Month: July 2022

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine -- Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others far from the front lines, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine's president accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in locations without military value. Officials said Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea damaged a medical clinic, offices, stores and residential buildings in Vinnytsia, a city 268 kilometers (167 miles) southwest of the capital, Kyiv. Vinnytsia region Gov. Serhiy Borzov said Ukrainian air defenses downed two of the four incoming Russian missiles. National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said only six bodies had been identified so far, while 39 people were still missing. Three children younger tha...

NEW YORK -- The country's next poet laureate, Ada Limón, has long thought of her work as a public art form. “I grew up with poetry being in the community,” says Limón, a native of Sonoma, California. “It wasn't supposed to just be something read on page; it was supposed be read out loud. I remember going to poetry readings at the bookstore where I worked when I was 16. It's the oral tradition. That part of poetry has always remained true to me.” On Tuesday, the Library of Congress announced that the 46-year-old Limón had been named the 24th U.S. poet laureate, officially called the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Her 1-year term begins Sept. 29 with the traditional reading at the Library's Coolidge Auditorium, one of the laureate's few formal obligations. Limón, who succeeds Joy Harj...

The new adaptation of “ Persuasion, ” coming to Netflix Friday, does not seem to have been made for Jane Austen fans. Her book about the unmarried Anne Elliot, who at 27 is on the edge of spinsterhood and regretting having been persuaded to give up her true love years earlier because of his lowly status, was the author's last before her death. It is notable and beloved for how it’s distinct from her more widely known and adapted books like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma,” with its mature heroine, its more reserved wit and its distinctly melancholy undertones. “Persuasion” also boasts one of her most romantic monologues. This version, directed by British theater veteran Carrie Cracknell and starring Dakota Johnson as Anne, inserts modern phrases and “Fleabag” tropes into a Regency-era se...

Three men were arraigned Tuesday on charges they conspired to illegally possess and sell 100 pages of notes and lyrics from the Eagles album "Hotel California," including Don Henley's lyrics to the songs "Hotel California," "Life in the Fast Lane" and "New Kid In Town." A band biographer allegedly stole the handwritten manuscripts in the 1970s and, in 2005, sold them to Glenn Horowitz, a rare books dealer and one of the three people charged Tuesday. Horowitz then sold them to Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The charges include conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property and hindering prosecution. "New York is a world-class hub for art and culture, Kizik Sneakers  and those who deal cultural artifacts must scrupulously fo...

Nine European countries said Tuesday that they have seen “no substantial evidence” to support Israel's allegations that six Palestinian civil society groups are terrorist organizations and would not change their policies on supporting the groups. The rare joint statement was a major rebuke of Israel, which backlisted the groups as terrorist organizations last October but has provided little evidence to support its allegations. The rights groups denied the allegations and accused Israel of escalating a long-standing crackdown on Palestinian opposition to its decades-long military rule. “Accusations of terrorism or links to terrorist groups must always be treated with the utmost seriousness,” read the statement, issued by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, ...

ATHENS, Greece -- The leaders of Greece and Bulgaria on Friday marked the completion of a new pipeline that will supply natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, whose vital supply of Russian gas was cut off in April amid the fallout over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of the new link as an alternative supply line for Bulgaria, as neighboring Greece jockeys to become a regional energy transport hub. “This isn't just a gas pipeline, but a crucial south-north energy bridge,” Mitsotakis said during a ceremony in northeastern Greece. He added that Europe needs to coordinate its response to “Moscow’s conscious choice to turn natural resources into a lever of political pressure, into a raw blackmail.” “It is something our Bulgari...