Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in prison, HBO Max and Discovery+ to combine, and more trending news
Here’s a look at trending topics for today, Aug. 4:
Brittney Griner
U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted Thursday in Russia of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison following a politically charged trial that came amid soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine and could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between the two world powers.
The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and a eight-time all-star with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury listened with a blank expression as an interpreter translated the verdict by Judge Anna Sotnikova. The judge also fined her 1 million rubles (about $16,700) fine.
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the verdict and sentence as “unacceptable.”
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HBO Max
Seen here is still of HBO's "House of the Dragon." HBO Max and Discovery+ are finally joining forces.
HBO Max
HBO Max and Discovery+ are finally joining forces.
The long-awaited merger of the two services will debut in the US next summer before being rolled out overseas, Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Thursday during its second quarter earnings call.
The company did not say if the new offering would have a different name than HBO Max and did not announce pricing for the new service.
Warner Bros. Discovery added that it plans to have 130 million global subscriptions with its streaming offering by 2025.
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Uncredited – handout one time use, Photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar
This undated photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar shows Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky. The U.S. Justice Department has charged four Louisville police officers involved in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid with civil rights violations. Federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Louisville police Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.
Breonna Taylor
The federal government filed civil rights charges Thursday against four Louisville police officers over the drug raid that led to the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose fatal shooting helped fuel the racial justice protests that rocked the nation in 2020.
The charges — most of which stem from the faulty drug warrant used to search Taylor’s home — are an effort to hold law enforcement accountable for the killing of the 26-year-old medical worker. One of the officers was acquitted of state charges earlier this year.
“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the charges, which include unlawful conspiracy, use of force and obstruction of justice.
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