- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
- EU chief announces $11 bn for nations hit by 'heartbreaking' floods
- Spanish PM, Palestinian leader urge Mideast de-escalation
- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
US actor Jussie Smollett jailed for staged attack
US actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced to almost five months in prison Thursday after being found guilty of falsely telling police he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime in 2019 -- an attack prosecutors said he himself staged.
The gay 39-year-old African-American was found guilty in December of "planning" the fake assault by paying two Nigerian brothers $3,500, and of lying to police in his depositions.
"You really crave the attention and you wanted to get the attention," Chicago Judge James Linn told the former "Empire" star as he read out the sentence.
He said the actor had a streak that was "profoundly arrogant and selfish and narcissistic."
"This was premeditated to the extreme... You've destroyed your life as you knew it," Limn said, adding that "you did damage to real hate crimes victims."
He said Smollett was "just a charlatan, pretending to be a victim of a hate crime.".
Smollett, who was to be incarcerated Thursday evening, will have to serve the first 150 days of his sentence in prison as part of a total of 30 months on probation. He must also repay $120,106 to the Chicago Police to cover their investigation costs.
"I'm innocent, I did not do this," Smollet said as the sentence was delivered.
"I’m not suicidal, if something happens when I'm in there [in jail] I did not do it to myself," he added, before leaving the courtroom with a raised fist.
Smollett's lawyers and family had begged the judge for leniency and asked for an alternative to prison, or for a suspended sentence.
The fallen star of the hit television series "Empire" has always maintained his innocence.
He said he was attacked in the middle of the night on January 29, 2019 in a Chicago street by two masked men who he said they were supporters of then-president Donald Trump.
He told police they made racist and homophobic slurs against him and put a noose around his neck.
Prosecutors accused Smollett of hiring two acquaintances, brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, to stage the attack while invoking Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan, after the actor had received a legitimate piece of hate mail which he felt was not taken seriously by his employers.
The case took a strange turn when Cook County prosecutors dropped the initial 16 felony counts against him in March 2019.
But he was again indicted in February 2020 by a grand jury in Cook County, which handles crimes in Chicago, on six counts of disorderly conduct related to the alleged false reporting.
The case had initially sent shock waves through a deeply divided country still plagued by racial and sexual discrimination, and the actor had immediately received support from celebrities in political and cultural circles.
M.Odermatt--BTB