Connect with us

News

Ukraine renews evacuation efforts as foreign ministers prepare for talks

Published

on

Ukraine renews evacuation efforts as foreign ministers prepare for talks

Ukraine renewed its efforts on Thursday to rescue civilians trapped in cities besieged by Russia as the 2 sides ready to start the very best stage talks for the reason that begin of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

In opposition to the backdrop of one other night time of heavy shelling and missile assaults, the international ministers of Ukraine and Russia have been as a result of maintain discussions on the sidelines of a convention in Antalya, Turkey, though a negotiated path to peace remained removed from clear.

After greater than two weeks of grinding warfare, Russia’s faltering marketing campaign has laid waste to city areas however stays properly in need of its essential aims, with the most important cities nonetheless beneath Ukrainian management and its skies contested. Greater than 2.1mn civilians have fled the nation.

As Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, accused Russia of “warfare crimes” after missiles destroyed a hospital within the embattled metropolis of Mariupol, western officers warned that Moscow would possibly resort to extra devastating unconventional weapons because it grew more and more determined over the warfare.

Whereas Russia and Ukraine have held a number of rounds of mid-level talks on the Ukraine-Belarusian border, there have been no indicators of a breakthrough up to now, with solely restricted progress made round humanitarian points.

Advertisement

Thursday’s talks between Russian international minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have been brokered by Turkey and are the primary time senior ministers from the 2 international locations have met for the reason that invasion began on February 24.

Earlier than they started the 2 sides appeared to stay far aside of their respective calls for.

Kuleba on Wednesday mentioned Kyiv wished a ceasefire, the liberation of territories beneath Russian management and humanitarian reduction for its civilians. However Kyiv has signalled it is likely to be prepared to compromise on Russia’s demand for Ukraine’s future neutrality, on the situation it’s granted safety ensures from its neighbours or different world powers.

At instances, Moscow has additionally subtly softened its language round regime change in Kyiv. However elementary variations on different points, together with Russia’s territorial claims on elements of Ukraine, make the prospects of a considerable breakthrough low.

For the third successive day, Ukraine proposed six humanitarian corridors to take individuals out of Mariupol, Volnovakha, Izyum, and different besieged cities into “protected cities of our free Ukraine”, because it urged Russia to uphold a promised ceasefire.

Advertisement

Zelensky mentioned that on Wednesday Ukraine had managed to organise evacuations from the japanese metropolis of Sumy, from cities and cities beneath Russian siege within the Kyiv area, and from Enerhodar, web site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant. In complete, about 35,000 individuals had been rescued, he added.

However repeated makes an attempt to evacuate civilians from a number of the hardest hit cities have largely failed, with Russia and Ukraine buying and selling accusations of ceasefire violations.

Folks in Russian-besieged Mariupol, which had a inhabitants of greater than 400,000 earlier than the warfare, have been residing in appalling situations for greater than per week after primary companies together with mild, heating, water and web connections have been knocked out by intense Russian bombardment.

In accordance with information organisations and social media experiences from the city, individuals have been gathering rainwater to drink, cooking meals on out of doors fires, and burying individuals killed throughout the bombardment in mass graves.

António Guterres, UN secretary-general, condemned as “horrific” the bombing of the hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday. “Finish the bloodshed now,” he wrote on Twitter.

Advertisement

Whereas combating continues on the outskirts of Kyiv throughout three fronts, western officers say an enormous armoured column to the north-west of the capital has made little progress for greater than per week.

British defence officers mentioned on Thursday that it was “struggling continued losses” and that Russia had markedly decreased its air exercise in current days, in all probability because of “the sudden effectiveness” of Ukrainian defences.

Western officers have mentioned Russia is utilizing brutal and indiscriminate weapons in city areas, together with cluster munitions. The UK Ministry of Defence mentioned on Wednesday that Russia had confirmed its use of a thermobaric weapon in Ukraine, which creates “incendiary and blast results” which have a “devastating influence”.

Jen Psaki, the White Home press secretary, mentioned it was “horrifying to see the kind of barbaric use of army power to go after harmless civilians”. Psaki later mentioned Russian claims that the US had helped Ukraine develop a organic and chemical weapons programme have been “preposterous” and warned concerning the chance that Moscow would use the claims to conduct a “false flag” assault in Ukraine.

Zelensky has repeatedly referred to as for the west to impose a no-fly zone, or ship fighter jets to Ukraine, with no success. The Pentagon has rejected a proposal to switch Polish MiG-29 fighter planes to Kyiv, warning it may provoke a wider warfare.

Advertisement

Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, mentioned such a switch would “nearly actually result in direct battle between the US, and between Nato, and Russia”. US vice-president Kamala Harris arrived in Warsaw for talks on Thursday.

In an indication of the challenges dealing with Putin’s armed forces, the Russian defence ministry confirmed that a number of the nation’s conscript troopers had been despatched to battle in Ukraine, contradicting the president’s declare that such personnel weren’t concerned.

Ukraine’s armed forces mentioned that the invading Russian troops had decreased the depth of their assaults, that troopers have been “demoralised, and that the variety of desertion and looting circumstances had elevated considerably. Ukrainian army claims can’t be independently verified.

Yulia Gorbunova, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, informed the FT this week that the watchdog group was receiving experiences of invading Russian troops looting necessities together with petrol and electronics that they feared is likely to be utilized by native residents in Ukraine’s defence.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Finland probes Russian shadow fleet oil tanker after cable-cutting incident

Published

on

Finland probes Russian shadow fleet oil tanker after cable-cutting incident

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Finnish authorities are investigating an oil tanker that is part of Russia’s shadow fleet over whether it cut an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia.

The Eagle S was stopped by Finnish authorities after the Estlink 2 subsea electricity cable in the Gulf of Finland was disconnected on Wednesday. The tanker, which is registered in the Cook Islands and is carrying oil from Russia to Egypt according to ship tracking data, was seen passing over the cable at the time of the incident.

The aged tanker is part of Russia’s shadow fleet and is the focus of Finland’s investigation, according to people familiar with the probe. The Eagle S is also under investigation over whether it cut three communications cables in the Gulf of Finland, the people added.

Advertisement

The shadow fleet is a group of old and often poorly maintained ships used by Russia to circumvent international sanctions on its oil exports.

The Christmas Day incident appears to be the latest in a series of pipelines and cables being targeted in the Baltic Sea by foreign vessels, sparking fears of deliberate attacks on critical infrastructure between Nato countries.

“We must be able to prevent the risks posed by ships belonging to the Russian shadow fleet,” said Finland’s President Alexander Stubb in a post on X after a meeting with security chiefs on Thursday.

Last year a Chinese container ship, the Newnew Polar Bear, cut a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia but was not stopped by authorities as it was in international waters.

A Chinese bulk carrier, the Yi Peng 3, last month passed over two data cables between Finland and Germany and Sweden and Lithuania about the times they were severed. It stopped for a month in international waters between Denmark and Sweden.

Advertisement

Chinese investigators finally boarded the ship last week, with Swedish, Danish, German and Finnish representatives present as observers. But Sweden’s foreign minister criticised Beijing for not allowing the lead Swedish investigator to board or to inspect the vessel, which has now left the region.

The Eagle S case is different as the ship voluntarily stopped inside Finnish waters, according to people familiar with the investigation, leaving no question as to jurisdiction. Ownership of the Eagle S is murky but it appears to be the only vessel owned by a Dubai company. Attempts to reach the owner on Thursday were unsuccessful. 

Authorities have not determined the cause of the disconnection of the Estlink 2 cable. Estonia has also said it will not affect its electricity supply. The cable is used to export electricity from Finland, which recently brought its latest nuclear power plant online, to Estonia.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the country’s electricity supply would not be affected.

Finnish authorities are keeping an open mind on the latest incident, not least because dozens of poorly maintained vessels in the shadow fleet sail in the Baltic Sea.

Advertisement

Environmental campaigners have issued repeated warnings about the dangers in the region and elsewhere of the dilapidated vessels.

In the Mediterranean, a Russian cargo ship under US sanctions for working with the Russian military sank between Spain and Algeria on Tuesday.

Continue Reading

News

Popeye, Tintin and more will enter the public domain in the new year

Published

on

Popeye, Tintin and more will enter the public domain in the new year

An enlarged cartoon of Tintin pictured on display at Paris’ Pompidou Cultural Center in 2006. The Belgian cub reporter is among the characters and works entering the public domain in 2025.

Jacques Brinon/AP


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Jacques Brinon/AP

Jan. 1 marks the dawn of a new era for Popeye and Tintin. It’s the day the nonagenarian cartoon characters officially enter the U.S. public domain along with a treasure trove of other iconic works.

The copyrights of thousands of films, songs and books expire in 2025, making them instantly available for people to use, share and adapt. The list includes classics like Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own, the Fats Waller song “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and the Marx Brothers’ first feature film, The Cocoanuts.

The main thing they have in common is their age — under U.S. copyright law, their terms all expire after 95 years. All of the works entering the public domain next year are from 1929, except for sound recordings, which (because they are covered by a different law) come from 1924.

Advertisement

“Copyright’s awesome … but the fact that rights eventually expire, that’s a good thing, too, because that’s the wellspring for creativity,” says Jennifer Jenkins, the director of Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, which spends months poring over records to compile the most famous examples.

Once in the public domain, these works become fodder for remakes, spinoffs and other adaptations.

That explains the recent wave of horror films starring Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, characters that entered the public domain in 2024 and 2023 respectively. The trend seems poised to continue: Jenkins says there are already three Popeye slasher flicks in the works.

“They’re capitalizing on the incongruity of this comic book character in a different genre and they get a lot of buzz,” she adds. “[But] when I sit back and look at the universe of remakes of public domain characters or works … the things that we still talk about that stand the test of time don’t tend to be these buzzworthy, kind of ew, grossed-out features.”

More enduring examples include West Side Story drawn from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, screen adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma, Percival Everett’s 2024 book James (a retelling of Huckleberry Finn) and Wicked, the musical-turned-movie prequel to L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. 

Advertisement

But these artifacts don’t only become fodder for big-name directors and authors — they’re available for anyone who wants to use them, from artists to high school orchestra directors.

Jenkins says she gets “adorable emails” from people who are drawing their own little Winnie the Pooh cartoons, and parents whose kids are talented musicians, eager to finally be able to perform certain compositions publicly and post them online.

In other words, the impact of public domain works extends far beyond the box office and Billboard charts.

“I’m excited about those things that not everybody’s going to notice — people really re-discovering some of these older works and engaging with them and appreciating them and making them their own,” she adds.

Advertisement

Here’s a look at some of the works that are just days away from the public domain:

Characters

A Popeye balloon flies over the 33rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Times Square.

A helium-filled Popeye balloon participates in the 33rd Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in 1959, three decades after his comic strip debut.

AP/AP


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

AP/AP

Tintin the brave cub reporter — and his dog, Snowy — will enter the public domain in the U.S. well before they will in the European Union, where they are copyrighted until 2054. That’s because EU copyright terms extend 70 years past creators’ deaths, and Belgian cartoonist Hergé died in 1983.

Closer to home there’s E.C. Segar’s Popeye, who made his debut in a January 1929 Thimble Theatre cartoon strip. He sports his signature pipe, sailor outfit, anchor tattoo and sense of humor, responding when asked if he’s a sailor: “Ja think I’m a cowboy?”

Advertisement

He could have a whole new set of adventures starting in 2025. But there’s a catch: Popeye didn’t start deriving his strength from spinach until 1932.

As Jenkins explains, many cartoon characters develop over time and have been in copyrighted works year after year, meaning certain aspects of them may come into the public domain in different years. So only the original 1929 versions of Popeye and Tintin are fair game, at least for now.

“Definitely the Popeye from 1929 and everything that he says, all of his characteristics, his personality, his sarcasm … that’s public domain,” she says. “The spinach, if you want to be on the safe side, you might want to wait.”

Films

A promotional card for Clara Bow's movie "The Wild Party."

The Wild Party, Clara Bow’s first talkie, was released in 1929, making it public domain in 2025.

LMPC via Getty Images

Advertisement


hide caption

toggle caption

LMPC via Getty Images

Advertisement

Similarly, the original Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse arrived in the public domain with much fanfare in 2024. In 2025, a dozen more Mickey animations will follow suit — including The Karnival Kid, in which he speaks for the first time.

“His very first words are ‘Hot dogs! Hot dogs!’ — so I guess that’s kind of cute,” Jenkins says. “And then he didn’t wear the white gloves in 1928, but next year, in 2025, we get the version of Mickey Mouse with the signature white gloves in the public domain.”

Sound is a big theme across the films making their public domain debut next year, since 1929 marked the end of the silent film era and the dawn of the sound film age.

The list includes the first sound films from major directors like Alfred Hitchcock (Blackmail), John Ford (The Black Watch) and Cecil B. DeMille (Dynamite), as well as Clara Bow’s first talkie, The Wild Party, and The Broadway Melody, the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Other notables include Walt Disney’s The Skeleton Dance (the first of the Silly Symphony shorts); King Vidor’s Hallelujah, the first major studio film with an all-Black cast; and Alan Crosland’s On With the Show, the first all-talking, all-color, feature-length film.

Advertisement

Books

This combination of photos show authors Ernest Hemingway in 1950, left, William Faulkner in 1950, center, and John Steinbeck in 1962.

From left: Ernest Hemingway in 1950, William Faulkner in 1950, and John Steinbeck in 1962.

AP/AP


hide caption

toggle caption

AP/AP

Advertisement

Among the many literary works entering the public domain next year are two of the most acclaimed books about World War I: Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, and the first English translation of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front — both authors served in the war themselves.

The list includes several detective mysteries: Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Ellery Queen’s The Roman Hat Mystery, and Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie.

There are also some literary debuts, including John Steinbeck’s first novel, Cup of Gold, and Richard Hughes’ first novel A High Wind in Jamaica.

Musical compositions

George Gershwin writes sheet music while sitting at a piano.

George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” is among the musical compositions entering the public domain in 2025.

PALM/RSCH /Redferns

Advertisement


hide caption

toggle caption

PALM/RSCH /Redferns

Advertisement

The latest crop of compositions spans the era’s jazz standards, show tunes, pop music and more.

They include: Arthur Freed’s Singin’ in the Rain (which was featured in the film The Hollywood Revue of 1929, also entering public domain), George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Maurice Ravel’s Bolero, Jack Yellen’s Happy Days Are Here Again (the campaign song for FDR’s 1932 presidential run), Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love? and Tiptoe Through the Tulips (the Joseph Burke version, not the 1968 Tiny Tim one).

“But if you felt like singing like Tiny Tim for some reason, and you could, you can record your own version of Tiptoe Through the Tulips next year because that song’s going to be public domain,” Jenkins says.

The Center for the Study of Public Domain specifies that musical compositions refer to “the music and lyrics that you might see on a piece of sheet music, not the recordings of those songs.” Those are covered by a separate copyright.

Sound recordings

Marian Anderson poses for a photo outside.

Marian Anderson became the first Black singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1955. One of her early recordings from 1924 will enter the public domain next year.

London Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Advertisement


hide caption

toggle caption

London Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Advertisement

Under the 2018 Music Modernization Act, sound recordings are protected by copyright for 100 years. It’s the particular recordings that eventually enter the public domain, not the song’s music or lyrics or later recordings from those artists.

These are some of the 1924 performances that will become available for legal reuse in January: Marian Anderson’s “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Jelly Roll Morton’s “Shreveport Stomp,” “Deep Blue Sea Blues” by Clara Smith, and “Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Don’t Love Nobody But Me)” recorded by Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams’ Blue Five.

Continue Reading

News

Dozens feared dead as Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan

Published

on

Dozens feared dead as Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 62 passengers and five crew has crashed while making an emergency landing at a Kazakhstan airport, with 29 survivors, including two children, taken to hospital.

Videos on local media showed a large explosion after the aircraft crashed into an empty field. Images from the scene showed passengers climbing out of the tail of the fuselage aided by emergency workers.

Those aboard were from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Russian state Ria news agency reported, citing Kazakhstan’s transport ministry.

Advertisement

Local media outlets reported that nine of those taken to hospital were in serious condition and that search and rescue operations were under way.

The plane, an Embraer 190, was travelling to Grozny in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, but was diverted to Aktau after flying into heavy fog.

Early media reports suggested that the plane hit a flock of birds, which affected control of the aircraft.

“After a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on board the aircraft, its commander decided to go to an alternate airfield and Aktau was chosen,” Ria reported, citing Russia’s aviation agency Rosaviatsia. Local media also shared unconfirmed reports of an explosion of an oxygen canister onboard, leading many passengers to lose consciousness.

Baku has sent an official delegation to Kazakhstan to investigate the incident, Azerbaijan’s APA news agency said. The country’s president, Ilham Aliyev, left an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Russia to return to Baku. He expressed his condolences to the those affected by the crash.

Advertisement

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had also extended his condolences to Azerbaijan’s leader.

Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased on social media. “We pray to the Almighty for [the survivors’] recovery.”

Photos on social media showed relatives gathering in Grozny airport to wait for news of their loved ones.

One man at Grozny airport said he had just received a video in which he could see his nephew had survived the crash. “Of course I am very happy,” he told a Ria news reporter.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending