News Wrap: Zelenskyy says Ukraine captured Russian town of Sudzha

In our news wrap Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said his country’s troops seized the Russian town of Sudzha, a court in Russia sentenced Russian American citizen Ksenia Khavana to 12 years in prison, federal law enforcement officials charged five people in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry and Bermuda is bracing for Hurricane Ernesto.

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Amna Nawaz: We start the day’s other headlines in Russia, where Ukrainian forces claim to be pushing deeper into the Kursk region.

Today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s troops have seized the town of Sudzha, the administrative center for the Kursk border area. Even though it is just 5,000 residents, it would mark the largest population center to fall under Ukraine’s control since last week’s incursion.

In a video call, the Ukrainian army chief reported that the military now controls more than 80 communities, including Sudzha, which President Zelenskyy then announced in his nightly address.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through interpreter): The commander in chief reported on the operation in the Kursk region. We have a new advance. General Syrskyi reported on the completion of the liberation of the town of Sudzha from the Russian military. A Ukrainian military commandant’s office is being established there.

Amna Nawaz: Zelenskyy’s claim could not be independently verified, and Russia has not responded. But defense officials said earlier in the day that Russian forces had blocked Ukraine’s attempts to take several other communities.

A court in Russia has sentenced Russian-American citizen Ksenia Khavana to 12 years in prison treason charges. Rights groups say the case stems from a $52 donation Khavana made to a charity that supports Ukraine. She appeared in court in the city of Yekaterinburg today as the judge read her sentence. A U.S. State Department official called it an escalation of the Kremlin’s domestic oppression.

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy State Department Spokesperson: Donating to a nonprofit organization, donating to an NGO, supporting the Ukrainian cause and supporting the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against Russian aggression, especially doing so on American soil, is not a crime.

Amna Nawaz: Khavana, who’s also known by the last name Karelina, reportedly became an American citizen after marrying her husband and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested back in February while visiting family in Russia.

Federal law enforcement officials have charged five people in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. They include two doctors and Perry’s own assistant. The “Friends” star suffered an accidental ketamine overdose last year. At a news conference today in Los Angeles, officials said they’d uncovered a — quote — “broad underground criminal network” that distributed ketamine to Perry and to others.

They said the defendants displayed utter disregard for Perry’s history of substance abuse.

E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney, Central District of California: These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways.

Amna Nawaz: At least two of the defendants, including Perry’s assistant, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to his death.

Bermuda is bracing for hurricane Ernesto as it barrels across the Atlantic Ocean. Early today, it had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles an hour as it moves north. Ernesto is expected to become a Category 3 hurricane before passing near or over Bermuda on Saturday with up to 12 inches of rain.

Ernesto already battered Puerto Rico as a tropical storm. Today, more than 450,000 people were still without power amid sweltering heat.

Former President Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York hush money case to delay his sentencing until after the November election. In a letter to Justice Juan Merchan, Trump’s lawyers argue that the current date of September 18 could improperly influence voters. The judge is also set to rule on September 16, so two days earlier, on a request to overturn the verdict following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

In May, Mr. Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

The U.S. economy is showing signs of resilience this summer. The Commerce Department says that retail sales jumped by 1 percent in July from the month before. That’s much more than expected and the biggest increase in consumer spending in a year-and-a-half. A separate report showed that unemployment claims fell by 7,000 last week in a sign that the national jobs market remained stable.

Those reports come a day after a reassuring reading on inflation fueled expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates when it meets next month.

Today’s economic readings were also welcome news on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 550 points, ending well above the 40000-point level. The Nasdaq added more than 400 points, or about 2.66 percent, and the S&P ended higher for a sixth straight session.

And we have a passing of note. Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the finest actors of all time, has died. Her career took off in the 1960s and 70s when she starred in a series of films directed by her husband John Cassavetes. The pair often worked outside the Hollywood studio system, and together helped bring independent American Sinema to new heights and to new audiences.

Gena Rowlands, Actress: Oh, I hope you kids never grow up, never.

Amna Nawaz: Rowlands gave vulnerable portrayals of working class women, earning Oscar nods for “A Woman Under the Influence” and the crime thriller “Gloria.”

Decades later, she charmed a new generation of audiences as a woman suffering from dementia in “The Notebook.”

Gena Rowlands: Do you think our love could take us away together?

James Garner, Actor: I think I love to do anything we want to.

Amna Nawaz: That blockbuster was directed by Rowlands’ son, who revealed earlier this year that his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in real life. Gena Rowlands was 94 years old.