SWEDEN: A Russian-born Swedish businessman was acquitted today of collecting information for Russian military intelligence service the GRU for almost a decade.

Sergey Skvortsov had been accused of “gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power,” namely the United States.

The Stockholm District Court said Mr Skvortsov had largely acted in the way prosecutors alleged, with advanced technology being acquired and delivered to Russia, but his activities did not constitute espionage.

PAKISTAN: A federal court in the capital Islamabad has restored the right of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to appeal against his 2018 convictions in two corruption cases, officials said today, less than a week after he returned home from four years of self-imposed exile in London.

If the court overturns his convictions in the coming weeks, Mr Sharif will be eligible to stand for a seat in parliament and analysts say that his Pakistan Muslim League could also return to power.

UNITED STATES: A man shot dead at least 16 people and wounded 13 more at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents stayed locked in their homes.

A police bulletin identified Robert Card as a person of interest in the attack.

UNITED STATES: New House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last presidential election.

Mr Johnson, who was elected on Wednesday after a three-week deadlock among Republicans, took the lead in filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.

The claim was dismissed by the US Supreme Court.