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Published by DPA Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych takes part in a panel discussion at Hotel Bayerischer Hof on the first day of the 48th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Munich. Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has called on head of state Volodymyr Zelensky to give up in the war against Russia. picture alliance / dpa Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych has called on head of state Volodymyr Zelensky to give up in the war against Russia. “You personally are obliged to stop the bloodshed and reach a peace agreement at any cost,” the pro-Moscow politician wrote in a message circulated by Russian state agency Ria Novosti on Tuesday. “This is what Ukraine, the Donbass and Russia expect from you,” he said, adding that Kiev’s partners in the West would also welcome such a move. Yanukovych, who is considered extremely corrupt, was toppled by pro-Western demonstrators in 2014. Since then, the 71-year-old has been living in exile in Russia. In his home country, he was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for treason. Ukrainian media recently reported that the Kremlin wants to reinstate Yanukovych as president. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in the regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell, an Oxford University study has found. The scientists said that the effects were even seen in people who had not been hospitalised with COVID, and whether the impact could be partially reversed or if they would persist in the long term needed further investigation. “There is strong evidence for brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19,” the researchers said in their study, which was released on Monday. Even in mild cases, participants in the research showed “a worsening of executive function” responsible for focus and organising, and on an average brain sizes shrank between 0.2% and 2%. The peer-reviewed study, published in the Nature journal, investigated brain changes in 785 participants aged 51–81 whose brains were scanned twice, including 401 people who caught COVID between their two scans. The second scan was done on average 141 days after the first scan. The study was conducted when the Alpha variant was dominant in Britain and is unlikely to include anyone infected with the Delta variant. Studies have found some people who had COVID suffered from “brain fog” or mental cloudiness that included impairment to attention, concentration, speed of information processing and memory. The researchers did not say if vaccination against COVID had any impact on the condition but the UK Health Security Agency said last month that a review of 15 studies found that vaccinated people were about half as likely to develop symptoms of long COVID compared with the unvaccinated. (Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Singapore; Editing by Robert Birsel) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kristen Stewart’s life is “too good” right now. The 31-year-old actress is currently planning her wedding after getting engaged to Dylan Meyer last year and she’s also been nominated for her first Oscar, as well as a string of other awards, thanks to her work on ‘Spencer’, so she’s feeling very content. She said: “I’m living a simulation, it’s too good. You run through the list, and I go, like, is that possible? Right now, I’m definitely feeling it. “It’s not lost on me any second of any day. I will tell you that.” Kristen played the late Princess Diana in ‘Spencer’ and she reflected on what she’s learned about the royal – who died in a car accident in 1997 – and how she differed from the rest of The Firm since she started work on the movie. She told E! News: “She’s ironically this very un-noble figure in history, but she is the one person in the royal family who ever really reached out and touched anyone. “I think the sad thing is, when you see her, she seems like somebody who wants to just be touched. “So there’s this strange friction and there’s this thing that makes you lean into her, and despite not knowing all of the details of her inner life, you can feel them kind of vibrating through everything she says.” Kristen recently admitted she was “astounded” to have been nominated for Best Actress at the upcoming Academy Awards. She said “I am truly astounded and unbelievably moved and touched and just stunned. I love this movie. “I just saw the director of ‘Spencer’ [Pablo Larraín] for the first time since we found out about the nomination, and just seeing the look on his face, seeing all the work we’ve put into this just evident in his smile, it made me so happy.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Landay and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Leaders of U.S. spy agencies said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to be deterred and may intensify the assault on Ukraine despite military setbacks and economic hardships resulting from international sanctions. “Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the annual House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, where she testified with other intelligence agency leaders. With tensions so high, there is always the potential for “unintended escalation,” Haines said. Haines said intelligence analysts had not observed changes in Russia’s nuclear posture beyond what was detected during previous international crises. “We also have not observed force-wide nuclear posture changes that go beyond what we’ve seen in prior moments of heightened tensions,” Haines said. William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, echoed Haines’ assessment that Russia is unlikely to back down. “I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said. The United States has done “intensive intelligence-sharing” with Ukraine, Burns said. Burns said he and CIA analysts do not see how Putin can accomplish his goal of taking Kyiv and replacing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government with a pro-Moscow or puppet leadership. “I fail to see how he can produce that kind of an end game and where that leads, I think, is for an ugly next few weeks in which he doubles down … with scant regard for civilian casualties,” Burns told the committee. Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said his “low confidence” assessment was that 2,000 to 4,000 Russian troops have been killed. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Doina Cgiacu; Writing by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) -Attacks on hospitals, ambulances and other health care facilities in Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent days and the country is running short of vital medical supplies, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The U.N. agency confirmed on Monday that at least nine people had died in 16 attacks on health care facilities since the start of a Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. It did not say who was responsible. The WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, told a news briefing that the tally included incidents where ambulances had been commandeered for purposes other than emergency healthcare. “We will continue to update those numbers. They’ve been increasing quite rapidly over the past few days,” Smallwood said. The agency is working to rapidly provide medical supplies to Ukraine, where oxygen, insulin, personal protective equipment, surgical items and blood products are running low, Europe regional director Hans Kluge told the briefing. The supply of oxygen, children’s vaccines, especially against polio amid an outbreak, and mental health expertise are among the WHO’s top priorities for the region, he said. In a separate statement, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said countries neighbouring Ukraine which are hosting Ukrainian refugees should include them in their vaccine programmes against a range of diseases, They should prioritise vaccinating against COVID-19 and polio and also against measles, as the current inoculation coverage is insufficient to prevent measles outbreaks, the ECDC said in a statement. “Crowding in bomb shelters and reception centres could facilitate the start of a measles outbreak, particularly as spring coincides with the natural seasonality of the disease,” the agency added. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in BengaluruEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Gareth Jones) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The former chairman of the U.S. right-wing group the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, has been charged with conspiracy for allegedly helping plan the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the report. (Reporting by Aram Rostom and Jan Wolfe, writing by Scott Malone) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Prince Andrew has paid a financial settlement to his sex case accuser Virginia Giuffre. ‘Stipulation of Dismissal’ court documents were filed on Monday (07.03.22) which called for the civil sexual assault action to be dismissed. The joint order confirmed that each party would pay their own costs and fees. The settlement is thought to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”. The Duke of York – who has stepped down from royal duties and public life – has pledged to “demonstrate his regret for his association with (Jeffrey) Epstein” by supporting the “fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims”. Once Judge Lewis Kaplan signs the order, the long-running case will come to an end. Andrew and Giuffre reached an out-of-court settlement over the claim last month. Giuffre – who was formerly known as Virginia Roberts – had accused convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – who took his own life in August 2019 – and his one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell of arranging and forcing her into having sex with Andrew, 61, the third child of Queen Elizabeth and her late husband Prince Philip, in 2001. A court document read: “Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out-of-court settlement. The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed). “Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights. Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley is a strict dad. The 27-year-old Olympian admitted three-year-old Robbie has already learned that if the diver says no to him, turning to his other parent, Dustin Lance Black, will mean he eventually gets what he wanted. Tom said: “I’m Pappa and Lance is Daddy and when I say no to Robbie he immediately goes to Lance and says, ‘Daddy, Pappa says no, but can I?’ And Lance says yes.’ Tom admitted he gets “freaked out” witnessing his son’s daredevil behaviour, even though his husband has pointed out it’s something he likely inherited from the sportsman. He told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: “He loves to find things and jump off them and scare the living daylights out of me. But then Lance says, ‘Well, what do you expect? You climb up things and jump off things for a living’…But it freaks me out. I look back and think, ‘How did my parents deal with watching me do what I do every day and not be petrified?’ “ Tom named his son after his beloved father Rob Daley, who died in 2011 aged just 40, and he hopes he’s a “similar” parent to Robbie in the way his dad was for him. He said: “Robbie is named after Dad. And I do feel I’m similar to how my dad was with me. Whether I was doing well or not, my parents were always there for me. It’s just about being there to support Robbie on the good days, the bad days and everything in between.” Meanwhile, Tom – who came out in 2015 – believes there are no openly gay soccer players in the UK because they are worried about the reaction of fans, not their teammates. He said: “It’s a really hard thing and it takes that one brave person to do it first in football. “I think it’s down to the fans. “I don’t think the people in the teams will have any particular reaction to it. “But you’ve seen how the England fans reacted to the Euros with racism and homophobia. “I think it’s about being brave and being able to share your personal story.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) – Florida’s Senate on Tuesday is expected to pass a Republican-backed bill that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for many young students, a measure Democrats denounced as being anti-LGBTQ. The legislation, referred to by its opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill, has stirred national controversy amid an increasingly partisan debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender. Republican politicians in the United States say they want to prevent schools from promoting ideologies they see as inappropriate to young students. Democrats say policies like the one proposed in Florida are discriminatory and hateful against minority groups, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. The Florida measure bars classroom instruction in public schools on sexual orientation or gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade, or from about ages 5-9. It also prohibits such teaching “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students,” which opponents said could be interpreted to extend to all grade levels. Parents can sue school districts in violation. Already passed by the state House, the bill would next need Governor Ron DeSantis’ signature before it would become law and take effect in July. DeSantis, a Republican, seemed to signal his support for the bill formally titled “Parental Rights in Education” when questioned by a reporter on Monday. “We’re going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum,” he said. High school students across Florida staged walk-outs to protest the education bill last week, video footage posted to Twitter showed, some carrying signs and chanting “We say gay!”. In a tearful address to the Senate on Monday, Democrat Shevrin Jones, the first openly gay Florida state senator, urged his colleagues to narrow the bill’s language to say instruction should not be “intended to change a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” “I ask that you open up your hearts just a tad bit,” Jones said, noting the name-calling and shunning he had faced as a gay man. “Please, do no harm.” Jones’ proposed amendment failed. Republican state Senator Kelli Stargel defended the measure during Monday’s legislative session. “This bill is not intended to hurt students. This bill is not intended to out gay children,” Stargel said. “This bill is intended to strengthen the family unit … this bill is saying that we’re making the parents part of that conversation.” (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Karishma Singh) View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Disney CEO Bob Chapek fired off another staff email this morning as the backlash grows over the company’s support for the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida. Last month, Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban any “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantishas defended the bill saying, “When you actually look at the bill and it says ‘no sexual instruction to kids pre-K through three,’ how many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?” “It’s basically saying for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex? And this is any sexual stuff. But I think clearly right now, we see a focus on transgenderism, telling kids they may be able to pick genders and all of that.” Many critics of the bill feel otherwise — LGBTQ+ advocates argue prohibiting conversations about being gay in classrooms could potentially lead to a rise in suicides. mega The Florida Senate is expected to vote on the bill later today. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Disney has donated money to the campaigns for every single politician who has sponsored or co-sponsored the bill. This has caused quite a backlash for Disney — not only publicly but internally. Earlier today, Chapek sent off another email about the situation but did not apologize for Disney’s support to the politicians. He said he met with a small group of LGBTQ+ Disney employees on Friday to discuss the controverisal legislation pending in Florida that would “impact their communities.” Chapek thanked them for a “meaningul” and “moving” chat. “One common theme was disappointment that the company has not issued a public statement condemning the legislation. That disappointment was compounded by the fact that, while not perfect, our company has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community-and in fact, has played an important role in the personal journeys of so many of our employees,” he wrote. Chapek said Disney and the entire leadership team stand in support of the LGBTQ+ employees and their families. Chapek claimed he had avoided making a statement sooner because, “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds.” mega He continued, “We all share the same goal of a more tolerant, respectful world. Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there. And because this struggle is much bigger than any one bill in any one state.” “I believe the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support.” Chapek went on to list the recent films they produced with characters of color including Encanto, Black Panter, Reservation Dogs, and Modern Family (which had a gay couple). Chapek argued Disney’s content should speak for itself. However, he then went on to say the company did not donate money “to any politician based on [the Don’t Say Gay bill], we have contributed to both Republican and Democrat legislators who have subsequently taken positions on both sides of the legislation. He ended with a promise that Disney “will be reassessing our advocacy strategies around the world.” Sources tell us the email was not well received by many at Disney including the LGBTQ+ staff. We’re told they found it disheartening he touted Disney’s gay pride parades and films with people of color — while refusing to speak out against the Florida bill. Employees are even taking to social media to express their displeasure. Earlier this month, one Disney employee Benjamin Siemon went viral for tweeting, “I don’t want to risk my career or ability to get future work, I love all I do, but I have to say as an LGBT Disney employee I am hurt, saddened, & feel completely unsupported by the company I have truly loved & dreamed of working for since I was a child. Disney should be better. Bob Chapek & Bob IgerMega View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration is willing to move ahead with a ban on Russian oil imports into the United States without the participation of allies in Europe, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden is expected to hold a video conference call with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Monday as his administration continues to seek their support for a ban on the imports. The White House is also negotiating with congressional leaders who are working on fast-tracking legislation banning Russian imports, a move that is forcing the administration to work on an expedited timeline, a source told Reuters A senior U.S. official told Reuters that no final decision has been made but “it is likely just the U.S if it happens” Germany, the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, has rejected plans to ban energy imports. Germany is accelerating its plans to expand its use of alternative energy sources but cannot halt imports of Russian energy overnight, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday. Oil prices have soared to their highest levels since 2008 due to delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets and as the United States and European allies consider banning Russian imports. Europe relies on Russia for crude oil and natural gas but has become more open to the idea of banning Russian products. The United States relies far less on Russian crude and products, but a ban would help drive prices up and pinch U.S. consumers already seeing historic prices at the gas pump. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a Sunday letter that her chamber is “exploring” legislation to ban the import of Russian oil and that Congress intends to enact this week $10 billion in aid for Ukraine in response to Moscow’s military invasion of its neighbor. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill on Thursday to ban U.S. imports of Russian oil. The bill is getting fast-tracked. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the White House slapped sanctions on exports of technologies to Russia’s refineries and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has never launched. So far, it has stopped short of targeting Russia’s oil and gas exports as the Biden administration weighs the impacts on global oil markets and U.S. energy prices. Asked if the United States has ruled out banning Russian oil imports unilaterally, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Sunday said: “I’m not going to rule out taking action one way or another, irrespective of what they do, but everything we’ve done, the approach starts with coordinating with allies and partners,” Blinken said. At the same time, the White House did not deny that Biden might make a trip to Saudi Arabia as the United States seeks to get Riyadh to increase energy production. Axios reported that such a trip was a possibility. “This is premature speculation and no trip is planned,” a White House official said. A year ago Biden shifted U.S. policy away from a focus on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is considered by many to be the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line to the throne held by the 85-year-old King Salman. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sheila Dang and Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) – When Russia invaded Ukraine last week, some of social media’s youngest users experienced the conflict from the front lines on TikTok. Videos of people huddling and crying in windowless bomb shelters, explosions blasting through urban settings and missiles streaking across Ukrainian cities took over the app from its usual offerings of fashion, fitness and dance videos. Ukrainian social media influencers uploaded bleak scenes of themselves wrapped in blankets in underground bunkers and army tanks rolling down residential streets, juxtaposed against photos of blooming flowers and laughing friends at restaurants that honored more peaceful memories of their hometowns. They urged their followers to pray for Ukraine, donate to support the Ukrainian military and demanded Russian users in particular to join anti-war efforts. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it has called a “special operation,” is the latest example of the central role TikTok has played in bringing news and current events to the app’s large Gen Z audience. Its famed algorithm is known for serving trending content even if users do not follow certain people, allowing topics to quickly go viral among its 1 billion monthly users. The app has become so influential in this conflict that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to “TikTokers” as a group that could help end the war, in a speech directed at Russian citizens. Some TikTokers picked up where the politician left off. A Ukrainian travel blogger named Alina Volik, who has over 36,000 followers on TikTok, took a break from posting highlights of her trips to Egypt, Spain and Turkey, to upload videos of life in the invasion, of emergency backpacks filled with first aid supplies and of sealed windows to protect against glass shards in a blast. In TikTok videos posted on Monday, Volik also urged her international followers to watch her Instagram Stories to “see the truth” about Ukraine. In an email to Reuters, Volik said she wanted to combat misinformation in the Russian news that the country’s actions were a “military operation” rather than a war that is hurting Ukrainians. Montages of residential buildings destroyed by missiles, empty grocery store shelves and long lines of cars piled up outside gas stations could be seen on the TikTok pages of top Ukrainian influencers. “@zaluznik” who has 2 million followers, posted one such montage on Sunday with the caption “Russians open your eyes!” Russian influencers have also taken to the app to share their reaction. Niki Proshin, who has over 763,000 TikTok followers, said in a video on Thursday that “normal people” in Russia do not support the war. “None of my friends and none of the people I personally talk to supported today’s events,” he said, referring to the invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor demanded the app stop including military-related content in recommended posts to minors, saying much of the content was anti-Russian in character. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Online misinformation researchers warned that false information about the conflict were now mixed in with authentic ones and has spread widely on TikTok and other tech platforms including Meta Platforms’s Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube. Footage of military simulator video game Arma 3, images of explosions from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, old footage of heavy firing and animations of flying aircraft have been shared on social media sites as if they depict the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week. “We continue to closely monitor the situation, with increased resources to respond to emerging trends and remove violative content, including harmful misinformation and promotion of violence,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding that it works with fact checking organizations. Some Ukrainian TikTok users have made it a mission to share information and spread awareness with Western audiences. “I want people to understand this is not a joke, this is a serious situation that Ukrainians face,” Marta Vasyuta, 20, said in an interview on Monday. One of Vasyuta’s TikTok videos showed what appeared to be a missile in the sky with the caption “Kyiv 4:23 am.” It had over 131,000 comments by Monday as users flooded the video to offer their prayers and express disbelief. “Never thought I would get WAR updates on TIKTOK,” commented one user. (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Elizabeth Culliford in New York; editing by Kenneth Li & Shri Navaratnam) View the full article

Published by DPA The arsenal of drugs doctors can use to save the lives of people critically ill with Covid-19 is growing, and experts are hopeful that one rheumatoid arthritis drug could be a major addition. Boris Roessler/dpa An anti-inflammatory drug normally used for rheumatoid arthritis could turn out to be a lifesaver for people hospitalized with Covid-19, a large clinical trial indicates. UK researchers announced in March that the immune suppressant baricitinib reduced the risk of dying among hospitalized Covid-19 patients by 13%. The remedy seemed especially effective when combined with other drugs, such as the readily available steroid dexamethasone, that also act on the immune system and have proven helpful in the fight against the novel coronavirus, researchers said. “Adding baricitinib on top of whatever else the doctors are currently prescribing … is beneficial,” University of Oxford clinical scientist Martin Landray, one of the lead researchers, told Science. If the results are borne out, baricitinib could be added to an arsenal of treatments that already include immune-tamping anti-inflammatory drugs, antivirals that inhibit coronavirus’s replication in the body, and antibody therapies, as BBC News noted. The study was published in a pre-print at the University of Oxford’s website and is not yet peer-reviewed. It is part of an ongoing initiative led by the university called the Recovery Trial, which has been testing treatments since March 2020. The research team studied outcomes for 4,008 patients who had been hospitalized with Covid-19 between February and December 2021 and treated with the best remedies at the time. Researchers compared those results to 4,148 patients who received baricitinib on top of the usual care for up to 10 days. Of the first group, 546 patients, or 14%, died within 28 days, compared to 513, or 12%, of the group being treated with baricitinib. Given before intubation, baricitinib seemed to reduce the chance of needing a ventilator at all, the researchers said. The anti-inflammatory appears to reduce the overactive immune response that helps Covid-19 destroy the lungs, researchers said. “Today’s results not only show that treatment with baricitinib improves the chances of survival for patients with severe Covid-19 but that this benefit is additional to that from other treatments that dampen down the overactive immune response, such as dexamethasone and tocilizumab,” Landray said in a statement. “This opens up the possibility of using combinations of anti-inflammatory drugs to further drive down the risk of death for some of the sickest patients.” As Covid-19 continues its rampage, health care providers welcomed the new possibilities. “The pandemic is far from over, and we will likely have to contend with additional case surges in the future,” Emory University virologist Boghuma Titanji told Science. “It is heartening to have more mortality-reducing therapeutic options.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘The Lost Daughter’ was among the big winners at the Film Independent Spirit Awards 2022. The 44-year-old star’s directional debut, an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name, took home Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the prestigious ceremony at Santa Monica Pier on Sunday night (06.03.22). A teary Maggie said in her speech: “You were the first people to tell me I was a director. “Thank you to Netflix – I can’t even believe this – for your support. Nobody ever makes their first movie and comes out loving their financiers. “I love independent film. “I grew up making independent film.” Japanese drama ‘Drive My Car’, co-written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, scooped Best International Film. Best Female Lead went to Taylour Paige for her titular role as a Detroit waitress in the American black comedy crime film ‘Zola’, while the flick also won Best Editing. Simon Rex won the Male Lead accolade for his turn as washed-up porn star Mikey Saber in the comedy-drama ‘Red Rocket’. Andrew Garfield presented the special honour of the night, the Robert Altman Award, to pal Fran Kranz for his directional debut ‘Mass’. The 38-year-old actor – who starred alongside Fran in the Broadway show ‘Death of a Salesman’ in 2012 – said: “The Robert Altman Award is named after a legendary filmmaker held in the highest esteem by actors because of the rich performances that populated in his movies. Every ensemble piece that follows owes him a great debt.” The ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ star said he was “incredibly impressed with what he’s done with this film, which happens to be his directorial debut, which is insane.” Fran began his speech by sharing how inspired he was by Andrew. He said: “I thought about that time often while making this movie.” Receiving the honour – which is awarded to the director, casting director, and ensemble cast of films each year in memory of the legendary late filmmaker – is a full-circle moment for Fran, who as a boy was “kicked out” of the premiere of Altman’s ‘Shortcuts’ movie by his parents. The 40-year-old filmmaker continued: “I was kicked out of the Venice Film Festival’s premiere of Robert Altman’s ‘Shortcuts’. I was 12 years old, and my family was on vacation in Italy … and right before the lights went down they were like, ‘This is a kid, he can’t watch this.’ “I always wondered, who is this Robert Altman guy and what could’ve possibly been in that movie? … I saw it and I know exactly why they kicked me out of there. I saw new definition and depth to the ideas behind acting and ensemble. I saw how different experiences can somehow still be shared human experience. “I confirmed my suspicion that Robert Altman and his films were among the gold standard of what we were all trying to do here.” On what he hoped to achieve with the moving flick about grief, he added: “It’s not an easy film to celebrate. I wanted to demand a new kind of attention on the pain grief built around this country but also the need to heal and present a new way of looking at one another, seeing one another, speaking to another and maybe find some state of grace in one another.” Husband-and-wife comedy duo Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally hosted the ceremony. The Film Independent Spirit Awards Film winners: Robert Altman Award ‘Mass’ Best Supporting Female Ruth Negga, ‘Passing’ Best Screenplay Maggie Gyllenhaal, ‘The Lost Daughter’ Best Editing Joi McMillon, ‘Zola’ Best First Feature ‘7 Days’ Best First Screenplay Michael Sarnoski, ‘Pig’ Best Documentary ‘Summer of Soul’ John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000) ‘Shiva Baby’ Best Supporting Male Troy Kotsur, ‘CODA’ Best Feature ‘A Chiara’ Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal, ‘The Lost Daughter’ Best Male Lead Simon Rex, ‘Red Rocket’ Best Female Lead Taylour Paige, ‘Zola’ Best Cinematography Eduard Grau, ‘Passing’ Best International Film ‘Drive My Car’ Producers Award Lizzie Shapiro Someone to Watch Award Alex Camilleri, ‘Luzzu’ The Truer Than Fiction Award Jessica Beshir, ‘Faya Dayi’ View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Britney Spears has revealed new disturbing claims about her controversial conservatorship. The Princess of Pop, 40, hasn’t been shy about exposing her father, Jamie Spears, and other conservators for their allegedly abusive actions during the nearly 14-year arrangement — and she’s still not done calling them out. In a new post shared to her Instagram page on Sunday, March 6, Britney once again accused her father of horrific behavior while acting as her conservator, including allegations that she hardly had any privacy. MEGA “In a world where it’s okay to lock your daughter up and make her work 7 days a week … 8:00 am to 6:00 pm … no days off … 105 people are in and out of a small trailer home weekly … No private baths … seen naked when changing … drugged … can’t even speak or talk … ” she wrote in Sunday’s post, adding that she had “to be available to the treatment people and show up every day for 10 hours a day” or else she would be forced to stay longer. BRITNEY SPEARS BOASTS ABOUT BEING A ‘REBEL’ & ‘FREE WOMAN’ AS POP STAR SHARES RISQUÉ BEACH PHOTOS AHEAD OF BOMBSHELL MEMOIR RELEASE “Never given a date on when you can leave … 9:00 pm bed every night … like 8 gallons of blood weekly,” she added. “This happened to me for 4 months after I worked for my dad and my family for 13 f**king years … I gave my all when I worked only to be literally thrown away … I was nothing more than a puppet to my family yet to the public I just performed on stage and did what I was told to do … but it was worse than that because it was accepted and approved by the people I loved the most ,” Britney explained in the lengthy Instagram post. As OK! previously reported, Britney’s dad, along with her other conservators and management company, have been accused of taking money from the pop star while she was working non-stop, along with other claims that they forced her to take psychiatric medication and wouldn’t let her remove her birth control device. The New York Times‘ bombshell documentary that dropped last year also alleged Britney’s private text messages were monitored and her bedroom was bugged with listening devices. MEGA “Looks are deceiving …. I must have it nice on vacations lol !!!! After 13 years damn straight I should go !!! I was treated less than, demoralized and embarrassed … nobody should ever be treated the way I was ….,” she continued, before explaining her reasoning for sharing the shocking post. BRITNEY SPEARS SET TO TELL HER STORY IN GROUNDBREAKING $15 MILLION BOOK DEAL: REPORT “The reason I bring this up is because ending the conservatorship is a huge deal but come on … THAT’S IT ??? They all got away with it !!! If you’ve ever been in shock for 4 months … threatened for your life … you would be upset too … I’m not done,” the “Toxic” songstress maintained, “… I want justice and won’t stop until something is done to those who harmed me … and YES I was harmed !!!!” She concluded her post by sending a message to others who have experienced something similar, writing: “This is a message to all who have been threatened for their life … You are NOT ALONE !!!!” MEGA In addition to Britney’s plea for justice to be served following the conservatorship she dubbed “abusive” during her bombshell court testimony last year, her lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has been adamant about holding Jamie and others accountable for their actions. An evidentiary hearing where Britney and her legal team will address the claims she’s made against her father has been scheduled for July 27. View the full article

Published by DPA The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Baetzing, speaks during opening press conference of the spring plenary meeting of the German Bishops' Conference. Nicolas Armer/dpa The leaders of Germany’s Catholic Church are gathering on Monday, with two topics set to dominate their spring meeting: reform efforts in the wake of multiple sexual abuse scandals and the war in Ukraine. The opening service of the four-day plenary session in the Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the Bavarian town of Bad Staffelstein will be dedicated to prayer for peace in Ukraine and throughout Europe, organizers said. The president of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), Bishop Georg Bätzing, will lead the prayers. Experts have been invited to discuss the situation in Ukraine, a DBK spokesperson said. These include Andrij Waskowycz, who was president of Caritas Ukraine for 20 years until 2021. Another focus is the reform debate in the Church, which has regained momentum with the publication of a report into sexual abuse in the Munich archdiocese earlier this year. The report alleged that dozens of reports of sexual abuse were not handled properly by the archdiocese. Among many others, the report also pointed the finger at a former pope, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was accused of misconduct and changed one of the statements he had made to the investigators. He insists however he was not part of any cover-up to hide sexual abuse. The return of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki to his post in Cologne last week has also caused ructions in the Church. Woelki had been heavily criticized – and took a five-month leave of absence – for not publicly releasing a report on child sexual abuse and alleged cover-ups in his archdiocese. A separate body of the Church, called the Synodal Path, recently adopted some reform proposals with a large majority – among other things, the faithful are to have more say in the appointment of bishops. “Wir sind Kirche” (We are Church), a reform movement within the German Catholic Church, has called for the measures proposed by the Synodal Path to be formally adopted at the meeting starting today. Church leaders should now “nail their colours to the mast,” it said. There was clear majority at the synodal assembly for a text that recognized homosexuality as a sexual identity of equal value to heterosexuality, and which argued that nobody should be denied ecclesiastical office or ordination to the priesthood on the grounds of their sexual preference. The assembly also came out in favour of the blessing of homosexual partnerships, the admission of married priests and the appointment of female deacons. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Chung (Reuters) -Bill Cosby avoided renewed legal jeopardy on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by prosecutors to undo last year’s ruling in Pennsylvania that overturned the 84-year-old actor and comedian’s 2018 sexual assault conviction. The justices let stand the decision by a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Cosby should never have faced the charges because a previous local district attorney had publicly promised in 2005 not to prosecute him, turning away an appeal by prosecutors. The state court’s ruling freed Cosby after he spent nearly three years in state prison, angering sexual assault victims and their advocates. Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison following his conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of his alma mater Temple University, at his home in 2004. He was the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual abuse since the #MeToo movement began exposing sexual misconduct among powerful men in Hollywood and beyond. Cosby is best known for his role as the lovable husband and father in the classic 1980s television comedy series “The Cosby Show.” He also was an influential stand-up comedian. His family-friendly reputation was shattered after more than 50 women accused him of sexual assaults spanning nearly five decades. Constand’s allegations were the only ones against Cosby that were not too old to allow for criminal charges. His lawyers argued on appeal that Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele should not have charged Cosby in 2015 in the Constand case because Bruce Castor, who previously held the job, had declined to file criminal charges and issued a press release announcing his decision. The refusal to prosecute meant Cosby could not avoid testifying in a civil case Constand had brought against him, which led to a multimilion-dollar settlement. That testimony, in which Cosby acknowledged giving sedatives to women, played a role in Steele’s criminal case against Cosby. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in June 2021 ruled that the prosecution was fundamentally unfair because Cosby had relied on Castor’s promise to his detriment, in violation of Cosby’s right to due process of law under the U.S. Constitution. In appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Steele said the state court’s “dangerous precedent” wrongly transformed a bare press release into an effective immunity that has “paved the road for thousands of other defendants to raise this issue and to seek similar windfalls.” Cosby’s first trial ended with a hung jury in 2017, when jurors could not reach a unanimous decision on his culpability. He was convicted at a second trial after the judge let prosecutors call as witnesses five prior accusers – four more than in the first trial. Prosecutors argued that Cosby’s assault of Constand was a well-rehearsed offense he had honed over decades: befriending younger women and acting as a mentor, only to sexually assault them, often with the assistance of drugs. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Pavel Polityuk and Carlos Barria LVIV/IRPIN, Ukraine (Reuters) – Moscow offered Ukrainians escape routes to Russia and its close ally Belarus on Monday, drawing cries of outrage from Ukraine, where officials said a bread factory had been hit by an air strike in the latest Russian bombardment. The bodies of at least 13 civilians were recovered from rubble after factory in the town of Makariv in the Kyiv region was hit, local emergency services said. Five people were rescued of the 30 believed to have been there at the time. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reported attack. The Russian offer preceded a planned third round of peace talks on Monday between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators. Earlier rounds produced little but pledges to allow humanitarian access that have not been successfully implemented. Two days of failed ceasefires for the besieged southern port city of Mariupol have left hundreds of thousands trapped without food and water under relentless bombardment. As Russian and Ukrainian delegations assembled for the talks, a Ukrainian negotiator urged Russia to stop its assault on Ukraine, which the United Nations said had sent 1.7 million people fleeing to Central Europe. “In a few minutes, we will start talking to representatives of a country that seriously believes large-scale violence against civilians is an argument,” Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Prove that this is not the case.” Under the Russian offer, a corridor from Kyiv would lead to Russia’s ally Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, would be directed to Russia, according to maps published by the RIA news agency. “Attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilised world … are useless this time,” the Russian defence ministry said after announcing the “humanitarian corridors”. A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the proposal “completely immoral” and said Russia was trying to “use people’s suffering to create a television picture”. “They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said. In response to Russia’s actions, Western nations have placed heavy sanctions on Moscow to isolate it from global commerce. Leading international businesses have cut ties and it is even being ostracized by sports and entertainment bodies. Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of oil and gas and oil prices spiked to their highest levels since 2008 as the United States and European allies considered banning Russian oil imports. Russia and Ukraine are also both among the world’s main exporters of food and industrial metals. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. It calls the campaign it launched on Feb. 24 a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and remove leaders it describes as neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a transparent pretext for an invasion to conquer a nation of 44 million people. Graphic: Who buys Russia’s oil and gas? – https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-OIL/RUSSIA/myvmnxxolpr/chart.png The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were “beginning to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv”, a city of more than 3 million, after days of slow progress in their main advance south from Belarus. DIVING FOR COVER Ukraine said 2,000 civilians had been evacuated from Irpin, a Kyiv suburb that has been under heavy attack. Reuters journalists in the town on Sunday witnessed residents running for their lives, carrying small children, pets and bags of belongings. Families dove for cover as explosions burst in the town and flames shot up into the sky. Panting with exhaustion and shock, they were helped onto busses by Ukrainian troops. The situation was quieter on Monday in Irpin where Ukrainian police released footage of more civilians making their way out. But in Mariupol, deputy mayor Sergei Orlov said there were continuous air bombing raids on the city overnight. Orlov told CNN authorities were ready to evacuate 6,000 people on Saturday but the Russians had bombed 29 big municipal buses that were to transport them. Moscow has accused the Ukrainians of blocking the planned evacuations. Ukraine said on Monday its forces had retaken control of the town of Chuhuiv in the northeast, site of heavy fighting for days, and of the strategic Mykolayiv airport in the south, which the regional governor said was under tank fire. Neither claim could immediately be verified. The United Nations called for safe passage to reach people cut off from lifesaving aid across Ukraine. In a humanitarian update it described one psychiatric hospital 60 km (40 miles)from Kyiv, running out of water and medicine with 670 people trapped inside, including bedridden patients with severe needs. The WHO said at least six people had been confirmed killed in nine attacks on health care facilitaties since the start of the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters Moscow would halt operations if Ukraine ceased fighting, amended its constitution to declare neutrality, and recognised Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the independence of regions held by Russian-backed separatists. Ed Arnold, an analyst with Britain’s Royal United Services Institute said Russia would need to try to consolidate the gains it has already made and pause to mobilise more forces unless the pace of the assault picked up. “At the current rate of Russian losses … we do have indications that this operation would be unsustainable within about three weeks,” he said. While Russia’s advance in the north on Kyiv has been stalled for days with an armoured column stretching for miles along a highway, it has made more progress in the south, pushing east and west along the Black and Azov Sea coasts. Moscow has acknowledged nearly 500 deaths among its soldiers, but Western countries say the true number is much higher and Ukraine says it is many thousands. Death tolls cannot be verified, but footage widely filmed across Ukraine shows burnt-out wreckage of Russian armoured columns and Ukrainian cities reduced to rubble by Russian strikes. In Russia itself, the authorities have imposed a near total blackout on non-official information. The last significant independent broadcasters of the post-Soviet era were shut last week, and a new law threatens long jail terms for reporting deemed by the authorities to discredit the military. Many foreign news organisations have suspended reporting from Russia. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Peter Graff, Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Philippa Fletcher and Angus MacSwan) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Alright, who said MacBeth in the theatre? Actor Taron Egerton gave the audience a fright after collapsing on stage in London during the opening night of new play C–k. Mega The Sing actor was set to hit the stage at the Ambassadors Theater in London to perform the latest play directed by Marianne Elliott. The show went off without a hitch until Egerton collapsed on stage before the second act. Audiences were frightened by the sight of the unconscious actor. The play was halted and forced into an emergency intermission. A doctor in the audience attended to the actor after the curtains closed. Living The High Life! ‘Rocketman’ Star Taron Egerton Caught On Camera In Pot Joint After the brief delay, Elliot took the stage to assure the audience that Egerton was “absolutely fine” backstage. She did clarify, for his safety, he would not continue the performance that night and would instead have an understudy fill in. One of the attendents tweeted about the incident writing, “First night drama. [Egerton] collapses on stage 90 minutes into the first night of West End run of new play.” The same attendant complimented the actor following up his tweet with, “Taron dazzled with his range and wordplay in this b—hfest of a play.” Mega Stage news site All That Dazzles tweeted, “Just so people have the full story: Taron Egerton fainted on stage during ‘C–k‘ tonight. Show stopped and a doctor was pulled from the audience Safety curtain came down.” They continued revealing, “40 minutes later they announced Taron was fine but his understudy would finish the show in his place tonight.” Another attendee replied to the tweet saying, “Everyone was so shocked. Glad to hear he is okay and speedy recovery.” Mega C–k starred Egerton alongside Freebird actor Phil Daniels and Zebra Girl‘s Jade Anouka. The play was written by Mike Bartlett, who also wrote several famous plays performed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The play documents the life of a gay man who begins to question his sexuality after falling in love with a woman he meets on his commute. The play was originally written in 2009, but has been revised for the scheduled 2022 run. View the full article

Published by Reuters LONDON (Reuters) -Police detained more than 4,300 people on Sunday at Russia-wide protests against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent protest monitoring group. Thousands of protesters chanted “No to war!” and “Shame on you!”, according to videos posted on social media by opposition activists and bloggers. Dozens of protesters in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg were shown being detained. One protester there was shown being beaten on the ground by police in riot gear. A mural in the city showing President Vladimir Putin was defaced. Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage and photographs on social media. Russia’s interior ministry said earlier that police had detained around 3,500 people, including 1,700 in Moscow, 750 in St Petersburg and 1,061 in other cities. The interior ministry said 5,200 people had taken part in the protests. The OVD-Info protest monitoring group said it had documented the detention of at least 4,366 people in 56 different cities. “The screws are being fully tightened – essentially we are witnessing military censorship,” Maria Kuznetsova, OVD-Info’s spokeswoman, said by telephone from Tbilisi. “We are seeing rather big protests today, even in Siberian cities where we only rarely saw such numbers of arrests.” The last Russian protests with a similar number of arrests were in January 2021, when thousands demanded the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny after he was arrested on returning from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning. Some Russian state-controlled media carried short reports about Sunday’s protests but they did not feature high in news bulletins. Russia’s RIA news agency said the Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, adjoining the Kremlin, had been “liberated” by police, who had arrested some participants of an unsanctioned protest against the military operation in Ukraine. CHURCH SUPPORT RIA also showed footage of what appeared to be supporters of the Kremlin driving along the embankment in Moscow with Russian flags and displaying the “Z” and “V” markings used by Russian forces on tanks operating in Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said Russian values were being tested by the West, which offered only excessive consumption and the illusion of freedom. Putin, Russia’s paramount leader since 1999, calls the invasion, launched on Feb. 24, a “special military operation”. He says it is aimed at defending Ukraine’s Russian-speaking communities against persecution and preventing the United States from using Ukraine to threaten Russia. The West has called his arguments a baseless pretext for war and imposed sanctions that aim to cripple the Russian economy. The United States, Britain and some other NATO members have supplied arms to Ukraine. Navalny had called for protests on Sunday across Russia and the rest of the world against the invasion. About 2,000 people attended an anti-war protest in Kazakhstan’s biggest city Almaty, according to videos posted on social media. Reuters was unable to independently verify the posts. The crowd shouted slogans such as “No to war!” and obscenities directed at Putin while waving Ukrainian flags. Blue and yellow balloons were placed in the hand of a statue of Lenin towering over the small square where the rally took place. The Russian state polling agency VTsIOM said Putin’s approval rating had risen 6 percentage points to 70% in the week to Feb. 27. FOM, which provides research for the Kremlin, said his rating had risen 7 percentage points to 71% in the same period. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Catherine Evans, Frances Kerry, William Maclean and Kevin Liffey) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Vladimir Putin has allegedly hidden his mistress Alina Kabaeva and their four children in Switzerland during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mega Sources have revealed that, “While Putin carries out his assault on the Ukraine, attacking innocent citizens and causing a refugee crisis, his family is holed up in a very private and very secure chalet somewhere in Switzerland – for now, at least.” Female Olympic gold-winning gymnast Alina Kabaeva has 4 children all of whom are alleged to be the offspring of the Russian president. The source also confirmed that the secret lover’s children have Swiss passports having been born there. They believe that Kabaeva has one as well but can’t confirm with full certainty. Putin has lived his personal life in almost compete secrecy with a layer of mystique to keep his all powerful persona in the minds of his people. “I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected,” the Russian president made clear in an interview where a reporter probed about Putin’s life outside of politics. “I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives.” Vladimir Putin’s Alleged ‘Love Child’ Luiza Krivonogikh Called Out Online Over Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Mega Putin was previously married to Lyudmila Shkrebneva for nearly three decades until their divorce in 2013. The two only two children: Maria, who was born in Leningrad in 1986 and Katrina, who was born in Germany a year later. Kabaeva was a famed rhythmic gymnast who had won Russia two Olypmic gold-medals, 14 World Championship medals, and a whopping 21 European Championship medals. She would go on to be named “Russia’s Most Flexible Woman.” The Gymnast had no children before her rumored secret marriage to Putin and has since given birth to 4 children with no record of who the father is. Many believe them to all be the Russian president’s offspring. Mega The news of Kabaeva’s potential hiding in Switzerland comes after Putin ordered Russian troops to invade and bomb former Soviet Union nation Ukraine. Troops began their invasion February 20th with orders to take the capitol of Kyiv. The Russian president released a video listing off multiple reasons why he chose to invade the neighboring nation with many calling it a “blood and soil” claim to the country. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Diplomats were working to ensure the release of seven-time WNBA All-Star player Brittney Griner after Russia said it had detained the player last month for possession of vape cartridges containing hash oil, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. The Russian Customs Service, without naming Griner, said on Saturday that it had detained an athlete in February after the player arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on a flight from New York. Russian news agency TASS identified the player as Griner, citing a source. Griner’s WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, said: “We are aware of and are closely monitoring the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia.” A scan of the player’s luggage revealed cartridges containing “liquid with hashish oil”, and a criminal case has been opened carrying a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison, the customs service said. It was not clear when in February Griner, who plays in Russia during the WNBA’s winter off-season, was detained. The player is still in custody and an investigation is underway, the Russian Customs Service said. Griner, who won Olympic gold medals with the U.S. national teams in 2016 and 2021, “has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball,” USA Basketball said on Twitter. At a joint press conference with Moldova President Maia Sandu on Sunday, Blinken said the Biden administration had assigned an embassy team to work on Griner’s case. “There’s only so much I can say given the privacy considerations at this point,” Blinken said of Griner. “Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we of course stand ready to provide every possible assistance, and that includes in Russia.” He added, “We have an embassy team that’s working on the cases of other Americans who are detained in Russia. We’re doing everything we can to see to it that their rights are upheld and respected.” Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and Western nations’ sweeping sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow, the United States on Saturday warned against travel to Russia and said its embassy there had limited ability to assist citizens. LGBTQ rights advocates expressed particular concern for Griner in light of the fact that she is an openly gay woman being detained in a country that has a record of restricting LGBTQ rights. “Our thoughts are with Brittney Griner, her loved ones, and her teammates during this terrifying ordeal,” a spokesperson for Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights in sports, said on Sunday. “Brittney has long been a powerful voice for LGBTQ+ equality. It’s critical that now we use our collective voice to call for her safe and swift return to her family.” Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, posted on Instagram on Saturday that she appreciated the prayers and support she had received following Brittney’s detention. “This message comes during one of the weakest moments of my life,” she wrote. “Please honor our privacy as we continue to work on getting my wife home safely.” (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Cover the Stench of Big Batches With Self-Defense Drizzle, Fresh-Ground Stand, Apple-Pie PR frosting. And, It Explains Why Chernobyl Topped Putin’s Shopping List. Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Russian media cited an unnamed source on Sunday as saying that Ukraine was close to building a plutonium-based “dirty bomb” nuclear weapon, although the source cited no evidence. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with the aim to “demilitarise” and “denazify” its pro-Western neighbour and prevent Kyiv from joining NATO. The West, dismissing that rationale as a pretext, has responded with harsh sanctions on Moscow and heavy military and other aid to Kyiv. The TASS, RIA and Interfax news agencies quoted “a representative of a competent body” in Russia on Sunday as saying Ukraine was developing nuclear weapons at the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was shut down in 2000. Ukraine’s government has said it had no plans to rejoin the nuclear club, having given up its nuclear arms in 1994 following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Shortly before the invasion, Putin said in a grievance-filled speech that Ukraine was using Soviet know-how to create its own nuclear weapons, and that this was tantamount to preparation for an attack on Russia. He cited no evidence for his claim. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by William Mallard) View the full article