받은 약을 복용하고, 그래도 통증이 심하면 담당 치과의사와 상의해 진통소염제를 추가 복용할 수도 있다”고 말했다.
사랑니 발치는 대부분 국소 마취 하에 이뤄진다. 다만 환자의 시술에 대한 두려움이나 시술 중 통증 조절, 매복 깊이, 발치 난이도에 따라서는 다른 마취 방법을 고려할 수도 있다.
첫 번째는 의식이 있는 상태로 진행되는 ‘의식하 진정 마취’다. 진정 마취는 보통 ▲사랑니의 매복 깊이가 깊을 때 ▲환자가 시술에 대한 공포심이 클 때 ▲난이도가 높고 통증이 예상될 때 시행한다. 진정 마취는 국소 마취 때보다 시술 시간을 늘릴 수 있기 때문에 한 번에 많은 치료를 원하는 경우에도 적용할 수 있다.
두 번째는 ‘전신마취’다. 전신 마취는 마찬가지로 환자가 수술에 대한 공포심이 크거나 치아 매복 깊이가 깊을 때, 또는 낭종, 종양 등이 동반됐을 때 고려할 수 있다. 서미현 교수는 “매복된 사랑니 중에는 낭종이나 양성 종양과 연관된 경우도 있기 때문에 예방 차원에서 제거해야 할 수도 있다”고 말했다.
사랑니는 관리가 어렵고 실제 기능하지 않는 경우가 많다. 인접 치아 관리를 위해서는 발치가 필요하다. 서 교수는 “사랑니로 인한 증상과 통증이 없다고 해서 문제가 없는 것은 아니다”며 “구강악안면외과 전문의와 상담하거나 주기적인 검진이 꼭 필요하다”고 했다.
2024-04-08 12:30:00
#사랑니 #아플까봐 #안 #뽑으면 #치아에 #이런 #문제 #생겨
