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: (Soundbite of song, "Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child."
JULIA GRIFFIN: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.
CLIFFORD REED: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like a motherless child. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child. Lord, Lord, I know my time ain't long. Lord, Lord, I know my time ain't long.
GRIFFIN: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air.
REED: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air. Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air. Lord, Lord, I know my time ain't long. Lord, Lord, I know my time ain't long.
GRIFFIN: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like I haven't got a friend.
REED: (Singing) Sometimes I feel like I haven't got a friend. Sometimes I feel like I haven't got a friend.
: That was "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," performed by Clifford Reed, Johnny Mae Medlock and Julia Griffin, recorded in 1939 in Railford, Florida. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-07/in-song-sounds-of-slavery
| 2022-03-01T12:43:03
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en
| 0.924601
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I assume if you go to another country and use a credit card, then the foreign transaction fee will always apply.
What if I use a credit card to make a purchase from an online store? Does it depend on if they say the charged are in CAD or another currency? This can be rather unfortunate as not all sites make clear if the prices are in CAD or USD. In the US and Canada are there laws that require online stores to specify what the currency is? For example I notice on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com neither state CAD or USD (though is this example it's rather obvious).
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https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/149620/when-does-a-foreign-transaction-fee-apply-to-a-credit-card-especially-from-shop
| 2022-03-01T12:43:07
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en
| 0.912789
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Last week David Letterman's writers went back to work. Now film company United Artists is expected to announce an interim deal with the Writers Guild of America. Madeleine Brand talks with Entertainment Weekly reporter Lynette Rice about what recent contract developments mean for picketing writers.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-07/ua-writers-guild-work-towards-deal
| 2022-03-01T12:43:09
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en
| 0.921466
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The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a TV series based on the Terminator movies, has its premiere Sunday on Fox. Its incredibly expensive production costs reflect a trend in the industry: rising costs for producing scripted shows in the face of dwindling audiences.
Even when the writers strike is resolved, the television industry will not have solved its problems.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-10/tv-shows-add-pricey-effects-to-woo-viewers
| 2022-03-01T12:43:15
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en
| 0.951802
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Actor Jermaine Crawford, who plays lovable outcast "Dukie" Weems on HBO's critically acclaimed show, The Wire has gone through some serious changes since he first joined the cast. For one, he grew eight inches.
"I started off as 5'5" and now I'm 6'1,"" he tells Madeleine Brand.
Equally dramatic is the change in worldview that he experienced while playing an abused street kid. Crawford's character is a quiet young man, who gets picked on all the time for smelling bad. He has trouble staying clean because he lives without running water, in a house full of addicts who sell his clothing for drug money. He rarely speaks, choosing more often to communicate through gestures and nods.
"I tried to make the character realistic. I wanted him to be a regular 12- or 13-year-old, not just this character that you see on TV," he says.
The people judging just how real his performance is are often the sorts of young men for whom The Wire plot line is reality.
"It's not filmed on a set. It's filmed right on the streets of Baltimore. As it's filmed, they [street kids and drug dealers] are on the streets watching," he says. "You just try to reflect what you see. Not mimicking, but envisioning what you see and trying to do your best."
While filming in the school, where much of the action takes place, Crawford says he encountered kids who were going through a similar situation as his character.
"They have such great hearts and you would never know unless they told you. It was kind of painful for me as well," he says.
The experience left him wanting to do something to help, beyond just reflecting a tortured reality on a fictional series. With the conviction that it's his duty to be an advocate for these people, he says, he began working on a documentary on teenage homelessness
"We have got to give a wake-up call to America. We need to do something about it, to show what's going on."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-11/the-wires-crawford-on-helping-real-life-dukies
| 2022-03-01T12:43:21
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en
| 0.98758
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On Sunday night, the Golden Globes become the biggest, high-profile casualty of the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike. The glitzy red carpet awards show, planned for Sunday primetime on NBC, is now reduced to a televised news conference with no hoopla.
The cost to Los Angeles' economy in lost business from the cancelled ceremonies and after-parties is estimated at $80 million.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-13/golden-globes-no-golden-goose-this-year
| 2022-03-01T12:43:27
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en
| 0.89576
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Every week in Israel, thousands of Jewish families open up their homes to an Arab family. The latter are only fictional characters — from the hit Israeli sitcom Arab Work — but still, many say this is a critical marker in (pop culture) history.
Although Arabs make up 20 percent of Israel's population, aside from the news, they've rarely been featured on Israeli television screens. When the show finally got on the air, after several years of planning, few expected the concept to take off the way it has: During its premiere week in December, it was the third-ranked program in Israel, and in the following weeks it has consistently remained in the top 10, according to ratings figures from Keshet, the show's production company.
The show focuses on an insecure journalist named Amjad, who lives with his wife and 5-year-old daughter and works for an Israeli newspaper.
The show's main writer, Israeli-Palestinian Sayed Kashua, 32, says the series is loosely autobiographical.
"It's just a comedy of being on one side Palestinian or Arab and on the other side an Israeli. Already this definition is comic and tragic at the same time and that's what I tried to do," he says.
The show frequently plays with the struggle to fit in. In one episode, Amjad decides it's time for his daughter Maya to go to kindergarten, instead of playing poker with his parents all day. He first tries an Islamic school where his daughter dons a headscarf, learns the Quran and tells her father he will be punished for being a nonbeliever. Maya tells her mother she's only pretending to be religious so she can go back to playing poker.
In another episode, Amjad proposes a hard-hitting piece on the barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank. His editor says no and demands something hipper and lighter, so Amjad finds a sheep that's been trained to pull its owner's ID card out of his pocket at Israeli army checkpoints. Sheep prove difficult to interview, but his story makes the front page.
Although Israeli Jews and Arabs live in the same country, Jews know very little about how their neighbors live, says producer Dani Paran.
Israeli Arabs have long complained of institutionalized discrimination. In a 2006 poll released by the Center for Struggle Against Racism, three-quarters of Israeli Jews said they wouldn't want to live next door to an Arab family.
The fact that these same people are choosing to watch a show saturated with Arab food, music, cultural quandaries and language (about two-thirds of each episode is in Arabic with Hebrew subtitles), is significant, the show's creators say.
Some Israeli reviewers have compared it to The Cosby Show. Like the Huxtables, Amjad and his family are credited with facilitating cultural understanding, but they are also accused of reinforcing negative stereotypes.
"It shows us as primitive and like we want to become more Israeli than Arab," says Shadi Halileeli of the Musawa Center, which advocates equality between Jews and Arabs.
Halileeli says most of his friends opt not to watch the show, preferring satellite channels from Arab countries, where they are more than a novelty.
Novelty or not, many Israeli Jews say they are learning something.
"This is the first time that Israelis can see what Arabs think of themselves. It's done in a humorous way, but if you look through, the humor has a lot of sadness in it," says Jerusalem lawyer Jonathan Livny.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-15/arab-sitcom-becomes-surprise-hit-in-israel
| 2022-03-01T12:43:33
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en
| 0.979639
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News.
Coming up, In Your Ear. Some performers tell us what they're listening to when they aren't singing themselves.
But first, in 1654, 23 Jews fleeing the inquisition arrived on the shores of the Dutch colony called New Amsterdam, now New York City. And so begins the saga of Jews in America. Last week, PBS launched the first of a three-part series of documentaries called "The Jewish Americans." The series continues tonight.
The creator of the series is David Grubin. He produced, directed and wrote it. And he joins me now in the studio.
Welcome.
Mr. DAVID GRUBIN (Director, "The Jewish Americans"): It's great to be here.
MARTIN: What got you started on this?
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, this is such a complex and such a rich, difficult story that I never imagined doing it. I never did. And somebody came to me from WETA and JTN, which is a production company out in L.A., and they said, would you try it? I didn't have the chutzpah to dream it up. I had the chutzpah to say yes.
MARTIN: And as you point out, the history of the Jewish people in America is an enormous topic, and you - I don't know how you arrived at six hours. You could have certainly gone on for many more. How did you decide what to leave in and what to leave out?
Mr. GRUBIN: I did not want it to be a hit parade of the great Jews who've contributed to American culture. I was searching for a theme. And the theme that I found most interesting was how Jews have embraced America, and yet at the same time, they've had to try to hold on to their identity as Jews. And that tension interested me. That became the theme, and that allowed me to make my decisions.
MARTIN: Can you just tell me a little bit about who those first 23 people were?
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, you know, they've been lost to history. No one knows now who they are. There's no descendants, and yet they are the first settlement. There were Jews who came before individually, but they were the first settlement.
MARTIN: Wait, wait, wait. If you don't know who they are, how do we know there were 23?
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, there are records that these 23 Jews arrived, Peter Stuyvesant said, hey, we don't want Jews here. But he also said we don't want Lutherans. I mean, he didn't want Quakers. He didn't - he wanted a homogenous society. And these 23 Jews said, wait a minute. We want to be here. This was New Amsterdam. They wrote back to Holland, and in Holland were the - was the Dutch West India Company, which controlled this colony. There were Jews on the board of that colony, and this company told Peter Stuyvesant - they were his boss. They said, hey, these Jews should stay here. They're good for the economy. And much as to the chagrin of Peter Stuyvesant, they stayed.
MARTIN: So let's fast forward to the Civil War. And in the series we learn that there were American Jews with important roles on both sides during the war -some 7,000 fought for the Union, and some 3,000 fought for the Confederacy. I love the story of the two men you focused on who are on opposite sides. One was a Colonel Marcus Spiegel, who fought in the Union Army, and I want to play a short clip about him.
(Soundbite of documentary, "The Jewish Americans")
Unidentified Man #1: My dear beloved wife, Marcus wrote Caroline. On Saturday afternoon, the regiment was forced to advance under a furious fire of grape and canister shot. It was perfectly awful. How horrible was that field strewn with dead. I feel serious, but proud. And if anything does happen to me, I am only offering a small sacrifice for my beloved country.
MARTIN: That's a beautiful and heartbreaking story, and I won't go into all of it here, but why did you pick Colonel Spiegel?
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, Spiegel was a German immigrant. He came to this country with nothing, and he rose up - he became a - you know, first, he was a peddler, and then he did well and he had his own store, and he was doing very well. But he volunteered because the country meant so much to him, because he had opportunities here. He became a colonel. How could a German Jew, if he'd stayed over there, how could he had been a colonel?
When he first enlists, he enlists to fight for the Union, not because he has any feeling for the plight of the black people in the South. He doesn't care at all about slaves. He doesn't know anything about that. But by the time the war is over, he's met slaves and he - his whole goal shifts. By the end, he's fighting not only to keep the Union together, he's fighting for African-Americans, too, to free the slaves.
MARTIN: And I'm not going to give it away in case this is a story that you do not know. But he - a relative of his goes on to play an important role in the life of American commerce, and that would be…
Mr. GRUBIN: The Spiegel Company - the Spiegel Catalog Company. I could give it away.
MARTIN: Okay.
Mr. GRUBIN: So just…
MARTIN: It's your film. You can give it away.
Mr. GRUBIN: Yeah. I'll give it away. But Marcus Spiegel dies in the war, but his brother goes on to found the Spiegel Catalog Company, which was one of the early catalogs. The Spiegel Catalog Company was kind of like the peddler, selling to all of the farm families out in the Midwest, and it did extremely well.
MARTIN: Who doesn't know the Spiegel Catalog? I had no idea that it dated back to the end of the Civil War. Judah Benjamin, right hand man of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. How on Earth did that happen?
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, here's the thing: most people think of Jews as sort of, you know, Northern liberals, most of them live in New York. They don't even realize that Jews lived in the South and Jews are a part of America. They were Southerners. They had slaves.
MARTIN: Oh, come on. If you saw "Driving Miss Daisy," we saw that. We know that.
Mr. GRUBIN: Well, I tell you. That's a story Jews weren't happy to tell. When you think of the Passover Seder, you think of the Haggadah, what is the Passover Seder about? It's about celebrating freedom from slavery. How could Southern Jews be sitting around the table, celebrating freedom from slavery and they're being served by slaves? Somebody in our film reflects on that. So it's a little difficult to understand, but yet here's Judah Benjamin. He had a plantation, and he had slaves.
Most Jews did not have plantations. They didn't live in the country, they lived in the cities. But they had slaves like other Southerners. Judah Benjamin was a loyal Southerner. He was a very good speaker, and he was devoted to the South. He was a senator. He actually had been nominated to the Supreme Court, the first Jew ever to be nominated. He turned it down, and he went on to become the right-hand man of Jefferson Davis - attorney general, secretary of state, secretary of war.
MARTIN: And, of course, he - this I insist you leave as a surprise, because he goes on to survive the Civil War and has another whole chapter in his life, which is quite fascinating.
We're going to move on to the major period of Jewish immigration to America, began, of course, in the late 19th century, and that's where we learn about the major Jewish role in the building of the labor union movement, and a very moving section about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. I want to play a short clip from that.
(Soundbite of documentary, "The Jewish Americans")
Unidentified Man #1: A storm of fire tore through the elevators and stairs to the floors above, the (unintelligible) reported. There where knots of horrified girls who stood in despair.
(Soundbite of explosion)
Unidentified Man #2: The disaster was on the ninth floor. The fire escape was not designed for hundreds of panicked people. It tore away from the wall, and two dozen people were spilled to their deaths.
MARTIN: Of course, being from New York myself, I feel like I grew up knowing about this. But I'm not sure that's the case for everybody. Tells us, again, why this was such an important event?
Mr. GRUBIN: It was the worst industrial disaster that the country had ever experienced. It was horrible. Over 140 women and some men died, too, in this fire, and it was tragic.
MARTIN: And the people who survived - awful injuries, awful injuries. And it led to major reforms, major labor reforms.
Mr. GRUBIN: Right. It galvanized the union and it galvanized the reformers, and those reforms eventually found their way into the Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislation.
MARTIN: If you're just joining us, I'm speaking with David Grubin. He's the producer, writer and director of "The Jewish Americans," a documentary series that's continuing on PBS.
Part two then focuses a lot on the cultural impact of the Jewish Americans, on American entertainment. Talk a little bit about that.
Mr. GRUBIN: We call part two The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. It was the worst of times because anti-Semitism was horrible in the early 20th century and on through the '20s and '30s - Father Coughlin spewing hate on the radio in a way you can't - you can't do that today. I mean, it would be unbelievable to say the kind of anti-Semitic things he said.
Henry Ford, another great hater. Here is a man who was a secular saint at the time, and he hated Jews, and he had a whole newspaper devoted to it. All that we tell, but within that context of this terrible anti-Semitism, Jews had their own world. It was almost a parallel universe. They couldn't get into colleges because there were quotas. They made their own colleges, the city college, for example. They formed their own hospitals. They formed their own communities. And they went into what were marginal economic enterprises at the time - the movies. And, you know, the Hollywood moguls, most of them were Jewish. The men who created our idea of Hollywood were mostly Jews.
MARTIN: I think that it might be surprise to a lot of people that the presence of Jews in all these industries arose because they were shut out of so many others.
Mr. GRUBIN: Right. They had to take their advantages where they could find them.
MARTIN: And, of course, part three covers the post-World War II era up to the present, and, of course, we're skipping around, you know, wildly, like - you know, what can we do?
Mr. GRUBIN: Why not?
MARTIN: But one of the most important stories of that era was the alliance forged between the Jews and African-Americans in the civil rights movement, which changed and remains complicated.
Mr. GRUBIN: Yeah. That is a story we spend more time on than any other. It's a very moving and complicated story, because it begins with great hope: Jews standing alongside African-Americans. Of all white people that made alliances with African-Americans, the Jews were far in a much higher proportion than any other ethnic group. Jews going down South, most of the lawyers, more than 50 percent of them - they were Jews. The freedom writers - who were with the white people that went? Something like 70, 75 percent were Jews.
We interviewed James Farmer. He spoke to that. Quite incredible. Great alliance. African-Americans, at a certain point, say, hey. Wait a minute. We need to have control of our movement our self. We need to do it on our own. And Jews understood, but they were heartbroken - heartbroken. And that's part of the story we tell. There's a tragic split between African-Americans and Jews in Brooklyn in 1968, when Jewish teachers go out on strike and the African-American community which controls the schools feel, wait a minute. We need to have our own - get control of our schools. We need to be able to appoint principals. Jews disagree, and it's tragic because both - you feel both sides are right. You feel both sides are wrong. You feel anti-Semitism comes out of the black community. Racial hatred on the Jewish. It's a terrible story. And the tensions between African-Americans and Jews never - it never quite goes away after that.
MARTIN: Are you at all concerned that because you're committed to - you know, and Reverend Jackson says if you're going to tell it, tell it all - that your mission here is to tell the range of stories. I mean, you talk about Jewish mobsters, you know?
Mr. GRUBIN: Right.
MARTIN: You talked about all of these things. Is there going to be any lingering concern about how the community is presented?
Mr. GRUBIN: I think that we can tell our story today. Jews can tell their story in a way they never could before because they have confidence and they have pride that 50 years ago, you couldn't have told this story. Jews were very afraid of what everybody else would think of them. They didn't want to tell the side of their story which could be negative. I can understand that.
Today, we can tell all sides. We can say that the - in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire where hundreds died, that factory was owned by two Jews. Okay, these guys were guys that came and they worked their way up through the sweat shops. So a lot of the factories were owned by Jews.
We can tell that side of the story. And I have tremendous confidence in - that the Jewish community today will appreciate that because that is what the way the Old Testament tells the story of Jews. They're not - the heroes in the Old Testament are all imperfect. They're not perfect people. They're all flawed. We can tell it straight today.
MARTIN: David Grubin is the writer, director and producer of "The Jewish Americans," a three-part series that continues on Wednesday on PBS stations around the country. You'll want to check your local listings for that.
David Grubin, thank you so much for coming in.
Mr. GRUBIN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-16/grubin-gives-history-lesson-with-the-jewish-americans
| 2022-03-01T12:43:39
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en
| 0.987005
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
With all the attention focused on election coverage in South Carolina, the armies of live trucks, the swarms of reporters - and we will be among them - we thought we should take a moment to shift the conversation slightly away from politics and politicians to highlight the Palmetto State.
Joining us to talk about the state's tourism industry is Chad Prosser. He's director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Welcome.
Mr. CHAD PROSSER (Director, South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism): Thank you, Michel. It's great to be with you.
MARTIN: Well, in your estimation, what makes South Carolina so inviting? I understand you're a native?
Mr. PROSSER: I am a native. I'm from a small town, Florence, South Carolina, in the middle part of the state. But the state is one where you can go from the mountains to the coast in one day. And certainly the area where the debates are being held, Myrtle Beach, is our top tourism destination in the state. So we have a lot of visitors coming in last couple of weeks in preparation for the debates and the debate has already happened.
MARTIN: I wanted to ask you about that. Are people excited about the primaries being there and being as early as they are this year? Are they going, oh, no?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. PROSSER: I think most South Carolinians are excited. It's great to have the emphasis on South Carolina to have the attention from the candidates. That's something that really the last decade or so, South Carolina has moved into the - this early part of the presidential decision-making process, and it's been nice because it really allows people to exposure to South Carolina, who might not otherwise come here.
MARTIN: Is there an economic impact, though, to having the debate held there, to having this kind of a media scrutiny? Are you anticipating an impact on the state's bottom line?
Mr. PROSSER: Oh, absolutely. The actual impact from the debates themselves - it ranges somewhere between $15 and $20 million for the actual event. The other part of it, which is very beneficial for us is just the publicity.
MARTIN: Tell me something about South Carolina I don't know.
Mr. PROSSER: How about Greenville, South Carolina? It's an emerging city in terms of the city as a visitor destination. The downtown is an incredible area to visit. They've built a new pedestrian bridge over the Reedy River; a lot of new restaurants, new shopping. It's a great access point to access the mountain parks we have. We have 47 state parks, many of which are in the upstate of South Carolina and can be accessed from Greenville. What you might not know is that area is where BMW, in such a way, the only BMW manufacturing facility in the United States is in South Carolina in the city of Spartanburg area.
MARTIN: Are they offering samples?
Mr. PROSSER: They do have test drives. They have a BMW school, you can come here and learn how to drive the BMW that you just bought.
MARTIN: Oh, how - who told you about that?
Mr. PROSSER: Oh.
MARTIN: Never mind.
Mr. PROSSER: Okay.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: Okay. I understand that South Carolina also has more than 300 public and private golf courses?
Mr. PROSSER: We do. In fact, we have more golf courses per capita than any other state, so…
MARTIN: I'm sorry. Let's keep that from my husband, shall we?
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: And I understand that the poinsettia flower so permanently associated with Christmas is named in honor of Joel Poinsett who's a South Carolinian?
Mr. PROSSER: He was a South Carolinian. He was the United States Ambassador to Mexico. And he discovered that variation and it is named in his honor. So every Christmas, when you see the poinsettias, you need to think of South Carolina. And think how warm it is down here when it's snowing in Washington.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: Now, you're being mean.
Mr. PROSSER: Aha.
MARTIN: And of course, South Carolina is associated with the Confederacy, the town of Abbeville it's known as the birthplace and the deathbed of the Confederacy. But what if you're interested in exploring other aspects of the Civil War experience, for example, from the standpoint of the enslaved Americans? What would you recommend?
Mr. PROSSER: You know, I would start at the beginning, Michel, and that is really at Charles Towne Landing, which is in Charleston, and it is where, in 1670, the English settlers accompanied by the West Africans who had come to Barbados came over to South Carolina and establish the first permanent settlement in the Carolinas. And so that's where the story really begins, and it blossoms from that point.
Certainly, this tremendous interest in the Gullah/Geeche culture - and there's a lot happening now to preserve that culture - it's something - when you see the basket weavers in downtown Charleston making sweet grass baskets, that's a product of the Gullah/Geeche culture and of the West African influence that came to South Carolina via the Caribbean. So that's a place where you can start and then really progress down the coast. There are a number of significant sights along that route, which really tell the story of the enslaved Africans that came to South Carolina. And as the slaves were freed, many of the sites where they then subsequently lived and developed and flourished are along the coast in that area.
MARTIN: Well, I'll try to find some unsuspecting victims to impress with that knowledge. So thank you.
Mr. PROSSER: Absolutely.
MARTIN: Chad Prosser is the director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. He joined us from the studios of ETV Radio in Columbia, South Carolina.
Thanks so much.
Mr. PROSSER: Thank you. Good to be with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-01-18/before-state-primary-get-a-taste-of-south-carolina
| 2022-03-01T12:43:45
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en
| 0.966849
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MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
Hollywood has decamped to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival, bringing along worries about the screenwriters' strike. More than 120 films are playing in Park City over 11 days. Sundance has grown into a frenzied event. Sellers are looking for rich deals and film distributors are looking for the next indie sleeper hit films such as "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Napoleon Dynamite." At a press briefing yesterday, Robert Redford, the figure most associated with Sundance, emphasized that often the movies that get a lot of attention aren't the ones that turn out to be hits.
Mr. ROBERT REDFORD (Actor; Founder, Sundance Institute): I've heard a lot of stories about buzz early on in festivals in the past years, and the buzz evaporated, and the surprise was something that was not expected. I think that's great.
SIEGEL: And our own Kim Masters is among those making their way through the snowdrifts at Sundance.
And, Kim, Robert Redford talks about the buzz evaporating. I gather everything's just freezing solid there where you are?
KIM MASTERS: We had actually seen our thermometer going to minus three, and there's quite a lot of snow. So, yes, we're feeling the chill here.
SIEGEL: Okay. Well, onto the - let's say, the labor context for this year's Sundance. The screenwriters' strike remains unresolved. Yesterday the Directors Guild reached a contract agreement with the movie studios. What are you hearing, if anything, about all that in Utah?
MASTERS: Well, I think it's a factor in peoples' minds, that this might move the writers towards settling the strike sooner rather than later. But honestly, the atmosphere here is so manic, and we have so many buyers running to so many screenings, and so many sellers trying to figure out how hot their movie is or isn't, that it's, sort of, part of this discombobulated environment at Sundance.
SIEGEL: Well, over the last several years, the specialty divisions of studios have paid millions of dollars for Sundance films. Is the writers' strike affecting the deal-making at Sundance?
MASTERS: Well, that's the question. Will people pay more than they did before even because they're trying to fill holes in their schedules? And certainly, the sellers are hoping that will be the case. But we talked to Tom Bernard of Sony Pictures Classics - he's one of these buyers - and he was hoping that would not be so.
Mr. TOM BERNARD (Co-president and Co-founder, Sony Pictures Classics): The writers' strike is, to me, hype from the sellers. The more they can get out gees, then no one has any movies. Everyone's going to be coming here with zillions of bucks. People might catch that panic. But I think the buyers here are too smart. If you're going to see anything this year, you're going to see people proceed with caution because of all the disasters last year.
SIEGEL: He spoke of all the disasters last year. I assume movie people know what that means. What was he talking about all the disasters last year?
MASTERS: Last year was the worst in terms of box office results from pictures purchased in the Sundance auction. So, the studios bought 20 movies for $53 million. So far, 14 of those have been released, and they've only grossed $34 million. So, the studios don't get to keep all that money. That's quite a shortfall for the business that was done. The poster child for that was probably a film called "Grace Is Gone," bought for $4 million. It stars John Cusack, and it's vanished pretty much without a trace. So, that's the kind of thing the studios would like to avoid.
SIEGEL: But certain movies at Sundance will probably fetch a big price. Which movies are being talked up this year?
MASTERS: Well, there's a number of them. There's one called "What Just Happened?" which is - with Robert De Niro and Barry Levinson directing. It's about a Hollywood producer and his adventures. And there's a movie called "Sunshine Cleaning," about women who clean up crime scenes. And that movie stars Amy Adams, who was in "Enchanted" and "Charlie Wilson's War," and she's a pretty hot commodity right now. So, that's one that's getting talked up. And there's another one called "The Great Buck Howard," about a mentalist with declining powers. And it is produced by Tom Hanks, and in an astonishing coincidence, it stars his son. And there's also a number of documentaries that are getting talked up, although, they didn't do well last year. There's one on Roman Polanski. There's "Trouble the Water," about Hurricane Katrina. There's one about steroids, one about a baseball player from the Dominican Republic. So, those are also the subject of great interest.
SIEGEL: Okay. Well, stay warm, Kim.
MASTERS: Thank you. I'll try.
SIEGEL: That's NPR's Kim Masters at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
We're going to end our program today and our visit to South Carolina with a segment we call, Heard on the Street. Hundreds of South Carolinians marched in Columbia yesterday to commemorate the federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. The freezing cold did not weaken the crowd's spirits as they walked toward the state's capital.
Mr. MOUSA ACHROM(ph): My name is Mousa Achrom. I'm from Columbia, South Carolina, and I'm here for the King Day celebration. I think in some ways, he would be pleased with the progress that we have made, not only as African-Americans, but Americans as well. And I think that he would also see that we still have some things that we have to work on, and we still have quite a ways to go.
Ms. BRITNEY RIPPLEWATER(ph): My name is Britney Ripplewater. I'm from Aiken, South Carolina. I'm here because when I first heard about they're going to have pretty much a march downtown, I was interested. Every since - I was reading about the civil movements and everything, how it started, I was interested. It's kind of like a moment in history, and I wanted to be here and kind of experience it. So I was hoping to kind get that here and to, like, relive the moment. Oh, Martin Luther King, Jr. means a lot to me. Without him, I wouldn't be able to attend the (unintelligible) University I go to now and excel in all the things that I would like to do. I think he was just a great inspirational leader. I wish he was still here, but I'm glad we have, like, people that are still around, that are following his footsteps and having the same beliefs and pushing forward in the same way that he was.
Mr. DERRICK MURROW(ph): Hello. My name is Derrick Murrow. I'm from (unintelligible) South Carolina. Martin Luther King, he was a great guy. He was a great leader, great civil rights leader. And it's a very important that everyone should remember that, regardless of what situation we're at now. There's a lot of great civil rights leaders out here, too. So, this brings all us together, not only because the situation, what's going on today, but it make - this make - this bring us more closer together and make us love one another that are hating one another.
Ms. MINNIE JOHNSON: My name's Minnie Johnson, and the sign says: King Day at the Dome. Power beyond measure. Equity in education for all schools now. Columbia, South Carolina. We're talking about equality for all people. What brings me out is, first of all, the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. He was a great man. He did a lot, not only for African-Americans, but for all colors. And it's just a special day because we are talking about 40 years. And it's just history in the making.
MARTIN: And that's what we heard on the street in Columbia, South Carolina. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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Federal agents raided several Southern California museums and art galleries, looking for smuggled and looted antiquities. Madeleine Brand talks with Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Felch about the investigation and which museums are involved.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.
Now, it's time for our monthly check-in with the Magazine Mavens. Editors of some of our favorite magazines talk to us about what's hot in their pages and what their readers are thinking about and talking about.
Joining me are Dawn Baskerville, managing editor of Essence magazine, Deborah Way, executive articles editor at O, The Oprah Magazine, and Damarys Ocana, contributing writer to Latina magazine.
Ladies, Mavens, welcome.
Ms. DAWN BASKERVILLE (Managing Editor, Essence Magazine): Hey, Michel.
Ms. DEBORAH WAY (Executive Editor, O, The Oprah Magazine): Hi.
Ms. DAMARYS OCANA (Contributing Writer, Latina Magazine): Thank you for having us.
MARTIN: Dawn, let's start with the fun stuff. It's February. Who doesn't want to talk about love and relationships? But I want to ask you and I want to ask each of you, how do you keep it fresh given that it's a perennial topic?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Well, because love is fresh, and there are different ways to approach it each time you look at it. And at Essence, we're always looking for what's relevant and what's new, what's hot. So that kind of - we take our cues from our audience, really, and how our readers come at us. That's what they want to talk about.
MARTIN: Okay. Deborah, what about you?
Ms. WAY: Well, our focus - it is definitely the month of hearts and flowers this month, but our focus is decidedly not on love as a happily ever after proposition, so much as love as a contentiously ever after and maddeningly and frustratingly ever after and hardworkingly ever after proposition.
MARTIN: I notice that. You kind of push against the conventional wisdom. You have a piece about - you know, a lot of people think it's not okay for couples to fight. And you say, you know what? You have to fight. So was that intentional? Were you intentionally looking to kind of push against people's expectations?
Ms. WAY: Yes, it was definitely intentional. And, of course, our point is not to make the case that love stinks. You know, we're not trying to rain on anybody's parade, but simply to make the case that it is not a constant bed of roses. And I think, for our readers and for so many women, it can just be a real relief to hear that.
MARTIN: Damarys, this is the first edition that your new editor-in-chief, Mimi Valdes Ryan, got to supervise in full. So shout out to her. But I noticed that Latina didn't really go too hard on the whole Valentine's Day thing, per se. I mean, you've got some interesting articles about relationships, but not so much on the whole Valentine's Day, love and flowers thing. Is it not that big of a deal for your readers?
Ms. OCANA: Well, I think love is always interesting, but really interesting to our readers as we've seen through responses to some of our articles in the past is the idea of cheating. So, actually, we did a little counter programming this year and had an article about women who have cheated and lost it all, and how they sort of began to get their relationships back on the ground.
MARTIN: How are readers responding to this? Do they - it is kind of a - how can I put it - keeping it very real.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: So, how are readers responding? I mean, is it kind of a don't-air-our-dirty-laundry kind of thing? Or are people saying, well, you know, like I was saying to Deborah, relief that somebody's actually admitting stuff like this goes on?
Ms. OCANA: Yeah. I think it was relief actually, because, you know, we took an online poll asking our readers how many of them had cheated, and actually 69 percent of them had no problem saying that they had.
MARTIN: Stop it.
Ms. OCANA: So, obviously, they didn't have a problem admitting it.
MARTIN: Can I meet some of your readers? Because they are living a very different life than I.
Ms. OCANA: You're telling me. I can't even get a thing.
MARTIN: How about taking it all in? I don't know. I'm trying to get to the grocery store, but - interesting. And so people are actually responding to it. They're really - they're finding it very interesting and…
Ms. OCANA: Yes, the whole topic of cheating is sadly one of our biggest response getters.
MARTIN: But do some people ever criticize - because I know that Essence has had this issue, and sometimes they featured, for example, a couple of months ago, a cover story on Sean Diddy Combs and his then significant other, Kim.
And some other readers were not appreciating it. They said that they thought that Essence shouldn't be, quote, unquote, you know, "validating this lifestyle."
Dawn, you remember that, right?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Oh, definitely.
MARTIN: Uh-huh.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: But Essence readers take black love very seriously and - but we also want a real perspective. So, unfortunately, it's not always a bed of roses. Sometimes there are indiscretions that crop up in relationships. But any opportunity that we get to celebrate black love, we try to do that. And particularly for this issue, we're looking at our second annual Will You Marry Me special.
MARTIN: I saw that.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Yeah. Well, we actually...
MARTIN: Talk about that.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Well, we give black men the opportunity to actually propose marriage to their special person. We had over 300 men who responded to the call to surprise a special woman in their lives with a proposal, and - which they did. And you can go on Essence.com and actually see the proposals. You can see the very emotional responses, and you'll even get the opportunity to vote for your favorite couple. The winning couple gets to get married aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship, and then they get to sail away on a seven-night Caribbean honeymoon cruise.
So, the readers feels like they have some part in it, and, of course, the men get to, you know, be the romantic people that they are. And that isn't often highlighted. So, we're very excited about it, and we just urge people to go online and, you know, do the voting thing. You can have from now until February 14th. So choose your couple.
MARTIN: But you're also keeping it very real as always with a big take-out on safe sex 101, which of course...
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Well...
MARTIN: …brought me up to it. And I wonder, is it your thought that people don't know enough about this issue, or that people need to be reminded?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Well, our readers basically like their information straight, no chaser. And we like to give a full comprehensive view. Love has aspects of sex and, unfortunately, sex is sometimes not safe. And we want our readers to be safe. So, basically, it's a special report in three parts. We start up with a quiz, where you might be surprised to find that the things that you think you know about protecting yourself that you actually might not.
And then we kind of go into talking about different sexually transmitted infections that plague the African-American community and women at large, anything from Chlamydia to HIV/AIDS, which is the leading cause of death for black women age 25 to 34.
And then we have a very candid conversation about sex. It's one thing to, you know, get the clinical part of it, but we also want to talk about the best ways to ask about your partner's sexual health, as well as to maybe have to reveal to him some parts of your own.
MARTIN: So it's a way to help people negotiate this difficult terrain.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Absolutely. It's about empowering women, giving them the power and the information so that they can take responsibility for their own sex lives.
MARTIN: Deborah, I was curious about that, too, in your relationships issue. How do you envision people using this information?
Ms. WAY: We feel that it's, for our readers, it's just, as I said, it can be a real relief to know that you don't have to be holding up as the standard of love the idea of attunement, for instance, that idea of twin souls and two hearts beating as one and perfect bliss and harmony 24/7, and that every enduring relationship is going to have conflict and troubles and problems.
So, her package of stories starts with a piece by the psychiatrist Mark Epstein, where he's advocating thinking about love more as a continuous cyclical process of rapture and repair. You will definitely have times of being distant from your significant other. You will have times when you're not responsive to each other. And you will absolutely and definitely have fights with each other, more or less bitter. You know, you will find yourself in the kitchen screaming at each other over how to wash lettuce. Or you will find yourself on vacation in Paris out on the street, again, screaming at each other and throwing down your money in your wallet and saying, I quit, I'm going home - which actually happened to a couple he knows.
But his point is that that's a really much more realistic and healthy way to think about a relationship, because that model of constant attunement is an impossible ideal. And if you have that as your ideal, it just sets you up for, really, heartbreak and disillusionment.
So that's the theoretical part of these group of stories. And then the rest of them are a bunch of wonderful personal essays in which our writers are very candid and very frank and, for the most part, very funny. We have one writer who is looking back on her wedding day 25 years ago and remembers feeling like she was being marched to the guillotine in a fabulous white dress.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: You know - and you know, again, Deborah, I have to give it up. I have to give credit for folks who haven't seen the issue, and I'm reading this thing and I'm cracking up because she's talking about one of her mother's friends had saved her an emergency valium. And she's talking about being at the country club and how she thought it was a good idea to greet the guests in rollers green shorts. You read through the whole piece, and what do we see? The picture of a couple - not necessarily who you think is having a country-club wedding. I'm not going to spoil it for folks in case they haven't seen it yet. But I do want to point out, again, diversity: built in? Unexpected? What would you -what word did you use?
Ms. WAY: Well, diversity is just a huge part of our mission and watchword in everything we do. I mean, we're always looking for all kinds of diversity in people's lives and in people's experiences because our readers are so incredibly diverse. I remember hearing our editor-in-chief Amy Gross on the show a while back, talking about how she feels that she is really speaking to every woman, and we try to keep that in mind with everything we do.
MARTIN: If you're just joining us, we're having our monthly visit with the Magazine Mavens, editors of some of our favorite magazines: Damarys Ocana of Latina, Deborah Way of O, The Oprah Magazine, and Dawn Baskerville of Essence magazine.
Let's talk about politics. It's - lots of politics in February. And several of you have kind of keyed right in on that. Dawn, you've got another of your in-depth interviews with front-running presidential contenders. This month features John Edwards. Was he surprised that Essence was interested in spending that kind of time with him and giving him that much space?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Not at all. He seems to be very entrenched in diversity issues, very comfortable with inclusion issues, so not at all. And then he was very forthcoming and open. Our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson actually traveled to Iowa to talk to him about fixing inequality in America and why he believes race and gender of the other candidates won't matter in campaign 2008.
MARTIN: What about the Republicans? Any plans to feature their front-runners?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: We have given fair inclusion to all candidates. And we featured the candidates that talked to us.
MARTIN: I mean, did you approach them? Did they just not...
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Well, we gave them...
MARTIN: I mean, I saw - we saw a major takeout on Hillary Clinton, a major takeout on Barack Obama.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Yes. We did make the approach to all candidates - all of the major candidates. And we wound up doing the interviews with those that favorably responded to the invitation.
MARTIN: That's interesting. Damarys, Latina has a nice spread on the major party candidates for president. It gives equal time to both Democrats and Republican front-runners. Is that a signal that Latina believes the Latino vote to be kind of a swing vote?
Ms. OCANA: Well, it absolutely is. There are 17 million Latinos that are eligible to vote this year of the 40 million of us. And so - and a lot of us are concentrated in key swing states like Florida and Nevada, et cetera. So it's really important for us to get the word out there to our readers that it's important for them to go out and vote, because they really, more than ever, have a voice. So to that end, that's why we did this package in which we present major candidates on both sides of the aisle, and where they stand on some of the most important issues to Latinos.
MARTIN: How did the readers respond to that? Because my guess would be that your readers are all over the place in terms of their political interests, political level of kind of political involvement.
Ms. OCANA: Well, it's interesting because they - I mean, they're not all over the place. I mean, 57 percent of Latinos are registered Democrats. So it's - we lean more that way. You wouldn't know it from the Florida primaries, because Florida tends to be populated by Cuban-Americans who overwhelmingly vote Republican, though that's changing as well. So, you know, so far we've had great response from readers who, you know, more than anything, want to be educated on the issues and on where everybody stands.
MARTIN: But I noticed that you didn't give more priority to Bill Richardson, who, until he dropped out, was the only Latino candidate - certainly a very highly qualified candidate. But you didn't go out of your way to kind of give him any more attention than the others. And I just - you know, wondered about that. Do you feel any pressure to do that? Do you feel any pressure not to do that?
Ms. OCANA: No, not at all. In fact, I personally tried to get an interview with Richardson, and we were not successful for I don't know what reason. But I mean, we were extremely interested in talking with him. It just never happened. I'm not sure.
MARTIN: Don't feel bad. He didn't give us any love, either. So...
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. OCANA: Scheduling? I mean I hate to just be blunt, but you know?
MARTIN: No. No, don't feel bad. Of course, you know, Dawn here probably has some magic fairy dust that she can sprinkle to get these people to...
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Oh, yeah.
MARTIN: ...you know, tell her everything. But I don't - you know?
So, Deborah, finally, I wanted to talk about - O doesn't have a lot of, sort of, politics, of course, a lot of attention for Oprah for her endorsement of Barack Obama as a private citizen. But another thing in O I wanted to mention, that novelist Wally Lamb teaches a writing class in a women's prison. That was fascinating enough. But he had some advice that could work for anybody facing an issue. If you mind, would you just tell us about his story?
Ms. WAY: Well, in addition to being a beloved and best-selling novelist - and not incidentally, a two-time Oprah Book Club pick - Wally has, for the past eight years, been teaching writing workshops in a women's prison in Connecticut. And the women are doing autobiographical writing. They're telling their life stories on paper. And the work has been quite remarkable to the extent that he's - Wally has published so far two anthologies of their writing. The first was called "Couldn't Keep It To Myself." And it came out several years ago. And the second is called "I'll Fly Away." And that was just published in September. And that was really the occasion for his writing this piece for us, which is about the transformative power of writing. For him and for his students, writing is a way to, as he says, rise above the gravity of your life, and to begin to see the patterns in your life, and to begin to connect the dots between the experiences you've lived through and the decisions you've made and how that has affected the person you've become.
But, of course, his larger point in writing for us is that you don't have to be in a literal prison to find value in this sort of writing. As Wally says, you know, who among us hasn't built a barbed wire prison around herself with secrets and regrets and painful memories? And if you can write your way through those things through honest telling of your stories, it can be hugely liberating.
And Oprah, by the way, has been keeping a journal pretty much since she was able to write.
MARTIN: Do any of you do that? Do any of the other ladies do that? Keep a journal?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Sure.
Ms. OCANA: I don't.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. OCANA: I always start, but I never, kind of, followed through with it.
MARTIN: Really?
Ms. OCANA: Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I, you know, I just - I'm writing all day every day for a living. But - so I tend to keep my thoughts in my head, and they just sort of do war up there.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. OCANA: So, I think, you know, listening to what Wally's doing, it seems like a really great time for me to maybe jump back into that. I think it can be immensely helpful.
MARTIN: Dawn, you do? You keep a journal?
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Yes, I do. I can't say that it's consistent. It's been off and on. It's a little frightening to revisit, but, to everyone's point, it is a free therapy. And I think that it's healthy and enriching when you can kind of see your own self-progression in words.
MARTIN: If you guys can make time for that, I guess that's kind of an indictment of the rest of us if you can just carve out some time.
Ms. OCANA: You've inspired me.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. WAY: Exactly.
MARTIN: Damarys Ocana is writer-at-large at Latina magazine. Dawn Baskerville is managing editor at Essence magazine. And Deborah Way is executive articles editor at O, The Oprah Magazine. They were all kind enough to join us at our bureau in New York.
Ladies, Mavens, thank you so much for speaking with us.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. OCANA: Thank you, Michel.
Ms. WAY: Thank you, Michel.
Ms. BASKERVILLE: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEW10) – Today’s 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma came from ME, Jaime and it’s about grocery shopping and eggs.
I was talking about this with a friend over the weekend so I wanted to know if I was the only one who does this. When I go grocery shopping and I need to get eggs, I will open the carton in the store, and then touch every egg to make sure it’s not broken. The reason I tough instead of just going with how they look is because sometimes they’re broken on the bottom and if you move it a little bit, you can tell if the bottom is stuck because of dried up yolk. Anyway, a friend of mine told me I was wrong to do this. First off she said it takes too much time, and secondly she said I shouldn’t be touching all the eggs, especially if I find a broke one and put the container back. Then I’ve touched someone else’s eggs. She said the way eggs are packaged these days they rarely break so I should just grab a carton and go. I can’t do it. I’ve checked the eggs since I was a kid and will continue doing it
Oh and if I find a carton with a broken egg, I try to find a store employee to tell them. So how do you shop for eggs. Do you just grab and go, or do you open the carton and check everyone like me. Let me know on the TRY Facebook page.
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| 2022-03-01T12:47:54
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(AP) – If there is no doctor in the house, Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to summon one. Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health are starting a voice-activated virtual care program that lets customers get medical help without picking up their phones.
The service, for health issues that aren’t emergencies, will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices. Customers can tell the voice assistant Alexa that they want to talk to a doctor, and that will prompt a call back on the device from a Teladoc physician.
The program, announced Monday, marks Amazon’s latest expansion into health care and another push by the retail giant into a form of care that grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Telehealth now is something that patients have gotten used to and may come to expect as an option for their care,” said Lori Uscher-Pines, a senior policy researcher with Rand Corp. “(Before) the pandemic, there might not have been this much awareness that this was a service that was available.”
Amazon already dispenses prescription drugs and is expanding an Amazon Care program it launched in 2019 that offers telemedicine visits with an option to send a care provider to the patient if they need an in-person visit.
The company’s latest health care expansion comes as several competitors including Walmart and the drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens also beef up their medical offerings. They are adding care clinics or virtual programs to make it easier for patients to find regular help in the fragmented U.S. health care system.
Insurers and employers that pay medical bills are pushing for this as a way to improve health and cut down on hospital stays or other big medical expenses.
“Health care is a huge industry of enormous value, and it is ripe for disruption,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “And Amazon views itself as a disruptor.”
Some hospitals already use Alexa as a voice assistant in patient rooms. In Great Britain, Alexa works with that country’s National Health Service to help answer medical questions with advice from the country’s official website.
The service announced Monday will be available for customers who create an Alexa voice ID. After telling the voice assistant that they need to talk to a doctor, people will be connected to a Teladoc call center and then get a call back from a physician.
The calls are audio-only for now, but the companies say they expect to add video soon. In some cases, doctors will be able to prescribe medications.
Customers can get a call back the same day, but that may depend on the availability of doctors in the state where the patient is located, Teladoc spokesman Chris Savarese said. He noted that the ongoing pandemic may lead to longer wait times.
The cost for a visit can vary depend on the patient’s coverage. Without insurance, the calls will cost $75.
Savarese said Amazon will not be able to access, record or store the content of the ensuing call.
Amazon is moving deeper into health care as other growth engines slow. In its most recent quarter, the Seattle-based company reported that its online retail business dropped 1%.
Kate McCarthy, senior research director at research firm Gartner, sees room for Amazon to expand beyond simple doctor calls. She noted that the company’s health care segment in its cloud computing division is aimed at coming up with new services and health care products.
McCarthy said she could see Amazon eventually helping to monitor patients that go home after a hospital stay, using Alexa and sensors to check how often they flush the toilet or open the refrigerator.
With its prescription services, Amazon hasn’t bit off meaningful share from its drugstore rivals, but McCarthy noted it could become a legitimate player.
“There isn’t one kind of magic market entrance,” she added “It will be a combination of things.”
Telemedicine in general grew rapidly when the pandemic first hit the United States and patients wanted to hunker down at home instead of visiting the doctor’s office.
Virtual visits have since leveled off a bit as office visits have widely resumed. But Uscher-Pines said research shows that patients remain interested.
Many want telemedicine available when they need its convenience, not as a replacement for in-person care.
“Most people don’t want that to cannibalize their in-person care,” she said. “They still want those options.”
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| 2022-03-01T12:48:00
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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — To kick off the first day of March, make sure to swing by IHOP to grab a free short stack and celebrate National Pancake Day. This year, National Pancake Day falls on March 1 and IHOP is offering their customers one free short stack of buttermilk pancakes per guest.
If you plan on taking part, make sure to swing by your nearest IHOP from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. local time when the free pancake deal will be taking place. The offer is for dine-in only.
National Pancake Day is not only about getting free pancakes but showing support to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other charities.
Since the first National Pancake Day in 2006, IHOP and its guests have raised over $30 million for various children’s hospitals throughout the country.
IHOP is encouraging those who visit on March 1 to donate in restaurants on their check by rounding up to the nearest dollar, with the change going to charity. Guests can also purchase wall tags in restaurants for a one-dollar donation.
Last year, the pandemic canceled National Pancake Day. Instead, IHOP offered customers IOUs to get a free short stack instead.
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| 2022-03-01T12:48:06
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing disquiet at home and danger abroad, President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address at a precipitous moment for the nation, aiming to navigate the country out of a pandemic, reboot his stalled domestic agenda and confront Russia’s aggression.
The speech Tuesday night had initially been conceived by the White House as an opportunity to highlight the improving coronavirus outlook and rebrand Biden’s domestic policy priorities as a way to lower costs for families grappling with soaring inflation. But it has taken on new significance with last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling by Vladimir Putin.
Biden, in his remarks, planned to highlight the bravery of Ukrainian defenders and the resolve of a newly reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and impose sanctions on Russia to cripple its economy.
Biden would speak to “the importance of the United States as a leader in the world, standing up for values, standing up for global norms, but also the efforts that he has undertaken to mitigate how it will impact people here,” press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Biden will address a mostly full and mask-optional crowd in the House chamber, one sign of the easing coronavirus threat. But he’ll also speak from within a newly fenced Capitol due to renewed security concerns after last year’s insurrection.
Rising energy prices as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine risk exacerbating inflation in the U.S., which is already at the highest level in 40 years, eating into the earnings of Americans and threatening the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic. And while the geopolitical crisis in Eastern Europe may have helped to cool partisan tensions in Washington, it can’t erase the political and cultural discord that is casting doubt on Biden’s ability to deliver on his pledge to promote national unity.
Biden will take the speaker’s rostrum as Americans are frustrated with his performance as president. A February AP-NORC poll found that more people disapproved than approved of how Biden is handling his job as president, 55% to 44%. That’s down from a 60% favorable rating last July.
White House officials acknowledge that the mood of the country is “sour,” citing the lingering pandemic and inflation as sources of blame. Biden, in his speech, will highlight the progress from a year ago — with the majority of the country now vaccinated and millions more people at work — but also acknowledge that the job is not yet done, a recognition of American discontent.
Biden aides say they believe the national psyche is a “trailing indicator” and will improve with time. But time is running short for the president, who needs to salvage his first-term agenda to revive the political fortunes of his party ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The president was set to highlight investments in everything from broadband access to bridge construction from November’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, holding it up as an example of government reaching consensus and delivering change for the American people.
He also planned to appeal to lawmakers to reach a compromise on rival competitiveness bills that have passed the House and Senate, both meant to revitalize high-tech American manufacturing and supply chains in the face of growing geopolitical threats from China.
The speech comes as progress on many of Biden’s other legislative priorities remains stalled on Capitol Hill, after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin scuttled the sweeping “Build Back Better” spending bill that Biden championed last fall.
As part of his pitch to voters, Biden will aim to resurrect components of the legislation, but with a new emphasis on how proposals like extending the child tax credit and bringing down child care costs could bring relief to families as prices rise. He was also set to lay out how his climate change proposals would cut costs for lower- and middle-income families and create new jobs.
“The president will absolutely use the word inflation tomorrow and he will talk about inflation in his speech,” said Psaki. But she emphasized that Biden was focused on “how people experience it” rather than looking at it as a statistic.
As part of that push, Biden is expected to call for lowering Americans’ health care costs, pitching his plan to authorize Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, as well as an extension of more generous health insurance subsidies now temporarily available through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces where 14.5 million get coverage.
While prospects for congressional passage were slim, Biden also was set to appeal for actions around voting rights, gun control and police reform, which have been hamstrung despite his Democratic majority.
Biden was expected to showcase what he’s done so far — for example, acting to crack down on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check.
On voting rights, legislation stalled after Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema denied Senate Democrats the chance to use a workaround that would allow them to pass the bills with their thin 50-50 majority instead of the 60 votes normally required.
The voting legislation written by congressional Democrats would bring in the biggest overhaul of the U.S. elections in a generation by striking down hurdles to voting enacted in the name of election security. Republicans say the changes are not aimed at fairness but at giving Democrats an advantage in elections.
Biden will also push the Senate to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. He nominated her last week.
Ahead of the speech, the physician’s office for Congress announced that it was lifting the House’s face-covering requirement after the federal government eased its guidelines for mask wearing. Now, mask wearing will be a personal choice in the House chamber, which will be open to all members of Congress, but still no guests.
All those who attend will be required to take a COVID-19 test before Biden’s address.
Biden aims to use his remarks to highlight progress made against COVID-19 over the last year and to guide the country into a “new phase” of the virus response that looks more like pre-pandemic life.
Seating for Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, last April, was capped at about 200 people — about 20% of usual capacity for a presidential presentation. White House aides fretted that a repeat this year would have been a dissonant image from the message the president aims to deliver to the American people.
“I think you’re going to see it look much more like a normal State of the Union, ” said White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “It’s going to look like the most normal thing people have seen in Washington in a long time.”
While masks are coming off, law enforcement officials reinstalled a fence around the Capitol building. There were no specific or credible threats ahead of Biden’s speech, but there had been concerns about trucker convoys heading to Washington to protest pandemic restrictions.
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https://www.news10.com/news/politics/bidens-state-of-the-union-address-comes-at-fraught-moment/
| 2022-03-01T12:48:12
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| 0.968257
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COHOES, N.Y. (NEWS10) – At Aria’s Apothecary, you can find a haven for all things self-care. Owner Talia Lamiano teamed up with her daughter, Aria, to ignite their dream business and it all started with their homemade candles.
Lamiano’s passion for high quality self-care products stems from her own experiences with allergic reactions to synthetic scents.
“I always loved scented candles, soaps and lotions, but the synthetic scents in them gave me awful headaches and made my skin break out. Six years ago I started making my own candles so that I could control the ingredients. By making them in small batches I was able to eliminate the toxins that were giving me those side effects. I never thought of it as a business, I just loved making and burning my own candles,” she said.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Talia was at home with Aria and began to teach her how to make candles. As they got more experienced they experimented with new natural scents and beautiful, unique jars.
“The response was incredible and my hobby started to turn into a business,” she said.
As her business as a vendor at “Eat in the Street” grew, Talia started to see the possibility of bringing together likeminded toxin-free product makers for a retail store to cater to the self-care needs of discerning customers. In addition to Talia and Aria’s candles, the store carries toxin-free lotions, toners, bath bombs, body butters, lip balm, facial serums, beard oil, beard wax, and goat milk soaps, in addition to artisan chocolates and accessories like jewelry, knit goods and nail polish.
For those seeking a unique gift, Talia will be preparing gift baskets of her curated assortment of self-care products.
Aria’s Apothecary at 192 Remsen Street and is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
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https://www.news10.com/off-the-beaten-path/off-the-beaten-path-arias-apothecary/
| 2022-03-01T12:48:18
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en
| 0.97432
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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden will deliver his first of the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said while domestic economic issues like inflation and the pandemic will remain a top priority in the president’s speech, Biden will also address the crisis in Ukraine.
Jean-Pierre said the president would use his platform to show the U.S. and its allies are united behind Ukraine. The speech will also highlight the president’s efforts to try and isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have to stand for democracy,” said Jean-Pierre. “We are sending a very loud message to President Putin.”
The U.S. and European allies have recently issued increasingly harsh sanctions against Russia’s central banking system and deployed billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, says Biden should showcase his efforts in addressing the Ukraine crisis.
“America is back in terms of our international leadership,” said Warner. “The fact the coalition he has built — not just European nations but countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan — I think he needs to address it.”
Some Republicans in Congress say the Biden administration must go further. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, said sanctions might not be enough to deter Putin and urged the president to increase military spending on the Senate floor.
The White House has not announced plans for additional military spending but is calling on Congress to pass a multi-billion dollar security package for Ukraine.
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https://www.news10.com/washington/washington-dc/biden-to-make-1st-state-of-the-union-address-tuesday/
| 2022-03-01T12:48:24
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| 0.956298
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Amelia Kerr starred in New Zealand's 4-1 ODI series victory at home against India, which saw her rise in the ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings. Mithali Raj has held onto her second spot in the batting ODI rankings, while Smriti Mandhana has risen four slots to take the eighth spot.
Kerr did very well in the final two ODIs of the five-match series against India. In the fourth ODI, which was reduced to a 20-over contest, Kerr scored an unbeaten 68 in only 33 deliveries.
In the fifth and final ODI, Kerr scored 68 in 75 balls. Her exploits with the bat have seen her jump up to five spots to No.17 in the rankings chart for batters. Kerr also contributed with a few handy overs in the final two matches. In the fourth match, she returned with figures of 3/30 in 3.5 overs as New Zealand successfully defended a score of 191.
In the fifth and final ODI, she registered figures of 1/55 in her 10 overs. This has seen her rankings rise up to No.17 in bowlers, a gain of four positions. She has also broken into the top 5 of the all-rounders' chart, gaining two positions up to No.4.
In the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings:
Amelia Kerr continues to rise
Notable changes in batters list
Details https://t.co/ty8uvIXHjN pic.twitter.com/hvgus0HTcm — ICC (@ICC) March 1, 2022
Her form will undoubtedly aid New Zealand, as the hosts aim to clinch their second ICC Women's Cricket World Cup title, beginning March 4.
In other big movements, Amy Satterthwaite dropped down four positions in the batting rankings, down to No.7. She scored a 16-ball 32 in the fourth ODI and 21-ball 12 in the fifth and final contest.
India's Harmanpreet Kaur also gained a spot and rose up to No.20 after scoring a 66-ball 63 in the fifth and final ODI to roar back into form. Her knock helped India win the fifth and final ODI by six wickets.
Deepti Sharma also saw her position rise in the bowling charts, gaining one spot up to No.12. She returned with figures of 1/49 in four overs and 2/42 in 10 overs in the fourth and fifth ODIs respectively. She only scored 9 runs in the fourth ODI and did not bat in the fifth match, which saw her lose one spot in the all-rounders' rankings, down to No.5.
Alyssa Healy continued at the top of the batting charts, while her Australian compatriots Jess Jonassen and Ellyse Perry maintained their status as the No.1 ranked bowler and the No.1 ranked all-rounder respectively.
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https://www.dnaindia.com/cricket/report-mithali-raj-continues-to-hold-second-spot-in-women-s-odi-rankings-smriti-mandhana-rises-to-eighth-position-2936911
| 2022-03-01T12:48:24
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en
| 0.96302
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We see a lot of world records being created every year, while some are somewhat off-beat and weird, others are super dangerous and thrilling. Another such daring and dangerous world record has been set by a man, and you won’t believe what it is!
A man from Armenia has set the world record for doing the most pull-ups while dangling from a hovering helicopter. Roman Sahradyan, who was dangling from the landing skid of the helicopter while it was in the air, did a total of 23 pull-ups.
For this super-daring act, the Armenian man’s name has been entered in the Guinness Book of World Records. Guinness also shared the video of Sahradyan doing the pull-ups on its official Instagram page, which has now gone insanely viral.
In the viral video, Sahradyan can be seen dangling from the landing skid of a helicopter which is mid-air, making his stunt all the more dangerous. In the caption of the video, Guinness has written, “Most pull-ups from a helicopter in one minute (sic) 23 by Roman Sahradyan.”
Not just the pull-up world record, but the Armenian man holds multiple records, according to the Guinness World Records. Sahradyan has created a record for ‘most consecutive gymnastic high bar giants’ with dizzying 1,001 spins, for ‘most toe touches on a bar’ and ‘most horizontal bar back hip rotations’, both under one minute.
Sahradyan has a love of sports and athletics and is always attempting new world records with innovative stunts. On his LinkedIn profile, the athlete wrote, “I have been involved in sports since childhood love. It's my hobby."
Netizens were left wowed and impressed by the record that the man set with his exceptional set of skill and strength. Instagram users said that they didn’t even know that this category existed, and called his record “the most amazing feat ever.”
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https://www.dnaindia.com/viral/report-man-creates-world-record-for-most-pull-ups-while-hanging-from-helicopter-watch-viral-video-2936912
| 2022-03-01T12:48:30
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en
| 0.968607
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The rate of detection in the last 24 hours until 8:00am was 3.35 per cent while the overall rate of detection of infected cases in Bangladesh as of Tuesday stands at 14.48 per cent.
The health directorate Tuesday said a total of 7,460 people recovered from the highly infectious disease in the last 24 hours, taking the number of total recovery to 1,822,125.
Of the people who died in the last 24 hours, five were male and three female. Among the Covid-19 patients who died in that time, three in Chattogram division, two in Rajshahi, one each in Dhaka, Khulna and Mymensingh divisions.
Bangladesh detected its first coronavirus patient on 8 March last year and recorded its first death of the disease on 18 March that year.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/bangladesh-reports-8-covid-deaths-799-cases-in-24-hrs
| 2022-03-01T12:48:36
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en
| 0.981493
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India has treated it like its backwaters so long, but now the rising and existing powers around the world are making it clear that the Indian Ocean is not India’s OceanMaj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman (retd), president, BIPSS
Highlighting the importance of the Bay of Bengal, Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman (retd) said it was one of the busiest shipping lanes today, used by 50,000 vessels every year. Importantly, the bay was located between two key economic and political regions of SAARC and ASEAN. It was increasingly becoming the focus of several powers including China, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and more.
“Unfortunately,” the BIPSS president pointed out, “the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Bay of Bengal has no security infrastructure and so becomes a playground of the regional and global powers. India has treated it like its backwaters so long, but now the rising and existing powers around the world are making it clear that the Indian Ocean is not India’s Ocean.” He also noted that Bangladesh was a key strategic partner in the IOR and Bay of Bengal region.
“The rapid militarization of this maritime space is a cause of worry for Bangladesh,” ANM Muniruzzaman observed, “with major naval exercises taking place in the Bay.” These included the Malabar series involving the US, India and Japan and recently Australia as well. Then there is the naval drill of China, Russia and Iran. “Bangladesh must take initiative now so this militarization halts. We want the Bay of Bengal to be a region of peace,” he added.
China sees the Bay of Bengal as a panacea to its Malacca Straits dilemmaShahedul Anam Khan, former associate editor of The Daily Star
Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan (retd) observed that while the bay had been a region of unity in ancient times, it has now become an area of disintegration rather than integration. “The focus of the West has turned East because of the economic trajectory in the region,” he said, elaborating that it was the area of 1.5 billion people which was one of the strengths behind its economic clout. Ninety per cent of Bangladesh’s freight trade was seaborne and so the country had immense dependence on the sea, he said.
The former associate editor of The Daily Star pointed out that the strategic significance of the Bay of Bengal was because it oversees major trade routes, it connects South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East and had importance like the South China Sea. He pointed out that while neither the US nor China were resident powers, they were perhaps more interested in the area than others. What China saw as its proactive diplomacy in the region, the US termed as China’s predatory economics.
“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by the Chinese president Xi Jinping and the Look East policy taken up by former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, gradually emerged and mutated into the Indo Pacific initiatives. One perhaps generated each other,” Shahedul Anam Khan said, elaborating that the US came up with the Indo Pacific Strategy to counter China’s growing footprint in Asia, Africa and even Europe. “China sees the Bay of Bengal as a panacea to its Malacca Straits dilemma as it offers it alternative sea routes.”
Former ambassador Rear Admiral Kazi Sarwar Hossain (retd), said maritime connectivity, trade and commerce, and critical infrastructure were three principal factors of the Bay of Bengal that required attention. In maritime connectivity, this was an important trade route and the economic highway of the world.
In trade and commerce, there was the rapid industrialization and development of East Asian countries including China, and the raw materials and other cargo related manufacturing was brought in through the Bay of Bengal. Referring to the critical infrastructure factor, he mentioned the added tensions in strategic context of the Bay of Bengal and the convergence of interests of the various powers.
“China is a key player,” the former DG of the Coast Guard Kazi Sarwar Hossain said, pointing out that the Malacca dilemma challenge stepped up China’s quest for the Bay of Bengal. India was also out to counter China and both the countries viewed the Bay of Bengal as a crucial frontier or competition. “The US has a lot at stake in the Bay of Bengal,” the retired rear admiral went on to say, adding that Japan and Australia had also turned their attention here.
Speaking of the militarization of the bay, he said India plans to acquire more than 160 ships, 28 conventional and a few nuclear powered submarines, and more, ramping up its military power in the Bay of Bengal. He pointed out that India had increased its naval cooperation with Myanmar as well as Bangladesh.
“China has the largest naval fleet in the world,” he continued, “with sophisticated submarines, including 12 nuclear powered ones. Chinese submarines have been increasingly visiting the Bay of Bengal.”
Kazi Sarwar Hossain also deliberated on the effects of climate change in the Bay of Bengal which was leading to rising temperatures and rising sea levels. He predicted that Bangladesh would see 30 million of its people becoming climate refugees when large areas of the land went under water. The increased frequency in cyclonic storms, floods and drought were effect of climate change.
Assistant professor of economics at East West University, Parvez Karim Abbasi, said the tragedy of Bangladesh was that though it was a maritime nation, it was almost resigned to the fate of being a landlubber. “Even Myanmar has beaten Bangladesh in taking advantage of the Bay of Bengal. We must develop a capable and modern navy,” he said adding that the government has been taking initiatives in that regard in recent times.
Bangladesh has started the maritime race late,” the professor said, “but it doesn’t need to remain behind.Parvez Karim Abbasi, assistant professor of economics at East West University
About the blue growth in the region, he referred to aquaculture and maritime technology, saying that proper resource management was needed. “The Bay of Bengal was three well-defined basins,” he said, “and the Bengal Basin was the second most resourceful, but the least exploited.” About deep sea hydrocarbon mining, he said the blocks were being leased out to foreign companies. BAPEX needed capacity building. There was needed for technology transfer.
Parvez Karim Abbasi spoke of Bangladesh’s need to further develop its blue economy in fishing, aquaculture, tourism and other sectors. Bangladesh has only 42 registered ships, he pointed out, with a freight volume not exceeding 10 per cent of the total. Bangladesh can tie up with other countries like Australia, the UK, India, to expand these horizons, he suggested, adding that the capacity of Chittagong Port must be increased.
He also spoke of exploiting the fishing industry. “We fish in the deep sea only at a depth of 40m, but the actual bulk of fishery resources are at 50m, so this capacity must be expanded too,” he said, adding that mineral resources was another neglected area. Bangladesh had access to huge resources of sea salt and could be a hub of salt extraction. Beach material was also a profitable prospect in zircon, garnets, zinc sulfate, monazite which is used on nuclear reactors and so had strategic importance, manganese and even uranium.
“Bangladesh has started the maritime race late,” the professor said, “but it doesn’t need to remain behind.”
After a lively question and answer session, Maj Gen Muniruzzaman summed up the discussions, saying that Bangladesh as a key maritime member of the Bay of Bengal, hasn’t been playing a relevant role. He highlighted the climate change impact on the region, saying, “Climate change should be a high priority agenda.” He concluded by saying that Bangladesh must leverage its importance as a member of the maritime community.
The event was attended by high ranking foreign diplomats, retired civil and military bureaucrats, academics, journalists, students, researchers and others.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/bay-of-bengal-to-be-a-region-of-peace
| 2022-03-01T12:48:42
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en
| 0.97618
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The CEC reiterated his hope that the political leadership would hold dialogues to reach a consensus.
Replying to a question of a journalist, Kazi Habibul Awal said, “I’ve high blood pressure and now the pressure of a new responsibility has been added. I’m shackled with new responsibilities.”
The five members of the EC then signed on the visitor’s book.
EC secretary Humayun Kabir Khandakar, Dhaka’s deputy commissioner Md Shahidul Islam Khan, Dhaka district police superintendent Maruf Hossain Sarder, Dhaka district traffic police’s additional superintendent of police Md Abdullahil Kafi, senior election official Munir Hossain Khan and Savar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Mazharul Islam, among others were present.
Chief justice Hasan Foez Siddique administered the oath of CEC and other commissioners on Sunday. President Abdul Hamid appointed them as per article 118(1) of the constitution.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/cec-not-under-any-pressure
| 2022-03-01T12:48:48
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en
| 0.935194
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Sources at the DSCC secretariat office said Abdullah Harun paid the contractor additional bill without completing the work as per the approved design while carrying out the duty as assistant engineer and executive engineer at the waste management department. And, that caused a financial loss to the city corporation.
Besides, a tender of Tk 280 million (28 crore) was floated to remove and dumping waste and soil gathered on either side of a six-kilometre rail track from Kamalapur Titipara and Kadamtali under the deposit work of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP). Abdulla Harun also indulged in irregularities in this project.
The tender estimated the amount of garbage, soil and rubbish at 120,000 tonnes. Garbage is 5,000 tonnes. The remaining 115,000 tonnes are soil and rubbish and that is sellable.
Yet, an estimated of Tk 118.8 million (11.88 crore) was offered in the tender to remove soil and rubbish. Since soil and rubbish is sellable, the government should have no expenditure on it.
The office order said it is apparent by many activities of this official that he was involved in various irregularities, corruption and activities against city corporation and public interest. This caused financial loss to DSCC and tarnished its image.
As a result, he was dismissed from his job under the section 64(2) of the Dhaka City Corporation Employee Service Rules 2019 in order to protect the interest of the public and the corporation. He would receive 90 days' salary only as the rules, the order read.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/city/dscc-official-fired-over-graft-charges
| 2022-03-01T12:48:55
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en
| 0.972229
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Kazi Habibul Awal told the media that the commission has a responsibility of creating conducive environment for the elections. But the political parties also have responsibilities for organising a fair election.
While answering various queries of the newsmen, the new CEC stressed on the role of political parties and building a consensus among them.
But Kazi Habibul Awal, the former bureaucrat, did not talk much about whether the EC would take any additional initiative and would play a strong role to create a level playing field for all in the elections.
He said differences would increase if you stay away from the other. There has to be dialogues. Someone has to opt for dialogues shunning their ego. The power of the election commission is not infinite. This is always relative
The new CEC, however, said they have not yet taken any decision on what would be the work procedure of the new commission. But they would try to carry out their duties employing their capacity, efficiency and power bestowed upon them by the laws. There will be no lack of attempt from their part to make everyone compete in the elections, he added.
He further told the newspersons to observe the new election commission and take it into your confidence.
Pressed on whether the EC would have any special initiative to earn trust (of all the political parties), the CEC said, “I can’t act as mediator if the political leadership do not have minimum consensus. They are far more experienced and wiser than us. I would request them, please have some kind of compromise among you, and pledge that you would take part in the elections in fair way. Don’t create any violence there, don’t obstruct anyone (from taking part in the elections).”
He said differences would increase if you stay away from the other. There has to be dialogues. Someone has to opt for dialogues shunning their ego. The power of the election commission is not infinite. This is always relative.
Kazi Habibul Awal further said, “The election commission alone cannot create the level playing field. Our agencies concerned will also try for that. What we call political leadership of the country, this does not mean Awami League only. There’s a political leadership jointly of the BNP, Awami League or Jatiya Party. That leadership has to try to make a compromise.”
Calling on the political parties to perform their duties for a meaningful parliamentary election, the CEC said, “Acknowledge, if you have any failure. Restore the democratic system so that everyone competes in the elections.”
Do you think, I myself will go to cast votes at night? Or, I will say stuff (ballots) fast
Regarding the allegation of stuffing ballots on the night before the day of parliamentary elections in 2018, the CEC said, let’s see what happens next time. Voting will be held according to the voting rules. He said he had seen from Australia that voting took place in the day.
Mentioning that he does not want to take part in the discussion of day-night voting issue, the CEC said, “Wouldn’t we try to restore people’s faith if that is damaged? You observe us, we would not hinder you there. The political parties can have an agreement that they would not carry out any violence or clash at the voting centres.”
Kazi Habibul Awal also called upon all the political parties and their supporters and workers to take a strong position at the field. “It would not do if you leave the election field. Stay at the field even if you face difficulties. The Ukraine president could have fled, but he didn’t do that."
“I will fight against Russia," the CEC quoted the Ukraine president as saying. "He has been waging the fight.”
The CEC said election is also a war, there will be competitions. Where there is a competition, there will be scuffles. The EC will try to control those through law enforcement agencies. One should not leave watching the power of another. They have to stay in the field. The leaders and officials have to stay at the centres.
Regarding the electronic voting machine (EVM), he said he does not understand the EVM issue well. They will decide after discussing the matter
When his attention was drawn to the de facto opposition BNP’s statements that they do not have any interests in the EC and the party would not compete in the elections without any polls-time neutral government, the CEC said, “Wouldn’t we invite BNP for a cup of tea with us even if they announced this? Nothing is final.”
The CEC said the government does not hold the election. A government remains during the time of election. There will have one or another government. Now, they will try to follow the current constitutional system, so that the people could cast their votes.
Kazi Habibul Awal said they would try so that the people could cast their votes. This is a big challenge, he added.
Regarding the opposition parties' allegation that the people appointed in the election commission are beneficiaries of the government steps and would not be able to stay neutral, the CEC said, “Do you think, I myself will go to cast votes at night? Or, I will say stuff (ballots) fast. I was a government employee. Those who were here in the past, who among them was not a government employee? Some say election held under Shamsul Huda’s (former CEC ATM Shamsul Huda) was better while some say the better one was held under Sahabuddin (former chief justice Sahabuddin Ahmed who was the head of caretaker government formed before the elections in 1991). These are relative.”
Regarding the electronic voting machine (EVM), Kazi Habibul Awal said he does not understand the EVM issue well. They will decide after discussing the matter.
The other commissioners did not speak to media at the briefing.
Following the conference, the CEC and other commissioners paid their tribute to Bangladesh’s founding father Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/politics/new-cec-not-to-act-as-mediator-among-political-parties
| 2022-03-01T12:49:01
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en
| 0.98126
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Jones said the children had gone to The Church of Sacramento, in the Arden Arcade area of the city, for a supervised visit with their father.
Local media reported that authorities thought the fifth victim, whose identity was still unknown, was the person overseeing the visit.
"At 5:07 this afternoon, we received a call that there was a shooting inside the church," Sergeant Rod Grassmann of Sacramento County Sheriff's Office told reporters.
"This is as far as I can see, at this point, a domestic violence-related sort of incident," he said. Police said they were not looking for anyone else involved in the shooting.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the murders "senseless" in a Twitter posting. "Another senseless act of gun violence in America -- this time in our backyard. In a church with kids inside," he said.
"Absolutely devastating. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their communities." Mass killings involving firearms are a distressingly common occurrence in the United States.
Lax gun laws and an insistence on the right to bear arms have repeatedly stymied attempts to clamp down on the number of weapons in circulation, despite greater controls being favored by the majority of Americans.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/americas/father-kills-three-children-self-in-us-church-shooting
| 2022-03-01T12:49:07
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en
| 0.985349
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“Russian occupiers continue to use heavy weaponry against the civilian population,” he said, adding that the number of victims was not yet known.
He posted footage of the massive blast and debris inside the building.
Kharkiv, a largely Russian-speaking city near the Russian border, has a population of around 1.4 million.
It has been a target for Russian forces since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday.
Separately, an official in the region of Sumy, which lies north of Kharkiv close to Russia’s border, said early on Monday that some 70 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in Russian shelling on a military facility in the area.
“Many died. Currently, places are being prepared in the cemetery for about 70 dead Ukrainian soldiers,” Dmytro Zhyvytsky, the head of the Sumy region, wrote on Telegram after strikes on the town of Okhtyrka.
He posted images of charred buildings with caved-in walls and rescue workers digging through rubble.
The Ukrainian military, however, has not confirmed the deaths.
Russia has denied targeting civilian areas despite rockets landing in residential neighbourhoods.
Ukraine says more than 350 civilians have been killed since Moscow launched the attack last week.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/europe/central-square-of-ukraines-second-city-kharkiv-shelled
| 2022-03-01T12:49:13
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| 0.978911
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Justice secretary Dominic Raab, a former war crimes prosecutor, said Britain and its allies would wait as long as it takes to bring any violators to heel, pointing to the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia.
“That’s why we’re making it clear both to Putin but also to commanders in Moscow, on the ground in Ukraine, that they will be held accountable for any violations of the laws of war,” he told Sky News.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague said Monday it was investigating after finding a “reasonable basis” to suspect alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine since Russia seized the Crimea peninsula in 2014.
For Putin, Russian generals and soldiers, “there’s a very real risk that they’ll end up in the dock of a court in The Hague”, Raab added on BBC television.
“If and when the ICC decides to take action, I’m sure the UK and allies will want to support them practically, logistically.”
Amnesty International said Russian cluster bombs hit a preschool in northeastern Ukraine last Friday that was being used to shelter civilians, killing three people including a child.
Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard said the “stomach-turning” attack in the town of Okhtyrka “should be investigated as a war crime”.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/europe/uk-warns-putin-could-be-tried-for-war-crimes
| 2022-03-01T12:49:19
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en
| 0.967204
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“In such times of conflict, India attaches the highest priority to safety and well-being of civilians, in particular women, children and elderly. We are of the view that core principles of humanitarian assistance should be fully honoured,” he said.
Tirumurti noted that India remains deeply concerned about the unfolding developments in Ukraine where the situation continues to deteriorate.
“Our considered call for an immediate cessation of violence and an end to all hostilities is an urgent imperative,” he stated.
Tirumurti highlighted that Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has advocated this strongly in his recent conversations with the leadership of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
“We welcome their commencement of direct talks. We reiterate our conviction that differences can only be bridged through sustained dialogue and diplomacy,” he said, adding that “We also underline that all member states have agreed on the principles in UN Charter, international law and on the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.”
Tirumurti further expressed deep concern for the safety and security of thousands of Indian citizens, including students, stranded in Ukraine.
“Our evacuation efforts have been adversely impacted by the developments on the ground at the border crossings. Given that the safety of Indian nationals is of paramount importance to my Government, senior Ministers from the Government of India are being deployed as Special Envoys to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries,” he said.
“We thank them for their cooperation at this difficult time. We stand ready to help those from neighbours and developing countries who are also stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance,” he added.
Tirumurti also noted that the appointment of Amin Awad of Sudan as United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine by the Secretary-General, to lead the coordination of all UN efforts, including the humanitarian response, on both sides of the contact line. “We support and welcome the UN’s efforts in this direction.”
Concluding the remarks, Tirumurti reiterated there is no other option but to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue as the only way ahead.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/india/india-to-provide-urgent-relief-supplies-medicines-to-ukraine
| 2022-03-01T12:49:25
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en
| 0.964761
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"The Russian advance on Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours probably as a result of continuing logistical difficulties," the British defence ministry said in a military intelligence update on Tuesday, adding that Russia had increased its use of artillery.
"The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties." it said.
Russian forces were attacking on several fronts and Ukrainian officials reported a bombardment of Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, had killed dozens of civilians.
"Barbaric rocket attacks and MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) of peaceful cities are evidence that they are no longer able to fight armed Ukrainians," Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Facebook.
Some 70 Ukrainian servicemen were killed on Monday by Russian shelling of a base in the town of Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the regional governor said on Facebook.
Ukraine's general staff said Russian losses included 5,710 personnel, 29 destroyed and damaged aircraft and 198 tanks.
It was not possible to independently verify any of those figures.
Ceasefire talks between Russia and its southern neighbour held on Monday failed to reach a breakthrough and negotiators have not said when a new round would take place.
Putin faces mounting international pressure and the systemic impact of Western sanctions led to a near 30 per cent collapse in the rouble on Monday before central bank intervention rescued the currency from its lows.
The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russia's central bank, its top businesses, oligarchs and officials, including Putin himself, and barred some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
Turkey Shuts Straits To Warships
NATO ally Turkey delivered another blow to Moscow on Monday by warning warring countries not to send warships through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits that separate the Black Sea from the Mediterranean, effectively bottling up Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Washington has ruled out sending troops to fight Russia or enforcing a no-fly zone as requested by Ukraine, fearing an escalation between the world's top two nuclear powers.
But, the United States and its allies have instead promised military aid to Kyiv, as president Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned the capital was under constant threat.
"For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target," Zelenskiy said in a video message late on Monday. "We did not let them break the defence of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us ... We will neutralise them all."
Zelenskiy said Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation", was targeting a thermal power plant providing electricity to Kyiv, a city of 3 million people.
Human rights groups and Ukraine's ambassador to the United States accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs. The United States said it had no confirmation of their use.
Public health experts say Ukraine is running low on critical medical supplies and fears of a wider public health crisis are growing as people flee their homes and health services and supplies are interrupted. Russia says its actions are not designed to occupy territory but to destroy Ukraine's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
Private sector pullout
More than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations refugee agency, setting off a refugee crisis as thousands await passage at European border crossings.
A stream of companies pulling out of Russia was growing on Tuesday.
Oil companies Shell SHEL.L, BP BP.L and Norway's Equinor EQNR.OL have said they would exit positions in Russia, which relies on oil and gas for export earnings.
Canada said it would ban imports of Russian crude oil, and US republican senator Lindsey Graham urged the Biden administration to target the Russian energy sector with sanctions.
"We're not using the energy sector as a weapon," Graham told reporters. "We're failing to hit Putin where it hurts the most."
Leading banks, airlines and automakers ended partnerships, halted shipments and called Russia's actions unacceptable. Mastercard MA.N said it had blocked multiple financial institutions from its payment network as a result of sanctions on Russia and Visa V.N said it would take action too.
Moves to isolate Russia have extended to culture and sports, as well.
Three major studios, Sony, Disney and Warner Bros., said they would pause theatrical releases of upcoming films in Russia while FIFA and the International Olympic Committee moved to bar Russian teams and athletes from competing.
Putin, who takes pride in athleticism and is passionate about martial arts, had his honorary black belt from World Taekwondo stripped from him over the invasion, the group said.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/rockets-kill-70-ukrainian-soldiers-huge-russian-column-approaches-kyiv
| 2022-03-01T12:49:31
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| 0.972
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World Taekwondo, which governs international federations for the sport, was the latest to condemn Putin, saying Tuesday that Moscow’s actions went against the sport’s vision: “Peace is more precious than triumph.”
“In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr Vladimir Putin in November 2013,” the Seoul-based body said in an official statement.
It added that official taekwondo events would not be organised in Russia or Belarus.
In line with the IOC’s urging, the flags and anthems of both countries will also not be displayed or played at taekwondo events around the world.
“World Taekwondo’s thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we hope for a peaceful and immediate end to this war,” it said.
Putin does not actually do taekwondo, but is instead accomplished in judo, another martial art, and has long served as an honorary president to the International Judo Federation.
On Sunday the IJF suspended his status as honorary president and ambassador to the sport.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/international/world-taekwondo-revokes-putins-honorary-black-belt-over-ukraine
| 2022-03-01T12:49:38
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en
| 0.967424
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To many people, the unbridled rise in prices of daily commodities seemed as a bigger crisis than the Covid-19 pandemic. We do not see any effective action of the government in this regard. The country now has the highest stock of rice and wheat, and has ample production. Even then the Ministry of Commerce failed to rein in the market. We can see that it is not possible to handle the situation by selling TCB products at low prices in a few places.
At the moment there is no alternative to controlling the market situation. Meanwhile, the consumers are bearing the brunt of price hike due to increase in the cost of transportation caused by the increase in fuel price. On the other hand, the mischiefs of the middlemen and peddlers and extortion by the police and transport sectors have exacerbated the situation.
In a report by the Department of Agricultural Marketing revealed that farmers in the country sell cabbage at an average price of Tk 13.5 per piece. It is sold at the retail market at Tk 38. This price is almost three times the price sold at the farmer level. Not only cabbage, but almost all vegetables including green chillies are sold at two to three times the price sold by farmer in Dhaka.
The price goes up due to the middlemen, transportation costs and police extortion. The report has been prepared by collecting information from farmers, middlemen, wholesalers and retailers of Karwan Bazar of Dhaka, Bogura, Jashore, Rajshahi and Meherpur districts from 1 to 3 January.
Many reports have been published in the media about the misdeeds of middlemen and police extortion in the kitchen market. This time a government agency reported about it that revealed how the middlemen and the police extort money in different places during the transportation and sale of goods. In most cases, the local political leaders and activists are the beneficiaries as the middlemen. Experts see police extortion as one of the reasons for the chaos in the transport sector. Police extortion from trucks on the streets is an open secret. There are allegations that officials at different levels of the police get their share of the money.
In a free market economy it is difficult to control the market directly. But it is unwarranted that the government will not be able to control the increase in the price of goods due to extortion and various obstacles. The report of the Department of Agricultural Marketing made seven recommendations for controlling the prices of agricultural products. These include increasing monitoring of the wholesale market, ensuring transparency in the activities of law enforcement and market committees, and reducing transportation costs. It remains to be seen whether these recommendations will remain on paper as usual, or effective action will be taken.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/opinion/editorial/does-the-government-have-nothing-to-do
| 2022-03-01T12:49:44
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en
| 0.957833
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More than 70 Ukrainian servicemen were killed by a Russian rocket attack and dozens of civilians have died in "barbaric" shelling, Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday, as a huge Russian military convoy approached the capital Kyiv.
Fierce resistance on the ground has so far denied Russian president Vladimir Putin decisive early gains after he last week launched the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/photo/distress-and-destruction-all-over-ukraine
| 2022-03-01T12:49:50
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en
| 0.978415
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Students of pre-primary will be allowed to attend class in-person after observing the Covid-19 situations for two more weeks.
Director general of the Directorate of Primary Education Alamgir Mohammed Monsurul Alam told Prothom Alo on Wednesday.
The government declared the closure of all educational institutions across the country on 17 March 2020 amid the breakout of coronavirus pandemic. Schools reopened in September last year after an 18-month of closure.
Educational institutions were declared closed again on 21 January this year following the surge of Covid-19. Secondary schools, colleges and university reopened on 22 February and primary schools are all set to reopen on Wednesday.
Sources at the Directorate of Primary, said schools will be run in two shifts. There will be no gathering. Guardians are discouraged to visit schools and no teacher will come to school without vaccination.
Currently, people aged 12 and above are receiving Covid-19 vaccine. So, there is no bar for students aged below 12 to go to schools.
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https://en.prothomalo.com/youth/education/primary-schools-to-reopen-on-wednesday-class-everyday
| 2022-03-01T12:49:56
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en
| 0.974176
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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shelling has pounded the main central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and other civilian targets.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, a convoy 65 kilometers (40 miles) long of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital, Kyiv, on the sixth day of the Russia invasion of its neighbor.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of resorting to terror tactics to press Europe’s largest ground war in generations.
In strategic Kharkiv, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region’s Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas. A maternity ward moved to a shelter amid shelling.
Zelenskyy called the attack on Kharkiv’s main square “frank, undisguised terror,” blaming a Russian missile and calling it a war crime.
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MOSCOW — A senior Russian official has launched a new stark warning over its sanctions against his country for its war in Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, a deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, was retorting to a comment by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday that the European Union was going to unleash an all-out economic and financial war against Russia.
“Today, some French minister has said that they declared an economic war on Russia,” said Medvedev, who served as placeholder president in 2008-2012 when Vladimir Putin had to shift into the prime minister’s post because of term limits. “Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don’t forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.”Medvedev said on Twitter.
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WARSAW — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Russian President Vladimir Putin is using “barbaric and indiscriminate tactics against innocent civilians” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking on a visit to Poland, Johnson said Putin was prepared to “bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers.”
Johnson thanked Poland for taking in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the violence. He said the U.K. would send more humanitarian aid and would take in refugees “in considerable numbers.”
The British government has been criticized for not matching the European Union, which says it will let Ukrainians stay for up to three years without applying for asylum. Britain says it will allow Ukrainians in the country to bring their immediate family members to the U.K. That applies to partners and children, but not parents or siblings
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LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- A French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has docked in Cyprus’ main port of Limassol as part of a two-month deployment to the eastern Mediterranean. .
The Charles de Gaulle leads a strike group composed of two destroyers and a frigate tasked with anti-submarine and air defense duties, as well as a supply ship and a nuclear-powered submarine.
The French navy said the carrier’s deployment was intended to project France’s military might in the region and to support the fight against the remnants of the Islamic State group on Iraqi soil that “still constitute a threat.”
The carrier’s 20 Rafale marine fighter aircraft had been set to conduct flights over the Black Sea and hold joint air exercises with the Romanian Air Force. But it was unclear how the ongoing war in Ukraine could alter the strike group’s mission.
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GENEVA -- The U.N. refugee agency says that about 660,000 people have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries since the Russian invasion began.
The number, given on Tuesday, was up from a count of more than 500,000 a day earlier.
Shabia Mantoo, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Geneva that “at this rate, the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.”
She said the agency is urging governments to continue allowing access to all those who are fleeing, including third-country nationals living in Ukraine who are forced to escape the violence. She added: “We stress that there must be no discrimination against any person or group.”
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BERLIN — The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says some of its observers in Ukraine are trapped in Kharkiv and Kherson due to fighting in those cities.
The Vienna-based organization announced Friday it was evacuating members of the monitoring mission from Ukraine.
In its latest report, published late Monday, the OSCE said that “due to ongoing kinetic activity, including continued shelling and reports of fighting, as well as the dynamic movement of front lines, the monitoring teams located in the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson continue to shelter in place.”
“The teams are conducting dynamic security risk assessments to establish a window to allow them to move safely,” it added.
The OSCE said its chief Monitor and senior management would remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process was complete. The mission comprising some 500 observers was tasked with monitoring the line of contact between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
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GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office called Tuesday for the release of all peaceful protesters who were arrested after taking part in Russia in demonstrations protesting the war in Ukraine.
The Geneva-based office said reports suggested about 6,400 people have been arrested in Russia since last week for taking part in peace protests.
“We understand the vast majority are released within hours, many after paying an administrative fine, while some are given prison sentences ranging from seven to 25 days under various laws,” it said. “There are also reports of unnecessary and excessive use of force by police during and after the arrests.”
“Arresting people solely for exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty,” it added. “We call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained and for the authorities to abide by their international obligations to respect and ensure the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.”
Separately, it also urged the release of some 744 people detained in neighboring Belarus, saying some had been arrested for chanting “no war” and expressing support for Ukraine.
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GENEVA — The Red Cross is appealing for 250 million Swiss francs ($272 million) to help people affected by the war in Ukraine.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Cross federation said in a statement Tuesday they fear “millions of people face extreme hardship and suffering without improved access and a rapid increase in humanitarian assistance.”
“Casualty figures keep rising while health facilities struggle to cope,” said the head of the ICRC, Robert Mardini.
“We already see long-term disruptions in regular water and electricity supplies,” he added. “People calling our hotline in Ukraine are desperately in need of food and shelter.”
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ROME — The Italian ambassador to Ukraine has been sheltering 87 Italians, including children and newborns, in his home in Kyiv.
Italian Premier Mario Draghi told Parliament on Tuesday said most of those being sheltered should be leaving today for Lviv, a city in western Ukraine.
Unlike several other Western countries, Italy kept its embassy services functioning in Ukraine's capital in the run-up to the invasion by Russia but moved the embassy to the ambassador's residence.
There are some 2,300 Italians in Ukraine, more than half of them residents of the country.
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MOSCOW — The Kremlin has denied that the Russian military has used cluster munitions in Ukraine and insisted that the Russian forces only have struck military targets.
Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Tuesday that “the Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.” Peskov’s claim contradicts abundant evidence documented by the AP of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine.
Peskov also rejected the accusations that the Russian military has used cluster munitions and devastating vacuum weapons, dismissing them as fabrications.
Speaking in a conference call with reporters, he wouldn’t respond to questions about whether the Kremlin is happy with the pace of the offensive and wouldn’t comment on Russian military casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said for the first time Monday that it has suffered losses but didn’t name any numbers.
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GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office says it has recorded the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children, in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, but warned the toll may be far higher.
The Geneva-based office said Tuesday that it has also recorded 400 civilians injured in the conflict, among them 26 children.
“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and air strikes,” it said. “These are only the casualties we were able to cross-check, and the real toll is likely to be much higher.”
It urged parties to the conflict not to use explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas because of the “very high risks of indiscriminate and disproportionate impact on civilians.”
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MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says that the military will keep pressing its offensive in Ukraine “until it achieves its stated goals,” charging that the attack is intended to “protect" his country from a military threat from Western countries, "which are trying to use the Ukrainian people in the fight against our country.”
Shoigu reaffirmed on Tuesday that the Russian military “strikes only military facilities and uses exclusively precision weapons” despite abundant evidence documented by the AP of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools and hospitals across Ukraine.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Separatist forces in Donetsk say they have established two corridors for the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, an indication that a large attack on the key Azov Sea port could be imminent.
Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the separatists ’military, said on Tuesday that civilian safety of movement is guaranteed until Wednesday in the corridors.
Mariupol, an industrial center, is seen as a key target for Russian forces for its economic value and its location, which would help Russia establish a land corridor between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
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PARIS — French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday on France Info radio that Western sanctions are “going to cause the Russian economy to collapse.”
“Russia’s foreign exchange reserves are disappearing into thin air and Vladimir Putin’s notorious war chest is all but empty,” Le Maire said Tuesday on France Info radio. “The market is collapsing. Inflation is rising. We’re going to see lines of Russian people trying to withdraw cash from their banks.”
Le Maire also said that the Russian Central Bank having to raise interest rates “means that companies won’t have access to loans, or at very high rates” and therefore won’t be able to invest and develop the Russian economy.
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BERLIN — Google is blocking the YouTube channels of Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik in Europe due to the war in Ukraine.
Google said in a statement Tuesday on Twitter that the decision will be “effective immediately.” But the company added that “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”
“Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” Google said.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The world’s biggest shipping company A.P. Moller - Maersk says that all new bookings to and from Russia “will be temporarily suspended, with exception of foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.”
The move came because “the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions,” the Copenhagen-based group said in a statement Tuesday adding the suspension applies to “all Russian gateway ports.”
The group said it is "deeply concerned by how the crisis keeps escalating in Ukraine.”
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BERLIN — The city of Munich said Tuesday it has fired Valery Gergiev as the chief conductor of the city’s philharmonic orchestra because of his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a statement that Gergiev had failed to respond to a Monday deadline to distance himself from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I had expected him to rethink and revise his very positive assessment of the Russian leader,” said Reiter.
“After this didn’t occur the only option is the immediate severance of ties,” he added.
Gergiev has already been dropped as conductor of the Verbier Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic’s five-concert U.S. tour and other engagements in recent days.
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BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says unity “has become a question of survival for Europe” in light of Russia’s decision to ignore international rules with its attack on Ukraine.
Speaking Tuesday ahead of a meeting with her Polish and French counterparts in Lodz, Poland, Baerbock said it was important that the three countries bring their own — often quite different — perspectives to the issue and thereby ensure Europe remains united.
“If our three countries can act as one, as we are now in our support for Ukraine, then Europe acts as one,” she said in a statement.
Baerbock said Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine could also be seen in the peace protests that have taken place in recent days “where hundreds of thousands of participants expressed their sorrow and also their anger” over the war.
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ROME — Italian Premier Mario Draghi is asking the country's Parliament to step up military aid to Ukraine, a day after his Cabinet approved supplying arms like anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Draghi told lawmakers on Tuesday that Russia's attack on Ukraine “obligates us to make choices that were unthinkable” until recently. Some lawmakers in parties in his wide-ranging pandemic unity government have voiced opposition to sending lethal military aid. But both chambers of Parliament are expected to approve the aid in votes this week.
Just last week, the government said it would be sending only “non-lethal” aid to Italy's military forces, such as equipment to disable land mines. But "it's necessary that a democratically elected government is able to resist invasion and defend the independence of the nation,'' Draghi said, arguing for supplying lethal weaponry.
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BEIJING — China is urging restraint from “all parties” in Russia’s war on Ukraine, continuing its efforts to express support for its northern ally without outright endorsing the invasion.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday reiterated China’s call for the “reasonable security concerns” of all countries to be respected, and assertion that the Ukraine issue has “a complex reality.”
Russia’s “legitimate security demands should be taken seriously and properly addressed” in the face of NATO’s expansion eastward, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
“We express regret over the casualties. The current situation is not something we want to see,” Wang said.
“It is imperative that all parties maintain the necessary restraint to prevent the situation on the ground from further deteriorating or even going out of control, and make efforts to effectively safeguard civilians’ lives and property, especially to prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis.”
China has largely aligned its foreign policy with Russia’s in recent years as part of joint efforts to challenge the U.S.-led liberal international order. During a visit by Putin to Beijing early last month, Beijing endorsed Putin’s objections to further NATO expansion and Russia backed China’s claim to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan.
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LONDON — Britain’s deputy prime minister again rejected calls for NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it would risk widening the war by putting the alliance in direct conflict with Russian forces.
Dominic Raab told Sky News on Tuesday that Britain instead is pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to change course by working with other countries to ratchet up sanctions and investigate war crimes during the conflict.
“We’re not going to (impose a no-fly zone) because it would put us in a position where we would have to enforce it by, in effect, shooting down Russian planes,” Raab said in an interview with Sky.
The comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked NATO to impose a complete no-fly zone for Russian airplanes, helicopters and missiles.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said Russia had failed to gain control of the skies over Ukraine, forcing it to shift to night operations to reduce its losses.
Russian forces have “made little progress” in their advance on the capital, Kyiv, over the past 24 hours probably because of logistical difficulties, the ministry said.
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in which the two discussed talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Belarus-Ukraine border, the Turkish president’s office said Tuesday.
Erdogan told his Belarusian counterpart late Monday that NATO-member Turkey would continue to exert efforts to “end the war and restore peace,” it said in a statement.
Ukrainian and Russian officials met on Monday for talks aimed at ending the Russian military assault on Ukraine. The talks yielded an agreement to keep talking.
Turkey, which is trying to balance its support for Ukraine with its fragile economic ties to Russia, said Monday it is implementing an international convention that allows the country to shut down the straits at the entrance of the Black Sea to warships, to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
Erdogan has said Turkey would “not give up” on its close relations with either Moscow or Kyiv.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities say the center of the country’s second-largest city has been hit by renewed Russian shelling.
Oleh Sinehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said the administration building in the center of Kharkiv came under Russian shelling Tuesday along with residential buildings. Sinehubov didn’t give any specific numbers of casualties from the latest shelling.
Previously, Sinehubov said at least 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded in the shelling in Kharkiv on Monday.
He said Ukrainian troops are fending off Russian attempts to advance on the city of 1.4 million people.
Videos posted on Ukrainian social networks and media showed a massive explosion next to the towering Soviet-era administrative building on Kharkiv’s central square hitting several cars parked in front of it, shattering windows but leaving the building largely intact.
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TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has begun sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid to assist people caught up in the fighting in Ukraine.
An El Al plane was loaded with dozens of cardboard boxes Tuesday at the country’s main international airport. Israel’s Foreign Ministry says it is sending medical equipment and medicine, water purification systems, thousands of tents, blankets, sleeping bags and coats. The planes will land in Poland and the aid will be sent to Ukraine from there.
Israel has repeatedly pledged its support for the people of Ukraine in the war. But it has been cautious in joining the West in condemning Russia.
Israel relies on Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israel over recent years has repeatedly struck weapons caches destined for its enemies and other targets.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan says it sent 27 tons worth of medical supplies to Ukraine via a flight to Germany late Monday.
Foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou told reporters Tuesday that Taiwan was happy to assist as “a responsible member of the international community, and a member of the democratic camp.”
Taiwan has strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and had said it would impose economic sanctions against Russia. It has yet to reveal what those sanctions were, but the island is a dominant manufacturer of semiconductor chips, which are crucial to tech products ranging from smartphones to cars.
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KYIV, Ukraine — More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.
Dmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photographs of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching rubble.
In a later Facebook post, he said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting.
The report could not immediately be confirmed.
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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia will provide Ukraine with $50 million in missiles, ammunition and other military hardware to fight Russian invaders.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison elaborated on his country's plans Tuesday after revealing his government would provide Ukraine with lethal military equipment. Morrison had promised only non-lethal military equipment last week.
“President Zelenskyy said: ‘Don’t give me a ride, give me ammunition,’ and that’s exactly what the Australian government has agreed to do,” Morrison said.
Australia had committed $50 million to provide both lethal and non-lethal defensive support for Ukraine through NATO, he said, adding the overwhelming majority will be “in the lethal category.”
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WASHINGTON — Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. is telling senators her country needs more military weapons as it fights the Russian invasion.
Senators emerged from a Monday evening meeting with Ambassador Oksana Markarova at the Capitol as Congress is preparing supplemental funding to help Ukraine during the crisis. The White House is seeking at least $6.4 billion in military and humanitarian aid.
“They need more arms,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
“It’s David versus Goliath,” said Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. “I think that any human being reading the reports coming out of there realize that this is dire.”
Senators in the U.S. are working to provide ammunition such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.
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Credit: Chiang Ying-ying
Credit: Chiang Ying-ying
Credit: Vadim Ghirda
Credit: Vadim Ghirda
Credit: Jacquelyn Martin
Credit: Jacquelyn Martin
Credit: Efrem Lukatsky
Credit: Efrem Lukatsky
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Credit: Uncredited
Credit: Markus Schreiber
Credit: Markus Schreiber
Credit: Markus Schreiber
Credit: Markus Schreiber
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Credit: Uncredited
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https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/live-updates-un-says-some-660000-fled-ukraine-so-far/POKJK5JKPJAVTHYTIYPPTXWHLE/
| 2022-03-01T12:51:19
|
en
| 0.961734
|
“This figure has been rising exponentially, hour after hour, literally, since Thursday,” agency chief Filippo Grandi told the United Nations Security Council. “I have worked in refugee crises for almost 40 years and I have rarely seen such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people — the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.”
Most go to Poland, a European Union country that is already home to many Ukrainians who came for work in recent years.
UNHCR figures on Monday had 281,000 people arriving in Poland, more than 84,500 in Hungary, about 36,400 in Moldova, over 32,500 in Romania and about 30,000 in Slovakia.
The U.N. believes up to 4 million refugees could leave Ukraine if the war deteriorates further.
Polish U.N. Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski said that people of some 125 nationalities had been admitted from Ukraine on Monday morning alone. Most were of course Ukraine. But other nationalities that made up at least 100 people each were: Uzbek, Nigerian, Indian, Moroccan, Kazakh, Pakistani, Afghan, Polish, Belarussian, Iranian, Turkish, Algerian and Russian.
Some non-Ukrainians have complained that they have waited longer in line than Ukrainians and in some cases felt treated poorly.
Kaneka Agnihotri, an Indian student who has lived six years in Ukraine, walked six hours without food to the Shehyni border crossing. There, she said, Ukrainian guards humiliated her and a group of other Indians, telling them to stand up and sit down over and over again and getting close to them with guards.
She told the AP that her group later moved to a different border crossing where they were treated well. Once in Poland, the Poles did everything to help.
There have been some reports that Africans in particular have been treated badly by Ukrainian guards.
Cihan Yildiray, a 26-year-old from Turkey who has been working in Kyiv, said Ukrainians passed through the border checkpoint more easily. He said he saw Black people and Arabs being beaten by Ukrainian guards.
Caption Krzysztof Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations, during an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. The U.N.'s two major bodies, the 193-nation General Assembly and the more powerful 15-member Security Council, are holding separate meetings Monday on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a reflection of widespread international demands for an immediate cease-fire and escalating concern for the plight of millions of Ukrainians caught up in the war. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Credit: John Minchillo
Caption Krzysztof Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations, during an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. The U.N.'s two major bodies, the 193-nation General Assembly and the more powerful 15-member Security Council, are holding separate meetings Monday on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a reflection of widespread international demands for an immediate cease-fire and escalating concern for the plight of millions of Ukrainians caught up in the war. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Credit: John Minchillo
Credit: John Minchillo
Caption Refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine wait for transport at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The head of the United Nations refugee agency says more than a half a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine wait for transport at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The head of the United Nations refugee agency says more than a half a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine warm up near a fire after arriving at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The head of the United Nations refugee agency says more than a half a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine warm up near a fire after arriving at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The head of the United Nations refugee agency says more than a half a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Indian university students who studied in Ternopil, Ukraine arrive in Beregsurany, northeastern Hungary, near the border with Ukraine, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert following new crippling Western sanctions that forced his Central Bank to sharply raise its key rate Monday to save the ruble from collapse. (AP Photo/Balazs Kaufmann)
Credit: Balazs Kaufmann
Caption Indian university students who studied in Ternopil, Ukraine arrive in Beregsurany, northeastern Hungary, near the border with Ukraine, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert following new crippling Western sanctions that forced his Central Bank to sharply raise its key rate Monday to save the ruble from collapse. (AP Photo/Balazs Kaufmann)
Credit: Balazs Kaufmann
Credit: Balazs Kaufmann
Caption Refugees gather at the boarder after leaving Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees gather at the boarder after leaving Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Caption Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
Credit: Visar Kryeziu
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https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/many-non-ukrainians-flee-ukraine-their-fates-also-uncertain/5PPUDD2WMBGK7DLTVUUMSQNCLA/
| 2022-03-01T12:51:26
|
en
| 0.948808
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LASK AIR BASE, Poland (AP) — NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg is meeting Polish President Andrzej Duda at the Lask Air Base in central Poland for talks on the eastern flank’s security, as Russia wages war on Ukraine, just across Poland’s eastern border.
Stoltenberg and Duda shook hands early Tuesday at the 32rd Tactical Air Base in Lask, where Polish and NATO fighter jets are based, including F-16s.
The United States recently reinforced the eastern flank of NATO's territory with some 5,000 additional troops.
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
Credit: Czarek Sokolowski
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https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/nato-chief-meets-polish-president-amid-ukraine-crisis/XHIGFWSZTVDTNNSOQZGCBDJNGY/
| 2022-03-01T12:51:32
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en
| 0.867093
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NEW YORK (AP) — Target pushed through headwinds — from inflation to congested ports — to deliver solid results for the three-month period that included the crucial holiday shopping season.
Fourth-quarter profit rose nearly 12%, sales increased 9.4% and the Minneapolis retailer on Tuesday released an upbeat revenue outlook for 2022.
Retailers are facing rising costs for everything from labor to shipping as supply chain backups hit companies worldwide. Target, because of its size, was able to charter vessels and fill its shelves ahead of the holiday shipping crunch.
Yet Target was not unscathed and cost pressures from 2021 are carrying over into this year.
Gross margins fell from 26.8% during the fourth quarter of 2020, to 25.7% in the most recent quarter. And Target said Tuesday that margins in the first quarter will be lower last year.
That did not phase investor who drove shares up more than 11% before the opening bell.
Net income for the quarter that ended Jan. 29 reached $1.54 billion, or $3.21 per share. Adjusted earnings per share for the latest quarter was $3.19, easily topping the $2.85 that industry analysts were looking for, according to FactSet. It also topped last year's fourth-quarter profit of $1.38 billion, or $2.73 per share.
Revenue was $31 billion compared with Wall Street projections of $31.32 billion.
The company registered an 8.9% increase in sales at stores opened at least a year, while online sales rose 9.2%. More than 95% of Target's fourth-quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores.
Target expects low- to mid-single digit revenue growth for the current fiscal year.
That comes as the retailer Target aims to recruit and hold on its workers with higher pay. The company announced Monday that it will adopt minimum wages that range from $15 to $24 an hour, with the highest pay going to hires in the most competitive markets. It currently pays a universal starting wage of $15 an hour.
The company is also expanding its partnerships with various brands. Last year, it began rolling out Ulta Beauty shops in its stores as part of a deal with the beauty retailer. It plans to eventually have shops in 800 of its stores.
Target has roughly 1,900 stores and 350,000 employees in the U.S.
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Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio
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https://www.journal-news.com/nation-world/target-navigates-tricky-holiday-season-posts-strong-outlook/IUSE2APSZJGZVCVH5ZCD56237U/
| 2022-03-01T12:51:39
|
en
| 0.971902
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Authorities say a man shot and killed his three daughters, their chaperone and himself during a supervised visit with the girls at a church in Sacramento, California, on Monday evening.
An official says deputies responding to reports of gunfire around 5 p.m. local time found five people dead, including the shooter, at the church in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood.
The victims included three girls, aged 9, 10 and 13.
According to Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, the shooter was estranged from the children's mother, who had a restraining order against the shooter.
Investigators believe the shooting happened during a supervised visit with the children and the fourth victim was their chaperone.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, that the shooter was illegally in possession of the firearm because he had a restraining order against him.
No other people who were in the church at the time of the shooting required medical attention.
California Gov. Gavin Newsome called Monday night's shooting "another senseless act of gun violence in America," adding that "our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their communities."
Another senseless act of gun violence in America - this time in our backyard. In a church with kids inside. Absolutely devastating.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 1, 2022
Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their communities.
We are working closely with local law enforcement.
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https://www.fox13now.com/news/national/california-church-shooting-police-believe-man-killed-3-children-during-a-supervised-visit
| 2022-03-01T12:52:57
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en
| 0.980788
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The Latest: Russia pummels Ukraine's second-largest city, convoy nears Kyiv
Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations.
With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the ruble currency, Russian troops attempted to advance on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region's Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas. A maternity ward relocated to a shelter amid shelling.
Here's the latest on the Ukraine-Russia conflict as of 7:15 a.m. (eastern):
- The U.N. human rights office called Tuesday for the release of all peaceful protesters who were arrested after taking part in anti-war demonstrations in Russia.
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Tuesday that “the Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.” Peskov’s claim contradicts abundant evidence documented by the AP of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine.
- The world’s biggest shipping company, A.P. Moller - Maersk, says that all new bookings to and from Russia “will be temporarily suspended, with exception of foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.”
- A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine's capital Tuesday.
- More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on Kharkiv’s main square “frank, undisguised terror,” blaming a Russian missile and calling it a war crime. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. ... This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation.”
As the fighting reached beyond military targets on Day 6 of a Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order, reports emerged that Moscow has used cluster bombs on three populated areas. If confirmed, that would mean the war has reached a worrying new level.
The Kremlin denied Tuesday that it has used such munitions and insisted again that its forces only have struck military targets — despite evidence documented by AP reporters of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.
Video: Children shelter underground from Russian shells
The Russian defense minister vowed Tuesday to press the offensive until it achieves its goals, after a first round of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting. Both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days.
Throughout the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors. More than a half-million people have fled the country, and the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday that it has recorded the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children. The real toll is likely far higher.
Video: Ukrainians flee war for Romania and Poland
“It is a nightmare, and it seizes you from the inside very strongly. This cannot be explained with words,” said Kharkiv resident Ekaterina Babenko, taking shelter in a basement with neighbors for a fifth straight day. “We have small children, elderly people and frankly speaking it is very frightening.”
A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war Tuesday in the Chernihiv region, without providing details. But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had no plans to join the fight.
With Western powers sending weapons to Ukraine and driving a global squeeze of Russia's economy, President Vladimir Putin's options diminished as he seeks to redraw the global map — and pull Ukraine's Western-leaning democracy back into Moscow's orbit.
“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address, referring to stepped-up shelling. He did not offer details of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian envoys, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.”
As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in the capital, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly 3 million. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometers (17 miles) from the center of the city and stretched about 65 kilometers (40 miles), according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
“They want to break our nationhood, that’s why the capital is constantly under threat,” Zelenskyy said, saying that it was hit by three missile strikes on Monday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.
Kharkiv, near the Russian border, is another key target. One after the other, explosions burst through a residential area of the city in one video verified by AP. In the background, a man pleaded with a woman to leave, and a woman cried.
Determined for life to go on despite the shelling, hospital workers transferred a Kharkiv maternity ward to a bomb shelter. Amid makeshift electrical sockets and mattresses piled up against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space, accompanied by the cries of dozens of newborns.
On the city's main square, the administration headquarters came under Russian shelling, regional administration chief Oleh Sinehubov said. Images posted online showed the building’s facade and interior badly damaged by a powerful explosion that also blew up part of its roof. The state emergencies agency said that attack wounded six people, including a child.
Sinehubov said that at least 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded during Monday’s shelling of the city.
Russia's goals in hitting central Kharkiv were not immediately clear. Western officials speculated that it is trying to pull in Ukrainian forces to defend Kharkiv while a larger Russian force encircles Kyiv. They believe Putin's overall goal is to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install a friendly one.
In a worrying development, Human Rights Watch has said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days. Local residents have also reported the use of the munitions in Kharkiv and the village of Kiyanka near the northern city of Chernihiv, though there was no independent confirmation.
The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor has said he plans to open a Ukraine investigation and is monitoring the conflict.
Video: Anti-war protests continue across Russia
Meanwhile, flames shot up from a military base northeast of Kyiv, in the suburb of Brovary, in footage shot from a car driving past. In another video verified by AP, a passenger pleads with the driver, “Misha, we need to drive quickly as they’ll strike again.”
And Ukrainian authorities released details and photos of an attack Sunday on a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, saying more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed along with some local residents. The attack could not be immediately confirmed.
The Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate Ukraine's airspace.
In the face of that Ukrainian resistance and crippling Western sanctions, Putin has put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert — including intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers — in a stark warning to the West and a signal of his readiness to escalate the tensions to a terrifying new level. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
Video: Pentagon discusses nuclear war threat
Western nations have increased weapons shipments to Ukraine to help its forces defend themselves — but have so far ruled out sending in troops.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.
“Russian soldier — Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.
Fighting raged in other towns and cities. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is “hanging on,” said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.
In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.
“Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,” Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.
"They ate right in the store,” he said. “It looked like they haven’t been fed in recent days.”
As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia’s Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.
But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary Russians.
The economic sanctions, ordered by the U.S. and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia's growing status as a pariah country.
Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. International sports bodies moved to exclude Russian athletes — in the latest blow Tuesday, Russians were barred from international ice skating events.
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https://www.4029tv.com/article/crisis-in-ukraine-march-1-2022/39275117
| 2022-03-01T12:53:13
|
en
| 0.965579
|
Switzerland ditches neutrality to sanction Russia and Putin
Switzerland, a major hub for storing wealth that is popular with Russian oligarchs, is breaking with its tradition of neutrality to sanction Russia.
The Swiss government will adopt EU sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine and immediately freeze any assets belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it said in a statement Monday.
"We are in an extraordinary situation," President Ignazio Cassis told reporters on Monday, according to Reuters.
The country will close its airspace to flights from Russia and impose entry bans against a number of individuals who have a connection to Switzerland and are close to the Russian president, the government said.
"Russia's unprecedented military attack on a sovereign European country was the deciding factor in the Federal Council's decision to change its previous stance on sanctions," it added.
In a retaliatory move, Russia's air transport agency announced Tuesday that it had closed its airspace to Switzerland.
Switzerland had faced growing pressure to join other Western powers and impose sanctions on Russia.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said last week that the bloc expected Switzerland to "follow suit in standing up for defending the principles on which our communities and countries are based."
Switzerland has long sought to maintain neutrality, and the alpine country has hosted numerous peace talks and negotiations between geopolitical adversaries. It also has a banking industry that caters to many of the world's wealthiest people.
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https://www.4029tv.com/article/switzerland-sanction-russia-putin/39275073
| 2022-03-01T12:53:23
|
en
| 0.971742
|
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Planned construction at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which would close between five and 10 lanes on the busy international crossing, was abruptly postponed on Monday.
The General Services Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection had announced plans to begin the construction project this week at the port, and though they have not clearly stated what the project would entail, it is “necessary infrastructure” at the border crossing.
“Construction is necessary to accommodate the replacement of the existing infrastructure on the permanent southbound privately owned vehicle lanes on the roadway to Tijuana at the Port.”
A new date for the beginning of the project has not been made public, although a source told Border Report it should happen in the “foreseeable future.”
“The traveling public should anticipate possible delays, monitor traffic signs, and reduce speeds for construction workers,” said the statement.
When it does happen, the work will take place from 5 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. for up to 10 days not counting weekends. The lane closures, five at a time, will remain in place 24 hours a day. The delays will affect the evening commute when thousands of people drive back into Mexico after a day of work or other responsibilities north of the border.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/expect-delays-border-commuters-brace-for-construction-lane-closures-at-california-port-of-entry/
| 2022-03-01T12:54:56
|
en
| 0.95731
|
MISSION, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a nine-term incumbent, is trying to hold on to his party’s nomination following an FBI raid at his home and offices in January.
He has not been charged with a crime, but his Democratic challenger in Texas’ 28th Congressional District primary election, Jessica Cisneros, has highlighted the raid in TV campaign commercials.
Cisneros, 28, is an immigration lawyer who interned for Cuellar years ago. She says Cuellar has been in Washington, D.C., “too long” and has become part of the establishment. Her campaign stresses “Medicare for all” and she is trending among younger voters, political watchers say.
Cisneros ran against Cuellar in 2020 and is backed by the powerful Justice Democrats pact, which has made this seat a priority to take away from Cuellar.
She is endorsed by Democratic U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for Cisneros earlier this month in San Antonio, which is part of the contested congressional district.
Prior to her Feb. 12 visit, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “This one’s going to be special.”
Cuellar has said he was “fully cooperating with law enforcement” regarding the investigation. However, no details have been released.
Cuellar is one of the most degreed members of Congress, having earned a master’s degree, doctorate and a law degree. And he is vice chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Homeland Security Committee.
But he also is one of the most conservative Democrats, openly opposing abortion and frequently siding with Republicans.
Cisneros came within four percentage points of unseating Cuellar during the last primary election.
“She came pretty close in 2020 to winning the primary against him,” Natasha Altema McNeely, associate professor in the political science department at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley told Border Report on Monday.
“It’s rare (to unseat an incumbent) but the organizations that have been backing Cisneros were backing AOC,” McNeely said.
Cuellar has over the years built a heavy war chest, which Danny Diaz of LUPE Votes, a political arm of La Union del Pueblo Entero, says now Cuellar is being forced to spend in order to save his seat.
“The FBI investigation weakened Henry Cuellar in terms of money,” Diaz told Border Report on Monday. “He started having to spend money from his own war chest which is great for Jessica.”
LUPE Votes has endorsed Cisneros, whom Diaz says most is in line with the Chicano organization’s “We The Pueblo” campaign.
The campaign is “to find a community leader ready to fight for working class South Texans,” according to the organization’s website. Issues that the organization says Cisneros aligns with them include her support of Medicare for all; reducing climate change; increasing wages in South Texas; free public college education’ and a pathway to citizenship for migrants.
In a Feb. 8 tweet, LUPE Votes said Cisneros, as well as Democratic Texas Congressional District 15 nominee Michelle Vallejo, “are changing the way we do politics in South Texas. Let’s make sure we send them to congress, and finally have real representation!”
Cuellar’s campaign says he has received the endorsement of nearly 200 elected officials in South Texas, including 43 in Starr County and 78 in Webb County, where his hometown of Laredo is located. His campaign says that over the years he has helped to procure “hundreds of millions of dollars” for District 28 and this month was named a “Top 25 Policy Influencer” by Opportunity Zone magazine.
The district currently includes a portion of western Hidalgo County, including the town of Mission, however, the Texas Legislature redrew the boundaries during the third and last special session, which was called by Gov. Greg Abbott, and the district no longer includes this area.
Cisneros has raised over $700,000 in 2022 and in a statement, earlier this month said, “our movement is ready to finish what we started two years ago and I am so proud of the momentum we’re building here in South Texas.”
Cuellar tweeted Feb. 14 “the stakes are high in this election … together we will win.”
Both sides declined interview requests with Border Report.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/longtime-south-texas-congressman-tries-to-hold-democratic-seat-against-progressive-challenger/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:02
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| 0.973359
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McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez tells Border Report he hasn’t lost a race yet, and doesn’t plan on starting Tuesday when he’ll seek the Democratic nomination for the open seat for Texas’ 34th Congressional District.
Gonzalez, who currently represents Texas’ 15th Congressional District and is running for his fourth term in Congress, is switching to a neighboring district that has traditionally been held by a lawmaker from the Gulf Coast and Brownsville, even though he lives in McAllen, about 60 miles from the coast.
The other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination on Tuesday include Dr. Laura Cisneros, who has a medical practice in Brownsville; Beatriz Reynoso, a U.S. Air Force veteran who graduated from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Osbert Rodriguez Haro III, who went to school in Guadalajara, Mexico; William Thompson, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps; and Diego Zavala, a high school teacher from Brownsville.
During the 2021 Texas Legislature, redistricting in South Texas carved out an area several blocks wide surrounding Gonzalez’s upscale neighborhood and moved it into Texas’ 34th Congressional District from the 15th District, which he has represented since 2016.
He has the endorsement of current District 34 U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., who is retiring at the end of this term. But there are six others also running for the nomination in this Democratic stronghold.
“Well, I haven’t lost one yet. And we did run a conventional campaign this go around. But, we are asking for everyone’s prayers in this seven-way race,” Gonzalez told Border Report on Tuesday.
Gonzalez serves on the Financial Services Committee and has made it a personal platform to help deported veterans who are sent south of the border but have served the United States.
Danny Diaz, director of LUPE Votes, says Gonzalez “abandoned” District 15 and wanted to switch districts after Republican nominee Monica De La Cruz came within 6,500 votes of beating him in the 2020 general election.
Diaz says under U.S. law, Gonzalez could have run in this district, if he really wanted to.
“He had already defeated Monica De La Cruz last time. He could have stayed and fight and joined with us and other groups that are committed to defending our community from racist politicians,” Diaz said Monday.
LUPE Votes is not endorsing a candidate in the 34th District race, Diaz said, adding that they believe Gonzalez will win the nomination on Tuesday.
“We feel that he’s a heavy favorite in that race,” Diaz said. “At the end of the day, regardless of our comment of his ‘abandoning District 15,’ we do want the congressman to succeed and perform well when he goes back to Congress and work with us on Medicare for all and other issues affecting South Texans.”
The Republicans seeking this party’s nomination to run for District 34 are Juana Cantu-Cabrera, Mayra Flores, Gregory Kunkle Jr., and Frank McCaffrey.
If no candidate receives a majority, or at least 50% + 1 of the votes, then there will be a runoff election.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/south-texas-congressman-trying-to-stay-in-office-after-switching-border-districts/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:08
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| 0.966035
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McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Several Democratic and Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nomination for an open congressional seat that was drastically affected by redistricting by the Texas Legislature last year.
Monica De La Cruz is heavily favored in a field of nine Republicans in Tuesday’s primary for Texas’ 15th Congressional District. The Republican candidates include De La Cruz, Jose Aizar Cavazos, Sara Canady, Vangela Churchill, Mauro Garza, Angela Juarez, Ryan Krause, John Lerma, Steve Schmuker Jr.
De La Cruz narrowly lost to Democrat Vicente Gonzalez during the 2020 general election, but he has since decided to run in a neighboring district this election due to redistricting that changed his home’s political boundaries to District 34.
Six Democrats are bidding for the Democratic party nomination in District 15, as well, trying to seize the Democratic seat left open by Gonzalez. They are Eliza Alvarado, Julio Garza, Ruben Ramirez, Vanessa Tijerina, Michelle Vallejo, and John Villarreal Rigney.
Libertarian Ross Lynn Leone is also running.
The redistricting has been called into question by several organizations that claim the newly drawn District 15 adds Republican voters and dilutes the Democratic Party on the South Texas border with Mexico — an area that has long been a Democratic stronghold.
District 15 now encompasses several conservative counties north of Hidalgo, including Jim Wells and Live Oak and Karnes counties, and spans vertically from the Mexico border to northeast of San Antonio.
Natasha Altema McNeely, an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, said the area is seeing an increase in young conservative voters, as well as young progressive voters, and that could drive Tuesday’s primary elections.
“The young people, young millennials if you will, they are very politically active so you do see what appears to be a growing contingent of young progressives here in the Valley. However, there also tends to be a growing contingent of growing conservatives,” McNeely said. “The young people here in the Valley appear to be more politically driven and could be the deciding factor for politics here.”
The Republican National Committee and several conservative organizations are backing De La Cruz. This includes former President Donald Trump, and the Tea Party Express, which Monday announced was endorsing the small businesswoman from Edinburg. De La Cruz also has the endorsements of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy; the Republican National Hispanic Assembly; Texas Right to Life; and the National Border Patrol Council, according to her campaign website.
The Texas Tribune reports that District 15 “could be the state’s only competitive congressional seat in November thanks to redistricting.”
De La Cruz believes migrants should “legally immigrate” like her grandmother did, according to a TV campaign ad. She’s also tough on border security and believes in the “Remain in Mexico” policy, finishing the border wall and ending humanitarian parole of migrants who are allowed to wait in the United States during their asylum proceedings.
However, Garza, who owns a nightclub in San Antonio, has been running ads that say De La Cruz is not conservative enough and he is airing an ad that repeated a false conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to PolitiFact.
“They call it an insurrection. But what really happened January 6th? Were FBI agents used as political agitators?” according to the TV ad the Garza campaign is running.
De La Cruz told Border Report in October that she believes the new district boundaries more accurately reflect growing conservativism in South Texas.
“I am excited about the 2022 election. We ran a great race in 2020 and we’re running a great race now and the redistricting is exciting for us in Texas 15,” she said. “We are running a great race and we’re going to win in 2022.”
“District 15 has conservative values and my campaign is running a conservative campaign and I think that’s why we resonated in 2020 and we saw the district swing 18% and close the gap to just 2.8% and really essentially scared the incumbent into District 34 because he knows that we have the right message for our district and are truly reflecting what their values are.”
De La Cruz lost to Gonzalez in 2020 by just 6,500 votes.
“She’s drawn the attention and the endorsements of very high-ranking Republicans because she came pretty close to beating Rep. Gonzalez a few years ago and around that time and since then the Republican National Committee had made it clear that they were going to be focusing on these races here in South Texas,” McNeely said.
Danny Diaz, director of LUPE Votes, told Border Report on Monday that Vallejo most aligns with the values and needs of low-income workers in South Texas, a platform his organization calls We The Pueblo. And he said his organization is working to keep District 15 Democratic in what he calls “a crossroads moment.”
“We saw politicians, especially right-wing were really trying to target South Texas and turn South Texas red,” he said.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/texas-15th-congressional-district-16-candidates-set-eyes-on-open-house-seat-in-south-texas/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:14
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| 0.965062
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Police have identified the suspect in a violent crime spree across Albuquerque last week and he has a long criminal history. Police say 31-year-old Raphael Marquez is the man who went on a violent crime spree last Sunday. But before that, one Albuquerque woman said he burglarized her home the day before New Year’s Eve.
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- City: New APD officer contract gives pay bump, slight accountability changes
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- KRQE En Español: Lunes 28 de Febrero 2022
“As soon as I had read the article about that crime spree that had happened, I had a feeling right away that it was him. It just seemed very characteristic of the things he had been doing,” she said.
According to court documents, Marquez stole and crashed a truck from a business near Elm Street and Iron Ave. Police say he then went on to steal three more cars, kidnap three women, shoot at people, and break into multiple homes during that crime spree.
According to court documents, Marquez broke into the woman’s home and another house a couple of months before the crime spree. The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, says she was the one who did a lot of the detective work in her case, charges were filed against Marquez three weeks after the crime. Pontes feels more should’ve been done to find Marquez before the crime spree.
“Had they pursued him none of that would’ve happened. there’s been so much pain and anguish since my break-in, that was preventable,” she said.
But in an email, APD said that officers would arrest a suspect if they came across him and see he has a warrant but that they do not typically go searching for people with warrants unless it’s a violent crime or homicide. Police said the final car stolen in the crime spree was found abandoned at the city’s Pino Yards the next day but no suspect was to be found.
KRQE was told Marquez may have been involved in an officer-involved shooting in Belen but authorities will not confirm that. Before the crime spree, Marquez has faced felony charges for burglary and evading police.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/suspect-identified-in-albuquerque-crime-spree/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:21
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| 0.982962
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The Latest: Russia pummels Ukraine's second-largest city, convoy nears Kyiv
Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations.
With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the ruble currency, Russian troops attempted to advance on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region's Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas. A maternity ward relocated to a shelter amid shelling.
Here's the latest on the Ukraine-Russia conflict as of 7:15 a.m. (eastern):
- The U.N. human rights office called Tuesday for the release of all peaceful protesters who were arrested after taking part in anti-war demonstrations in Russia.
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Tuesday that “the Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.” Peskov’s claim contradicts abundant evidence documented by the AP of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine.
- The world’s biggest shipping company, A.P. Moller - Maersk, says that all new bookings to and from Russia “will be temporarily suspended, with exception of foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.”
- A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine's capital Tuesday.
- More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on Kharkiv’s main square “frank, undisguised terror,” blaming a Russian missile and calling it a war crime. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. ... This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation.”
As the fighting reached beyond military targets on Day 6 of a Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order, reports emerged that Moscow has used cluster bombs on three populated areas. If confirmed, that would mean the war has reached a worrying new level.
The Kremlin denied Tuesday that it has used such munitions and insisted again that its forces only have struck military targets — despite evidence documented by AP reporters of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.
Video: Children shelter underground from Russian shells
The Russian defense minister vowed Tuesday to press the offensive until it achieves its goals, after a first round of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting. Both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days.
Throughout the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors. More than a half-million people have fled the country, and the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday that it has recorded the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children. The real toll is likely far higher.
Video: Ukrainians flee war for Romania and Poland
“It is a nightmare, and it seizes you from the inside very strongly. This cannot be explained with words,” said Kharkiv resident Ekaterina Babenko, taking shelter in a basement with neighbors for a fifth straight day. “We have small children, elderly people and frankly speaking it is very frightening.”
A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war Tuesday in the Chernihiv region, without providing details. But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had no plans to join the fight.
With Western powers sending weapons to Ukraine and driving a global squeeze of Russia's economy, President Vladimir Putin's options diminished as he seeks to redraw the global map — and pull Ukraine's Western-leaning democracy back into Moscow's orbit.
“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address, referring to stepped-up shelling. He did not offer details of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian envoys, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.”
As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in the capital, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly 3 million. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometers (17 miles) from the center of the city and stretched about 65 kilometers (40 miles), according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
“They want to break our nationhood, that’s why the capital is constantly under threat,” Zelenskyy said, saying that it was hit by three missile strikes on Monday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.
Kharkiv, near the Russian border, is another key target. One after the other, explosions burst through a residential area of the city in one video verified by AP. In the background, a man pleaded with a woman to leave, and a woman cried.
Determined for life to go on despite the shelling, hospital workers transferred a Kharkiv maternity ward to a bomb shelter. Amid makeshift electrical sockets and mattresses piled up against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space, accompanied by the cries of dozens of newborns.
On the city's main square, the administration headquarters came under Russian shelling, regional administration chief Oleh Sinehubov said. Images posted online showed the building’s facade and interior badly damaged by a powerful explosion that also blew up part of its roof. The state emergencies agency said that attack wounded six people, including a child.
Sinehubov said that at least 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded during Monday’s shelling of the city.
Russia's goals in hitting central Kharkiv were not immediately clear. Western officials speculated that it is trying to pull in Ukrainian forces to defend Kharkiv while a larger Russian force encircles Kyiv. They believe Putin's overall goal is to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install a friendly one.
In a worrying development, Human Rights Watch has said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days. Local residents have also reported the use of the munitions in Kharkiv and the village of Kiyanka near the northern city of Chernihiv, though there was no independent confirmation.
The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor has said he plans to open a Ukraine investigation and is monitoring the conflict.
Video: Anti-war protests continue across Russia
Meanwhile, flames shot up from a military base northeast of Kyiv, in the suburb of Brovary, in footage shot from a car driving past. In another video verified by AP, a passenger pleads with the driver, “Misha, we need to drive quickly as they’ll strike again.”
And Ukrainian authorities released details and photos of an attack Sunday on a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, saying more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed along with some local residents. The attack could not be immediately confirmed.
The Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate Ukraine's airspace.
In the face of that Ukrainian resistance and crippling Western sanctions, Putin has put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert — including intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers — in a stark warning to the West and a signal of his readiness to escalate the tensions to a terrifying new level. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
Video: Pentagon discusses nuclear war threat
Western nations have increased weapons shipments to Ukraine to help its forces defend themselves — but have so far ruled out sending in troops.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.
“Russian soldier — Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.
Fighting raged in other towns and cities. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is “hanging on,” said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.
In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.
“Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,” Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.
"They ate right in the store,” he said. “It looked like they haven’t been fed in recent days.”
As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia’s Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.
But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary Russians.
The economic sanctions, ordered by the U.S. and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia's growing status as a pariah country.
Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. International sports bodies moved to exclude Russian athletes — in the latest blow Tuesday, Russians were barred from international ice skating events.
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https://www.wbaltv.com/article/crisis-in-ukraine-march-1-2022/39275117
| 2022-03-01T12:55:25
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| 0.965579
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The suspect in the deadly shooting outside of West Mesa High School on Friday, Feb. 25, could be sentenced as an adult if charged and convicted. On Friday, a shooting broke out on 64th St. and Fortuna Rd. just outside West Mesa High School. Marcos Trejo was approached by 16-year-old Andrew Burson, who accused Trejo of stealing his gun according to the criminal complaint.
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- City: New APD officer contract gives pay bump, slight accountability changes
- Crime: State seeks order of protection in Sergio Almanza case
- World: Aside from vodka, what does the US import from Russia?
- KRQE En Español: Lunes 28 de Febrero 2022
Due to a statute (as shown below), the suspect Trejo, 14, could be charged as a youthful offender. Youth offenders fall under a very specific category where the suspect in question is 14-years-old.
“What that means is that if somebody commits a number of enumerated crimes including first-degree murder and they are 14-years-old that there’s a possibility of getting an adult sentence,” said the district attorney’s office.
Bernalillo County Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia said, “If a child is treated as a youthful offender and are found to have committed the act they are charged with the next step is an amenability hearing and at the amenability hearing it is up to the judges discretion to charge them as an adult.”
A number of factors can lead a judge to pursue this route. First, the child has to have been tried and convicted in children’s court. Once that leg has passed and the amenability hearing is held and determined that the child cannot be rehabilitated, the case can make its way to the district court. For more information on the statute, it can be viewed online.
One other time that the state considered using the youthful offender argument was back in 2019, who was convicted of murdering his parents and his three younger siblings.
The charges have not been formally filed at this time against Trejo. The D.A.’s office said he is being held on an open count of murder. That could change in the near future.
Trejo will have a pretrial detention hearing on March 2.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/suspect-in-west-mesa-shooting-could-be-sentenced-as-an-adult/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:27
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| 0.972538
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RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (KVEO) – A release from Pentagon officials states that Gen Z’s “sedentary lifestyle” is leaving them more prone to injuries in military boot camp.
The release was posted on Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, a website that publishes photos, videos, press releases, and news stories from the Pentagon.
In the article, Army Major Jon-Marc Thibodeau, a clinical coordinator and medical readiness chief in Missouri, states that new recruits to the Army are at higher risk of injuries due to a lack of activity prior to arrival. In particular, the release takes aim at Army recruits aged 18 to 25.
Story continues below
- City: New APD officer contract gives pay bump, slight accountability changes
- Crime: State seeks order of protection in Sergio Almanza case
- World: Aside from vodka, what does the US import from Russia?
- KRQE En Español: Lunes 28 de Febrero 2022
“The ‘Nintendo Generation’ soldier skeleton is not toughened by activity prior to arrival, so some of them break more easily,” said Thibodeau.
Army Capt. Lydia Blondin, assistant chief of physical therapy in Missouri, added that a majority of the injuries they see are due to overuse.
“We see injuries ranging from acute fractures and falls, to tears in the ACL, to muscle strains and stress fractures,” said Blondin.
Thibodeau added that he recommends recruits “get off the couch” prior to basic training. Some of the recommended ways to do this include starting an exercise program that gradually increases to performing activities done in basic training, drinking milk and absorbing sunshine, and watching your diet.
Some gaming websites, such as Nintento Life and Kotaku, laughingly and negatively reacted to the announcement, particularly the part labeling Gen Z as the “Nintendo Generation.” Many pointed out that such a label ignores the fact that Nintendo has been releasing gaming consoles since the 1980s, before Gen Z existed.
Ironically, the U.S. Army and Navy use military funding to recruit members of Gen Z to become Twitch streamers and play on their official esports teams. The U.S. Army’s official Twitch stream can be found here. The U.S. Navy’s official Twitch stream can be found here.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/national/army-major-says-nintendo-generation-has-higher-risk-of-injuries-in-military-2/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:33
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| 0.93378
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Baltimore County police searching for missing woman from Parkton area
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Baltimore County police searching for missing woman from Parkton area
Please help Baltimore County police locate a missing woman from the Parkton area.She is 35-year-old Gi Lee who is 5 feet 4 inches and around 140 pounds. Lee is missing from the 19000 block of Shandall Court. She was last seen Feb. 27 around 10 p.m. wearing a black jacket and black pants.Anyone with information is requested to call 911 or 410-307-2020.
PARKTON, Md. —
Please help Baltimore County police locate a missing woman from the Parkton area.
She is 35-year-old Gi Lee who is 5 feet 4 inches and around 140 pounds. Lee is missing from the 19000 block of Shandall Court. She was last seen Feb. 27 around 10 p.m. wearing a black jacket and black pants.
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Anyone with information is requested to call 911 or 410-307-2020.
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https://www.wbaltv.com/article/police-searching-missing-woman-from-parkton-area/39276812
| 2022-03-01T12:55:35
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| 0.932014
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Caramel opens with a shot of a flowing river of the syrupy liquid, but don't be fooled. In Beirut, caramel signifies more than sweetness; it's used as a depilatory in beauty salons, inflicting pain rather than causing pleasure.
Caramel, co-written and directed by its star, Nadine Labaki, likewise cuts both ways. It is sweet but not saccharine, an intimate film that doesn't stint on the desperation and anxiety that go along with the search for love.
Caramel investigates the complications and contradictions of the romantic lives of five women who either work or hang out at a neighborhood beauty salon. First among equals is the salon owner (played by Labaki), whose passionate affair with a married man starts to seem less and less glamorous.
Using largely nonprofessional actors, Caramel casually submerges us in a world like our own, yet removed from it. The language may be different, but the joy these women feel when one of their own gets married is universal.
The salon has seen spiffier days. But for the women it serves, it creates a community that sustains them when all else fails. It's a family that gives them strength in situations where confiding in their real family would be out of the question.
Labaki has dedicated this film "to my Beirut," and she is clearly enamored of her very complicated city. It's divided not only between Christian and Muslim neighborhoods but also between the forces of tradition and modernity, between a desire to do as you please and a fear of going too far and offending unbending norms.
Caramel has the tact and sophistication not to tie things up too tidily for any of its women. Possibilities appear for some but not all of them — and it is not at all a sure thing that any of those possibilities will pan out. All these characters can count on, finally, is that they will be there for each other. The bonds between women, Caramel says, are the ones that last.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-01-31/in-beirut-a-beauty-salon-that-feels-like-home
| 2022-03-01T12:55:36
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| 0.974811
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing disquiet at home and danger abroad, President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address at a precipitous moment for the nation, aiming to navigate the country out a pandemic, reboot his stalled domestic agenda and confront Russia’s aggression.
The speech Tuesday night had initially been conceived by the White House as an opportunity to highlight the improving coronavirus outlook and rebrand Biden’s domestic policy priorities as a way to lower costs for families grappling with soaring inflation. But it has taken on new significance with last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling by Vladimir Putin.
Biden, in his remarks, planned to highlight the bravery of Ukrainian defenders and the resolve of a newly reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and impose sanctions on Russia to cripple its economy.
Biden would speak to “the importance of the United States as a leader in the world, standing up for values, standing up for global norms, but also the efforts that he has undertaken to mitigate how it will impact people here,” press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Biden will address a mostly full and mask-optional crowd in the House chamber, one sign of the easing coronavirus threat. But he’ll also speak from within a newly fenced Capitol due to renewed security concerns after last year’s insurrection.
Rising energy prices as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine risk exacerbating inflation in the U.S., which is already at the highest level in 40 years, eating into the earnings of Americans and threatening the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic. And while the geopolitical crisis in Eastern Europe may have helped to cool partisan tensions in Washington, it can’t erase the political and cultural discord that is casting doubt on Biden’s ability to deliver on his pledge to promote national unity.
Biden will take the speaker’s rostrum as Americans are frustrated with his performance as president. A February AP-NORC poll found that more people disapproved than approved of how Biden is handling his job as president, 55% to 44%. That’s down from a 60% favorable rating last July.
White House officials acknowledge that the mood of the country is “sour,” citing the lingering pandemic and inflation as sources of blame. Biden, in his speech, will highlight the progress from a year ago — with the majority of the country now vaccinated and millions more people at work — but also acknowledge that the job is not yet done, a recognition of American discontent.
Biden aides say they believe the national psyche is a “trailing indicator” and will improve with time. But time is running short for the president, who needs to salvage his first-term agenda to revive the political fortunes of his party ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The president was set to highlight investments in everything from broadband access to bridge construction from November’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, holding it up as an example of government reaching consensus and delivering change for the American people.
He also planned to appeal to lawmakers to reach a compromise on rival competitiveness bills that have passed the House and Senate, both meant to revitalize high-tech American manufacturing and supply chains in the face of growing geopolitical threats from China.
The speech comes as progress on many of Biden’s other legislative priorities remains stalled on Capitol Hill, after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin scuttled the sweeping “Build Back Better” spending bill that Biden championed last fall.
As part of his pitch to voters, Biden will aim to resurrect components of the legislation, but with a new emphasis on how proposals like extending the child tax credit and bringing down child care costs could bring relief to families as prices rise. He was also set to lay out how his climate change proposals would cut costs for lower- and middle-income families and create new jobs.
“The president will absolutely use the word inflation tomorrow and he will talk about inflation in his speech,” said Psaki. But she emphasized that Biden was focused on “how people experience it” rather than looking at it as a statistic.
As part of that push, Biden is expected to call for lowering Americans’ health care costs, pitching his plan to authorize Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, as well as an extension of more generous health insurance subsidies now temporarily available through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces where 14.5 million get coverage.
While prospects for congressional passage were slim, Biden also was set to appeal for actions around voting rights, gun control and police reform, which have been hamstrung despite his Democratic majority.
Biden was expected to showcase what he’s done so far — for example, acting to crack down on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check.
On voting rights, legislation stalled after Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema denied Senate Democrats the chance to use a workaround that would allow them to pass the bills with their thin 50-50 majority instead of the 60 votes normally required.
The voting legislation written by congressional Democrats would bring in the biggest overhaul of the U.S. elections in a generation by striking down hurdles to voting enacted in the name of election security. Republicans say the changes are not aimed at fairness but at giving Democrats an advantage in elections.
Biden will also push the Senate to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. He nominated her last week.
Ahead of the speech, the physician’s office for Congress announced that it was lifting the House’s face-covering requirement after the federal government eased its guidelines for mask wearing. Now, mask wearing will be a personal choice in the House chamber, which will be open to all members of Congress, but still no guests.
All those who attend will be required to take a COVID-19 test before Biden’s address.
Biden aims to use his remarks to highlight progress made against COVID-19 over the last year and to guide the country into a “new phase” of the virus response that looks more like pre-pandemic life.
Seating for Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, last April, was capped at about 200 people — about 20% of usual capacity for a presidential presentation. White House aides fretted that a repeat this year would have been a dissonant image from the message the president aims to deliver to the American people.
“I think you’re going to see it look much more like a normal State of the Union, ” said White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “It’s going to look like the most normal thing people have seen in Washington in a long time.”
While masks are coming off, law enforcement officials reinstalled a fence around the Capitol building. There were no specific or credible threats ahead of Biden’s speech, but there had been concerns about trucker convoys heading to Washington to protest pandemic restrictions.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/national/bidens-state-of-the-union-address-comes-at-fraught-moment/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:39
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| 0.968208
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Some books make excellent films and some books don't. The difference, says producer Scott Rudin, often lies in who you get to make the films.
Rudin knows a thing or two about making great films: He is the executive producer of There Will Be Blood and the producer of No Country for Old Men, two of the five movies competing for this year's Best Picture Oscar.
"The best adaptations are the ones that really excavate the material," Rudin tells Robert Siegel. "The movies that work are the ones in which somebody very smart figured out how to take all the thematic material, all the character material, all the filigree, all the beautiful writing and put it into a story. If you don't put it into a story, you end up with something that feels like a hybrid, and those, basically, don't work."
At age 49, Rudin's ability to get movies made is hardly in doubt. He has produced or executive produced a wide range of films, including The Queen, The Truman Show, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Sister Act and The Firm, and he is known in Hollywood as one of the best readers of scripts, a brilliant dealmaker and an obsessive workaholic.
"There's an enormous pleasure to be had in the sponsorship of this kind of film-making," Rudin says. "They're spiky, bold movies... No Country deals with enormous issues about how we live right now. If you have the ability and the wherewithal to create work that's basically in a discussion with the culture we're in, how could you not want to do that?"
In this interview, Robert Seigel also talks with Rudin about his legendary temper — "Everybody grows up," Rudin says — about his decision to skip college, and about his early start working with legendary Broadway producer Robert Whitehead.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-07/on-screen-and-off-producer-scott-rudin-adapts
| 2022-03-01T12:55:42
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| 0.975108
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Switzerland ditches neutrality to sanction Russia and Putin
Switzerland, a major hub for storing wealth that is popular with Russian oligarchs, is breaking with its tradition of neutrality to sanction Russia.
The Swiss government will adopt EU sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine and immediately freeze any assets belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it said in a statement Monday.
"We are in an extraordinary situation," President Ignazio Cassis told reporters on Monday, according to Reuters.
The country will close its airspace to flights from Russia and impose entry bans against a number of individuals who have a connection to Switzerland and are close to the Russian president, the government said.
"Russia's unprecedented military attack on a sovereign European country was the deciding factor in the Federal Council's decision to change its previous stance on sanctions," it added.
In a retaliatory move, Russia's air transport agency announced Tuesday that it had closed its airspace to Switzerland.
Switzerland had faced growing pressure to join other Western powers and impose sanctions on Russia.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said last week that the bloc expected Switzerland to "follow suit in standing up for defending the principles on which our communities and countries are based."
Switzerland has long sought to maintain neutrality, and the alpine country has hosted numerous peace talks and negotiations between geopolitical adversaries. It also has a banking industry that caters to many of the world's wealthiest people.
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https://www.wbaltv.com/article/switzerland-sanction-russia-putin/39275073
| 2022-03-01T12:55:45
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| 0.971742
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The Brian Laundrie autopsy included several answers about the final moments of his life, but the report prompted a big question for one retired FBI agent.
The remains of 23-year-old Laundrie, of North Port, were found in late October in Carlton Reserve about a mile from the environmental park’s entrance in an area that had been about 3 feet underwater during the rainy season, according to investigators.
The FBI said a notebook found near the remains included a confession that Laundrie killed 22-year-old Gabby Petito, whose body had been found in Wyoming in late September. She had been strangled, the coroner in that state said.
The young couple had set out on a journey through the middle of the country in late July, chronicling their trip with joyful pictures, videos and blog posts.
The autopsy revealed Laundrie died by suicide and used a .38 caliber revolver, with the deadly projectile found buried in about 6 inches of soil 50 to 60 feet from his remains. The gun had two rounds left in the chamber.
The skeleton was “near complete,” the report stated, but had been scattered a bit by “carnivore activity.” A toxicology report completed this month stated Laundrie had no drugs in his system.
In addition to Laundrie’s much talked about journal, a wooden box that held pictures and a small notebook was also found at the scene, as well as a “handwritten, half note.” A white metal ring was recovered there too.
Jennifer Coffindaffer, who served 25 years in the FBI, was brief when asked if she had ever seen a case like the Laundrie-Petito saga.
“No,” she said.
Most startling to Coffindaffer was the determination that Laundrie shot himself in the left side of his head, despite indications in the autopsy he “was right hand dominant.”
“That was bothersome,” she said. “Because it does not fit with a right-handed person committing suicide with their off-hand.”
In her opinion, that fact suggests three possibilities. The first is Laundrie could have been ambidextrous.
“Or he used his left hand because he was holding something like a picture in his right hand,” she said.
The third possibility Coffindaffer offered could no doubt stir up the social media sleuths. She said it could also mean Laundrie was assisted in the suicide.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist at all but I cannot ignore facts, nor can I ignore statistics,” she said. “And statistics would say a predominantly right-handed person does not commit suicide with their left hand.”
That part of this remarkable story that captured the attention of the world has legs, according to Coffindaffer.
“Certainly, for the social media sleuths,” she said. “To me, the case doesn’t end because it ends with a question mark. How or why did he use his non-dominant hand to shoot himself.”
As far as what was in the notebook, journal and even the half note – Coffindaffer said the best chance for the public to see any of that evidence would be in the civil case.
“That evidence belongs to the next of kin,” she said.
A civil trial would make that evidence public if it’s admitted in court.
Nexstar reached out to the FBI Denver office but did not immediately hear back Monday.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/national/ex-fbi-agent-questions-bothersome-detail-in-brian-laundrie-autopsy/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:45
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| 0.987173
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A pair of Irish hit men, looking like a disreputable Laurel and Hardy, have been sent to Belgium to lie low after a job, and await further instructions. Ken, the bigger of the two, wants to sightsee in what his guidebook describes as "the best preserved medieval city in Europe." His buddy Ray sees history as just a lot of "stuff that already happened," and would rather drink in their hotel.
Until, that is, Ray meets a local babe who's working on a film set — at which point he doesn't want to hang around for further instructions. He wants to get out in the city.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh likes contrasts. He's cast the lumbering Brendan Gleeson and the diminutive Colin Farrell as his leads, crammed a storybook locale with lots of thugs and grifters, mixed sly humor with pools of blood, and found room on the sidelines for pregnant hotel owners, coke-snorting dwarves, and a film-within-a-film that lets him make lots of movie jokes. Pretty ambitious for a first feature, but drama critics have been calling him a "stage Tarantino" for a while, so maybe he's been building to this all along.
Certainly he's not shy about tweaking film conventions, or having his characters talk about them — as when, say, that pregnant hotel owner plants herself on a staircase between Ray and his by-this-time very angry boss, who's played by Ralph Fiennes. She suggests they put their guns away and go home. Fiennes looks at her and says, "Don't be stupid. This is the shoot-out."
I should note that In Bruges overdoes it at times, especially in the violent last half-hour, when you realize that a lot of things that had earlier seemed pleasantly offbeat and quirky are now falling so neatly into place that you can practically see the authorial hand guiding them.
Still, when the characters are talking rather than shooting, In Bruges is plenty engaging. And McDonagh's camera work is, too: He makes "the best-preserved medieval city in Europe" look awfully pretty, right up until his gunmen make it look just a little too red.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-08/in-bruges-medieval-charms-plus-small-arms-fire
| 2022-03-01T12:55:48
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| 0.980909
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NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – In it’s sixth day, the war between Russia and Ukraine is not slowing.
The invasion into Ukraine is also going to impact us here at home. Financial experts are warning many to prepare for what it could mean for your wallet.
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- KRQE En Español: Lunes 28 de Febrero 2022
David Hicks an investment advisor with Oakmont Advisory Group says this war between Russia and Ukraine is going to drive prices for goods even higher and cause more issues with some areas in the supply chain.
Russia and Ukraine account for a third of the world’s wheat market so as food suppliers scramble to buy wheat, the cost of bread will likely go up. Especially if this is a long-term conflict.
When we first saw the Russian military attack Ukraine it sent oil prices up over a hundred dollars a barrel, that’s the highest level since 2014.
With better weather and more demand just around the corner, gas prices could continue to climb.
“This is just one more issue after a whole couple years of unfortunate things that we have to deal with,” said Hicks.
Since inflation levels are already high in the U.S, Hicks also says it’s time to take a look at your accounts and savings.
During the pandemic a lot of people were forced to use up their emergency funds. Hicks recommends getting that back into a good place before prices spike.
Experts say in just a few months, New Mexicans could be paying more than four dollars a gallon at the pump.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/russia-invading-ukraine-will-impact-all-of-the-u-s-including-new-mexicans/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:51
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| 0.95938
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ANDREA SEABROOK, host:
Now let's revisit a very different time in Russia from the majesty of the big screen.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: The violins sound faintly as two lone figures, cloaks flying in the wind, are silhouetted against a vast, snowy landscape. Soon two great armies will clash, but for now all is quiet.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: This is the beginning of the climatic battle on the ice from Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film "Alexander Nevsky." The music is by Sergey Prokofiev, and our cultural concierge, Jesse Kornbluth, says it's one of the most exciting experiences you'll ever have in front of a movie screen.
Jesse joins me now from our New York studios. Hi, Jesse.
JESSE KORNBLUTH: Hi, and I think you understate. I think it's the most exciting film music of all.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: The most exciting film music of all, Prokofiev.
KORNBLUTH: Because it's so completely matches sound to image that you'll only have to hear that to know what you're seeing.
SEABROOK: What are you seeing?
KORNBLUTH: Well, what you're seeing is the preparation for battle. What you're seeing is gray and white, a vast expanse of tundra. And then, of course, you see what Eisenstein is great at. You see shots of the different armies. And you get the sense of distance. And you get the sense that the German army is extremely evil, mechanistic, as chilly as Darth Vadar, and you get the sense that these Russians, of course, are heroic beyond all account.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: Jesse, let's make sure people understand. You are the guy that we turn to when we're looking for the books, films, music that we might have overlooked. You've combed the archives of culture. This movie is called "Alexander Nevsky." We're talking about the battle scene in it. What is the movie about?
KORNBLUTH: Well, you know, the movie was made because Eisenstein needed to revive his career. I think what people may not know about - about Russia in the '30s - is when Stalin killed people, he also killed artists - writers, poets. It was very dangerous to have the wrong opinion. He did not kill film directors because they had an international reputation and it would have ruined his propaganda in America.
But Eisenstein was literally making the movie of his life because his career had gone way south and he needed to have a movie that put him in Stalin's good graces. So he decided, at Stalin's suggestion, to make a movie about Alexander Nevsky, who was a Russian who saved the country in 1242 when the Germans foolishly invaded.
And this was going to be a great patriotic propaganda movie. It turned out not to be. Because just as the film was coming out, the Germans and the Russians signed a non-aggression pact, and this film was - you know, suddenly had the wrong view. And it was very quickly shelved until the Germans again made the mistake in 1941 of invading Russia, and then it became the hit it was destined to be.
SEABROOK: He got Sergey Prokofiev to write the soundtrack.
KORNBLUTH: Right. And Prokofiev was hot, because Prokofiev had been very recently in Hollywood and he'd learned a lot from Disney and other filmmakers. And he was primed to write a really great score, and he did. He wrote, in my view, the greatest score in film history.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: War movies these days are so literal. They're bloody, they're loud, they're full of computer graphics; the sound, again, is just so outrageous, it's so loud. How does "Alexander Nevsky" compare to them?
KORNBLUTH: Well, you know, it's absolutely clear to me that Mel Gibson watched this film repeatedly before he made "Braveheart" because it's the same sort of thing. You know, two armies across a vast distance. The difference, of course, is when you see 1,000 soldiers in this movie you're seeing 1,000 people. And then you start seeing them close up and then you see these great shots.
And you get not exactly emotionally involved but roused. I mean, this is a film which doesn't make you want to kill. I mean, that's the function of heavy metal music. This film just makes you want to go out and find a great cause that you can give your all to.
SEABROOK: Jesse Kornbluth, thanks very much.
KORNBLUTH: Thank you.
(Soundbite of music)
SEABROOK: You can find more of Jesse's picks for music, movies and books at his Web site, headbutler.com. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-10/watch-it-for-the-soundtrack-alexander-nevsky
| 2022-03-01T12:55:54
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| 0.979197
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(NewsNation Now) — Little more than a year into President Joe Biden’s term, the commander-in-chief and his party are losing voter support to the GOP during a critical election year, a new NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll reveals.
The results of the poll released Monday indicate a grim situation for Biden, who voters scored poorly as a leader:
- 57 percent disapprove of Biden’s handling of his presidency
- 55 percent say he isn’t a clear communicator
- 54 percent say he is not mentally fit
Biden is set to make his first State of the Union address Tuesday, which comes after a mixed-bag year that included a successful bipartisan deal on the infrastructure plan but also critical reviews of issues such as the pullout of Afghanistan and handling of COVID-19.
“State of the Union addresses are always significant. More so when it’s your first,” said Michael Genovese, president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. “And even more so when you have No. 1 a war in Ukraine, No. 2 an ongoing COVID crisis and No. 3 cratering popularity, which is the problem that President Biden is facing now.”
NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ asked more than 1,000 registered voters about their thoughts about Biden, the biggest concerns facing the country and their worries about the COVID-19 pandemic. Most poll questions had a margin of error of about 3 percent, and the data was compiled on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So recent developments in Ukraine weren’t a factor in this poll.
Discontent with Biden’s performance as president in the NewsNation poll is consistent. An NPR poll released Friday stated 56 percent of respondents felt his first year in office was a “failure.” FiveThirtyEight’s tracker of his job approval rating shows a steady decline since mid-May.
Public concerns about Biden’s mental fitness had dropped below 50 percent late last year. But the poll shows the public’s concerns have resurfaced.
Members of the GOP have seized on the issue. Earlier this month, 38 Republicans sent a letter asking for Biden to take a cognitive test. Former President Donald Trump took a much-maligned cognitive test in his term.
Vice President Kamala Harris was also rated poorly in the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll. Fifty-eight percent of respondents stated they were not confident in her ability to step in for Biden as president if needed.
It’s common for the president’s party to see a decline of support before midterm elections. But Decision Desk HQ adviser Scott Tranter said this swing ahead of the 2022 midterms was particularly high.
Thirty-five percent of voters polled by NewsNation identified as Republicans. But in a “generic ballot” question almost 42 percent of respondents said they would vote for a Republican candidate if the election were held today, while 39 percent would choose a Democrat. A generic ballot refers to a polling question asking respondents which party, rather than candidate, they prefer.
“Generally speaking, when the generic ballot favors one party or another, it’s indicative of how that party is going to fare in the upcoming elections,” Tranter said. “And the last time the Republicans were up this high, it was in 2010 and they swept the House.”
Voters’ concerns have also evolved over the last few months. At this point, their overwhelming concern is about inflation.
Nearly 88 percent of respondents to this NewsNation poll said they were concerned about inflation, with 55 percent saying it is a bigger concern than COVID-19 and unemployment. This is a stark upending of sentiment since January, when respondents of the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic remained top of mind.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS in December found 45 percent of respondents believed Biden’s policies worsened the economy.
Many economic indicators, though, including unemployment, are heading in the right direction.
But Genovese, from Global Policy Institute, said inflation is so high it doesn’t matter.
“Inflation has basically ground out all of the good economic news,” Genovese said. “Almost everything in the economy that you want to go up is going up and almost everything you want to go down is going down, so the story of his economic policy is great success. But inflation is the headline and so that obscures everything else.”
On COVID-19, NewsNation asked respondents which position they would support Biden announcing during his State of the Union address:
- 27 percent favored vaccination requirements for large businesses
- 24 percent want a rollback of all masking and vaccination requirements
- 19 percent want mask requirements removed in all but highly populated areas such as airports and train stations
- Nine percent wanted vaccination requirements only for health care facilities
Meanwhile, casting a glance further out to the 2024 election, current opinions do not bode well for Biden. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they voted for Biden in 2020 while 39 percent said they favored Trump. However, when asked who they would vote for if the next election were held today, Biden’s support dropped to 36 percent and Trump’s increased to nearly 41 percent.
Though Trump was ousted from office by voters in 2020, the former president has been hot on the campaign trail this year, speaking at a rally in Texas, launching a social media platform and, on Sunday, winning the Conservative Political Action Conferences’ straw poll for 2024 presidential candidate. Trump is set to address CPAC in Florida next month — where clues may be revealed about how he would approach campaigning for the 2024 GOP ticket.
However, as Tranter notes, the numbers don’t signify much at present.
“Statistically speaking, Trump and Biden are tied,” Tranter said. “What the numbers are saying is despite the fact that Biden’s approval ratings are right around where Trump’s were at this point in his presidency, the election between these two guys, if it were to happen today, would essentially be where it was in 2020… so after two years, Biden certainly hasn’t picked up any distance between him and Trump.”
How to watch the State of the Union address
Biden will give his State of the Union address Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET followed by the GOP response by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s progressive response on behalf of left-wing group Working Families Party.
NewsNation will air the full State of the Union and responses on-air and online followed by an analysis by NewsNation’s Leland Vittert, Marni Hughes and a host of experts. To learn how you can watch all our coverage, use our channel finder.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/newsnation-poll-where-bidens-approval-stands-ahead-of-state-of-the-union/
| 2022-03-01T12:55:57
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| 0.97205
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
A new film from Israel is called "The Band's Visit." It's making news for not getting an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film. It was disqualified because it had too much English in the dialogue.
L.A. Times and MORNING EDITION film critic Kenneth Turan says the film was so good, it's likely it would've won.
KENNETH TURAN: "The Band's Visit" doesn't do the expected. It's a film from Israel that delivers much of its dialogue in English. It's sweet-natured and sharply pointed. The heroes are a group of Egyptians, the eight members of the Alexandria police ceremonial orchestra. They've been invited to play at an Arab cultural center in Israel. No one, however, has thought to meet them at the airport.
A language mix-up gets the band sent by mistake to a tiny town in the desert. When the Egyptians wander up to a deserted snack bar dressed in their elaborate police uniforms, a slacker local yells inside for the proprietor. Hey, Dina, some general wants to talk to you. It's Dina who tells Tawfiq, the band's reserved leader exactly what's what.
(Soundbite of movie, "The Band's Visit")
Ms. RONIT ELKABETZ (As Dina): There is no (unintelligible) here.
Mr. SASSON GABAI (As Tawfiq): No concert (unintelligible)?
Ms. ELKABETZ: No. No concert, no (unintelligible), no concert at all.
Mr. GABAI: (unintelligible)
TURAN: No buses available to take the Egyptians to the correct town until the next day. So the band is forced to spend the night in this great, wrong place.
English is the only thing the Egyptians and the Israelis have in common, including an unexpected version of a George Gershwin classic.
(Soundbite of movie, "The Band's Visit")
(Soundbite of song, "Summertime")
Unidentified Group: (Singing) Your daddy's rich and your mommy's good looking. So hush little baby, don't you cry.
TURAN: Dina and Tawfiq are the film's odd couple, with a whiskey voice and a been-around stance, Dina is nobody's fool. But she's clearly intrigued by Tawfiq's courtly formality, so different from the loudishness of her surroundings.
Nothing cataclysmic happens during the band's visit to this god-forsaken Israeli hamlet, but by the time the visit is over, people have been genuinely touched by their gently eccentric experiences. And, to our surprise, we have as well.
MONTAGNE: Kenneth Turan reviews movies for MORNING EDITION and The Los Angeles Times. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-11/lost-artfully-in-israel-the-bands-visit
| 2022-03-01T12:56:00
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| 0.958729
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If there is no doctor in the house, Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to summon one. Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health is starting a voice-activated virtual care program that lets customers get medical help without picking up their phones.
Story continues below
- City: New APD officer contract gives pay bump, slight accountability changes
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- KRQE En Español: Lunes 28 de Febrero 2022
The service, for health issues that aren’t emergencies, will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices. Customers can tell the voice assistant Alexa that they want to talk to a doctor, and that will prompt a call back on the device from a Teladoc physician.
The program, announced Monday, marks Amazon’s latest expansion into health care and another push by the retail giant into a form of care that grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Telehealth now is something that patients have gotten used to and may come to expect as an option for their care,” said Lori Uscher-Pines, a senior policy researcher with Rand Corp. “(Before) the pandemic, there might not have been this much awareness that this was a service that was available.”
Amazon already dispenses prescription drugs and is expanding an Amazon Care program it launched in 2019 that offers telemedicine visits with an option to send a care provider to the patient if they need an in-person visit.
The company’s latest health care expansion comes as several competitors including Walmart and the drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens also beef up their medical offerings. They are adding care clinics or virtual programs to make it easier for patients to find regular help in the fragmented U.S. health care system.
Insurers and employers that pay medical bills are pushing for this as a way to improve health and cut down on hospital stays or other big medical expenses.
“Health care is a huge industry of enormous value, and it is ripe for disruption,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “And Amazon views itself as a disruptor.”
Some hospitals already use Alexa as a voice assistant in inpatient rooms. In Great Britain, Alexa works with that country’s National Health Service to help answer medical questions with advice from the country’s official website.
The service announced Monday will be available for customers who create an Alexa voice ID. After telling the voice assistant that they need to talk to a doctor, people will be connected to a Teladoc call center and then get a call back from a physician.
The calls are audio-only for now, but the companies say they expect to add video soon. In some cases, doctors will be able to prescribe medications.
Customers can get a call back the same day, but that may depend on the availability of doctors in the state where the patient is located, Teladoc spokesman Chris Savarese said. He noted that the ongoing pandemic may lead to longer wait times.
The cost for a visit can vary depending on the patient’s coverage. Without insurance, the calls will cost $75.
Savarese said Amazon will not be able to access, record or store the content of the ensuing call.
Amazon is moving deeper into health care as other growth engines slow. In its most recent quarter, the Seattle-based company reported that its online retail business dropped 1%.
Kate McCarthy, senior research director at research firm Gartner, sees room for Amazon to expand beyond simple doctor calls. She noted that the company’s health care segment in its cloud computing division is aimed at coming up with new services and health care products.
McCarthy said she could see Amazon eventually helping to monitor patients that go home after a hospital stay, using Alexa and sensors to check how often they flush the toilet or open the refrigerator.
With its prescription services, Amazon hasn’t bit off meaningful share from its drugstore rivals, but McCarthy noted it could become a legitimate player.
“There isn’t one kind of magic market entrance,” she added “It will be a combination of things.”
Telemedicine in general grew rapidly when the pandemic first hit the United States and patients wanted to hunker down at home instead of visiting the doctor’s office.
Virtual visits have since leveled off a bit as office visits have widely resumed. But Uscher-Pines said research shows that patients remain interested.
Many want telemedicine available when they need its convenience, not as a replacement for in-person care. “Most people don’t want that to cannibalize their in-person care,” she said. “They still want those options.”
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https://www.krqe.com/news/technology/alexa-get-me-a-doctor-amazons-voice-assistant-to-start-seeking-medical-help/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:03
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| 0.954386
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For comedienne Joan Rivers, almost everything is fair game: race, sex, death and, of course, her life.
That's the subject on her latest project, an autobiographical play, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress, which premieres Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
She discusses her new play — which is set in her dressing room before an awards ceremony pre-show — her comedy career, and her life.
"Comedy is such a great way of getting through anything in life. ... The first time I came back on air or in a nightclub after my husband's suicide, I said that it was my fault, because we were making love and I took the bag off my head. Everybody gasped. But that got me through my husband's suicide," Rivers says.
She has always talked openly about her husband Edgar Rosenberg's death in 1987.
"It was a major thing in my life, and I work very hard — we're talking seriously now — for suicide survivors. And I think that I've become, in a way, a very good example of 'Life goes on,' 'You will be happy again,' and mainly, 'It ain't your fault,'" she says.
Known for her self-deprecating, bawdy and — some would say — offensive humor, Rivers says she is "bored" with political correctness.
"If everyone would just relax, we'd all be much happier," she says.
And if anything, growing older has only made her feistier. What does she think of the younger generation of comedians? Bring 'em on.
"I'm truly working the best angle, and that's age. Age has freed me — I don't have to hold back on anything. I've never worked so strongly and so freely in my life. And that's because I have nothing to lose. I've already been fired. I've already been bankrupt. I've already had the suicide. I've already had my daughter not talk to me for a while. I've already had all kinds of things taken from me. So I might as well say what I think," River says.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-13/joan-rivers-outrageous-and-outspoken-as-ever
| 2022-03-01T12:56:06
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en
| 0.990116
|
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden will deliver his first of the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said while domestic economic issues like inflation and the pandemic will remain a top priority in the president’s speech, Biden will also address the crisis in Ukraine.
Jean-Pierre said the president would use his platform to show the U.S. and its allies are united behind Ukraine. The speech will also highlight the president’s efforts to try and isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have to stand for democracy,” said Jean-Pierre. “We are sending a very loud message to President Putin.”
The U.S. and European allies have recently issued increasingly harsh sanctions against Russia’s central banking system and deployed billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, says Biden should showcase his efforts in addressing the Ukraine crisis.
“America is back in terms of our international leadership,” said Warner. “The fact the coalition he has built — not just European nations but countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan — I think he needs to address it.”
Some Republicans in Congress say the Biden administration must go further. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, said sanctions might not be enough to deter Putin and urged the president to increase military spending on the Senate floor.
The White House has not announced plans for additional military spending but is calling on Congress to pass a multi-billion dollar security package for Ukraine.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/washington-dc/biden-to-make-1st-state-of-the-union-address-tuesday/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:09
|
en
| 0.956298
|
You may have forgotten that this is Valentine's Day weekend, but Hollywood hasn't. The new romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe has opened to take advantage of the holiday — but it's a mixed box of chocolates.
This film has a clever premise, about a soon-to-be-divorced father (Ryan Reynolds) telling his young daughter (Abigail Breslin) how her parents first met. For reasons that will become clear, he won't detail his entire romantic history. Instead, he says, he'll tell the story with all the names, and some of the facts, changed — and young Maya's "just gonna have to figure it out for yourself."
"I like it," she responds, pertly. "It's like a love story mystery."
But wait: Why does she want to know? We'll get to that.
Reynolds, one of People magazine's sexiest men, has an appealing romantic-comedy presence; it's easy to see why the trio of women in his life are attracted to his Will Hayes, an ad exec with a past in Clinton-era politics. Wholesome-looking Elizabeth Banks is the Wisconsin college sweetheart who fears his move to Manhattan — where, sure enough, our hero connects with a free spirit played by Isla Fisher and tries to resist Rachel Weisz's aspiring journalist.
With a cast as engaging as this one is, Definitely, Maybe should be home free, but it isn't. The film turns out to be more contrived than it ought to be; its elements, like its women, have trouble staying on the same emotional page. And though it wants to be warm, the script doesn't seem to trust itself. Characters fall back on glib one-liners; writer-director Adam Brooks likes slick situations, but they're not the way to anyone's heart.
One case in point: Maya's curiosity about her parents' past has its genesis in a graphic sex-ed class at her school. Not a great choice, perhaps, for a film bound and determined to do whatever it takes to be your valentine.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-14/definitely-maybe-hardly-the-charmer-it-might-be
| 2022-03-01T12:56:12
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en
| 0.976004
|
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (NewsNation Now) — The director of a Nevada-based group that runs two orphanages in Ukraine says when he arrived in the country, he found the situation was more “bleak” than he’d feared. But he said Ukrainians have shown kindness and understanding for the children even in the midst of war.
With more than 100,000 orphaned children in Ukraine, the situation is dire.
Mark Edward Davis with Abundance International said the orphanages his group works with had barely a week’s worth of food left. But generosity from Ukrainians have helped stabilize their situation — for now.
For more than 15 years, Abundance International has been a lifeline for two Ukrainian orphanages — providing money, medicine, manpower and equipment. The children in these orphanages are no older than 4.
“Right now, on the ground, because everyone is fearing that food supplies will run out, there are lines at the grocery stores that are an hour long to get through,” Davis said. “And God bless the people here. We came in, we told the manager, ‘Look, we got to get the stuff to orphans,’ so he put us at the front of the line and let us get ours first.”
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Davis said the kindness did not stop there. He later found the owner of a gas station who he says opened up his “tiny reserves” for a children’s hospital and for the orphanages. Through a network of orphanage directors, Davis said they are trying to get resources to orphanages in other towns around Ukraine where children younger than 4 are being kept in basements.
“We’re getting calls for help from around the country,” Davis said. “Now we’re trying to find people in these cities who are already there — hopefully Westerners because I can take some of the donation money we’ve received and wire it right to them … So we’re trying to really create a network around the country to help these orphans be cared for.”
On Monday, Russian forces bombarded Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and advanced their reportedly 40-mile long convoy of military equipment closer to its capital as international outrage intensified over the war. More than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded the country last week, according to the United Nations.
While food supplies around Ukraine are running low, Davis says the orphanage he’s working with is also concerned about power outages and their inability to cook or store food for the children in their care.
The doctor running the orphanage “is trying to see if we can get hold of using the donation money we received and go get a very expensive generator so they can keep (the stove and fridge) going in case something happens in the … war,” Davis said.
To donate to Abundance International’s Ukrainian Orphans’ Fund, click here.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/world/amid-war-ukrainians-ensure-orphans-get-food-gas-supplies/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:15
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en
| 0.962442
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Troubled times for the goddess of beauty and love. Venus has been banned from London's subway. Transit authorities deemed the underground ads for an exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts, too, quote, "overtly sexual." The posters feature a 16th century painting of the golden-haired beauty nude except for a sheer veil. But it was the Royal Academy that was shocked. A spokeswoman said, we thought it was quite an innocent painting.
It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-15/venus-painting-deemed-too-risque-for-subway
| 2022-03-01T12:56:18
|
en
| 0.953941
|
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine’s second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations.
With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the ruble currency, Russian troops attempted to advance on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region’s Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas.
Throughout the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.
The casualty toll mounted as Ukraine faced Day 6 of a Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order. Hopes for a negotiated solution to the war dimmed after a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting, though both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days.
With Western powers sending weapons to Ukraine and driving a global squeeze of Russia’s economy, President Vladimir Putin’s options diminished as he seeks to redraw the global map — and pull Ukraine’s western-leaning democracy back into Moscow’s orbit.
“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address, referring to stepped-up shelling. He did not offer details of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian envoys, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.”
As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in the capital, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly 3 million. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometers (17 miles) from the center of the city and stretched about 65 kilometers (40 miles), according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
“They want to break our nationhood, that’s why the capital is constantly under threat,” Zelenskyy said, saying that it was hit by three missile strikes on Monday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.
Kharkiv, near the Russian border, is another key target. One after the other, explosions burst through a residential area of the city in one video verified by AP. In the background, a man pleaded with a woman to leave, and a woman cried.
Determined for life to go on despite the shelling, hospital workers transferred a Kharkiv maternity ward to a bomb shelter. Amid makeshift electrical sockets and mattresses piled up against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space, accompanied by the cries of dozens of newborns.
The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence documented by AP reporters around Ukraine of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.
Regional administration chief Oleh Sinehubov said that the administration headquarters in the city center also came under Russian shelling. Images posted online showed the building’s facade and interior badly damaged by a powerful explosion that also blew up part of its roof. The state emergencies agency said that attack wounded six people, including a child.
Sinehubov said that at least 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded during Monday’s shelling of the city.
Meanwhile, flames shot up from a military base northeast of Kyiv, in the suburb of Brovary, in footage shot from a car driving past. In another video verified by AP, a passenger pleads with the driver, “Misha, we need to drive quickly as they’ll strike again.”
And Ukrainian authorities released details and photos of an attack Sunday on a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, saying more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed along with some local residents. The attack could not be immediately confirmed.
The Russian military’s movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate Ukraine’s airspace.
In the face of that resistance, the Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. Stepping up his rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin denounced the United States and its allies as an “empire of lies.”
Western nations have increased weapons shipments to Ukraine to help its forces defend themselves — but have so far ruled out sending in troops. Still, the embattled country moved to solidify its ties to the West by applying to join the European Union — a largely symbolic move for now, but one that won’t sit well with Putin, who was already infuriated by Ukraine’s desire to join the NATO alliance.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.
“Russian soldier — Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.
Fighting raged in other towns and cities. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is “hanging on,” said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.
In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.
“Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,” Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.
“They ate right in the store,” he said. “It looked like they haven’t been fed in recent days.”
For many, Russia’s announcement of a nuclear high alert stirred fears that the West could be drawn into direct conflict with Russia. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia’s Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.
But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary Russians.
The economic sanctions, ordered by the U.S. and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia’s growing status as a pariah country.
Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. On Monday, international sports bodies moved to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events, including soccer’s World Cup.
The U.N. human rights chief said Monday at least 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded — warning that figure is probably a vast undercount.
More than a half-million people have fled the country since the invasion, another U.N. official said, many of them going to Poland, Romania and Hungary.
Among the refugees in Hungary was Maria Pavlushko, 24, an information technology project manager from a city west of Kyiv. She said her father stayed behind to fight the Russians.
“I am proud about him,” she said, adding that many of her friends were planning to fight, too.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/world/russia-pounds-ukraines-no-2-city-as-40-mile-convoy-threatens-kyiv/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:22
|
en
| 0.969026
|
You may recognize John Munch, a fictional police detective played by actor Richard Belzer, from Law and Order. If not, then perhaps you've encountered him on the Fox series Arrested Development, or maybe The X-Files or The Beat.
Whatever the program, chances are good that you have seen Munch before. That's because all told, Detective Munch, a cynical guy who loves conspiracy theories, has appeared in more than 300 individual episodes of eight different television programs.
The character gained prominence in 1993 as a Baltimore "murder police" in the series Homicide: Life on the Street. But Homicide didn't have great ratings, so the suits at NBC decided to transplant some of the show's characters to the more popular Law and Order series. From there, stints on various Law and Order spin-offs followed.
On Sunday night, Detective Munch appeared on his eighth show, HBO's The Wire. In the episode, Munch is in the same bar as a newspaper editor played by actor Clark Johnson, who, for those of us keeping score, once played a cop who co-owned a bar with Detective John Munch on Homicide.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-18/detective-john-munch-always-on-the-case
| 2022-03-01T12:56:24
|
en
| 0.975602
|
Russia’s war on Ukraine is now in its sixth day, with a mile-long convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles inching closer to the Ukrainian capital and fighting intensifying on the ground.
Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital.
But Ukrainian fighters are putting up fierce resistance and Russia has not been able to dominate the skies. There are increasing fears that as Russia becomes more isolated under an avalanche of Western sanctions, Vladimir Putin could become even more reckless and set off a world-altering war.
Across Ukraine, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict with families and children huddled in underground subway stations, basements and other shelters.
On Monday, a Ukrainian delegation held talks with Russian officials at the border with Belarus, though they ended with no agreements except to keep talking.
Meanwhile, Western sanctions triggered by the invasion sent the Russian ruble plummeting, leading ordinary Russians to line up at banks and ATMs. And Russian teams were suspended from all international soccer matches, including qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, pushing the country toward sports pariah status.
WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FRONT LINES?
Ukrainian authorities say the center of Kharkiv was hit Tuesday by renewed Russian shelling that struck the administration building along with the city’s residential headquarters. There was no word on casualties. Previously, authorities in Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million, said at least 11 people were killed and scores were wounded in shelling there Monday.
The Russian military convoy threatening Kyiv — a city of nearly 3 million people — is far bigger than initially thought, with satellite images showing it occupying much of a 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of road north of the Ukrainian capital. The convoy was no more than 17 miles (25 kilometers) from the city center on Monday, according to satellite imagery from the Maxar company.
Kyiv’s outgunned but determined troops have slowed Russia’s advance and held onto Kyiv and other key cities — at least for the time being. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — who had earlier cut diplomatic ties with Moscow and declared martial law and whose defiance has drawn much admiration from the West — asked NATO to impose a complete no-fly zone over Ukraine for Russian airplanes, helicopters and missiles.
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Britain’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, rejected the call Tuesday, saying it would risk widening the war by putting the alliance in direct conflict with Russian forces.
Over the weekend, Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, where more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, the head of the region wrote on Telegram, posting photographs of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching through the rubble.
Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces have blocked Kherson, a major port on the Black Sea. Russian troops have made significant gains along Ukraine’s coast in an apparent effort to cut it off from both the Black and the Azov seas.
WHAT ARE ORDINARY UKRAINIANS AND CIVILIANS DOING?
For many, it has meant sheltering in basements and subway stations while Russian forces attack cities and street fights rage. Others have scrambled to escape, leaving homes and husbands, fathers and sons to fight, taking trains and buses or walking for miles to a safer country.
Across Ukraine and in refugee shelters across the borders, parents have struggled to comfort their children. Mothers rock them on subway platforms or carry them for miles in the cold. At one border station in Poland, refugees were met by boxes of donated clothes and toys.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought safety at night in Kyiv’s subway system and other makeshift shelters around the country, where parents try to calm their children’s fears.
On Monday, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said her office had confirmed that 102 civilians, including seven children, have been killed in the Russian invasion and 304 others wounded since Thursday, though she cautioned the tally was likely a vast undercount.
WAR SANCTIONS AND WORKAROUNDS
Western officials believe Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a compliant regime, reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. His comments have raised fears that the invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.
The United States and the European Union have levied sanctions on Russia’s biggest banks and its elite, frozen the assets of the country’s Central Bank located outside the country, and excluded its financial institutions from the SWIFT bank messaging system — but have largely allowed its oil and natural gas to continue to flow freely to the rest of the world.
Sanctions experts expect Russia to try to mitigate the impact of the financial penalties by relying on energy sales and leaning on the country’s reserves in gold and Chinese currency. Putin also is expected to move funds through smaller banks and accounts of elite families not covered by the sanctions, deal in cryptocurrency and rely on Russia’s relationship with China.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE UNITED NATIONS?
The U.N.’s two major bodies — the 193-nation General Assembly and the more powerful 15-member Security Council — held separate meetings Monday to discuss Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The council meeting opened with the news that the United States was kicking out 12 Russian U.N. diplomats whom Washington accuses of spying.
The assembly will give all U.N. members an opportunity to speak about the war and more than 110 signed up to do so, with speeches to continue Tuesday. The assembly, which allows no vetoes, is expected to vote later in the week on a resolution coordinated by European Union envoys, working with Ukraine.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, demands that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine and withdraw all troops.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said he plans to open an investigation “as rapidly as possible” into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine — both alleged crimes committed before the Russian invasion, but also any new crimes that either side might have committed since the invasion started.
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE FLED UKRAINE?
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, speaking Monday by video to the U.N. Security Council, said more than 520,000 refugees had fled Ukraine and that the number “has been rising exponentially, hour after hour.”
The U.N. expects the total to reach 4 million in the coming weeks, he said.
Earlier, when the overall count still stood at around half a million, UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said the count included 281,000 in Poland, more than 84,500 in Hungary, about 36,400 in Moldova, over 32,500 in Romania and about 30,000 in Slovakia. The rest were scattered in other countries, she said.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/world/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-what-you-need-to-know/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:28
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en
| 0.958798
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In 1960, a team of documentary filmmakers descended on the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary in order to record the campaigning between John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey. Politically, the results propelled Kennedy to the nomination. Artistically, the documentarians invented a new form.
Using technology that made cameras lighter and sound equipment more portable, the documentarians took a "fly-on-the-wall approach" in a style that would come to be called cinema verite.
We use the occasion of the current Wisconsin primary to talk about D.A. Pennebaker, Albert Maysles and Robert Drew and their 1960 collaboration Primary.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-19/cinema-of-truth-was-born-in-1960s-primary
| 2022-03-01T12:56:31
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en
| 0.930576
|
(The Hill) — The Antonov-225 cargo plane, which was the world’s largest plane, was destroyed by Russian forces at an airfield in Gostomel near Kyiv, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kuleba confirmed the news on his Twitter account on Sunday, and said that “Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!”
The plane, dubbed “Mriya,” or “The Dream,” was destroyed at the Antonov airfield in Gostomel, near Kyiv, where it was under repair, according to Ukrainian state-run news organization Ukroboronprom.
It said it would cost more than $3 billion to restore the plane and that the restoration would take around five years.
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The statement from Ukroboronprom added that “our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine’s aviation and the air cargo sector.”
The Antonov company said in a statement that until the AN-225 has been inspected by experts, it cannot report on the technical condition of the aircraft.
The destruction of the aircraft has not been independently verified. However, CNN reported that satellite images from Maxar Technologies show significant damage to part of the hangar in which the AN-225 is stored.
NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System also detected multiple fires at the airport, including at the hangar where the plane is kept, the news outlet said.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/world/worlds-largest-plane-destroyed-in-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/
| 2022-03-01T12:56:35
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en
| 0.963388
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One of this Sunday's Oscar nominees is a woman who has a long history with the statuette: Julie Christie won an Academy Award more than four decades ago. Now she's nominated for another award — for a film about a four-decade marriage.
Away from Her, in which Christie plays a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, was written and directed by a woman still in her 20s: Sarah Polley, the latest in an an astonishing list of talented filmmakers who've directed Julie Christie.
John Schlesinger's Darling brought her fame, David Lean's Dr. Zhivago superstardom. And then there was Truffaut, Altman, Nicholas Roeg.
And then, when she was still a young star, and a hugely famous one, Christie walked away from Hollywood and settled in a remote part of Wales. She tells NPR's Renee Montagne, who's a friend, that it wasn't hard.
"Oh, God no," she says. "I'm just a hippie at heart, and there I was [in Hollywood], pretending to be something else. And all I wanted to do was get the vegetables going."
'I'm More Focused Now'
Much is often made of how difficult it can be for actresses to find parts in Hollywood once they're past a certain age. But Christie has twice been nominated for Oscars for parts she played after she turned 50. She tells Renee Montagne that age has its benefits.
"I think I'm more focused now," Christie says. "I've not only got a bigger perspective, but I can refine my perspective now, bring it right down and make it laser sharp — I mean, if I'm lucky. ... I was working more in a fog before."
As for the jobs question: "I think it's true of women in every job," Christie says. "It's not just to do with acting." (Though actors, she says, "have the biggest voice, so they shout about it a lot.")
Though they've known each other for years, Julie Christie and Renee Montagne had never previously discussed Christie's career at any length.
"I never talk about my work," Christie laughs. "I think it's so tedious, talking about your own work."
"I like talking, getting information, giving information, listening, growing as the conversation continues," Christie says. "But I've never been terribly interested in acting, so I wouldn't think of it as the most interesting thing in the world to sit and talk with someone about — in fact I never have."
Acting, at least for Christie, is a thing that happens in the moment, then evaporates.
"When it's over," she says, "it's so over that I can't remember a single thing about it."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-19/julie-christie-after-decades-oscars-darling-again
| 2022-03-01T12:56:37
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en
| 0.983765
|
With the Oscars just days away, Melissa Block chats with Academy Awards writer Bruce Vilanch, who has been on the Oscars writing staff for almost 20 years.
Jon Stewart is hosting the show. He's got his own group of writers from Comedy Central furiously working on his material.
A handful of other writers are coming up with copy for the presenters. Among that sweaty throng is Vilanch, whose group is responsible for "everything but what the host is doing, to start with," he says. "Everything the presenters say, all of those speeches — basically everything on the show with the exception of the acceptance speeches, which usually give us fuel for whatever we're going to rewrite during the show."
The group rewrites as the show goes along. They have a writing room right off stage and are also in the wings. There's a TV and a phone that goes to the control room.
"We watch the show like everybody else and react to it as we go along and start rewriting," Vilanch says. It starts to resemble the floor of the commodities exchange, he says.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-22/behind-the-scenes-with-an-oscars-show-writer
| 2022-03-01T12:56:43
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en
| 0.980046
|
Charlie Bartlett is a sweet, smart, very privileged kid, who has been kicked out of every private academy his over-medicated mom has sent him to. Now, he's about to start at a public school, and he knows there's a decent chance he won't fit in there either.
Except that Charlie has internalized the language of psychiatry: He's been in analysis most of his life, his mother is what you might call pharmaceutically relaxed, and his family keeps an analyst more or less on-call. And while that didn't set Charlie apart in prep school, it gives him some advantages in public school.
With a little anger-management counseling, he has soon tamed the school bully. And when the other kids notice that, they start lining up to have him counsel them, too — in a makeshift office he sets up in a school restroom. Charlie sits in one stall, his "patients" in the next.
Charlie doesn't just offer common-sense advice; he also does unto his classmates as his shrinks have been doing unto him, becoming the school's unofficial psycho-pharmacologist, dispensing prescription antidepressants that he and his mom don't need.
At which point, of course, he's an outcast no longer.
Being an outcast has been a popular problem in teen movies since those Ferris Bueller's Sixteen Breakfast flicks John Hughes made back in the 1980s. And first-time director Jon Poll seems to have found his inner Hughes, while working with a 21st-century cast: Anton Yelchin, downright charismatic as Charlie; Kat Dennings, smart and snarky as his girlfriend Susan; and in a casting coup, Robert Downey, Jr. — the ultimate teen bad-boy back in the '80s — still volatile as Charlie's grown-up nemesis.
All of which makes for a picture that's breezy and sitcom light, aimed at teens despite its R rating, and accented with a few grace notes that will appeal to an older crowd. A melody runs through the film, for instance, that I couldn't place until it was finally given lyrics at school assembly. It's "If You Want to Sing Out," the theme from that earlier teen-outcast movie, Harold and Maude.
Sweet-natured like its hero, Charlie Bartlett, isn't nearly as edgy or as unpredictable as that picture, but the rules have changed since then. And Charlie Bartlett is as sweetly subversive as any teen comedy to come along since Ferris skipped school.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-22/in-charlie-bartlett-the-teen-therapist-is-in
| 2022-03-01T12:56:49
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| 0.986398
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Morning Edition and Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan reviews the thriller Vantage Point. It's the story of an attempted assassination of the president told from the point of view of eight people. Turan says that it's trying to be like the classic Japanese film Rashomon, but it's more like the story of the blind men and the elephant.
Copyright 2008 NPR
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-22/plot-tricks-in-vantage-point-make-it-implausible
| 2022-03-01T12:56:55
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| 0.946358
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Forty years ago, there was another election that centered on an unpopular war. In 1968, the Democrats gathered for their convention in Chicago, and were met by demonstrators who had organized what they called a "youth festival" to protest the war in Vietnam.
But after several days of peaceful demonstrations, violence erupted; the police used tear gas and clubbed demonstrators. A federal commission later called it a "police riot."
But the protest leaders were arrested and sent to a joint trial, where they became known as the "Chicago Seven." Now their story is the subject of an unorthodox documentary — called, confusingly enough, Chicago 10.
I'll get to that title inflation in a moment. First let me just note that an era of convulsive political upheaval gets really well animated — and I mean animated in its literal sense — in this documentary.
Director Brett Morgen takes archival film of the protests outside the 1968 Chicago convention, combines it with actors reading from court transcripts of the Chicago Seven trial — there were no cameras in that courtroom — and animates the action through a technique called motion-capture. It's the same process used in films like The Polar Express and Beowulf, where actors are filmed and then have their images digitally painted into virtual environments, so that they seem like characters in a video game.
Star Voices, Rock Score Drive Offbeat Documentary
You'll recognize some of the voices: Nick Nolte, for instance, as prosecutor Thomas Foran. And as the "camera" swirls and whooshes around the "courtroom," he and Liev Schreiber (as a defense attorney) and the late Roy Scheider (as Judge Julius Hoffman) engage in a lot of what you'd have to call "animated" arguments. Tempers blew, paper airplanes flew, and supporters of both prosecution and defense created plenty of distractions — including pointed chants of "Om," amid the chaos, from defendant Allen Ginsberg. Animation, it turns out, is a pretty hip way to re-create the circuslike atmosphere of a trial that co-defendant Jerry Rubin once called a "cartoon."
But the historical footage that's mixed with the courtroom scenes is sometimes just as amusing. One newscast, for instance, featured what you might call a transcendentally challenged reporter who told his audience that the judge got exercised when "an argument broke out and Ginsberg said 'Um'." (In fairness, meditation techniques weren't as well known in 1968 as they are now.)
As history, of course, this movie leaves a good deal out — the name Hubert Humphrey, for instance, who became the nominee at that convention. And that title, Chicago 10, further confuses things. Before Black Panther Bobby Seale's case was separated from the others, the Chicago Seven was the Chicago Eight, and director Brett Morgen thinks that because both of the defense lawyers were cited for contempt, they should be included, too.
With music by Rage Against the Machine and the Beastie Boys, Morgen is clearly trying for a younger audience than folks who actually remember the '60s, and it's in that context that the film works best. Not as history, but as a sort of primer for activists — on what happens when a passion for "change" isn't being embraced by the political establishment.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/2008-02-29/chicago-10-re-animates-a-protest-story
| 2022-03-01T12:57:01
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| 0.973856
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The announcement last month that Philippe De Montebello is retiring has led to a spate of articles describing him as the last of a breed.
De Montebello has led New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for 30 years. He started as a curator of European paintings and has always maintained that the art should be the primary concern of an art museum.
But times have changed and today's museum directors are as likely to be CEOs as they are curators.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-03/met-directors-retirement-ends-curator-era
| 2022-03-01T12:57:07
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| 0.977437
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In the new film Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, comedienne Mo'Nique co-stars as Betty Jenkins, of the loving, but dysfunctional Jenkins family. She shares the big screen with an impressive roster of leading men, including actors Martin Lawrence, James Earl Jones and Cedric the Entertainer.
Mo'Nique bypassed the audition process because Betty Jenkins' character was tailored for the actress by the film's director, Malcolm Lee.
"I don't think Betty Jenkins is too far removed from Mo'Nique," says the talented star, whose career spans from stand-up comedy to television sitcoms, to New York Times best-selling author.
The Baltimore native is familiar to many audiences for her television projects. Mo'Nique was first introduced to mainstream audiences with the hit sitcom, "The Parkers," which had a five-year run on UPN. She also wowed audiences with "Charm School," the popular VH1 reality program, which claimed to teach women the "Ten Commandments" of charm.
But her latest reality television project, "Mo'Nique's Fat Chance," might have audiences talking the most. The new season reaches out to help "big women who have a lot of talent." The boot camp-like series travels to Paris with five plus-size women who are taught lessons in fashion etiquette and self-love.
Conscious of Paris' stigma as "the capital of thin," the program is an extension of Mo'Nique's passion to challenge the widespread notion that beauty is defined exclusively by petite-sized women.
"I've heard the cruelty ... simply because I got a double belly. I refuse to beg you to let me play with you, so let's create our own playground," she explains.
The actress, wife and mother talks extensively about her career, family life and what's next on her agenda.
Written and produced for the Web by Lee Hill.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-07/monique-gives-audiences-a-lot-to-love
| 2022-03-01T12:57:13
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| 0.974619
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British actor Colin Firth is probably best known for his role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC/A&E production of Pride & Prejudice. The film turned him into a heartthrob. It's being rebroadcast Sunday Night on PBS as part of a Jane Austen series.
His other films include Love Actually, Valmont, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and Fever Pitch. He also stared in Bridget Jones's Diary based on the book of the same name which borrows from the storyline of Pride & Prejudice. Firth showed off his writing in the book edited by Nick Hornby, Speaking with the Angel.
This interview was first broadcast on May 7, 2001.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-08/colin-firth-pride-goeth-before-the-fame
| 2022-03-01T12:57:20
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| 0.972749
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Actor Mark Wahlberg co-starred in We Own the Night, recently released on DVD. The film tells the story of two Brooklyn brothers on opposite sides of the law.
This wasn't the first time Wahlberg played a New England police officer. In 2007, he was an Academy Award nominee for best supporting actor for his role as a Massachusetts State Police sergeant in Martin Scorsese's The Departed.
In this 2007 interview, Wahlberg talks about how run-ins with the law in his youth helped him to play law enforcement roles, particularly in The Departed.
"I had spent 15, 16 years of my life torturing my parents and being arrested and having to call them to come and bail me out of various jails for various petty crimes," says Wahlberg, a Boston native.
"And you know, there's a very thin line between cops and crooks in Boston. A lot of my friends that I got into trouble with at an early age went on to become cops. So, all that real-life experience, all that torture that I caused my parents, I was able to use."
Earlier in his career, Wahlberg played a number of smaller film roles before gaining notoriety for his role as a porn star in Boogie Nights. He says preparation for the role included at least one unusual experience.
"We visited a porn set, which was pretty bizarre. This guy's gotta perform in front of us, and we're all standing around with coffees in our hand, waiting for it to go down. It was just weird. It was uncomfortable."
One of the initial members of the bubblegum-pop group New Kids on the Block (with his brother Donnie), Wahlberg left before the group became famous. While his brother went on to stardom, Wahlberg continued his struggle with the law.
"I remember sitting in a rec room in the Plymouth House of Correction," he says. He'd been arrested for what he calls petty crimes.
"My brother and the rest of the New Kids came on TV, and they were performing, and I told this guy, 'Hey, that's my brother. ... I was in that group. I quit.' And he goes, 'And now you're here. You gotta be the dumbest guy that I ever met.'"
Later, however, with his brother's guidance, he overcame his juvenile problems and created Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and recorded the album Music for the People, which included the hit "Good Vibrations." Wahlberg went on to record one more album, and appeared in a number of Calvin Klein underwear commercials. The advertisements led him to at least one unexpected outcome of celebrity.
"When you would go to a concert of mine, you would look in the crowd that there would be a bunch of young girls and then there would be a bunch of grown up guys. And at first I'm thinking, Well, they're dads or something. But then they're coming up asking for me to sign pictures of me in my underwear, and I'm saying, 'OK, what's your daughter's name,' and they're saying, 'No, it's for me.'"
Wahlberg says though he initially felt uncomfortable with his gay following, he quickly overcame it.
Wahlberg's other films include Shooter, The Perfect Storm, Three Kings, The Italian Job and Rock Star.
This interview was first broadcast on February 8, 2007.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-08/mark-wahlberg-breaking-and-playing-the-law
| 2022-03-01T12:57:26
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| 0.986921
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A new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., features photos and portraits of hip hop performers and a wall of graffiti.
The exhibit, "Recognize! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture," is intended to show the influence of hip hop and rap on visual arts today. The show points to the lyrics of rap songs — often boasts about the emcee's prowess — to liken the music to self portraiture.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-09/national-portrait-gallery-hosts-hip-hop-exhibit
| 2022-03-01T12:57:32
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| 0.9326
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Television fans, start your big screens.
Striking Hollywood writers are considering a contract proposal.
After nearly 15 weeks on the picket line, members of the Writers Guild of America received contract terms from their union leaders at meetings this weekend in New York and Los Angeles. Guild leaders are recommending the contract to members and ask them to vote on a quick end to the walkout.
By asking writers to vote separately on ending the strike and accepting the contract, the union cleared the way for the entertainment industry to return to work almost immediately.
Membership meetings will be held Tuesday in New York and Los Angeles to allow writers to decide whether the strike should be brought to a speedy end, said Patric Verrone, president of the guild's West Coast branch.
The tentative contract secures writers a share of the burgeoning digital-media market, Verrone said, including compensation for Internet-delivered TV shows and movies.
"If [producers] get paid, we get paid. This contract makes that a reality," Verrone said. But, he added, "it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved."
This isn't the end of Hollywood labor negotiations. Actors' contracts are up in June. The Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild want to sync up their contracts so they can threaten the studios with a combined strike in the future.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-10/could-the-writers-strike-be-coming-to-an-end
| 2022-03-01T12:57:38
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| 0.948507
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After four months on the picket line, the Writers Guild of America announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement with studios, and writers are expected to ratify the new contract within 10 days.
Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli discusses the long-term effects of the four-month-long writer's strike, and--more immediately--when we can expect new episodes of our favorite shows to return to the air.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-11/the-writers-strike-ends-now-what
| 2022-03-01T12:57:44
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| 0.939146
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Writers in New York and Los Angeles voted to lift a strike order, clearing the way for them to report to work on Wednesday. They will formally approve their new three-year deal over the next couple of weeks.
The writers did not make as many gains as they had hoped in terms of compensation for work streamed and downloaded on the Internet, but they arguably positioned themselves to revisit the issue in their next negotiation.
This concludes a strike that lasted more than three months. Scripted television shows that had been shut down will start returning in a few weeks.
With one fight resolved, the studios will next face the unions representing actors. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists are feuding, and it is unclear whether they will negotiate jointly, as they have done for many years.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-12/strike-over-writers-to-go-back-to-work
| 2022-03-01T12:57:50
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| 0.983676
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
The writers strike has ended. Members of the Writers Guild of America voted last night to end their strike on its 100th day, and as Hollywood gets up and running today, we wanted to know - what's next? To give us the scoop, I'm joined by Eric Deggans, TV and media critic at the St. Petersburg Times. Welcome, Eric.
Mr. ERIC DEGGANS (St. Petersburg Times): Hey, how are you doing?
MARTIN: Well, I think I'm okay, given that, you know, I've kind of fallen out of the habit of watching television, to be honest about it, and so I'm kind of wondering if other people are worried about the same thing. Are people worried that people have kind of fallen out of love with the tube?
Mr. DEGGANS: Yeah, that was the danger of the strike, is that people would find other things to do when their favorite shows went into perpetual reruns or if they got replaced by reality shows. I think the ratings, in fact, indicated a bit of a dip, and I think that helped push forward, indeed, this negotiation so that the strike would get resolved.
At first, ratings weren't affected all that much, but I think once people started to realize that it was reruns and "American Gladiator" and "Celebrity Apprentice," they kind of lost their enthusiasm for the tube.
MARTIN: So what was at the heart of this disagreement?
Mr. DEGGANS: Well, at the heart of this disagreement was a fight over whether writers and how writers would be paid for Internet revenues, for shows that are streamed online or downloaded though podcasts or delivered through some other online medium. The producers were reluctant to offer any sort of compensation, and writers were worried because they had made a similar low-paying deal for DVDs, and those turned out to be an explosion of revenue. Some movies, in fact, only make money in DVD form. So the writers were determined not to be locked out of online, which they felt was the future of the medium, and the producers were very concerned about protecting an emerging medium and trying to have the resources to exploit it as much as they could.
MARTIN: So I'm sure this is a very complicated sort of package, but if you could just briefly summarize who won, who lost. What's going to happen?
Mr. DEGGANS: Well, you know, I was talking to a writer from "CSI" who said that the best contracts are ones in which everybody feels like they got the best deal.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. DEGGANS: And I'm not sure that that's what happened here. I don't think the writers got everything they were asking for. They got a flat fee for online distribution of online residuals for a certain period of time - I think three years - and then a percentage kicks in, which is what they wanted. They also wanted to eliminate this weird provision where networks can stream a show online for a certain period of time - I think 17 to 24 days - before they pay anything, because most people watch a show online within a day of it airing. So the networks can offer a show right after it airs and not pay anything.
So you know, the writers didn't get some things they wanted. Producers obviously wanted to avoid paying a percentage, and they wound up having to give up on that. So in a sense everybody won and - everybody won a little bit, and everybody lost a little bit.
MARTIN: So now that the strike is over, when can we expect to see new episodes?
Mr. DEGGANS: Well, the newest episodes will probably come in mid-March, and they will be comedies, because they're shorter - they're generally a half hour - and so they're quicker to write and quicker to produce. CBS this morning is expected to announce that they're going to bring back a whopping 15 shows by the end of the season. They expect their comedies to come back in mid-March, they expect their dramas to come back in mid-April, and they're all the names that you would expect, their highest-rated shows - the CSI franchises, "How I Met Your Mother," "Rules of Engagement," you know, shows that have already proven that people are interested in them.
Some of the newer shows - I know we talked a little bit about "Cane" last time I was on the show. Unfortunately, the ratings for that show have not been great, and it's not coming back this season. It may not come back even in the fall.
MARTIN: But why not? I mean, they've already hired the people, they've already built the sets. That's something I don't understand. I mean, if they were willing to make the investment last fall, what's the difference between now and then?
Mr. DEGGANS: Well, I think "Cane"'s biggest problem was that with the writers strike taking so many shows out of contention, CBS really featured "Cane" more and didn't get ratings. In fact, I think the last time the show aired, they did a double run. They ran it at 9:00 p.m. and at 10:00 p.m., and those shows did awful in the ratings. So it doesn't make sense to keep putting a show on the air that viewers have rejected, and that, you know, that 10:00 p.m. Tuesday time slot is a tough one anyway.
So I think what we're going to see is we're going to see the strike formula of programming on television for a little while longer, a month to two months, depending on what shows you're into. But as we start to get into the end of March, we'll see the comedies come back. As we start to get into the beginning of April, we'll see the more sophisticated dramas come back. You know, ABC's hoping to bring back "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," you know, all its big shows. Its promising new shows, "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money" - those won't come back this season. Those will come back in the fall.
And then there's some other shows like "Cavemen" and "Carpoolers," they don't know what's going to happen with those.
MARTIN: And I know what your opinion is of "Cavemen," so we don't even need to...
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. DEGGANS: Let's not go there.
MARTIN: So what have you been doing with no new shows? You've been polishing up your golf game, or what are you doing? Reading a book?
Mr. DEGGANS: If only it was that easy. I'm TV and media critic for the St. Petersburg Times, so I've been doing a lot of writing about other things, in particular radio...
MARTIN: Uh-oh.
Mr. DEGGANS: And you know, I cover - I cover local television as well, and so there's been a fair amount of stuff happening there, and surprisingly - I mean, the networks were very prepared for this strike. They had a lot of new programming to debut, and the writers and the producers of reality TV shows never went out, so we did have "American Gladiators" debut, we had "Celebrity Apprentice" debut. Fox held back "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a TV show based on the Terminator franchise. There was a lot of new stuff out there, and Fox in particular did really well because "American Idol" came back and did great, and some of their new scripted shows have done well too.
MARTIN: Okay, well, come back and see us, will you?
Mr. DEGGANS: Oh, any time.
MARTIN: All right. Eric Deggans is TV and media critic for the St. Petersburg Times. Eric, thanks so much.
Mr. DEGGANS: Thanks for having me.
MARTIN: Coming up, the Blind Boys of Alabama. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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| 2022-03-01T12:57:56
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| 0.985633
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Norman Lear went from producing hit TV shows like All in the Family to political activism, including efforts to get young people to vote. The 85-year-old Lear says both involve a lifelong passion.
"To start with, it takes a passion and a devotion to the subject," Lear tells Steve Inskeep. "And it's a desire to pass that passion on — thinking of it as a lot of dry grass that's just waiting for the spark — I think that's as good a definition, as I've thought of anyway, as what showmanship is all about."
Lear is our latest guest on The Long View, a series of conversations with people of long experience. His experience includes the production of very political TV shows like All in the Family, the 1970s hit starring Carroll O'Connor as a bigoted New Yorker named Archie Bunker.
Lear explains what made the often-controversial show so popular.
"The more you get people to care when they laugh, they will laugh more," he says. "If you got them concerned or involved ... then you're funny."
"We were writing a show and enjoying the taping," Lear says. "Standing behind an audience of 240 people and watching an audience come out of its seat and go down and come back up again on a big laugh was a spiritual experience."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-13/norman-lear-from-tv-to-activism
| 2022-03-01T12:58:02
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| 0.982591
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MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
Many of the 10,000 members of the Writers Guild of America returned to work yesterday after a three-month long strike.
MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
Suddenly, hosts of late night talk shows have a lot to say especially about the end of the strike itself.
Mr. JON STEWART (Host, "The Daily Show") Wait a minute - words in the prompter? Script on my desk? Vending machine upstairs out of Funyuns? The writers are back.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE DAILY SHOW")
Unidentified Group: Yay.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE COLBERT REPORT")
STEPHEN COLBERT: We'll look to the really important news, folks, the writers' strike is over. I mean it.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE TONIGHT SHOW")
JAY LENO: I guess the strike ended when the corporations agreed to the writers' main demand that no one ever have to write another Paris Hilton movie again, okay?
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN")
CONAN O: I just want to say that personally, it's great to have them back - in fact, they wrote that.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
BLOCK: That's Conan O'Brien of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," also Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," Stephen Colbert on "The Colbert Report," and Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."
NORRIS: After weeks of relying, supposedly, on their own quick wit, TV comics found themselves able to lean on the talent of teams of humor professionals.
BLOCK: They wasted no time getting back to the business at hand, (unintelligible) on the events of the day starting with politics.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW)
Unidentified Man #1: Last night's all primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the paradoxically powerless District of Columbia.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE TONIGHT SHOW")
LENO: Not a good night last night for Hillary Clinton, man, she got the pantsuit beaten off of her.
I haven't seen Hillary Clinton this worried since they opened that Hooters in Chappaqua.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
LENO: Hillary Clinton continually reminds voters that she has been tested, which makes sense. You never know what Bill might have brought home. So it should be...
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
BLOCK: And baseball steroids scandal.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN")
BRIEN: Earlier today, Roger Clemens testified for Congress about his alleged use of steroids and human growth hormone. Yeah. He says he didn't do it. Yeah. But there was an awkward moment when Clemens leaned on the table and it shattered.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE TONIGHT SHOW")
LENO: And it went from bad to worst today for Roger Clemens. Did you see the hearings? Oh, did you see what happened today?
BLOCK: Yeah, I did.
LENO: Oh, gosh. Today, before Congress, Amy Winehouse testified she shot up with him. Oh.
BLOCK: And there were some other worthy topics.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN")
BRIEN: A man in Florida was arrested for hitting the manager of a Taco Bell in the face with a bagful of tacos.
Afterwards, the Taco Bell manager said, you know, it's weird, my tacos usually don't attack me 'til I'm in the bathroom.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE DAILY SHOW")
STEWART: Last night, for the first time ever, a beagle won best in show at the world's most prestigious canine festival. A decisive victory in the war on terrier.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THE TONIGHT SHOW")
LENO: Hey, have you seen these valentine ads for pajamagram.com where you send a lingerie to your wife or girlfriend? Have you seen them? Now, don't confuse that with pajama-grandma.com. Now, that's where Estelle Getty comes to your house with a teddy. You don't want that.
NORRIS: And those writers who put down picket signs and picked up pens. The end of strike is doubtless good news but let you be the judge whether the return of one liners on late night television is an event worth celebrating. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-14/listening-in-as-writers-return-to-late-night-shows
| 2022-03-01T12:58:08
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| 0.930368
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Mexican screen siren Lupita Tovar was just a teenager when she received her big break: Dozens of aspiring actresses had gathered in Mexico City to audition for an American talent scout, but the black-haired beauty separated herself from the pack when she was asked to imagine that her mother had died.
"Tears started rolling down," Tovar, now 97, tells Renee Montagne. "Then [the scout] got up and he said, 'I will see you in Hollywood.'"
In Hollywood, the silent era was winding down. American studios, sensing money in overseas markets, were eager to find talent for foreign-language "talkies." Tovar starred in the silent hit The Cat Creeps, which earned her the nickname "The Sweetheart of Mexico," as well as in a Spanish-language version of Dracula. The latter shared a set — filming on the night shift — with the Bela Lugosi version. Other production elements, however, were decidedly different.
"My wardrobe was the sexiest ever," Tovar laughs, remembering the transparent negligees she wore. "It was a different wardrobe" from the demure designs worn by Helen Chandler in the English-language version, Tovar says. "Me, I was very sexy."
Tovar's next role also required a flashy wardrobe. In Santa, Mexico's first talkie, she plays a country girl who is seduced, then abandoned, by a dashing soldier, before finally becoming the most famous prostitute in Mexico. The film was such a hit that the Mexican government issued a postage stamp featuring Tovar as Santa.
In 1932, Tovar married Paul Kohner, a Czech emigre had who produced the Spanish Dracula and who later became one of Hollywood's top agents. They were married for 56 years, during which time Tovar continued to make movies for Columbia Pictures.
And though she's no longer active on movie sets, her family continues to work in show business. Her son, Pancho, is a producer, and daughter, Susan, an actress who received an Academy Award nomination for her work in Imitation of Life. Grandsons Chris and Paul Weitz made their names in Hollywood with American Pie and About a Boy.
As for Lupita, she has no regrets: "Sometimes, you know, I am here at home at night and I start thinking back, 'Would I change anything?' No, I will do exactly what I did."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-14/lupita-tovar-mexicos-sultry-screen-sweetheart
| 2022-03-01T12:58:15
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| 0.984236
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Driving along the Mexico-U.S. border, photographer Richard Mosse noticed a rucksack sitting on the side of the road. He stopped, looked inside, and found keys, toothpaste, a card for an English language course and a Spanish language Bible. He realized they were personal effects abandoned by a woman who had crossed the border illegally.
"It's kind of a habit of mine, or a problem of mine more like, I often spot things that are not the important things. They're the kinds of things that make me ask the questions."
The abandoned rucksack raised lots of questions for Mosse, and it was the beginning of a photo project tentatively called "Nothing to Declare." Mosse walks along the border, looking for artifacts left behind when people have to drop everything and run. The images are striking: an infant's car seat, a page torn from a children's book, a bottle of water sitting alone.
You can find a link to Mosse's photographs on our blog.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-15/illegal-immigrants-leave-familiar-items-behind
| 2022-03-01T12:58:21
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| 0.960834
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Czech-born filmmaker Milos Forman is an Academy Award-winning director, but his life story, as Forman tells Terry Gross, is no less dramatic than his cinematic success.
Born in 1932 in a small town near Prague, Forman experienced war at a young age, when Nazi armies marched on his country. Though Forman continued to live in Czechoslovakia under Gestapo rule, his Jewish father and Protestant mother were sent to Auschwitz, where they perished.
After the war, Czechoslovakia came under communist rule, and Forman attended the Prague Film Institute. He began his film-making career during the "new wave of Czech cinema" that coincided with a liberalization of the communist regime.
After Warsaw Pact tanks invaded the increasingly liberal Soviet satellite in 1968, Forman took refuge in the U.S. year later. By then he was an experienced director. His second American film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, earned him widespread fame and an Oscar for best director. Forman went on to win an Academy Awards for directing Amadeus, a loose biography of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and received an Oscar nomination for The People vs. Larry Flint.
In recent years, Forman has directed films in Germany and Spain. His latest film, Goya's Ghosts, will be released on DVD, February 26. Currently, the Museum of Modern Art in New York is running a two-week retrospective of Forman's films.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-15/milos-forman-orphan-immigrant-and-oscar-winner
| 2022-03-01T12:58:27
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| 0.978208
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MICHEL MARTIN, host:
I'm Michel Martin. This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, a past president tells us what he believes and how that moral code guides him. Also, we re-broadcast our chat with senior songwriter, Jill Scott. But first, as we've been saying, it's President's Day and a cast of candidates have spent the last year auditioning for that role before an eager audience of American voters.
Many of our favorite American presidents have been on screen. There's Harrison Ford as President Jack Ryan on "Air Force One", Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlett on the "West Wing" and Michael Douglas looking for love as President Andrew Shepherd in "The American President". The most presidents we've seen on screen have been heroic, brave, noble and handsome. Some wags might say a little different from what we get in real life. Today we'll talk about the role of the president on screen and in our popular imagination. With us to talk about this is Shawn Edwards. He's the film critic for Fox Television in Kansas City. He joins us from KCUR in Kansas City. Also with us is Julio Martinez. He's a theater critic and host of "Arts in Review" and radio station KPFK in Los Angeles and he joins us from NPR West. Gentlemen, thank you both.
MR. SHAWN EDWARDS (Film Critic, Fox Television, Kansas): Thanks a lot.
MR. JULIO MARTINEZ (Host of Arts in Review): Thank you.
MARTIN: Julio, let's start with you. How has film and television depictions of the President changed over the last, I don't know, let's say 30 or 40 years.
Mr. MARTINEZ: Well it's — you mentioned the word heroic and that does seem to be the theme. Two great films of sixties about the presidency, "Advise and Consent" and "Seven Days In May" show the president actually as we know them today, as sort of being in the background, guiding the people who did do all the action in the course of the plots of the film.
Today we do have a Harrison Ford who actually goes mano a mano with the villains. And he played a character who was a former war hero, so I guess there is a parallel to McCain. We seemed to want to have proactive, heroic figures, when in essence, the presidency is really just one third of the triangle that runs our nation.
MARTIN: Shawn, why do you think that is? Why do you think that sort of the president as action hero as opposed to kind of more the corporate executive figure that we're used to from earlier years? Do you think that's what Americans want from presidents in real life?
Mr. EDWARDS: Well number one yes. Americans do want a heroic, strong, tough guy, very stern president in real life. But one of the reasons why presidents are represented that way in feature films, is because in the movies they're the hero. And they're the guy we look up to. So they match the leading man's status that we're used to seeing on the big screen, which is handsome, tall, strong, very competent.
MARTIN: I see. Who — we're in the thick of the campaign season. Let's play a little game here. Which movie president do you think matches up with each of the current candidates?
Mr. EDWARDS: Well there's that natural parallel with McCain. He's a former war hero. The Harrison Ford character was a former war hero.
MARTIN: Let's play a short clip for everybody who is not a student of film businesses as usual. Let's play a short clip of Harrison Ford on "Air Force One". (Soundbite of movie, "Air Force One")
MR. HARRISON FORD (Actor)(as President James Marshall) Get off my plane.
MARTIN: You heard that pivotal thunk where he…
Mr. EDWARDS: I love that clip.
MARTIN: …finishing off the gang of terrorists who've hijacked "Air Force One." Julio I hate to break it to you but John McCain is not tall.
Mr. MARTINEZ: Yes, I know.
MARTIN: What do you think it is — what is it about Harrison Ford you think, that makes him presidential, that makes people want to cast him that way?
Mr. MARTINEZ: Well, he's a handsome, rugged figure. You believe that he could be an executive that can run a corporation that is the United States. But at the same time, he has a history. We know of him as "Indiana Jones" and doing great physical things. So there's a natural affirmation that this is the character that he is playing.
MARTIN: Shawn, your turn, what about Mike Huckabee? Is there an on-screen president who reminds you of him?
Mr. EDWARDS: You know what, I know Mike Huckabee is a Republican. But when I these of him, I think of the John Travolta character from "Primary Colors" who in that movie was actually a Democrat. But Mike Huckabee sort of has that aw shucks, sensibility about himself. But when it's that he can still come across as intelligent and straightforward and sort of like this commanding figure. So that comes to mind for me, is "Primary Colors".
MARTIN: Okay. We've got two candidates would make history if either won the White House. Hillary Clinton as the first female president, Barack Obama as the first African—American. Julio, who is the on-screen version of Hillary Clinton?
Mr. MARTINEZ: The on-screen representation, probably closer to the "Air Force One" character Glenn Close played, who actually was Vice President.
(Soundbite of movie, "Air Force One")
Unidentified Man ("Air Force One"): Is he saying what I think he's saying?
MS. GLENN CLOSE (Actress): (as Vice President Kathryn Bennett) If we're going to act, we have to act now.
Unidentified Man: It's too risky.
Ms. CLOSE: (as Vice President Kathryn Bennett) The president is up there with a gun to his head.
Unidentified Man: He's asking us to do that, to Air Force One?
Ms. CLOSE: (as Vice President Kathryn Bennett) He's not asking. Your Commander in Chief has issued a direct order. Do it.
MARTIN: Shawn what about television has promoted these folks before the movies have I guess?
Mr. EDWARDS: Yes, I like the TV series "Commander in Chief" in which the president was played by Gina Davis, although I don't think any of her characteristics matched Hillary Clinton. But that was a ground-breaking television show, because I like the way they presented the presidency with Gina Davis. I mean I liked a lot of her characteristics. She was strong, should was stern. but she doesn't come across in the same manner as a Hillary Clinton. So I wouldn't compare those two. Except for…
MARTIN: Well why not? Their politics were similar. They were both progressives, so.
Mr. EDWARDS: Sort of. I just thought that Hillary Clinton seems to be a little bit stronger, more stern than that character in that television series.
MARTIN: But she was older. She was definitely older.
Mr. EDWARDS: That's true. Now that does play a big difference. I mean the age difference does make a big difference in how the character comes across and how they were to conduct it there, you know, the off, the Oval Office…
MARTIN: And again, I also think it's fair to say that Gina Davis didn't campaign for the job in "Commander in Chief" right? She was the vice president and…
Mr. EDWARDS: That's true.
MARTIN: …became president because the president died in office. So it isn't sort of analogous. I think there might be a difference when somebody actually has to go out earn it on her own.
Mr. MARTINEZ: There is a presentation of a president as a woman that Gina Davis had down. And also the Glenn Close character. They kept their voices low.
(Soundbite of movie, "Air Force One")
Ms. CLOSE: (as Vice President Kathryn Bennett) I'm going to go out there and I'm going to take the oath of office. I'm going to run this government and if some Islamic nations can't tolerate a female president, then I promise you, it will be more their problem than mine.
Mr. MARTINEZ: One of the things against Hillary Clinton that has come up is the fact that, as she gets excited, her voice keeps getting higher and higher, which one psychologist said is grating against the male psyche.
MARTIN: Interesting. If you're just joining us, you're listening to TELL ME MORE from NPR News and we're talking with film critic Shawn Edwards and Julio Martinez about how on-screen presidents reflect and influence, possibly influence the political attitudes of Americans. Shawn, the most visible African—American on-screen president, I think for this generation is David Palmer. He served in the White House in the early seasons of the Fox hit, "24". Let's play a brief clip of that.
(Soundbite of "24")
Mr. KIEFER SUTHERLAND (Actor): (Agent Jack Bauer) Mr. President, its Jack Bauer.
Mr. DENNIS HAYSBERT (Actor): (as President David Palmer): You threaded the eye of the needle.
Mr. SUTHERLAND: (Agent Jack Bauer) Yes sir. I wanted to thank you for advising me under on this situation. Mr. President, you saved my life.
Mr. HAYSBERT: (as President David Palmer) Well I'm sorry it came to this.
Mr. SUTHERLAND: (Agent Jack Bauer) Me too sir. I just wanted to let you know that I was helped.
Mr. HAYSBERT: (as President David Palmer) I'm glad. This is probably the last time we'll ever speak. Jack you do understand when you hang up, for all intents and purposes, Jack Bauer is dead.
Mr. SUTHERLAND: (Agent Jack Bauer) I understand that sir.
MARTIN: That was actor Dennis Haysbert as President David Palmer and Keefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer on "24." I'd like to ask both of you. This is the kind of thing I think we can only speculate about. But in the past, the idea of a black president was always treated as a joke in films. Do you think that this serious and respectful treatment somehow shapes our consciousness of what's possible Shawn.
Mr. EDWARDS: Okay, in reference to the fact that African—Americans as president has always been treated as a joke isn't actually true. In the history of feature films, there've been five African—Americans that have portrayed the president of the United States on film, Morgan Freeman, James Earle Jones, Louis Gossett, Jr., Tom Tiny Lister and Chris Rock. A couple of those were jokes, but the Louis Gossett, Jr, James Earle Jones and Morgan Freeman presidents were actually presented pretty seriously. But it is the Dennis Haysbert presidency on "24" that I think really set the tone and made it palpable for most Americans to think that there could actually be an African— American in the Oval Office and just made it totally acceptable for Barack Obama to run for the presidency this year.
MARTIN: Julio, do you think that — what's your take on whether voters get their idea of what the president should be from the movies?
Mr. MARTINEZ: In the movies and in television, you see the president doing something that you don't see in real life, being an active leader of the free world. In real life, they become part of this big corporate structure. And hopefully they lead well, they advise well and they make good decisions. But it's in the movies, it's in television that you really see a president being like King Henry V, saying once more into the breech, boys. You know, being a real leader and that is the image that I think candidates try to evoke as well.
MARTIN: Does either of you have a favorite on-screen president? It doesn't have to be somebody you'd personally vote for, just a character that you found really compelling, Shawn?
Mr. EDWARDS: Oh yeah I have a couple. My number one favorite is Billy Bob Thornton as the president in the movie, "Love Actually" from 2003. I just love the way they portrayed him as this gung-ho sort of cowboy, high-spirited, America's the toughest country in the nation, and I can do what I want as he faces off against Hugh Grant, who is the prime minister of Great Britain. And you know, he goes into his office, and he flirts with the secretary, and he basically does what he wants because he is the president of the United States.
(Soundbite of film, "Love, Actually")
Mr. BILLY BOB THORNTON (Actor): (As The US President) It's great scotch.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. MARTINE McCUTCHEON (Actor): (As Natalie) Well, then. I'll be going, then.
Mr. THORNTON: (As President) Natalie, I hope to see much more of you as our two great countries work toward a better future.
Ms. McCUTCHEON: (Natalie) Thank you, Sir.
Mr. EDWARDS: You know, at the opposite end of that, I really got a hoot and a big kick out of Jack Nicholson as president in "Mars Attacks!" Every time I watch it, you know, I'll fall on the floor with laughter. It's great. It's a great movie, great performance.
MARTIN: Okay. Julio, what about you? Do you have a favorite?
Mr. MARTINEZ: Well, I have a couple of them. I'll avoid my youthful references because they're really dated. Frederic March was really my favorite president of all time in "Seven Days in May," but that's in 1964.
(Soundbite of laughter)
MARTIN: Okay. We'll try to dig deep into the archives for that one.
Mr. MARTINEZ: Yeah. Martin Sheen. To me, I thought he did the most believable portrait I've ever seen of a person who is slowly weighed down by the immensity of the job, and he believably carried it off.
MARTIN: Hold on. Let's play a short clip of that. This is Martin Sheen as Josiah Bartlett.
(Soundbite of "The West Wing")
Mr. MARTIN SHEEN (Actor): (As President Josiah Bartlett) I want to speak.
Unidentified Man #1 (Actor): (As character) Say it out loud. Say it to me.
Mr. SHEEN: (As President Bartlett) This is more important than re-election. I want to speak now.
Unidentified Man #1 (Actor): (As character) Say it again.
Mr. SHEEN: (As President Bartlett) This is more important than re-election. I want to speak now.
Unidentified Man #1 (Actor): (As character) Now we're in business.
MARTIN: This is - the scenario here is that the character is changing his mind about taking the easy way out of a political conflict. So Julio, you raised this character. Politicians and politicians, there's a reason it's kind of a -we have ambivalence about that term. You know, Some people, they don't want to be called a politician even though, you know, and sometimes it's a position of, you know, high honor, great responsibility and terribly important.
But there ever any real-life person who could possibly match the charisma of an on-screen president like that? Are we inevitably going to be disappointed by real life?
Mr. MARTINEZ: Of course we're going to be disappointed.
Mr. EDWARDS: There's no way that you can match that.
Mr. MARTINEZ: You know, put three cameras in the Oval Office after whoever becomes our next president, and let's watch them on a day-by-day basis, and maybe we'll come to some conclusion whether they have that kind of charisma. But we're not allowed to see them being the real person. We get the soundbites or the press conferences, and that's a whole different persona.
Mr. EDWARDS: So not only that, you've got to keep in mind, whether you're watching a television show or a feature film, they're being written, they're being edited, and real life doesn't necessarily work like that.
MARTIN: Well, gentlemen, thank you both so much. Shawn Edwards is a film critic for Fox Television in Kansas City. He joined us from KCUR in Kansas City. Julio Martinez is a theater critic and host of Arts in Review at KPFK in Los Angeles, and he joined us from NPR West. Gentlemen, thank you both so much.
Mr. EDWARDS: Thanks a lot.
Mr. MARTINEZ: Thank you.
MARTIN: And Happy Presidents Day. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-18/presidents-on-screen-does-art-imitate-life
| 2022-03-01T12:58:33
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| 0.9761
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Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the first nationwide broadcast of the PBS classic, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred Rogers died in 2003 but the gentle show continues to air, guiding children to the "land of make believe."
Now, an old video clip, circulating on YouTube, offers advice to millions of adults who remember the show:
"I'm just so proud of all of you who have grown up with us," says Rogers, seated at a piano in the clip. "And I know how tough it is some days to look with hope and confidence on the months and years ahead. But I would like to tell you what I often told you when you were much younger: I like you just the way you are."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-19/mister-rogers-still-asking-kids-to-be-his-neighbor
| 2022-03-01T12:58:39
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en
| 0.970495
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Every year, the week of the Oscars, Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas, partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and about 12 counters go to an undisclosed location in Southern California and hand count all 6,000 ballots. It takes the team about three days to determine the Academy Award winners.
Michele Norris talks with Oltmanns and Rosas before they go into hiding.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-19/oscar-ballot-counters-hide-away-to-tally-winners
| 2022-03-01T12:58:45
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| 0.895731
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Two Impressionist paintings stolen from a Zurich, Switzerland, art museum earlier this month have been recovered, police said Tuesday.
The recovered paintings — Claude Monet's "Poppy Field at Vetheuil" and Vincent van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" — were discovered in a parking lot in front of a Zurich mental hospital on Monday. It was unknown how long the white sedan in which the paintings were found had been parked there, Hotzenkoecherle said.
The recovered masterpieces were among four paintings worth $163 million that were stolen from a private museum in a Feb. 10 armed robbery.
Two other paintings — Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter" and Paul Cezanne's "Boy in the Red Waistcoat" — are still missing, said Philipp Hotzenkoecherle, commandant of the Zurich city police.
The recovered paintings, worth a combined $64 million, are in good condition and were found still under the glass behind which they were displayed in the museum, Hotzenkoecherle said.
The paintings were identified by museum director Lukas Gloor after a thorough inspection.
"We're very happy that both the paintings are in absolutely impeccable shape," Gloor said.
Zurich police spokesman Marco Cortesi said he did not know whether a ransom was paid to recover the paintings.
Gloor said, "I can't give any information on that."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-19/two-stolen-paintings-recovered-in-switzerland
| 2022-03-01T12:58:51
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en
| 0.982656
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Juno, a film that tells the story of a pregnant 16-year-old in search of a worthy adoptive couple for her child, didn't start out as a teen-pregnancy movie.
"We didn't intend to make a movie about teen pregnancy and the options available to people who find themselves in that situation," says screenwriter Diablo Cody. "We just wanted to tell a personal story about maturity and relationships. And the pregnancy just kind of motivates the story."
Cody and Juno director Jason Reitman speak about their experiences making the film, which is nominated for four Academy Awards.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-22/juno-not-your-average-teen-pregnancy-movie
| 2022-03-01T12:58:57
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en
| 0.972328
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Day to Day host Madeleine Brand found out Sunday what it's like to attend the Oscars all alone. She felt a little like a cheap airplane.
9 a.m. Alex Chadwick, my co-host and Oscar date, calls. He's sick. Can't talk. Won't be able to make it. I'm going by myself.
9:02 a.m. Terror. Red carpet. Alone. Reality intrudes: Madeleine, no one knows (or cares) who you are. Still, I pretend they do, and spend the rest of the day getting ready.
3:30 p.m. The limo — scratch that, the Town Car arrives. I live maybe 5 miles from the Kodak Theatre, but it still takes more than an hour to get there. We are in a line of limos that have to be checked for bombs and other assorted IEDs, terrorists, etc. I contemplate getting out and walking, but realize there is a throng of religious anti-Hollywood protesters, and I don't want to be mistaken for a celeb — oh, yeah. What am I thinking?
4:40 p.m. Finally! I get out of the car and step onto the fabled red carpet. On one side, bleachers full of fans who've been waiting for days to see their favorite stars. They shout, "Madeleine! Madeleine!" I see young women waving frantically. I tentatively smile and begin to raise my arm when they yell, "We loved you in Juno!" I turn around and behind me is Ellen Page. Ohhh ..."Ellen," not "Madeleine." I keep walking.
Somehow, and I'm not sure how, I'm funneled onto a lesser red carpet. It's like two parallel runways. On one side, the Lear jets are being photographed like mad, and right behind them, on the other side of a red rope, the Southwests.
I see Renee Zellweger — or, rather, her back. It's very muscle-y. The back of her head looks a little unkempt ... like she slept on it. She ends up making the best-dressed list. I guess the front tells a different story.
I start to think — do I really want to see how the sausage is made? Wouldn't I rather hang onto my fantasy that these are all perfect beings descended from outer space? (Not you, John Travolta. I KNOW you're from outer space.)
But then — there's a fine piece of sausage: Helen Mirren. No disillusionment there. Or with Cate Blanchett. She's also in front of me, looking radiant in a purple gown that shows off her pregnancy.
It's nearly showtime. The Lears and the Southwests get to meet briefly on the runway in front of the theater. The bars are closed to everyone but Harrison Ford, and then I take the elevator up, up, up to the fourth floor — the second mezzanine. The back wall of the theater is my seat-back.
Regis Philbin does his final pre-show performance and calls Javier Bardem "Xavier Bardem." The announcer says we're live in 20 seconds. The lights on the audience go up and everyone gets quiet. It's showtime, and I feel very excited to be part of it. How many gazillions of people are watching? I fantasize that they can all see me. I'm the one sitting nowhere near Ellen Page.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2008-02-25/oscar-diary-surviving-the-red-carpet-alone
| 2022-03-01T12:59:03
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en
| 0.962864
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PM Narendra Modi convenes high-level meeting on Ukraine issue at 6 pm: Govt sources.
- Country:
- India
PM Narendra Modi convenes high-level meeting on Ukraine issue at 6 pm: Govt sources.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/Newsalert/1943334-pm-narendra-modi-convenes-high-level-meeting-on-ukraine-issue-at-6-pm-govt-sources
| 2022-03-01T13:02:53
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en
| 0.910256
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NATO chief says the alliance sees no need to change its nuclear weapons alert level, despite Russia's threats, reports AP. PTI SCY
NATO chief says the alliance sees no need to change its nuclear weapons alert level, despite Russia's threats, reports AP. PTI SCY
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/Newsalert/1943377-nato-chief-says-the-alliance-sees-no-need-to-change-its-nuclear-weapons-alert-level-despite-russias-threats-reports-ap-pti-scy
| 2022-03-01T13:03:00
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en
| 0.956737
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Ukrainian president tells European parliament his country is fighting 'to be equal members of Europe', reports AP.
- Country:
- Ukraine
Ukrainian president tells European parliament his country is fighting 'to be equal members of Europe', reports AP.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/agency-wire/1943297-ukrainian-president-tells-european-parliament-his-country-is-fighting-to-be-equal-members-of-europe-reports-ap
| 2022-03-01T13:03:08
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| 0.95281
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