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Published by DPA Protesters marche during a peace demonstration through the city center on Rose Monday. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Rose Monday festival was canceled, and instead a protest march will move through the city center – past many of the motif floats that were actually built for the Rose Monday procession. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa At least 413 people were arrested in Russia during protests against the war in Ukraine on Monday, the civil rights site OVD-Info reported, bringing the total of people arrested since demonstrations started on Thursday to 6,440. Around half of the arrests, 3,126, were made during protests in Moscow, while 2,084 were in St Petersburg, OVD-Info said on Monday night. The invasion of Ukraine is driving many in Russia to protest, and Russian security forces have responded brutally to demonstrators. Russian authorities are urging people to not take part in the unauthorized rallies. They have also repeatedly banned rallies, citing the pandemic. In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell praised demonstrators in Belarus who were calling for a more democratic approach at home under long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko while protesting the war in Ukraine. “To the Belarusian people: many of you took huge personal risks struggling for a free and democratic Belarus,” Borrell said in a video posted on Twitter and subtitled in in three languages – Belarusian, Russian and English. “Now you are raising your voice against Russia’s war on Ukraine and [President] Lukashenka’s decision to support it. Thank you for your bravery. EU stands with you. #StandWithUkraine,” Borrell wrote. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people demonstrated for peace and democracy in the western German city of Cologne on Monday as the city’s traditional Carnival got under way against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Traditionally marked by a parade, “Rose Monday” this year was transformed into something quite different. “It is impressive how many people are on the streets in Cologne,” a police spokesman said. According to the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee and police, some 250,000 people took part. “This is, I think, the most important Rose Monday procession in my lifetime,” musician Peter Brings, 57, told WDR television. In speeches, Carnival President Christoph Kuckelkorn and Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker expressed solidarity with both Ukraine and anti-war demonstrators in Russia. “Mr. Putin, stop the madness! Stop the war!” shouted Kuckelkorn. Costumed and non-costumed people marched together through the streets. Many carried banners with inscriptions such as “Putin Go Home” and “Dear Russian people, be Russians not Putinians”. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Premier Hendrik Wüst also joined the demonstration. “The best way to be on your feet today is to demonstrate for peace and freedom in Europe,” he said. Protesters marche during a peace demonstration through the city center on Rose Monday. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Rose Monday festival was canceled, and instead a protest march will move through the city center – past many of the motif floats that were actually built for the Rose Monday procession. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa Carnivalists gather on Rose Monday and hold a demonstration for peace at Chlodwigplatz, following the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Shrove (Rose) Monday festival was canceled due to the Russian invasion of Ukrain and the carnivalists held instead a protest march through the city center. Oliver Berg/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brad Pitt’s production company is taking on a ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel. According to The Ankler, a follow-up to Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy-horror is in the “early” stages of development, with the Hollywood star’s Plan B attached to make the movie for Warner Bros. It’s very early days as there is no script and no news yet on whether the original cast will reunite for the second film. Michael Keaton played the titular role, with the cast also including Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder. The cult classic follows Alec’s Adam Maitland and his wife Barbara (Geena) who die in a car accident and find themselves haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When Charles and Delia Deetz (Catherine and Jeffrey Jones) move in with their daughter Lydia Deetz (Winona) the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success and their efforts attract a spirit called Beetlejuice (Michael), whose help quickly becomes dangerous for everyone involved. Plan B’s recent movies include Golden Globe winner ‘Minari’, ‘Irresistible’, ‘Kajillionaire’. Michael Keaton initially turned down ‘Beetlejuice’. The 70-year-old actor admitted he was reluctant to take on the leading role because he didn’t understand Tim’s vision and he wanted to spend time at home. He explained: “Sometimes I’m lazy. I just go, ‘Ah, I don’t know. I’m breeding one of my dogs, or I didn’t take a vacation I should go.’ “Sometimes it’s that. Mostly it’s just that I don’t know how to do it. Tim couldn’t really express what Beetlejuice was. It wasn’t so much, ‘No, I refuse’; it was, ‘I really like this guy, but I don’t know what he’s talking about.” The director and actor also worked together on the 1989 movie ‘Batman’ and Tim admitted that it was Michael’s psychological approach to the part that convinced him to cast him as the caped crusader. He said: “When it came to ‘Batman’, I’d been meeting with these beefy action-hero types, then Michael arrives… He comes in with this whole psychology, approaching it with an almost manic-depressive quality in mind. I thought: now I get it.” And Quentin Tarantino convinced Michael to star in ‘Jackie Brown’ by getting him drunk. He said: “I said, ‘You can find 10 guys who can do this better than I can do it,’ and then he got me drunk.” View the full article

Published by DPA Ireland, which previously had some of the strictest coronavirus measures in Europe, is now among the latest countries to lift most restrictions. However experts say news like this doesn't mean the pandemic is over. Brian Lawless/PA Wire/dpa Los Angeles (tca/dpa) — So how much longer will the pandemic last? No one is sure. Coronavirus cases are falling, but it would be a mistake to think the pandemic is over, experts say. The last decline in cases means that we’re likely turning to a period of calm in this pandemic, representing a “containment” of the coronavirus, but “that is not the same as the pandemic being over,” Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, wrote in the Los Angeles Times in February. “Unfortunately, when states or countries proclaim that we just need to live with the virus and end all restrictions, many people interpret that message as meaning the pandemic is actually over — for good,” Topol said. “That would be a fantasy given the myriad opportunities for the virus to haunt us in the months and years ahead.” What history tells us Recent history has shown that pandemics can last for several years. The 1918 flu pandemic persisted into a third year, with a fourth wave in 1920 even deadlier in some US cities than the better-known second wave of late 1918, John Barry, author of “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,” wrote in a recent op-ed. Lately, scientists are studying the “Russian flu” pandemic that began in 1889 for clues to how the Covid-19 pandemic may turn out — since some scientists suspect that pandemic was actually caused by a coronavirus rather than a flu virus. There are parallels between the two pandemics. The Russian pandemic was first reported in the spring of 1889 in what is now Uzbekistan. It spread worldwide in three distinct waves over three years, Dr. George Rutherford, a University of California, San Francisco epidemiologist, said at Friday’s campus town hall meeting. But, unlike what typically happens with the flu, which is usually hardest on the very young and old, “this just got the old,” Rutherford said. And the distinctive symptoms in the 1889 pandemic included loss of taste and smell — traits similar to those seen with Covid-19. A detailed report by scientist Harald Brüssow, published last August in the journal Microbial Biotechnology, suggested plausible scenarios in which elevated levels of Covid-19 deaths could last five years or even longer. The 1889 pandemic hit England and Wales in 1890, and deaths remained high through 1892. Deaths declined over the next two years but still remained “substantially higher than in the pre-pandemic period.” “From these data, one might deduce a protracted five-year course for a Covid-19-like pandemic, suggesting that Covid-19 might occupy us well beyond 2022 if the current vaccination campaigns does not change its ‘natural’ trajectory,” Brüssow wrote. Still, the author added, “it is by no means clear whether an epidemic with similar basic characteristics will be a replay of one which occurred 140 years ago.” There are a number of differences between that pandemic and the one caused by Covid-19; such as the lack of use of masks during the 1889 pandemic, the lack of quarantine measures and the unavailability of vaccines. Growing optimism Health officials are optimistic that drugs like Paxlovid will reduce the risk of severe illness and death from Covid-19. But there is a severe shortage of those drugs — one reason why health officials in some California counties, including L.A. County, are retaining local indoor mask orders until case rates drop further, likely for a few more weeks. It’s possible the virus could still mutate into something potentially worse, overriding immunity provided by vaccines or past infection, Topol said. That’s why it’s so important to be ready for a worst case scenario, such as being able to meticulously monitor new surges, ramp up wastewater tracking of the virus, improve air filtration and work on a variant-proof vaccine, Topol wrote. Potential new variants are a big reason why it’s essential that people get vaccinated and boosted, thereby reducing the chances of yet a new mutant strain developing. “Around the world, there are billions of people unvaccinated and likely without any protection from prior infection,” Topol said. “When the virus is not contained, as is the case in the world now, its spread creates the potential for new variants.” Experts are still closely watching a sublineage of the omicron variant known as BA.2. BA.2 is probably somewhat more transmissible than the main omicron sublineage, BA.1, and there are very preliminary reports that it may cause somewhat more severe disease, Rutherford said. But BA.2 accounts for a relatively small fraction of analysed virus cases worldwide. “At this moment, it does not look like BA.2 poses a threat as a major new variant, but it would not be surprising if we see another variant in future months that deserves a separate Greek letter designation,” Topol wrote. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley has launched the second part of his 1896 collection. The 27-year-old Olympic gold medalist diver – who delighted fans with his poolside knitting during Tokyo 2020 over the summer – launched his Made With Love brand in November, and now he’s expanded his debut range. The 1896 Part II collection introduces the Patch It Up jumber – an asymmetrical patchwork for adults in an oversized fit – as well as matching kits for children and pets. The range also includes headbands and homewear kits featuring tea pot and mug cosies, plus jumpers and cardigans. And the updated collection goes further with Made With Love’s first ever crochet kits, such as the Crotchet It Like You Mean It Beanie, the Plot Twist Headband and the Crotchet You Stay Blanket. Meanwhile, designs from the original collection have been evolved and re-imagined into new looks. In a statement, Tom said: “When I started knitting and crocheting, it was the form of mindfulness that I needed. “It gave me something to do with my hands when competing so I wasn’t focusing on the competition in between dives, and something rewarding to do at home during lockdowns to keep my mind occupied. “It’s no surprise that I love fashion so being able to combine that with my love of knitting and crochet is my dream. I want these kits to be for everyone. “I want the most experienced crafters to be able to get stuck into a big project, and people who have never picked up a pair of needles to be able to try the hobby that I’ve loved so much over the past two years.” Shop Made With Love on bytomdaley.com. View the full article

Published by DPA The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva walk out of the hall during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa Representatives of dozens of countries protested against the Russian war in Ukraine on Tuesday by walking out of a sitting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s speech. “The Human Rights Council must not be misused as a platform for disinformation,” said German ambassador Katharina Stasch, who took part in the stunt. “Foreign Minister Lavrov’s grotesque claims must be exposed for what they are: a cynical distortion of the facts.” Lavrov, who joined proceedings by video link, read out a long statement in which he justified the attack on Ukraine by accusing the Ukrainian side of human rights violations. He had initially planned to attend the meeting in person, but the trip was cancelled because of the closure of European airspace to Russian aircraft. The UN Human Rights Council began its regular spring session on Monday. In his speech, Lavrov accused Ukraine of terrorizing the Russian minority in Ukraine for years. Their human rights had been violated in many ways, he claimed, adding that the West had not only looked on but supported this. He mentioned the United States, Canada and the European Union several times. Since mid-February, more than 100,000 people have fled to Russia from Ukraine’s far eastern Donbass region, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting central government forces since 2014. The government in Kiev wants to turn its country anti-Russia to please the West, Lavrov said, according to the UN translation of his speech. Western countries are obsessed with sanctions, Lavrov said, describing the punitive measures as illegal as they target ordinary people. “The West has clearly lost control of itself in its desire to vent its anger on Russia,” Lavrov said, according to the interpreter. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected attempts by Moscow to portray the attack on Ukraine as a defence of human rights and said reports of Russia’s abuses “mount by the hour.” “Russian strikes are hitting schools, hospitals, and residential buildings. They are destroying critical infrastructure, which provides millions of people across Ukraine with drinking water, gas to keep them from freezing to death, and electricity,” he said in a video message to the council. “Civilian buses, cars, and even ambulances have been shelled. Russia is doing this every day – across Ukraine.” In the annexed Crimean Peninsula, he said, there are extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture. In Russia itself, anti-corruption activists and opponents of the government are persecuted, he noted. The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva walk out of the hall during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa A general view shows an almost empty hall as Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva left the during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva walk out of the hall during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva walk out of the hall during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivers a pre-recorded video speech at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) – Meta Platforms is globally demoting content from Russian state-controlled media outlets’ Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, as well as posts containing links to those outlets on Facebook, the company’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said on Tuesday. Clegg also said the company had seen a “definitely discernable” degradation of its services in Russia since the country’s authorities announced they would restrict Meta’s platforms in the country. Speaking in a call with reporters, he said there had been an effect particularly on video and other multimedia content. Meta said on Monday, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that it would restrict access to Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik on its platforms across the European Union. Clegg said the company had also received requests from other governments outside of the European Union to geoblock Russian state media. He said he was not aware of a request from the United States government to block Russian state media on Meta’s platforms. (Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford; Additional reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Bradley Cooper grabbed attention when he showed up to the SAG Awards with a noticeably different complexion and what appeared to be a brand-new face! The A Star Is Born actor made headlines after walking the red carpet on Sunday. Showing almost no wrinkles on his beautiful baby-smooth mug, the 47-year-old left everyone wondering what — if anything — has he done to his face? Sporting a snazzy black Gucci suit and a sophisticated bow tie, the Academy Award winner happily posed for photographers while revealing his crow’s feet and smile lines have virtually disappeared — or so it seems. Radar spoke with two Los Angeles-based plastic surgeons who offered insight about what Bradley may have done to his famously handsome face. It’s important to note that these doctors have not worked on the Nightmare Alley star personally, but they are experts in their field — so they know what they’re talking about. Mega Dr. David Saadat — known for his facial plastic surgery work in Beverly Hills — tells Radar how Bradley may have achieved his airbrushed look in real-life. “Obviously, Bradley Cooper is a very good-looking, highly sought-after actor. He’s not only known for his great acting but also his chiseled facial contours, although he looks a lot more smooth here,” he states. Suggesting Bradley may have “treated his wrinkles with a neurotoxin,” Dr. Saadt says that potential procedure “can be noticed through the smooth skin that has an airbrushed appearance.” Adding that the actor’s “muscles seem to be a lot more relaxed,” Dr. Saadt reveals “it is also possible he may have had a small amount of cheek filler to address the inevitable loss of volume due to aging.” The doctor is impressed with Bradley’s appearance, to say the least, adding he “looks great and very natural!” Jacques Abrahamian from the LA FUE Hair Clinic also suggests Bradley didn’t have to go under the knife for his alleged results. Mega “Talk of the town is Bradley Cooper’s glowing skin. Comparing his before and after photos from the past to the most recent shows his skin is more evenly toned, fine lines have been diminished, and looks overall refreshed,” Abrahamian tells Radar. To make your skin glowing and smooth like Bradley’s is easy, at least according to the expert. “A few non-surgical options available depending on the extent of downtime available can include PRP treatments with microneedling also known as platelet-rich plasma which uses patients own blood and the growth factors and platelets found in the PRP which can help with fine lines and hyperpigmentation with almost zero downtime compared to other treatments available,” he continues. “Another option available can be CO2 laser resurfacing which has more of a downtime typically between 7 to 10 days where the skin scabs up and the skin can become pink for a few weeks after the scabbing period which results in fresh glowing skin,” Abrahamian adds. And if all else fails, never count out Botox. Abrahamian says another “great combination with PRP can also include Botox treatments which can soften fine lines.” Whatever — if anything — Bradley is doing, he’s aging in reverse and his fans are here for it. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sam Elliott has called ‘The Power of the Dog’ a “piece of s***”. The 77-year-old actor – who is known for having starred in a string of Western films himself – was not impressed when he saw the Oscar-nominated Netflix drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a closeted ranch owner in the 1920s alongside Kodi Smit McPhee and Kirsten Dunst. He said: “You wanna talk about that piece of s***. I didn’t like it. This is is the guy who has done Westerns forever. It was the evisceration of the American West. Remember those guys from back in the day? They wear bow ties and not much else.[The Chippendales] That’s what all these f****** cowboys in that movie looked like. They’re running around in chaps and no shirts There’s all these allusions of homosexuality throughout the movie.” Sam then took aim at Benedict Cumberbatch, complaining that the ‘Sherlock’ star for “never getting out of his chaps” in the movie as he questioned “where the Western” was in the movie. He said: “Where’s the Western in this Western? I mean, Cumberbatch never got out of his f****** chaps. He had two pairs of chaps — a woolly pair and a leather pair. And every f****** time he would walk in from somewhere — he never was on a horse, maybe once — he’d walk into the f****** house, storm up the fucking stairs, go lay in his bed in his chaps and play his banjo. It’s like, what the f***!” The ‘Tombstone’ star went on to blast the film’s director Jane Campion for choosing to shoot the Montana-based story in her home country of New Zealand and questioned her suitability to helm the project in the first place. Speaking on the ‘WTF’ podcast, he added: “What the fuck does this woman from down there know about the American West? Why the f*** did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? And say this is the way it was? That f****** rubbed me the wrong way!” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Aleksandar Vasovic KYIV (Reuters) -Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes on Tuesday and rained rockets on the city of Kharkiv as Russian commanders intensified their bombardment of Ukrainian urban areas in a shift of tactics after their six-day assault stalled. A U.S. official said a miles-long armoured column bearing down on the capital Kyiv had not made any advances in the past 24 hours, frozen in place by logistics problems, short on fuel and food, and perhaps pausing to reassess tactics. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces would strike targets in Kyiv used by Ukraine’s security service and also communications sites. It warned residents near such sites to leave their homes, while giving no information about where in the city of three million people those targets were located. Speaking in a heavily guarded government compound in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia must “first stop bombing people” before peace talks could make any headway. In a joint interview with Reuters and CNN, Zelenskiy also urged NATO members to impose a no-fly zone to stop Russia’s airforce, something the military alliance has ruled out. As Zelenskiy, unshaven and wearing simple khaki clothes, spoke, news came that a Russian missile had struck a TV tower near the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv, killing at least five people. Rocket strikes on Ukraine’s second biggest city Kharkiv killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. Similar strikes killed and wounded dozens in Kharkiv on Monday. Zelenskiy, who also spoke by phone for 30 minutes with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, said the artillery barrages on Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million, amounted to “state terrorism”. In their call, Biden and Zelenskiy discussed how Russia had intensified attacks on sites used by civilians and the U.S. president underscored Washington’s economic and security support and humanitarian aid to Kyiv, the White House said. ‘SHAMBOLIC’ The West has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia to shut off its economy from the global financial system, pushing companies to halt sales, cut ties and dump tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investments. Nearly a week since Russian troops poured over the border, they have not captured a single major Ukrainian city after running into far fiercer resistance than they expected. Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at Washington DC’s Wilson Center, tweeted: “Looking at the Russian operation so far, they’re having tremendous problems with logistics and communications. The whole effort seems shambolic.” Many Western military analysts fear that Russia will now fall back on tactics which call for crushing bombardment of built-up areas before trying to enter them. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “One reason why things appear to be stalled north of Kyiv is that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adjust to the challenges that they’ve had.” The Russians have been surprised not only by the scale of Ukrainian resistance but also by poor morale among their own forces, some of whom surrendered without a fight, the U.S. official said. Russia still has more forces to throw into the fight even though President Vladimir Putin has drawn global condemnation and sanctions that have already sent the rouble into freefall and forced Russians to queue outside banks for their savings. Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the “special military operation” would continue until it had achieved its goals, defined by Putin as disarming Ukraine and capturing the “neo-Nazis” he says are running the country. In the south, Russia claimed to have completely encircled Ukraine’s Azov Sea coast. If confirmed, that would mean Russian forces invading from Crimea had joined up with separatists in the east and had cut off Ukraine’s main eastern port, Mariupol. Pictures released by U.S. satellite company Maxar showed Russian tanks, artillery and fuel trucks stretching for 40 miles (60 km) along a highway to the north of Kyiv. Zelenskiy said Kyiv remained the main target. Some Kyiv residents have been sheltering in underground metro stations at night. There are long lines for fuel and some products are running out in shops. APPEAL In an emotional address to the European Parliament by video link on Tuesday, a day after he signed an official request to join the European Union, Zelenskiy urged the bloc to prove that it sided with Ukraine. “Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness,” he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a Geneva disarmament meeting via video link that Ukraine had been seeking nuclear weapons, but he did not provide evidence other than saying “Ukraine still has Soviet nuclear technologies and the means of delivery of such weapons.” More than 100 diplomats walked out of the hall in protest as his speech began, underlining Russia’s international isolation. Human rights groups and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States have accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs, weapons condemned by many organizations. Moscow denies targeting civilians. Ukraine’s general staff said Russian losses included 5,710 personnel, 29 destroyed and damaged aircraft and 198 tanks, all figures that could not be verified. Russia has given no full account of its battlefield losses. ‘I SAW WAR’ Moscow announced a ban on foreign companies selling assets to try to halt the flight of Western companies abandoning their Russian ties. Putin also issued a decree banning cash exports of foreign currency from Russia exceeding $10,000 in value. Most effective among the sanctions so far have been those on Russia’s central bank that prevent it from using its $630 billion foreign reserve war chest to prop up the rouble. The currency came under renewed pressure late on Tuesday, a day after it hit a record low against the dollar. More than 660,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries such as Poland and Romania since the invasion began, the U.N. refugee agency said. At the Hungarian border crossing Tiszabecs, a mother cradled a baby in her arms after a four-day drive from Kyiv. “I saw war, I saw rockets,” said her older son Ivan, 15, who looked exhausted after the journey. His father had stayed behind to fight. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Kyiv; Natalia Zinets, Matthias Williams and Pavel Polityuk in Lviv; Kevin Liffey and Mark Trevelyan in London; and other Reuters bureaux including Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan and Gareth Jones; Editing by Nick Macfie and Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by Reuters GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday that Russian “crimes” in Ukraine are “mounting by the hour”, with strikes hitting hospitals, schools and residential buildings. Blinken, addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, said that the forum’s urgent debate on Ukraine scheduled for Thursday, where a resolution brought by Kyiv and allies would set up an international probe into violations, is an “important step toward ensuring documentation and accountability”. “We must send a resolute and unified message that President (Vladimir) Putin should unconditionally stop this,” he said. Blinken also said that China “continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang” against Muslim Uyghurs, and called for U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet to release her office’s report with findings on the situation. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Emma Farge) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will lay out a strategy to address the nation’s “unprecedented mental health crisis” in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, the White House said in a statement. The plan aims “to strengthen system capacity, connect more Americans to care, and create a continuum of support –transforming our health and social services infrastructure to address mental health holistically and equitably,” it said. (Reporting by Susan Heavey) View the full article

Published by DPA The Russian Olympic Committee flag flies at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium during the closing Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Michael Kappeler/dpa Further sporting sanctions on Russia were announced Tuesday following the invasion of Ukraine, with figure and speed skaters banned from competition and the men’s world volleyball championships moved out of the country. Skiing governing body FIS also blocked Russians and Belarusians from the remaining events of the 2021/22 season but despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommending a ban, the world aquatic governing body FINA said swimmers from the two nations could compete as neutrals. Skating’s governing ISU said officials from the countries will also be suspended from their roles. The decision means the dominant Russian figure skaters will be banned from the March 21-27 world championships in Montpellier, France, and speed and short track skaters are also ruled out of various events this month. “The ISU Council will continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the ISU activity and will take additional steps if and when required,” an ISU statement said. In alpine and Nordic skiing, the FIS said its ruling council had not taken the decision lightly, it was made to “ensure the safety and security of all athletes.” Norway and Estonia had already said Russians and Belarusians would not be permitted to compete in World Cups they were hosting this month, even as neutrals. Canoeing also said “athletes from Russia and Belarus will be suspended from competing at any International Canoe Federation events until further notice.” Volleyball’s governing FIVB said it “remains gravely concerned by the escalating situation and for the safety of the people of Ukraine” and its board “has come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to prepare and stage the World Championships in Russia due to the war in Ukraine.” Russia was due to host the worlds August 26-September 11. The FIVB had previously withdrawn Nations League games from Russia and said it will “seek an alternative host nation(s)” for the championships. FINA has not been so strict and said: “Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams.” It also said “the FINA Order awarded to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014 has been withdrawn.” FINA awarded the Order to Putin in October 2014, around 10 months after Russia annexed Crimea. Late Monday World Taekwando said it “decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt” given to Putin in 2013, following on from Sunday’s International Judo Federation decision to suspend him from his role as honorary president. The Russian Football Union (RFU) reacted with anger and disappointment to being suspended from the game. This is contrary to “all standards and principles of international competition” and against “the ethos of sporting spirit and fair play,” the RFU said late Monday. German sports firm Adidas suspended its 14-year relationship with the RFU having most recently renewed their partnership in 2018. A spokesperson for Adidas said the consequences of the decision remained open. World governing body FIFA and European body UEFA have suspended Russian teams from all competitions. This effectively hands German side RB Leipzig a walkover against Spartak Moscow into the Europa League quarter-finals and prevents Russia taking part in World Cup play-offs later this month. The RFU claimed the decision was discriminatory and said it could appeal under international sports law, likely to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, drawn in the same play-off path as Russia, refused to play Russia under any circumstances and with several other countries following suit FIFA’s hand was forced after it initially declined to take action last week. UEFA also said it would cut all links with Russia state-owned firm Gazprom. The Russian flag is pictured behind a fence during the Opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Paralympics at the Fisht Olympic stadium in Sochi. Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Colton Underwood is engaged to Jordan C. Brown. The 30-year-old TV star – who publicly came out as gay in April 2021 – has revealed his partner popped the question during a relaxing break in the Big Sur, California, after his 30th birthday on January 26. Colton told People: “After my birthday, Jordan and I went to Big Sur for a weekend getaway to decompress and relax in nature. “I couldn’t have pictured a more beautiful place to celebrate an amazing milestone in my life and relationship.” He added: “I’m extremely happy! 2021 was the most transformative year of my life. Starting 2022 off with my best friend, teammate and now fiance is something I never thought was going to be possible.” Sharing the news on Instagram, Colton wrote: “Life is going to be fun with you.” The proposal comes after the loved-up pair splashed out $3 million on their first home together in Sherman Oaks, California, after making their relationship Instagram official in December. The luxury two-storey property boasts four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Colton had shared a snap of him eating pizza and wine from the floor in an empty room with no furniture. He captioned the post: “good carbs, great wine a happy life (sic)” Colton taking the next step in his relationship comes after he recently gushed that he is “in love” and “in a good position” in his life. The ‘Bachelor’ 2019 star shared: “I’m happy, I’m in love and I’m in a good position. “Everything as far as that goes has been pretty smooth. What was so cool too was, like, after the show was over, I didn’t know what was really next. I knew that I was still coming out and I still am. So there’s still things to work through right now.” Colton previously admitted he “didn’t want to be gay”. Opening up about his struggles in his Netflix series, ‘Coming Out Colton’, he said: “I didn’t want to be gay. And the main voices in my head were just telling me, ‘You’ll get through this, you’ll get through this, you’ll get through this.'” Colton thought he would “die” with his “secret”, but ultimately came out because he felt “mortified” over his behaviour with Cassie Randolph. The duo ended their romance in May 2020 after appearing on ‘The Bachelor’ the year before, and the 26-year-old beauty subsequently filed for a restraining order against him for alleged harassment, though she dropped it two months later. Colton said: “I never thought I was going to come out, I thought I was going to die with this secret. “[I put] a poor girl through [a] hell of my own insecurities.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman is bisexual. The 33-year-old actress plays Selena Kyle’s alter ego in Matt Reeves’ upcoming movie ‘The Batman’, and Zoe has confirmed the sexuality of her character. Speaking about Selena’s friend Anika, she told Pedestrian.tv: “That’s definitely the way I interpreted that, that they had some kind of romantic relationship.” The director also spoke in detail about Zoe’s wishes for her character and how it was intended for there to be an “intimate relationship between” Selena and Anika. The 55-year-old filmmaker explained: “[The film is] very true to the character of Selina Kyle. She’s not yet Catwoman, but all the elements of how she’s going to become Catwoman are there. “And in terms of her relationship with Anika, I spoke to Zoe very early on and one of the things she said which I loved was that, ‘She’s drawn to strays because she was a stray and so she really wants to care for these strays because she doesn’t want to be that way anymore and Anika is like a stray and she loves her. She actually represents this connection that she has to her mother who she lost, who was a stray anymore’.” He added: “So I don’t think we meant to go directly in that way, but you can interpret it that way for sure. She has an intimacy with that character and it’s a tremendous and deep caring for that character, more so than a sexual thing, but there was meant to be quite an intimate relationship between them.” Zoe confirming Catwoman’s sexual orientation comes after she said she tried to “forget” past versions of the character. The star’s take on Catwoman – who has been played by the likes of Halle Berry and Michelle Pfeiffer in the past – is different because Matt had his own unique ideas for the movie. She said: “It was really about, for me, just trusting the story that Matt [Reeves]’s written, and doing my best to almost forget about the idea of Catwoman and what she means culturally and really just focus on telling the story.” View the full article

Published by The Kansas City Star KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sixteen Kansas residents are suing to block the state’s new congressional map, alleging that its redrawn district boundaries are a racial and partisan gerrymander. The ACLU of Kansas and Campaign Legal Center, a national nonprofit good-government group, jointly filed a lawsuit Monday in Wyandotte County District Court on behalf of Kansans from Wyandotte County, Johnson County and Lawrence. A separate lawsuit from the national group Democracy Docket and the Kansas-based civic engagement group Loud Light was also filed Monday in Wyandotte County. The lawsuits kick off a widely… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega A man who claims to have watched Don Lemon assault his friend will be allowed to testify in court. According to court documents obtained by Radar, a New York federal judge ruled Lemon’s accuser will be allowed to call two additional witnesses to the stand. As we previously reported, Lemon is currently being sued for sexual assault by a man named Dustin Hice. In his suit, Hice claims he ran into Lemon at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor bar in 2018. mega He claims to have noticed the newscaster at the bar and approached him. Hice says he offered to buy Lemon a drink but he declined. Moments later, Hice claims Lemon approached him aggressively and got into his face. Lemon allegedly stuck his hands down his pants and rubbed them on his genitals. Hice says Lemon took his hands out and put his fingers under Hice’s nose. The news anchor denies the incident ever happened. Recently, he even accused Hice of deleting evidence including homophobic text messages. Lemon believes the alleged victim even tried to pay off people to back up his story. His attempts to dismiss the case have been unsuccessful. The jury trial is scheduled for June. Hice plans to call two men to testify during the trial named Williams Erdman and George Gounelas. mega The latter is likely not to excite Lemon. Gounelas is a friend of Hice who was out with him on the night in question. He backed up his friend’s claim Lemon brushed him off after their first encounter at the bar. Gounelas said a few moments later Lemon came back “pretty drunk.” He said the CNN anchor got in Hice’s face and then “put his hands down his pants, inside his board shorts, grabbed his [genitals], and then came out with two fingers” and put them under his friend’s nose. The man previously said he believed Lemon could have been attempting to flirt with Hice. “I think it might have been flirting. I think Dustin was more in shock… If someone was flirting with me like that I’d say, ‘alright man I’m not gay,” Gounelas said. Lemon has yet to respond to the court’s decision. He has a bit of time to prepare before jury selection starts on June 2. As Radar previously reported, Lemon is also demanding Hice pay him$106k in sanctions for deleting the texts messages. A judge has yet to rule on the issue. mega View the full article

Published by Reuters (This Feb 25 story corrects ownership of Mid Atlantic Offshore Wind LCC in paragraph 10.) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration’s sale of offshore wind development rights off the coasts of New York and New Jersey drew a record $4.37 billion in high bids from developers that included major European energy companies. The auction, which began on Wednesday and stretched into Friday afternoon, is the first offshore wind lease sale under U.S. President Joe Biden, who sees the expansion of the industry as a way to tackle climate change and create jobs. The administration has set a goal to install some 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030 along the nation’s coastlines and several states, including New York and New Jersey, have set ambition mandates for clean power adoption. “This week’s offshore wind sale makes one thing clear: The enthusiasm for the clean energy economy is undeniable and it’s here to stay,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The auction’s scale marks a major step forward for offshore wind power in the United States, which has lagged European nations in developing the technology. Currently, the United States has just two small offshore wind facilities, off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia, along with two additional commercial-scale projects recently approved for development. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees energy development in federal waters, offered six leases across 488,201 acres (197,568 hectares) between New York’s Long Island and New Jersey, an area known as the New York Bight. By the end of the auction, total high bids on the six blocks amounted to $4.37 billion. That is more than three times the revenue received from all U.S. offshore oil and gas lease auctions over the past five years. The top bidder was Bight Wind Holdings LLC, a joint venture between Germany’s largest power producer RWE and Britain’s National Grid, which won a single 125,964-acre parcel for $1.1 billion. Other winning bidders included Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Bight LLC, a fifty-fifty joint venture between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America, whose parent companies are European energy giants. Other winners included Mid Atlantic Offshore Wind LCC, which is owned by a Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners fund; OW Ocean Winds East LLC, which is a joint venture between Portugal’s EDP Renewables and France’s ENGIE; Attentive Energy LLC; and Invenergy Wind Offshore LLC, BOEM said. An offshore energy industry group, the National Ocean Industries Association, said the auction reflected optimism among offshore wind developers of strong future demand. “The record-shattering interest in the New York Bight lease sale is testament to how bright the American offshore wind outlook is and how confident developers are in the strength of the U.S. offshore wind industry as a whole,” said Erik Milito, president of NOIA. WINDFALL BOEM spokeswoman Tracey Moriarty said the revenues also marked a big win for taxpayers. “The high bids will benefit tax payers, as the money incurred will go to the U.S. Treasury,” she said. It was not immediately clear how or if the high price of the leases would impact the cost of power eventually generated by the projects. Trade group American Clean Power Association praised the record-breaking auction and said it supported BOEM’s goal to hold six more lease sales through 2024. “We challenge policymakers to provide even more certainty to this new industry, ensuring that the American people benefit from its growth and job-creating potential,” said CEO Heather Zichal. Not everyone supports offshore wind development. The Biden administration’s ambitions have stoked concerns among commercial fishermen and coastal communities about harm to their livelihoods and property values. In January, a group of New Jersey residents sued BOEM over its leasing plans for the New York Bight. The group, from the summer colony of Long Beach Island, is concerned about the aesthetic impacts of the turbines and potential lost tourism. Commercial scallop fishermen in the region are also worried that the construction of offshore projects will hurt scallop populations and complicate navigation. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Aurora Ellis and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s family members are speaking out against the controversial author and making sure to distance themselves from his views. Over the weekend, The New York Times published a bombshell article that included quotes from several of RFK Jr’s family members — many trashing him over his recent stances on the pandemic and Covid vaccines. MEGA RFK Jr. — the son of the late New York senator Robert F. Kennedy — has been vocal about his disdain for President Biden, Dr. Fauci, and the government mandates. He recently got into trouble after he suggested Anne Frank and other Jewish people fleeing for their lives in WWII had a better chance to escape death than the people today dealing with vaccine regulations At the time, Kennedy’s wife Cheryl Hines was forced to come forward and release a statement about the holocaust remarks. “My husband’s reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive. The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own,” she tweeted after days of criticism over her silence. MEGA “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did,” Kenney said during a “Defeat the Mandates” rally in D.C. In his recent book, he claimed Dr. Fauci and Bill Gates worked together with Big Pharma to make money off the vaccines. Robert’s sister Kerry Kennedy told the outlet, “He’s brilliant, he’s well-read, he cares deeply, he is extremely charismatic … And then he has this. In regard to his comments invoking Anna Frank, Kerry said, “Bobby’s lies and fear-mongering yesterday were both sickening and repulsive. I strongly condemn him for his hateful rhetoric.” MEGA Sources told the outlet Kennedy’s views have caused a divide in the Kennedy family. Five of his siblings have called him out publicly in the past couple of years. RFK Jr’s brother Christopher G. Kennedy said, “I love my brother but could not disagree with him more.” Despite the backlash from his inner circle, RFK Jr. continues on with his campaign against Fauci and vaccine mandates. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jake Spring, Andrea Januta and Gloria Dickie (Reuters) – Climate change is already disrupting billions of lives and humanity is not doing enough to limit the suffering, the United Nations climate science panel warned in a major report on Monday. Noting that nearly half the world’s population was already vulnerable to increasingly dangerous climate impacts, the report calls for drastic action on a huge scale: A third to a half of the planet needs to be conserved to ensure future food and freshwater supplies. Coastal cities need plans to keep people safe from storms and rising seas. And more. “Adaptation saves lives,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said with the report’s release. “As climate impacts worsen – and they will – scaling up investments will be essential for survival… Delay means death.” The 3,675-page report, the latest in a series by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), details the global consensus on climate science. This report, however, focuses on how nature and societies are being affected and what they can do to adapt. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadowed the release of the report and drove the sole Ukrainian author to leave the proceedings to take shelter, although a government representative did attend its final approval by nearly 200 nations. British, Spanish and Egyptian officials said the report was a call to action. U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry lamented that too little has been done to adapt to climate change and said the report offered a “blueprint for action”. “Denial and delay are not strategies, they are a recipe for disaster,” Kerry said in a statement. TOUGH CHOICES On nearly all counts, the report makes clear that climate change is impacting the world far faster than scientists had anticipated. Meanwhile, countries have failed to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions, which continue to rise. “Unchecked carbon pollution is forcing the world’s most vulnerable on a frogmarch to destruction,” Guterres said in a video address Monday. “The facts are undeniable. This abdication of leadership is criminal.” While governments need to drastically curb their emissions to prevent runaway global warming, they can also work to limit suffering by adapting to the conditions of a warmer world, the report says. That will take a lot of money – to finance new technologies and institutional support. Cities can invest in cooling areas to help people through heatwaves. Coastal communities may need new infrastructure or to relocate altogether. “The scale of transformation that we need is unprecedented in human history,” said Zinta Zommers, a report review editor with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. U.S. and European investment firms said the report was a wake up call to the huge risks climate change presents to the financial system and that most companies are not doing enough to adapt. The report predicts disruptions to economies and food production will push millions into poverty. In some cases, the report acknowledges, the costs of adapting will be too high. LIMITING WARMING The report’s release three months after global leaders met at a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, highlighted the urgency of efforts to contain global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial temperatures. Breaching that threshold will deliver irreversible damage to the planet, it says. And every increment of warming will cause more pain. “Adaptation is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. There are limits to adaptation,” said Maarten van Aalst, director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and a report co-author. Limiting global warming to close to 1.5C may not prevent losses to nature, societies or economies, but will substantially reduce them, the report says. Having already warmed 1.1C, the planet is expected to hit the 1.5C threshold within two decades. “Our atmosphere today is on steroids, doped by fossil fuels. This is already leading to stronger, longer and more frequent extreme weather events,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization. Societies will fail to adjust well to a warming world if they aren’t socially inclusive in tackling the task, the report warns. Solutions need to consider social justice and include indigenous populations, minorities and the poor, it says. “It’s the poor and most marginalized who are most vulnerable” to climate change, said Timon McPhearson, an urban ecologist at The New School in New York and one of the report’s 270 authors. Losses and damage from climate-related events, such as storms or heatwaves, are already mounting. In the decade up to 2020, highly vulnerable people in places such as Africa, South Asia and South America were 15 times more likely to die from floods, droughts or storms, the report said. Hundreds of plant and animal species have disappeared at a local level, and some altogether from the planet. Australia’s Bramble Cay melomys rodent, for example, was driven to extinction by sea level rise, noted said IPCC co-author Brendan Mackey of Australia’s Griffith University. And marine heatwaves are killing off swathes of the Great Barrier Reef. For people, time is running out to make the society-wide transformations needed, the report authors warn. “There is a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future on the planet,” said Hans-Otto Portner, co-chair of the IPCC working group that generated the report. “We need to live up to this challenge.” (Reporting by Jake Spring, Gloria Dickie in London and Andrea Januta in New York; Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai, William James in London, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Isla Binnie in Madrid; Editing by Katy Daigle and Alex Richardson) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley and Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared skeptical of the federal government’s authority to issue sweeping regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants in a case that could undermine President Joe Biden’s plans to tackle climate change. The court, whose 6-3 conservative majority has shown wariness toward broad federal agency actions, was weighing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal- and gas-fired power plants under the landmark Clean Air Act. Although some justices questioned the EPA’s power in an abstract sense, it remained unclear how they would rule, as lawyers representing the EPA and power companies pushed back against a decision that would prevent the agency from issuing any regulation that went “outside the fenceline” – meaning beyond restrictions on individual plants. An eventual ruling restricting the EPA’s authority could hamstring the administration’s ability to curb the power sector’s emissions – representing about a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gases. The United States, behind only China in greenhouse gas emissions, is a pivotal player in efforts to combat climate change on a global basis. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito indicated that any broad assertion of authority sought by the EPA would constitute a “major question” that under court precedent requires Congress to have expressly authorized it. “You are claiming that the interpretation gives you the authority to set industrial policy and energy policy and balance such things as jobs, economic impact, the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change as well as costs,” Alito told U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing Biden’s administration. The Supreme Court is reviewing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s 2021 decision striking down Republican former President Donald Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy rule. That regulation would have imposed limits on a Clean Air Act provision called Section 111 that provides the EPA authority to regulate emissions from existing power plants. The United Nations earlier in the day released a 3,675-page report https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/un-climate-report-urges-world-adapt-now-or-suffer-later-2022-02-28 urging global action to combat climate change. Outside the Supreme Court, a small group of demonstrators carried signs reading “Protect the Clean Air Act.” The case was pursued by Republican-led states led by coal producer West Virginia. Other challengers include coal companies and coal-friendly industry groups. Coal is among the most greenhouse gas-intensive fuels. Democratic-led states and major power companies https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/us-utilities-side-with-environment-agency-supreme-court-climate-case-2022-01-27 including Consolidated Edison Inc, Exelon Corp and PG&E Corp sided with Biden’s administration, as did the Edison Electric Institute, an investor-owned utility trade group. During the argument, their lawyer Beth Brinkmann, stressed the value of flexibility that would allow for some “outside the fenceline” regulation, including authorization of emissions trading between plants. That argument seemed to draw some interest from the bench, including conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. “I don’t know how you can draw such clean distinctions,” Thomas told Yaakov Roth, a lawyer representing coal companies. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that “inside the fenceline” regulations can be just as onerous on coal plants as a more industry-wide rule. “Reform can be very small or can be catastrophic. There are ‘inside the fence’ technological fixes that could drive the entire coal industry out of business tomorrow, and an ‘outside the fence’ rule could be very small, or it could be very large,” Kagan said. The rule proposed by Trump, a supporter of the U.S. coal industry who also questioned climate change science, was meant to supplant Democratic former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan mandating major reductions in carbon emissions from the power industry. The Supreme Court blocked https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-carbon/supreme-court-blocks-obama-carbon-emissions-plan-idUSKCN0VI2A0 Clean Power Plan implementation in 2016 without ruling on its lawfulness. Coal-aligned groups want the justices to rule that Biden’s administration cannot take a sweeping approach to regulating carbon emissions under Section 111. Such a decision would prevent the EPA from enforcing industry-wide changes, limiting it to actions targeting individual plants. That would be a blow for the administration, which wants the U.S. power sector decarbonized by 2035. If Biden’s administration loses the case, Congress would need to pass new legislation for the government to impose sweeping climate-related regulations – unlikely given congressional divisions. Prelogar said the EPA will unveil a proposed new regulation by the end of the year, which would likely come after the Supreme Court’s ruling – expected by the end of June. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday that there is no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism, after two Republican lawmakers appeared at a white nationalist conference last week. (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by AFP A school destroyed not far from the centre of the city of Kharkiv, which came under heavy fire from Russian troops on Monday, Ukrainian officials said. Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russian President Vladmir Putin on Monday levelled conditions on ending Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine as Russian forces shelled the country’s second city in the face of sweeping Western sanctions. The Russian attacks on Kharkiv killed at least 11 people, Ukrainian officials said. Kyiv says more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the invasion began on Thursday. The United Nations said more than half a million people have fled the country. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators on Monday met for the first time since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion with Ukraine demanding a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops. The talks ended with both sides agreeing to continue a second-round of negotiations “soon”. In a lengthy telephone call, Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that “the demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine and Western recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula were prerequisites to ending fighting in Ukraine, the Kremlin said. “The Russian enemy is bombing residential areas of Kharkiv, where there is no critical infrastructure, where there are no positions of the armed forces,” said Oleg Sinegubov, the governor of the region that includes Kharkiv. An AFP photographer in the city inspected damage caused by fighting on Sunday, finding a destroyed school, as well as several burned out Russian infantry vehicles. Russian corpses in army fatigues could also be seen in the streets. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned what he called “the barbaric air strikes being carried out by Russia against innocent civilians, including children”. Earlier on Monday, the Russian army urged Ukrainians to leave Kyiv “freely” on one highway out ahead of what is an expected Russian offensive to capture the capital. Financial pain Long queues for groceries snaked through the streets of Kyiv on Monday after a strict 36-hour military curfew was lifted and volunteer militias learned how to make home-made explosives. “We will greet them with Molotov cocktails and bullets to the head,” bank employee Viktor Rudnichenko told AFP. “The only flowers they might get from us will be for their grave.” The Russian ruble crashed to a record low as sanctions imposed by the West over the weekend had an immediate impact in Moscow, forcing the central bank to more than double its key interest rate to 20 percent. “Ninety percent of Russians are going to rush to withdraw their rubles and change them into dollars, property or even gold,” predicted 51-year-old retired soldier Edward Sysoyev, who was in line to take out cash from a Moscow bank. “It’ll be ordinary people who pay for this military bun-fight.” As Russia becomes increasingly isolated on the world stage, it faced a crucial test of support Monday as the 193 members of the UN General Assembly held an extraordinary debate on a resolution condemning Moscow’s “unprovoked armed aggression” in Ukraine. During the rare emergency special session — just the 11th the Assembly has held in the United Nations’ 77-year history — Russia defended its decision to invade as member state after member state made a plea for peace. “The fighting in Ukraine must stop,” warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, after the session began with a minute of silence for the victims. “Enough is enough. Soldiers need to move back to their barracks. Leaders need to move to peace. Civilians must be protected.” Separately the United States said it had banned all US transactions with Russia’s central bank, while traditionally neutral Switzerland said it would adopt the same measures as the EU. The economic pain is intended to change Putin’s calculations, but the roughly 100,000 Russian troops thought to be inside Ukraine continue to move forward from positions in the north, east and south on Monday. “The Western sanctions on Russia are hard, but our country has the necessary potential to compensate the damage,” insisted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin, who put his nuclear forces on alert on Sunday, banned foreign currency transfers outside of Russia and ordered exporters to exchange their foreign reserves for the ruble in moves to support the currency. There were more signs of rare dissent on Monday among the usually ultra-loyal oligarchs who surround the Russian leader — in addition to anti-war demonstrations that saw an estimated 2,100 people arrested on Sunday. Russian advances “It is necessary to change the economic policy, it is necessary to end all this state capitalism,” tycoon Oleg Deripaska wrote on Telegram while criticising “fantasists” in charge. Western defence officials and the Kyiv government say Ukrainian troops have so far kept the country’s major cities out of Russian hands despite incursions in the capital and Kharkiv over the weekend. The small southern city of Berdyansk has been occupied, however, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow claimed it had “gained air superiority over the entire territory of Ukraine”, while accusing Ukrainian troops of using civilians as human shields. “You don’t conquer a country in two days,” said Olivier Kempf, a security analyst at the Foundation for Strategic Research think tank, warning against Western optimism about Russia’s slower-than-expected progress so far. “There have been difficulties, yes, that’s war. They perhaps have logistical problems, but no matter what anyone says, they are still advancing,” he told AFP. The talks on the Belarus-Ukraine border were led by Ukraine’s defence minister and Russian presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky. Kyiv had been initially reluctant to send a delegation to Belarus, given the country’s role in facilitating Russia’s attack on Ukraine by hosting troops and weaponry used for the invasion. “We agreed to keep the negotiations going,” Medinsky said at the end of the talks. Financial hit The weekend featured a momentous series of announcements from Europe, with Germany unveiling a historic change to its defence policies, and the EU saying it would buy and supply arms to Ukraine, the first such move in its history. Fresh sanctions announced over the weekend on Russia’s economy are intended to cut it off from the global financial system in the way that Iran, Venezuela or North Korea have been frozen out of international trade. The Moscow Stock Market was closed Monday to prevent an expected mass sell-off. Many Russian banks have been excluded from the SWIFT bank system, which is used to settle international trade, and the Russian central bank has seen its foreign assets held in Western countries frozen. The response from the world of sports has also been gathering steam, as Russia was expelled from the World Cup and the country’s clubs and national teams suspended from all international football competitions “until further notice”, FIFA and UEFA said. burs-adp/jm/dl View the full article

Published by DPA Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech to the nation at the presidential palace. -/Ukrainian President's Office via ZUMA Press Wire Service/dpa Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again appealed to his European backers to let his country into the European Union. “We turn to the EU for immediate admission of Ukraine according to a new special procedure,” Zelensky said. “I am convinced that this is just. I am convinced that we have earned this.” In the past few days since Russia invaded Ukraine, 16 children had been killed and 45 others injured by shelling, according to the president. This information could not be independently verified. Addressing Russian soldiers in Ukraine, Zelensky said, “Just save your lives! Go!” View the full article

Published by TDPel Media A Ukraine sailorwas arrested and later released after he tried to sink his Russian boss’s luxury yacht. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 55-year-old Ukrainian sailor tried to submerge the £5m vessel at Pord Adriano in Majorca He was arrested for his actions but was released after explaining the situation to authorities. He was quoted as saying upon his release: “I don’t regret anything I’ve done and I would do it again. ” The man worked as a mechanic on the Lady Anastasia ship for roughly 10 years and said, according to local media, that the attempted sinking was an “act of revenge”… Read More View the full article