Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago.
Spacey, 62, entered the plea during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court.
The former House of Cards star, who ran London’s Old Vic theatre between 2004 and 2015, denied four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The incidents allegedly took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.
Space’s lawyer previously said the actor “strenuously denies” the allegations.
Spacey was granted bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing last month. A judge is expected to set a timeline for his trial on Thursday.
Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film The Usual Suspects and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie American Beauty.
But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.
By Saturday morning, Ukraine’s military leadership said Russian forces had fired more than a score of other missiles since the barrage a day earlier. Source:…
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures were released at the weekend by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showing a growth of 3.54 per cent…
<p><img width="1000" height="600" src="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Obong-Victor-Attah-1000x600.jpg" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="2023 Elections Left Nigeria, Tinubu With A Badly Damaged Image - Obong Attah" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Obong-Victor-Attah-1000x600.jpg 1000w, https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Obong-Victor-Attah-590x354.jpg 590w, https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Obong-Victor-Attah-400x240.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<h2>A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/topic/obong-victor-attah/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obong Victor Attah,</a> has submitted that the outcome of the 2023 elections in Nigeria left the image of the country badly damaged.</h2>
<p>Attah, who lamented that selling a good product is difficult enough, said selling Nigeria with a damaged reputation is even more difficult.</p>
<p>He added that the circumstances, conduct, and outcome of the 2023 elections also seriously damaged the character of <strong><a href="https://www.naijanews.com/topic/bola-tinubu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Bola Tinubu</a></strong>, who emerged from the process as well as the country's electoral process and judiciary.</p>
<p><strong>Naija News</strong> reports the former Governor made the observation when he spoke over the weekend in Lagos State as the guest speaker of the Institute of Certified Sales Professionals (ICSP) 2024 investiture ceremony.</p>
<p>His words: <em>“Let me say that the circumstances and conduct of the 2023 elections caused serious damage to the character of our President, our number salesman, our electoral process and our judiciary.</em></p>
<p><em>“It left Nigeria therefore with a badly damaged image. It is difficult enough to sell a good product in the face of stiff competition, to sell a damaged product is a daunting task.”</em></p>
<p><em>“Selling Nigeria in the aftermath of the 2023 elections is not by any means an easy job. As has been shown, our actions and utterances that led up to the elections and have since continued after the elections, have left us with two major strikes.”</em></p>
<p>He added that <em>“We have a gravely damaged product (Nigeria) and the second is that our number one salesman (president) has been badly disabled. But we must not give up.”</em></p>
<p>Attah, who spoke on: “The Imperative of Selling Nigeria to the Outside World in the Post-2023 National Elections Era” revealed that the Nigerian passport after the 2023 elections, is the least welcome globally of all major countries of the World.</p>
<p>The former governor said one interpretation of the rejection is that foreigners don’t want to see <em>“our faces. If that is so, how can we reasonably expect them to want to invest here or to buy anything, except crude oil from us.”</em></p>
<p>He said that after the election, the country's image should not be further destroyed, as was done by the 2023 presidential candidates and their supporters.</p>
<p>He said: <em>“Nigerians forgot that the number one national salesman is the president of the country. He, more than any other person, has the responsibility of selling Nigeria first to Nigerians, and Nigeria to the rest of the World.”</em></p>
<p><em> “We must not destroy its image any further but rather take necessary and appropriate steps to correct all perceived wrongs."</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/2024/03/17/2023-elections-left-nigeria-tinubu-with-a-badly-damaged-image-obong-attah/">2023 Elections Left Nigeria, Tinubu With A Badly Damaged Image – Obong Attah</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.naijanews.com">Naija News</a>.</p>
