A South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting bribes from the Unification Church, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday cleared Kim, the wife of disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, of additional charges of stock price manipulation and violating the political funds act.

Kim was accused of receiving bribes and lavish gifts from businesses and politicians, as well as the Unification Church, totaling at least $200,000.

The prosecution team had also indicted Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, now on ‌trial, after the religious group was suspected of giving Kim valuables, including two Chanel handbags and a diamond necklace, as part ‌of its efforts to win influence with the president’s wife.

Prosecutors in December said Kim had “stood above the law” and colluded with the religious sect to undermine “the constitutionally mandated separation of religion and state”.

Prosecutor Min Joong-ki also said South Korea’s institutions were “severely undermined by abuses of power” committed by Kim.

The former first lady had denied all the charges, claiming the allegations against her were “deeply unjust” in her final testimony last month.

But she has also apologised for “causing trouble despite being a person of no importance”.

[Aljazeera]

A plane crash has killed the deputy chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state, Ajit Pawar, the country’s aviation regulator has said.

The plane, which took off from the state capital, Mumbai, on Wednesday, crash-landed at the airport in Pawar’s constituency of Baramati, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Two members of the prominent politician’s staff and two crew members were also reported to have been killed.

The cause of the crash has not yet been officially confirmed.

Flightradar24, an online flight tracking service, said the aircraft was attempting a second approach to Baramati airport when it crashed.

The Times of India newspaper quoted DGCA officials as saying the aircraft, a Learjet 45 operated by a company called VSR, crashed at about 8:45am local time (03:15 GMT).

The daily said Pawar, the nephew of veteran politician Sharad Pawar, who founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was on his way to attend a public rally for the district council elections.

A witness quoted by the newspaper said the aircraft exploded moments after hitting the ground.

“When we rushed to the spot, the aircraft was on fire. There were four to five more explosions. People tried to pull the passengers out, but the fire was too intense,” said the witness.

Pawar, 66, built his political base through the grassroots cooperative movement. He was a key figure in state politics and served as the second-highest elected official in Maharashtra, as part of the larger federal governing coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He wielded considerable influence in the state’s vibrant sugar belt and was known for his ability to mobilise rural voters.

[Aljazeera]