Go Inside the Frozen Trenches of Eastern Ukraine by Ye Ming
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Young Playwright's Works Explore Race, Identity in Americaby webdesk@voanews.com (Jeff Lunden)
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins uses the stage to get audiences thinking and talking about identity in America. Over the past five years, the 30-year-old playwright has established himself in the profession with a trilogy of highly provocative and fantastical explorations of race. In Neighbors, a family of minstrels in black-face moves in next-door to a contemporary mixed race family. In Appropriate, a white family discovers their dead father belonged to the racist Ku Klux Klan. And An Octoroon,...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican lawmaker wrote to President Barack Obama saying she would do "everything within my power," including holding up spending and introducing legislation to push the administration to provide fighter jets, weapons and other aid to allies fighting Islamic State.
Months after Iraqi troops dropped their weapons and ran for their lives in Mosul, up to 25,000 of them are expected to head back there in April or May to try to retake the city from ISIS, according to a U.S. official.
From Stephen Hawking to Spike Jonze, the existential threat posed by the onset of the ‘conscious web’ is fuelling much debate – but should we be afraid?
When Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Elon Musk all agree on something, it’s worth paying attention.
All three have warned of the potential dangers that artificial intelligence or AI can bring. The world’s foremost physicist, Hawking said that the full development of artificial intelligence (AI) could “spell the end of the human race”. Musk, the tech entrepreneur who brought us PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX described artificial intelligence as our “biggest existential threat” and said that playing around with AI was like “summoning the demon”. Gates, who knows a thing or two about tech, puts himself in the“concerned” camp when it comes to machines becoming too intelligent for us humans to control.
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Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria have carried out execution-style killings against 72 people within the last 50 days, a monitoring group says.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday other countries should not have the illusion that they can attain military superiority over Russia, Interfax reported.
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English football fans push a black man off a train in Paris, sparking a global debate about racism in football.
Intelligence agents took Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma from his office on Thursday.
At least eight people were killed Friday when militants attacked a hotel frequented by government officials in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, police said.
Rights groups criticise US and UK spies for 'disturbing' sim cards hack by Dominic Rushe in New York and agencies
NSA and GCHQ told to stop pretending that law doesn’t apply to them after revelations that they gained access to Dutch manufacturer Gemalto’s encryption keys
Rights groups around the world have called for urgent action to protect private communications after it was revealed that US and British spies hacked into the world’s largest sim card manufacturer and gained unfettered access to billions of mobile phones around the globe.
The National Security Agency (NSA) and its British equivalent, GCHQ, hacked into Gemalto, a Netherlands sim card manufacturer, stealing encryption keys that allowed them to secretly monitor voice calls and data, according to documents newly released by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
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If the Church of England is fine about Pete Doherty being portrayed as Christ, perhaps so we should all be more relaxed about religious artistic depictions
Are there any limits to the way Christianity can be depicted in art? Are artists who depict Christ in a less than reverent manner taking a risk? Associated Press seemed to think so when, in the wake of the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices in January, it suddenly removed Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ from its image library.
Piss Christ – an image of a sculpture of the Crucifixion, suspended in what appears to be a tank of glowing urine – is one of the few recent works of art that have caused real offence among Christians. It was created in 1987 and became a hate object for cultural and religious conservatives in 1980s America. Serrano even got death threats.
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Even at five months pregnant, war photographer Lynsey Addario was still throwing herself into conflict zones.
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Six hurt as trains collide in Switzerland by AFP news agency
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Two trains slammed into each other near the Swiss city of Zurich, tipping over carriages and injuring at least six people, one seriously, according to police.
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From: AFP news agency
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 Reuters |
Obama says it's no accident economy improving on his watch
KOB.com WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says it's "not an accident" that the economy is improving on his watch and that Republicans' "doom and gloom" predictions haven't come true. Speaking to the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting, ... Obama Addresses DNC Meeting, Outlines Contrast Between Parties Over ...Talk Radio News Service all 121 news articles » |
In the frozen landscapes of Eastern Ukraine, where government forces and pro-Russia fighters are fighting a bitter war of attrition, the specter of another vicious and unforgiving war looms.
“Shortly before the ceasefire, the scene was reminiscent of a World War I battleground,” says photographer Ross McDonnell, who has spent the last two weeks working along the Ukrainian front lines in Donetsk and Luhansk. “[There was] a lot of heavy shelling all day and all night, with tactical machine and mortar fire from open trenches on what was once the main road to Donetsk.”
McDonnell stayed in those trenches, near Shastya, a small town whose name means “Happiness.” For its inhabitants, however, the last few months have offered anything but joy, as it has repeatedly exchanged hands between the separatists and pro-government forces.
For the Irish photographer, who’s been covering the conflict since the first days of the Maidan revolution in early 2014, the goal now is to present a snapshot of the day-to-day life on the battlefield from the Ukrainian side. “There’s a sense of daily life in the trenches [establishing itself],” he says. “Many of the fighters have been there for months and they are exhausted. In Debaltseve, most of the fighters were in the encircled city for three months before withdrawing in the last days.”
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the withdrawal of more than 2,000 government troops from the disputed and strategic town of Debaltseve, trying to cast the move in a positive light while Russia-backed rebels claimed victory.
Despite the bitter winter and heavy losses on both sides, the spirit has remained warm, says McDonnell. “The people are pragmatic, and we get a sense that the soldiering life is a job and a duty,” he tells TIME. “On the Ukrainian side, at least, there’s a huge amount of pride. As individuals, they feel let down by their new government and by the West. They want to think they are ready to defeat the pro-Russian rebels, but they can’t take on Russia itself.”
And there’s no end in sight for this conflict, despite the fragile cease-fire that went into effect recently. “It will depend on the rebels’ ambitions,” says McDonnell, “but after their recent victories, it’s difficult to see any lasting ceasefire.”
Ross McDonnell is a photographer and filmmaker born in Dublin. LightBox has previously featured McDonnell’s work from Ukraine. Follow him on Instagram where he shares short films of life in Eastern Ukraine’s trenches.
Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
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NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indian police are investigating claims that the one of world's top climate change officials, Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sexually harassed a 29-year-old woman, police and lawyers said on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and partner nations conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq since Thursday, five of them near the militant-controlled city of Mosul, the Combined Joint Task Force said.
Hymn to be launched as free ringtone download
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Greeks react ahead of Germany debt talks by AFP news agency
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Germany and Greece face off at yet another eurozone meeting Friday in search of a last-minute bailout compromise, with Berlin insisting Athens accept continued austerity in return for fresh...
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From: AFP news agency
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Melissa Swift, 23, put ‘bleach-type oxidant’ into water and juice left in staff fridge at Goldfield Court in West Bromwich
A former special constable has admitted three charges of attempting to murder staff at the care home where she worked.
Melissa Swift put “a bleach-type oxidant” into the water and juice of vulnerable elderly residents at the Goldfield Court home in West Bromwich last year, also poisoning her colleagues.
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 Daily Beast |
Will It Take The End of the World For Obama To Recognize ISIS As 'Islamic'?
Daily Beast They are also hell-bent on one mission: Chasing the apocalypse, according to Islamic eschatology—the study of the end of the world. Doing a verbal tap dance around Islamic theology and extremism, even calling it “whatever ideology,” Obama and his ... Obama calls on world to focus on roots of ISIS, al Qaeda extremismCNN Obama says world should address 'grievances' that terrorists exploitFox News "Clash of civilizations" mindset is real in Muslim world, Obama saysJerusalem Post Israel News The Japan Times all 2,707 news articles » |
Ukraine accused Russia of sending more tanks and other weapons across the border to pro-Moscow separatists fighting Kiev’s troops, although officials said violence continued to subside after a cease-fire deal was reached last week.
NATICK, Mass. (AP) -- A little-known war museum outside Boston is drawing back the curtain on a key secret of "The Imitation Game," giving visitors a rare chance to use the complex Nazi Enigma coding machines at the center of the Oscar-nominated film....
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The New York Times film critics review “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” “McFarland, USA” and “Wild Tales.” Produced by: Robin Lindsay Read the full review of "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"...
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Contemporary cynicism is a diminutive philosophy that espouses maximum protection from being wrong or being disappointed. The bishops were right to challenge it
I’m a hypocrite. Always have been and always will be. And, to be honest, I am not beating myself up about it either. In fact, I want to speak up for us hypocrites, to persuade you all of our more subtle virtues. Yes, you read that right: hurrah for hypocrisy! It’s a large club, but few people admit to membership. And partly that’s because we generally get an unfair rap. “Do not look dismal, like the hypocrites,” was the reading for this week’s Ash Wednesday service, where us Christians are marked on the head with an ash cross and told not to make outward and ostentatious displays of our religiosity. That sort of thing, goes the standard Christian line, is for the Pharisees (one of the most maligned groups of religious people ever). But it is with the modern media that the charge of hypocrisy really takes off, for it is here that exposing the gap between moral aspiration and actual behaviour has become one of the standard measures of a person’s moral standing.
So why defend the hypocrites? It was a conversation with my fellow Guardian columnist George Monbiot that started me thinking. “Better a hypocrite than a cynic,” he said to me last month. And he was completely right. At least a hypocrite aspires to something, claims some allegiance even if she or he cannot live up to it. A cynic, on the other hand, is the one person who can never be accused of hypocrisy because cynics don’t believe in anything in the first place.
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 U-T San Diego |
Troubled Ukraine marks year since protest bloodbath in Kiev
U-T San Diego KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — One year ago, Ihor Zastavnyi was shot three times and lost a leg while taking part in demonstrations that he hoped would lead to a better Ukraine. Today he faces a country that is racked by war, struggling with corruption and pleading to ... and more » |
My mother's caregiver, Tamara, despises Vladimir Putin. She's a Georgian, and bitterly resents Russia's 2008 invasion of her home country and subsequent appropriation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia into Moscow's orbit. "That idiot Putin!" Tamara cries every time I visit my mom. Putin, she says, is determined to reconstitute as much of the Soviet Union as possible; now that he's carved off Crimea and eastern Ukraine, he will also find excuses to invade and swallow the three Baltic states. "If no one stops him," she says, "that idiot will keep going. You'll see." I used to think Tamara's fears were exaggerated, and that the pain of strong sanctions and a crumbling economy would deter Putin from further predations. But he has actually stepped up his aggression, with Russian state media predicting a direct military confrontation with the West — and warning that Russia might defend itself with a first-strike nuclear attack.
Putin's behavior would seem to be unhinged — wholly detached from a rational cost-benefit analysis. But his actions become explicable if you assume that his only goals are the preservation of his autocratic power — and the glorious restoration of Russia as the U.S.'s fully equal rival. If ordinary Russians must go hungry as a result, well, national honor requires sacrifice. In Putin's mind and in Russia's state media, the "expansionist" West stole Ukraine and is already at war with Russia. If the U.S. sends heavy arms to bolster Ukraine's outgunned army, will Putin see it as a proxy invasion and send Russia's full army streaming across the border? And then what do we do? As for that threat of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons — surely that's just a bluff. Isn't it, Vlad?
 NBCNews.com |
Vladimir Putin Says Russia's Military Might Has No Match
NBCNews.com Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday other countries should not have the illusion that they can attain military superiority over Russia, Interfax reported. "No one should have the illusion that they can gain military superiority over Russia, put any ... Photo by Maximilian Clarke/APVICE News Why Great Britain is worried about a Russian military attackOregonLive.com Putin raises the stakesThe Week Magazine The Independent -Times of India all 655 news articles » |
 Daily Mail |
Obama to meet Liberian president on Ebola recovery
Daily Mail President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Ebola-ravaged Liberia will visit the White House on February 27, as her recovering nation embarks on an ambitious goal of reducing infections to zero. The White House said Friday that Johnson Sirleaf -- a rare female ... Obama to host Liberian president, discuss Ebola responseReuters Obama to discuss Ebola response with Liberia's presidentSFGate all 43 news articles » |
U.K. counterterror officials were urgently searching for three teenage schoolgirls they feared had run away from home to travel to Syria, police said Friday.
The girls, all good friends aged 15 to 17, boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at London’s Gatwick Airport at 12:40 p.m. (7:45 a.m. ET) Tuesday and arrived in Istanbul later that evening, police said in a statement. Thousands of wannabe ISIS rebels have crossed into Syria through Turkey since the civil war there started four years ago.
The girls were last seen at their homes at 8 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) that morning, where they made plausible excuses to their families as…
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England’s accident-and-emergency units fail to meet target to see 95% of patients within four hours in week ending 15 February – although admissions were up
Accident-and-emergency departments in England have failed to meet the target of 95% of patients seen within four hours for the 20th week in a row.
NHS England said 91.6% of patients spent four hours or less from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge in the week ending 15 February, down from 92.9% the previous week.
Last week saw a sharp increase in A&E attendances… This has resulted in a slight impact on waiting times.
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CBC.ca |
Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Libya Bomb Blasts
Wall Street Journal TUNIS, Tunisia—A branch of the Islamic State militant group in Libya claimed responsibility for a series of bomb blasts in a small eastern Libyan town that killed at least 41 people, calling the attacks vengeance for Egyptian airstrikes this week against Islamist ... Islamic State militants claim suicide attacks in Libya that kill 40Sydney Morning Herald Islamic State claims responsibility for Libya bombingsUSA TODAY Militants loyal to Islamic State claim attacks in east Libya: statementReuters Washington Post -Daily Mail all 281 news articles » |
President’s backing may help Emanuel sway alienated black voters and help him avoid a run-off
Gay couple serving life sentences to marry in prisonby Helen Pidd Northern editor Eric Allison Prisons correspondent
Convicted murderers Mikhail Gallatinov and Marc Goodwin are to get married at Full Sutton prison near York, but will not be able to share a cell
A gay couple detained in one of the UK’s toughest prisons are to marry after conducting an illicitrelationship in the jail library.
Both men are serving life sentences for murder in Full Sutton prison near York, which houses some of the most dangerous offenders in the country.
Prisoners ... are in prison for public safety reasons, not to stop them asserting their civil rights
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