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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Egyptian activist, others get 15-year prison sentence

From Wire Reports

CAIRO – In the first such verdict under Egypt’s new president, a criminal court Wednesday handed down a 15-year prison sentence against one of the leading figures of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

The heavy jail term for activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who was arrested in November on charges that included violating a tough anti-protest law, appeared to bode ill for any easing of a wide-ranging crackdown on political dissent over the last 11 months in Egypt.

Two dozen others on trial along with Abdel Fattah also received 15-year terms and fines of nearly $14,000 each, making it the latest instance of a mass sentencing by an Egyptian court.

During the Tahrir Square uprising more than three years ago, the 32-year-old Abdel Fattah became internationally known as one of the young and social-media savvy faces of the pro-democracy movement.

Ukraine passes up Russian gas deal

MOSCOW – Russia on Wednesday offered to restore the discounted gas price it granted Ukraine under the ousted pro-Russian president, but Ukraine demanded an even better deal and called for arbitration to settle the dispute.

Speaking in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was offering the discount as a “partnership deal.”

Russia’s energy minister, Alexander Novak, specified the price offered as $385 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked for months in a dispute over the price of Russian gas supplies and Ukraine’s debt for previous deliveries.