Russian court denies parole for jailed Pussy Riot member

'Pussy Riot' band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in the defendant's cage in a court in the Republic of Mordovia.Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova loses her bid to be released on paroleShe was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism last yearBand members were tried for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

(CNN) -- A court denied parole for a jailed member of Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot on Friday, state media reported.

The Supreme Court of the Mordovia region upheld an earlier decision to deny Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's parole, the official RIA Novosti news agency said.

Tolokonnikova was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism after a trial in August that was criticized by international rights groups.

She is one of three women tried last year for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral. Video footage of their so-called "punk prayer" was posted online.

var currExpandable="expand15";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.source='showbiz/2013/07/13/amanpour-pussy-riot-putin-russia.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130712202446-amanpour-pussy-riot-putin-russia-00003629-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand15Store=mObj;State-run court news agency Rapsi cited an attorney as saying Tolokonnikova would not appeal the court's ruling on parole.

Fellow defendant Maria Alyokhina, who was also sentenced to two years in prison, was denied bail in May. She planned to appeal the ruling.

Yekaterina Samutsevich, a third member of the band, was sentenced at the same time as the two, but was freed from prison in October after her defense presented new evidence.

May: Jailed Pussy Riot member declares hunger strike

CNN's Boriana Milanova contributed to this report.

/* push in config for this share instance */cnn_shareconfig.push({"id" : "cnn_sharebar2","url" : "http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/26/world/europe/russia-pussy-riot/index.html","title" : "Russian court denies parole for jailed Pussy Riot member"});July 29, 2013 -- Updated 0139 GMT (0939 HKT) CNN's Ivan Watson finds Pyongyang is sticking to its style of communist and dynastic rule -- with no access to internet or international calls. July 26, 2013 -- Updated 0222 GMT (1022 HKT) This South Korean couple has spent many of the past 60 years believing the other was dead. In fact, he was held prisoner by the North. July 29, 2013 -- Updated 0140 GMT (0940 HKT) U.N. estimates thousands of women in Mali have been sexually assaulted by the rebels. Atika Shubert talks to a survivor of such assault.July 29, 2013 -- Updated 0428 GMT (1228 HKT) In the Middle East, Ramadan is a period of considerable downtime. TV consumption goes up, and with it, TV advertising budgets.July 26, 2013 -- Updated 1747 GMT (0147 HKT) U.N. estimates thousands of women in Mali have been sexually assaulted by the rebels. Atika Shubert talks to a survivor of such assault. July 29, 2013 -- Updated 0504 GMT (1304 HKT) Internet users love animal videos. So why not watch pandas -- anywhere, anytime? Maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch it sneezing!July 29, 2013 -- Updated 0201 GMT (1001 HKT) Unlike other area villages that sprang up in ad hoc fashion, Gamcheon's multi-tiered communal layout was meticulously planned.July 29, 2013 -- Updated 1623 GMT (0023 HKT) What would American Beauty, The Matrix and other classic films look like if they'd been made in Africa? Flip through these images to see.July 25, 2013 -- Updated 1157 GMT (1957 HKT) Transparent dresses, vacuum shoes, shark-proof wetsuits and more: The life of a wearable technology user in the year 2015.July 25, 2013 -- Updated 1538 GMT (2338 HKT) The script for Robocop, a futuristic tale of decline, had a note scribbled on the top of the first page. It read: "The future left Detroit behind."July 24, 2013 -- Updated 1518 GMT (2318 HKT) They've long been considered topics that aren't polite to discuss at the dinner table. And as it turns out, they're touchy on Wikipedia as well. Today's five most popular stories

View the original article here

Paula Deen's Son Bobby Headed to Food Network as Celeb Chef Denies Asking Employee to Wear Aunt Jemima-Style Dress

Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images

Paula Deen's son is filling the family's empty Food Network shoes while his mother continues to field the sorts of claims that got her kicked off the channel in the first place.

Bobby Deen, host of Not My Mama's Meals on Cooking Channel, apparently entered the heat of battle on Iron Chef America this week.

"I'm thinking about my brother boy this morning. He's filming an episode of Iron Chef today! #pressure," his brother Jamie Deen tweeted yesterday. The reveal prompted an outpouring of social media support for Bobby, including love from the still-chugging "We Support Paula Deen" Facebook page, which now boasts 608,000 "likes."

PHOTOS: Hot celebrity chefs

Deen's sons remain two of her biggest supporters, with Jamie tweeting a blast-from-the-past pic of the three of them today.

"With all the cookbook talk I thought this photo from our first book would be a fun #ThrowBackThursday. #family," he wrote.

But while food blog Eater.com has a Food Network source saying that the embattled celeb chef will be "back in a year or two, under different terms," Deen had to ward off yet more claims this week that she made racist comments to a former employee.

Twitter

Dora Charles, who works at Deen's Savannah, Ga., restaurant Lady & Sons, told the New York Times that her former boss used racial slurs and once asked her to wear an old-style Aunt Jemima dress at the restaurant.

Deen's camp denied the allegations in a statement to the Times, also saying, "Fundamentally Dora's complaint is not about race but about money. It is about an employee that despite over 20 years of generosity feels that she still deserves yet even more financial support from Paula Deen." 

Deen "provided guidance and support through the many ups and downs of Mrs. Charles's life," the statement continued. 

VIDEO: Watch Paula Deen tearfully deny being racist on Today

Charles, 59, reportedly helped open Lady & Sons and has spent years developing recipes, perfecting dishes and training other employees.

"I'm not trying to portray that she is a bad person," Charles told the Times. "I'm just trying to put my story out there that she didn't treat me fairly and I was her soul sister." She said that she used to work for $10 an hour and that Deen had once promised to take her along for the financial ride when she really made it big.

READ: 9 stars who bounced back from scandal

Per the Times, lawyers from Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition investigated Lady & Sons and issued a report stating, "There was evidence of systemic racial discrimination and harassment at the operations." But "there is limited evidence of direct racism or racial discrimination" by Deen.

Jackson, meanwhile, was reportedly contacted by Deen last month and agreed that she should be "reclaimed rather than destroyed" after it was revealed that she admitted in a legal deposition to having used the N-word in the past.

PHOTOS: Top 10 onscreen restaurants

View the original article here