Pussy Riot member said to regain consciousness in hospital

In this file photo taken on July 31, 2018 Member of the Pussy Riot punk group Pyotr Verzilov (L) gestures as he walks with police during a court hearing at a courthouse in Moscow, as members of the Russian protest-art group are accused of disturbing public order after invading the pitch during the World Cup final in Moscow. (AFP)
Updated 15 September 2018
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Pussy Riot member said to regain consciousness in hospital

  • Verzilov and other activists served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting July’s World Cup final to protest excessive Russian police powers

MOSCOW: A member of Russia’s Pussy Riot protest group says a fellow activist who was hospitalized for possible poisoning has regained consciousness.
Group member Maria Alekhina told The Associated Press via Facebook that Pyotr Verzilov regained consciousness on Friday, but remained in intensive care. Verzilov has been in the hospital since falling ill Tuesday.
Alekhina said she thinks he definitely was poisoned and “there’s nothing other than politics” behind it.
Independent Russian news website Meduza reported Thursday that Verzilov’s doctors told his relatives he either overdosed on medicine or was given too much medicine. Meduza did not specify the substance.
Verzilov and other activists served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting July’s World Cup final to protest excessive Russian police powers.


North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader: KCNA

Updated 11 March 2026
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North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader: KCNA

  • North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression”
  • Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28

SEOUL: North Korea respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader, state media reported Wednesday, as it accused the United States and Israel of destroying regional peace.
“With regard to the recent official announcement that Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the new leader of the Islamic Revolution, we respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA.
Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression.”
On Wednesday, the North Korean spokesperson reiterated that position, saying that the United States and Israel “are destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide.”
“Any rhetorical threats and military action, which violate the political system and territorial integrity of the relevant country, interfere in its internal affairs and openly advocate the attempt to overthrow its social system, deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” the spokesperson added.
In recent months, the Trump administration has mounted a push to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, eyeing a potential summit between the US president and the North’s Kim Jong Un this year.
After largely ignoring those overtures for months, Kim recently said that the two nations could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.