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☆ The Sticking Points That Kept Russia and Ukraine Apart
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Anton Troianovski | Michael Schwirtz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The Sticking Points That Kept Russia and Ukraine ApartRussia and Ukraine failed to agree on a range of critical issues when they held peace talks in the spring of 2022. Russia’s Position Russia demanded that Ukraine never join NATO or other alliances; host foreign military bases or weapons; or conduct military exercises with other countries without its consent. Russia’s Position Russia agreed to much of Ukraine’s security guarantees proposal but with key exceptions. Russia’s Position Russia’s stance has also fluctuated. Russia’s Position But Russia’s definition of “denazification” shifted quickly after its initial invasion failed.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, —, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia’s, ” Organizations: The New York Times, NATO, European Union, Ukraine’s, Crimea ”, Ukraine, Mr, Russia’s, ” International, United Nations Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, France, China, guarantors, Belarus, Turkey, Territory, Crimea, Moscow, Ukrainian, Russian

☆ Ukraine claims it hit missile system in Russian territory with Western weapons
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Anneclaire Stapleton | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ukrainian forces claimed Monday that they had successfully hit a Russian S-300 missile system using Western-supplied weapons inside Russian territory. On Russian territory. The first days after permission to use Western weapons on enemy territory,” Ukrainian government minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted on Facebook alongside a picture purporting to show the strike. This comes just days after US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes using US weapons in Russian territory around Kharkiv, after several European nations had removed restrictions on how the weapons can be used. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised Biden’s decision to allow some strikes in Russian territory as a “step forward” that will help his forces defend the embattled Kharkiv region.

Persons: Iryna Vereshchuk, Joe Biden, Vereshchuk, Franz, Stefan Gady, Ukraine “, ” Mathieu Boulegue, Vladimir Putin, Biden, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: CNN, Facebook, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Kharkhiv, Chatham House, Ukrainian Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Washington, Moscow, Russia, Crimea, United Kingdom, Kherson, France, Germany

☆ Is the US decision on Ukraine weapons a game-changer?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The story of the past 27 months since Russia invaded Ukraine has been one of crumbling taboos. Despite securing more weapons from the United States last month, Ukraine has not been able to use them as it pleases. Red lines fadeThe US is joining the United Kingdom, France, Germany and several others in removing restrictions on how Ukraine uses the weapons it is given. Before Biden gave the green light, Putin had made veiled nuclear threats to countries considering allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with their weapons. In both cases, Russia had warned Ukraine and its Western allies not to cross its red line.

Persons: Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Valentyn Ogirenko, Adam Kinzinger, Ben Hodges, ”, Vladimir Putin’s, Kateryna, Narciso Contreras, Franz, Stefan Gady, Ukraine “, Mathieu Boulegue, “, Putin, ” Stepanenko Organizations: CNN, Russian, Firefighters, Reuters, Institute for, Anadolu, Getty, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Kharkhiv, Center for, United, Russia Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, United States, Moscow, Kharkiv, Washington, “, Prague, Czech, pummel Kharkiv, Russian, Kharkiv Oblast, Vovchansk, Kharkiv region, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Crimea, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia

☆ Russia is finally getting serious about its war, and it spells trouble for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Much of the war in Ukraine has gone poorly for Russia. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine looks very different today than it did at the start of the conflict. The Russian military continued to suffer from other problems in the first year of fighting, racking up troop and equipment losses while failing to capture significant amounts of Ukrainian territory. AdvertisementThe following month, a top US official and general said, respectively, that the Russian military was "almost completely reconstituted" and had "grown back" to its pre-war strength. The employment of glide bombs to support ground maneuver is the primary example of how Russia's military is successfully learning from its past shortcomings, Barros said.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Miguel Diaz, Canel, Maxim Shemetov, George Barros, Russia's, Stringer, They've, Chris Cavoli, Andrei Belousov —, Sergei Shoigu, Barros, It's, Andrei Belousov, VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV, Oleksandra Novosel, Biden, Sergey Pivovarov, Mick Ryan, Jack Watling Organizations: Service, Business, Cuban, Institute for, Ukraine, REUTERS, Allied, US European Command, Sputnik, Security, Defense, Getty, JSC, UA, PBC, 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, Russian, Kharkiv, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Ukraine —, —, Russian, Kharkiv, Kherson, Robotyne, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, Soviet, Shevchenkivskyi, Avdiivka, Washington, Russia's Rostov, Australian, Kyiv

☆ YouTube blocks videos of Hong Kong protest song after local court order
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —YouTube has blocked access to a popular protest song in Hong Kong, a week after a court in the city granted a government request to ban the anthem. The ballad contains lyrics that reference the phrase “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a protest slogan that was already outlawed in 2020. The Hong Kong government and courts had said the phrase had secessionist and subversive connotations. CNN has reached out to the Hong Kong Department of Justice for comment. Hong Kong was promised key freedoms and autonomy to run its own affairs after it was handed over from British rule to China in 1997.

Persons: We’ll, ”, Hong Kong ”, Jeff Paine, Paul Lam, Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s Organizations: CNN, YouTube, Google, ” CNN, Spotify, Hong, Asia Internet Coalition, Meta, Hong Kong Department of Justice, Hong Kong, “, Volunteers, ”, Hong Kong’s Department of Justice Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, Hong, China

☆ From 25 years in prison to just four months: Inside the final verdict on a crypto billionaire CEO archrivalry
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. A month earlier, on the opposite coast in downtown Manhattan, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence for his crimes. At the beginning of his trial, SBF sported a fresh haircut and wore suits, but by its end, his curls were wild again. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. watch nowMoney makes all the differenceUnlike SBF, CZ didn't have his wealth wiped out by bankruptcy of the crypto company he founded.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Mike Segar, Benjamin Girette, Changpeng Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, Zhao, Binance's Zhao, FTX's, Toyotas, Braden Perry, Perry, Manfred, SBF, Michael Lewis, Lewis, Sam didn't, Amr Alfiky, Sam, Caroline Ellison, —, Zhao's, Yi He, Binance, David Ryder, Yang, Rachel Zhao, Yesha Yadav, Yadav, Mark Bini, Lewis Kaplan, Bankman, Kaplan, perjured, Neama Rahmani, Rahmani, Tre Lovell, Zhao hasn't, Lovell, weren't, FTX Organizations: Reuters, Bloomberg, Getty, Department of Justice, CFTC, Stanford University's, Bankman, CZ, Staff, Reuters Prosecutors, Alameda Research, Vanderbilt University, Wall Street, CNBC, FTX, Emergency Economic, Justice Department, DOJ Locations: Seattle, Manhattan, California, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Palo Alto, U.S, New York City, Alameda, Seattle , Washington, Paris, France, Angeles, Binance, Dubai, Delaware

☆ Gangs forced out Haiti’s government. This FBI ‘Most Wanted’ gang leader claims they’re liberating the country
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Caitlin Stephen Hu | David Culver | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

Port-au-Prince, Haiti CNN —Vitel’homme Innocent’s picture on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list of fugitives suggests a crazed man – eyes wide and wild, teeth bared. But the man on the gold sofa preferred to talk about a brighter future – one that he claims Haiti’s gangs are prepared to usher in. Abandoned cars on the road between the US Embassy and the Kraze Baryé stronghold in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on April 28, 2024. Kraze Baryé employs around 100 men and women, according to Innocent’s lieutenant and cousin, the bleach-blond Dezod Augustin, 34. But Haiti’s gangs maintain they deserve a seat at the negotiating table.

Persons: Haiti CNN —, Innocent, Evelio Contreras, “, ” Innocent, de, –, Kraze Baryé, ”, Viv Ansanm, Ariel Henry, Henry, Kraze, “ It’s, ’ Marie, Lucie Bonhomme Opont, Pierre, Louis Opont, territoire perdue, Opont, ’, Jimmy Chérizier, Robin Hood, Sanjou, Dezod Augustin, Gedeon Jean, Prince, Baryé, Delmas, Antony Blinken, Haiti Dennis Hankins, Rick Barton, Haiti’s, CNN Jean, Henry’s, Jean, CNN’s Rachel Clarke Organizations: Haiti CNN, CNN, Haiti’s, Prince, de Mars, United Nations, Haitian National Police, ”, Kenya, Haiti’s National Police, CARICOM, US Embassy, Security, “, Washington, US, UN, Fund, Federal Bureau of, State Department Locations: Prince, Haiti, Tabarre, Haiti’s, Port, balaclavas, Haitian Creole, Haitian, Nairobi, “, Canada, United States, Kraze Baryé, American, France, Kenya, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, Jamaica, it’s, Atlanta

☆ F-16s headed to Ukraine this summer will face their most dangerous battlefield ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Ukraine is slated to receive its much-anticipated fleet of F-16 fighter jets this summer. AdvertisementThe long-awaited delivery of F-16s to Ukraine is on the horizon, and these advanced American-made fighter jets can't come soon enough for its forces. The fighter jets are expected to arrive at some point this summer, reportedly as early as June. Romanian air force F-16 fighter planes fly above the Baza 86 military air base, outside Fetesti, Romania, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. US Air Force F-16's stand ready with bombs loaded to take off during the first daylight attack to liberate Kuwait in 1991.

Persons: —, Falcon, SAMs, Alexandru, Egypt —, John Baum, Russia —, Baum, KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV Russia's, Tannehill, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mark Rutte, Peter Dejong Organizations: Service, Russia's, Rygge Air Force Base, OLE BERG, Getty, NATO, Kyiv, Israeli Air Force, AP, US Air Force, Operation, Allied Force, Yugoslavia, Air Force, Defense Technical Information, Reuters, Storm, Russia, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, US Navy, SA, Russian, AIM, INA Locations: Ukraine, Balkans, Kyiv, Romania, Norway, AFP, — Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Europe, Lebanon's, Israel, Yom, Romanian, Fetesti, Storm, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, Islamic, Kuwait, Russian, Zhukovsky, Moscow, Bekaa, East, Syria, Russia, Ukrainian, Eindhoven, Rzeszow, Jasionka, Poland, Crimean

☆ Ukraine can keep on fighting Russia — but the 'victory' it wants might be out of reach
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ukrainian servicemen practice combat drills involving a BMP-1 in Donbas, Ukraine as Russia-Ukraine war continues on March 19, 2024. But, with future aid uncertain, analysts question what "victory" Ukraine could realistically achieve against Russia — a country that has put its industries on a war footing and is able to mobilize hundreds of thousands more men to war. While additional aid allows Ukraine to keep on fighting Russian forces in the short stretch, a "victory" in the near-term is an unlikely prospect. What's more, what "victory" looks like for Ukraine, or its allies, could be a source of friction. This is particularly the case in eastern Ukraine, where it has enjoyed support from pro-Russian separatists for over a decade.

Persons: Teneo, Vladimir Putin, Natalia Kolesnikova, Tursa, Frankness, Oleksandr Musiyenko, Putin Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Russia —, Afp, Centre for Military, Legal, U.S, CNBC Locations: Donbas, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, U.S, Central, Eastern Europe, Ukrainian, Crimea, Red, Moscow, Russian, Sevastopol

“Thank you, America!” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram on Saturday, shortly after the House of Representatives passed the long-delayed Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act by a vote of 311-112. The bill was part of a wider $95 billion package providing foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. Meanwhile, the House passed the Israel Security Supplemental with a vote of 366-58. Lawmakers wave Ukrainian flags after the House passed the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act. “For people who want to defeat the enemy, this news is a great morale booster.”He went on: “To win, we need ammunition … we really need artillery shells because we have an artillery hunger.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Zelensky, Zelensky, ”, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Mahmoud Abbas, Joe Biden, “, Dmytro Kuleba, Vladimir Putin, ” Kuleba, Maria Zakharova, Dmytro Kurylovich, Bankir Organizations: CNN, Israel, Palestinian, Senate, Getty, Russian Foreign, 110th, National Guard, Artillery, “ Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Russia, Europe, United States, “, Taiwan, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Avdiivka, Russian

☆ A Tantalizing ‘Hint’ That Astronomers Got Dark Energy All Wrong
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Dennis Overbye | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dark energy was assumed to be a constant force in the universe, both currently and throughout cosmic history. He shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with two other astronomers for the discovery of dark energy, but was not involved in this new study. “It may be the first real clue we have gotten about the nature of dark energy in 25 years,” he said. That conclusion, if confirmed, could liberate astronomers — and the rest of us — from a longstanding, grim prediction about the ultimate fate of the universe. Instead, it seems, dark energy is capable of changing course and pointing the cosmos toward a richer future.

Persons: “, Biden, ”, Adam Riess, — Organizations: Johns Hopkins University, Telescope Science Locations: Baltimore

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Persons: —, She's, she'll, You've, they'll, can't, shortchanged, doesn't Organizations: Service

But with Russian forces still inside the country and millions of Ukrainians displaced from their homes, fighting on the frontlines, or living overseas, there is no election in sight. Although Sunday is the day the constitution says Ukraine should be voting, it also does not allow it during wartime. He would have voted for Zelensky five years ago if he had had the chance and would vote for him now. Last August, President Zelensky was asked for his position in an interview on Ukrainian television and sounded sympathetic to holding a poll. As the United States Congress continues to dither over new military aid, elections in Ukraine became folded into the debate by some Republicans.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Viktor Yanukovych, Mykola Lyapin, Kateryna Bilokon, Yanukovych, ”, Jamie Oliver, ‘, ’, Oleksiy Koshel, Zelensky’s, Vivek Ramaswamy, Lindsey Graham, “, ” Zelenskiy, Valentyn Ogirenko, Graham, Ruslan Stefanchuk, ” Stefanchuk, disenfranchisement, Oleksandr Voitko, Valerii, Maria Kostenko, Victoria Butenko Organizations: CNN —, Republicans, Sunday, Putin, CNN, Zelensky, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Russia, United States Congress, Republican Party, South, 47th Brigade, “ Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv’s, Europe, United States, “, South Carolina, Kyiv, Russian, Avdiivka, Italy, Russia

☆ This US state is not covered by the NATO treaty. Some experts say that needs to change
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Because in a quirk of geography and history, Hawaii is not technically covered by the NATO pact. Mengshin Lin/AP“People tend to assume Hawaii is part of the US and therefore it’s covered by NATO,” he says. The exception is spelled out in the Washington Treaty, the document that established NATO in 1949, a decade before Hawaii became a state. It also says any island territories must be in the North Atlantic, north of the Tropic of Cancer. Hawaii, Guam, Taiwan and North KoreaSome experts say times have changed in the decades since the Washington Treaty was signed – and argue today’s political situation in the Indo-Pacific might require a rethink.

Persons: “, ”, David Santoro, Mengshin Lin, ” Santoro, –, China’s, Xi Jinping, —, Joe Biden, John Hemmings, ” Hemmings, Hemmings, Forum’s Santoro, Amy Picard, Luis Simon, Simon, ” Simon Organizations: CNN, NATO, Hawaii, Pacific Command, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Aloha, Pacific Forum, Sailors, USS Arizona Memorial, USS, 82nd, Treaty Organization, Washington Treaty, Tropic, Cancer, US State Department, United, Argentine, South Atlantic, Communist Party, Taiwan Relations, White, Center, New, New American Security, Foreign, USS Arizona . US Navy, Interim, Andersen Air Force Base, Korean, . Air Force, 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Force, . Air Force ‘ Coalition, Research Centre, Security, Brussels School, Governance, NATO Command, Union Locations: Sweden, United States, Hawaii, Pearl, Honolulu, USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu , Hawaii, California , Colorado, Alaska, North America, Washington, Europe, Argentina, Falkland, British, South, Guam, Taiwan, North Korea, New American, China, Beijing, Oahu, USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee, France, Nazi Germany, Japan, Italy, Korean, Soviet Union, Belgium, Ukraine

☆ Middle East Crisis Hezbollah and Israel Trade Fire Across Lebanon Border
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | Hwaida Saad | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Remarks by Mr. Gallant and Mr. Austin before the meeting underscored the divide. Image People recovering items from their homes after Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on Tuesday. Speaking with reporters after his meeting with Mr. Austin, Mr. Gallant said Israel would not be deterred in its war aims. And Mr. Gallant said he and Mr. Austin talked about the urgency of efforts to recover more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas and the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “We discussed the humanitarian efforts in Gaza — not only in terms of bringing the aid in but the real issue of distribution,” Mr. Gallant said.

Persons: Yoav Gallant, Lloyd J, Austin III, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, Austin, Mr, ”, Mohammed Salem, Israel, Gallant —, William J, Burns, —, Netanyahu, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Angela Weiss, Burns — Organizations: U.S ., Pentagon, ., Reuters, senior Defense Department, Biden, Apache, Hamas, Mr, . Security, Agence France Locations: Gaza, Rafah, U.S, Washington, Egypt, Israel, ”

☆ Russian rebels aim to embarrass Putin with cross-border attacks during presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The fighters say they intend to disrupt Russia's election and demonstrate opposition to Putin. Putin said there would be payback for the attacks in a speech to Security Council of Russia on Friday. Aleksey Baranovsky, who is part of the Freedom for Russia Legion, said the group's goal was to disrupt the election and show opposition to Putin. A view of the site after Ukrainian shelling that damaged buildings and vehicles in Belgorod, Russia on March 14, 2024. Emil Leegunov/Anadolu via Getty ImagesIt is unlikely that these attacks will have a major impact on the election or the war in Ukraine, but they could serve to embarrass Putin.

Persons: Putin, —, reelect Vladimir Putin, Aleksey Baranovsky, Alexey, Jade McGlynn, Alexey Navalny, STRINGER, McGlynn, Emil Leegunov, " McGlynn Organizations: Security, Russia, Service, Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion, Russian Volunteer Corps, for Russia Legion, War Studies Department, King's College London, Getty, CNN, Freedom for Russia Legion, Russian National Guard, Legion, Navalny Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Russian, Russia's Kursk, Belgorod, —, Ukraine, Kursk, Tyotkino, Russia's, Kyiv, Anadolu

AFP/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, skirmishes continued in villages in Belgorod and Kursk regions after pro-Ukrainian groups of Russian fighters on Tuesday mounted a cross-border attack. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the “terrorist formations” had targeted the Belgorod villages of Nekhoteevka and Spodariushino. “The liberation of the Russian regions from the Kremlin terrorist regime continues in these minutes. Massive strikes are now being launched against Putin’s forces in the Belgorod and Kursk regions,” the statement said. While the extent of the skirmishes in border villages is not clear, drone strikes and shelling on Belgorod have increased markedly in the past week.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, ”, Russia Legion –, Russia –, –, “, Ukraine’s, Valerii Zaluzhnyi Organizations: CNN, Russia’s Defense Ministry, Wednesday, Getty, Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion, Russian Volunteer Corps, Kremlin, Putin’s, Russian Locations: Russia’s Belgorod, Ukrainian Russian, Belgorod, Kursk, Ukraine, Russia, Ryazan, Kstovo, Ukraine’s, AFP, Nekhoteevka, Tyotkino, ” Russia

☆ Russian defectors fighting for Ukraine are attacking their motherland and rolling across the border in tanks: reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paramilitary groups comprising Russian defectors attacked their own country on Tuesday. One group, the Freedom of Russia Legion said they were there to liberate their countrymen. AdvertisementArmed groups of Russian defectors attacked their homeland on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Russian presidential elections. "We are not coming to kill, erase, or punish," the Freedom of Russia Legion said in a video statement, per the Kyiv Post. AdvertisementIn December, the Freedom of Russia legion claimed responsibility for an attack near Terebreno village, in Belgorod.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Andriy Yusov, Yusov, weren't Organizations: of Russia Legion, Service, Siberian Battalion, Kremlin, of Russia, Ukraine's, Russian Volunteer Corps, Russian Federation, TASS, Russian Locations: Russia's, Kyiv, Ukraine, Belgorod, Russia, Terebreno

☆ In Russia, There Is Something Putin Can’t Control - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Today, Bulgakov’s formula is being put to the test once again in Russia, where a new film adaptation of the book has caused a scandal. “The Master and Margarita” captured the surreal atmosphere of dark forces and mysterious disappearances in the 1930s Soviet Union. In the invasion’s wake, President Vladimir Putin has made sweeping attempts to restrict creative expression. Ahead of a presidential election expected to extend his tenure by six more years, Mr. Putin appears politically impregnable. Yet try all he might, he can’t control culture.

Persons: Margarita, ” Mikhail Bulgakov’s, Margarita ”, They’ve, Vladimir Putin, ”, —, Putin Organizations: Ministry of Culture Locations: Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, American, Ukraine

☆ Paris Fashion Week: Fashion, feminism and a fake Kate Moss
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Alice Pfeiffer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesEqually at Rabanne, tartan blazers were given a grungier edge with leather-trimmed sleeves and fasteners. The rise of ‘Les People’Traditionally, showing interest in celebrities (“Les people” in Parisian slang) was a big no-no amongst the proudly snobby French fashion press. For busy women, multitasking women, women who can. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesStockman-style coats in colored, patent and soft leather were everywhere at Chloé, as were thigh-high boots and wafting, chiffon dresses. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesTraditional preppy skirt suits were given an edge with "Miss Dior" emblazoned in a graffiti style scrawling.

Persons: Saint Laurent, —, Wim Wenders, “, ” Balmain’s, Ester Manas, Nina Ricci, Kate Moss, Denise Ohnona, Serre, Arnel Dela, Alessandro Vigilante, ”, Coco, Kroes, Pascal Le Segretain, Chemena, Sienna Miller, Gaby Aghion, preppy Kristin Scott Thomas, Miu Miu, Farida Khelfa, Carine, Julia Roitfeld, Victoria Beckham, Anna, Pat Cleveland, Jerry Hall, Georgia Jagger, Kiernan Shipka, Georgia May Jagger, Julien de Rosa, ’ ’, Charles de Vilmorin, Aldama, Loewe, Dior ” —, Jackie O, Salma Hayek, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, Penelope Cruz, Hari Nef, Emily Ratajkowski, Victor Aubry, Sipa, JM Haedrich, Alexandre Maras, Louise Trotter, Sophie Abriat, Valentino, Givenchy, Laurent, Demna, BFRND, scupltor, Jaanisoo, Rémy Brière, Nicolas Di Felice, Louis Sullivan, Justin Shin, McQueen, Seán, Ib Kamara’s, Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton, Stockman, Jonas Gustavsson, Coco Chanel, Casey Cadwallader's, Albert York, Dior, Victor Virgile, Kristin Scott Thomas, Miu, Olivier Rousteing, Ik Aldama, Chloe —, Miller's, Arnold Jerocki, Filippo Fior, Gonzalo Fuentes, Thierry Chesnot, Ester Manas's Organizations: CNN, Paris, Paris CNN —, Eiffel, Saint Laurent Museum, Chloé, Victoria, Getty, Loewe, Dior, Monde, Saint Laurent, The Washington Post Locations: Paris, Trocadero, British, Deauville, Normandy, Mugler, Chloé, Georgia, AFP, Balenciaga, Chanel, Estonian, Courrèges, Dior

☆ Haiti: Hundreds of prisoners escape Port-au-Prince prison as violence escalates
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Caitlin Hu | Manveena Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Hundreds of prisoners have escaped from Haiti’s National Penitentiary in the capital, Port-au-Prince, after fighting broke out on Saturday, according to a law enforcement source. On Friday, Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, said he would continue in his effort to try and oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry. “We ask the Haitian National Police and the military to take responsibility and arrest Ariel Henry. Caribbean leaders said Wednesday that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had agreed to hold general elections no later than August 31, 2025. Warring gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, choking off vital supply lines to the rest of the country.

Persons: Prince, Jimmy Cherizier, Ariel Henry, “, ” Cherizier, Ralph Tedy Erol, Henry, William Ruto Organizations: CNN, Haiti’s Police, National, Haitian National Police, United Nations, United States Department of Treasury, Protesters, Wednesday, Haitian, Kenyan, Central Directorate of, Judicial Police Locations: Haiti’s, Port, Prince, Haiti, Kenya, United

☆ Surrealism Is 100. The World’s Still Surreal.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Nina Siegal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It’s a fish in the shape of a piano, floating in a clear blue sky, seen through a keyhole. Surrealism, the art movement that gave us disembodied eyeballs, melting clocks and animals with mismatched parts, was born in 1924 when the French poet André Breton published a treatise decrying the vogue for realism and rationality. Breton argued instead for embracing the “omnipotence of dreams” and exploring the unconscious and all that was “marvelous” in life. “The mere word ‘freedom’ is the only one that still excites me,” Breton wrote in his “Surrealist Manifesto.”It was a literary idea that became an art movement and revolutionized nearly all forms of cultural production. It’s now commonplace to call pretty much any weird experience “surreal.”

Persons: André Breton, Breton, ” Breton Locations: French

☆ Opinion: Neither Russia nor the West know how this war will end
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Opinion Anna Arutunyan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It is doing so in part because the plans and intentions of Ukraine’s Western allies are so vague. Just as the Kremlin is doing, Ukraine’s Western allies are signaling their resolve to “defeat” Russia without actually articulating what that defeat means. The military support Ukraine’s allies are willing and capable of offering stops precisely where Ukraine’s most pressing shortages lie: manpower. But Ukraine’s Western allies are failing to reckon with these realities and, amid growing reluctance by right-wing parties in the US and Europe to shoulder the costs, are resorting instead to triumphalist rhetoric. Western allies need to start recognizing their limited resources, or at least the limits to what they can or will offer Ukraine.

Persons: Anna Arutunyan, Mark Galeotti, Prigozhin, Putin, Read, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin’s, ” Putin, Anatolii Stepanov, Dmitry Peskov, Ukraine’s, ”, Emmanuel Macron’s, Zelensky, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, Kremlin, Getty, EU, Munich Security Conference, Estonian Ministry of Defense, Law Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland, ”, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukrainian, AFP, Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Crimea, NATO, Luhansk, Europe

☆ How the Media Industry Keeps Losing the Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( David Streitfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If the career of Roger Fidler has any meaning, it is this: Sometimes, you can see the future coming but get trampled by it anyway. Thirty years ago, Mr. Fidler was a media executive pushing a reassuring vision of the future of newspapers. The digital revolution would liberate news from printing presses, giving people portable devices that kept them informed all day long. But the traditional media that Mr. Fidler was championing do not receive much benefit. Sometimes it is about recently formed digital enterprises, sometimes venerable publications whose history stretches back more than a century.

Persons: Roger Fidler, Fidler

☆ Opinion | Restoring the Past Won’t Liberate Palestine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Amid the graphic images, fierce polemics and endless media criticism that have dominated my social media feeds since the war in Gaza began late last year, I noticed a seemingly bizarre subplot emerge: skin cancer in Israel. “You are not Indigenous if your body cannot tolerate the area’s climate,” one such post read, highlighting outdated news coverage claiming that Israelis had unusually high rates of skin cancer. In the context of the ongoing slaughter in Gaza — more than 28,000 people dead, mostly women and children — such posturing may seem trivial. But even, or maybe especially, at this moment, when things are so grim, the way we talk about liberation matters. In this analysis, there are two kinds of people: those who are native to a land and those who settle it, displacing the original inhabitants.

Persons: “, slinging, Frantz Fanon, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Fanon — Organizations: Palestine Locations: Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Palestine

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