World News
Why is Russia invading Ukraine?
By air, land, and sea, Russia has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, a European democracy of 44 million people. For months President Vladimir Putin had denied he would invade his neighbour, but then he tore up a peace deal, sending forces across borders in Ukraine’s north, east and south.
As the number of dead climbs, he is now accused of shattering peace in Europe and what happens next could jeopardise the continent’s entire security structure.
Where have Russian troops attacked and why?
Airports and military headquarters were hit first, near cities across Ukraine, including the main Boryspil international airport in Kyiv.
Then tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine in the north-east, near Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people; in the east near Luhansk, from neighbouring Belarus in the north and Crimea in the south. Paratroops seized a key airbase just outside Kyiv and Russian troops landed in Ukraine’s big port cities of Odesa and Mariupol too.
Moments before the invasion began, President Putin went on TV declaring that Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he called a constant threat from modern Ukraine.
Many of his arguments were false or irrational. He claimed his goal was to protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. There has been no genocide in Ukraine – it is a vibrant democracy led by a president who is Jewish. “How could I be a Nazi?” said Volodymr Zelensky, who likened Russia’s onslaught to Nazi Germany’s invasion in World War Two.
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President Putin has frequently accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists, ever since its pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted in 2014 after months of protests against his rule. Russia then retaliated by seizing the southern region of Crimea and triggering a rebellion in the east, backing separatists who have fought Ukrainian forces in a war that has claimed 14,000 lives.
Late in 2021 he began deploying big numbers of Russian troops close to Ukraine’s borders. Then this week he scrapped a 2015 peace deal for the east and recognised areas under rebel control as independent.
Russia has long resisted Ukraine’s move towards the European Union and the West’s defensive military alliance Nato. Announcing Russia’s invasion, he accused Nato of threatening “our historic future as a nation”.
How far will Russia go?
Russia has refused to say if it seeks to overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government, although it believes that ideally Ukraine should be “freed, cleansed of the Nazis”. Mr Putin spoke of bringing to court “those who committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians”.
It was a thinly veiled hint and by invading from Belarus and seizing Antonov airport close to the outskirts of Kyiv, there is little doubt that the capital is well within his sights.
In the days before the invasion, when up to 200,000 troops were within reach of Ukraine’s borders, he had focused his attention on the east.
By recognising the Russian proxy separatist areasof Luhansk and Donetsk as independent, he had already decided they were no longer part of Ukraine. Then he revealed that he supported their claims to far more Ukrainian territory. The self-styled people’s republics cover little more than a third of the whole of Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions but the rebels covet the rest, too.
How dangerous is this invasion for Europe?
These are terrifying times for the people of Ukraine and horrifying for the rest of the continent, witnessing a major power invading a European neighbour for the first time since World War Two.
Dozens have died already in what Germany has dubbed “Putin’s war”, both civilians and soldiers. And for Europe’s leaders this invasion has brought some of the darkest hours since the 1940s. It was, said France’s Emmanuel Macron, a turning point in Europe’s history. Recalling the Cold War days of the Soviet Union, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of Ukraine’s bid to avoid a new iron curtain closing Russia off from the civilised world.
For the families of both armed forces there will be anxious days ahead. Ukrainians have already suffered a gruelling eight-year war with Russian proxies. The military has called up all reservists aged 18 to 60 years old. Top US military official Mark Milley said the scale of Russian forces would mean a “horrific” scenario with conflict in dense urban areas.
The invasion has knock-on effects for many other countries bordering both Russia and Ukraine. Latvia, Poland and Moldova say they are preparing for a big influx of refugees. A state of emergency has been declared in Lithuania and Moldova, where thousands of women and children have already entered.
This is not a war that Russia’s population was prepared for either, as the invasion was rubber-stamped by a largely unrepresentative upper house of parliament.
What can the West do?
Nato has put warplanes on alert but the Western alliance has made clear there are no plans to send combat troops to Ukraine itself. Instead they have offered advisers, weapons and field hospitals. Meanwhile, 5,000 Nato troops have been deployed in the Baltic states and Poland. Another 4,000 could be sent to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.
Instead, the West is targeting Russia’s economy, industry and individuals.
The EU has promised to restrict Russian access to capital markets and cut off its industry from latest technology. It has already imposed sanctions on 351 MPs who backed Russia’s recognition of the rebel-held regions
Germany has halted approval on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a major investment by both Russia and European companies
The US says it will cut off Russia’s government from Western financial institutions and target high-ranking “elites”
The UK says all major Russian banks would have their assets frozen, with 100 individuals and entities targeted; and Russia’s national airline Aeroflot will also be banned from landing in the UK.
Ukraine has urged its allies to stop buying Russian oil and gas. The three Baltic states have called on the whole international community to disconnect Russia’s banking system from the international Swift payment system. That could badly impact the US and European economies.
The Russian city of St Petersburg will no longer be able to host this year’s Champions League final for security reasons. Europe’s football governing body Uefa is also planning further measures.
By Paul Kirby
BBC News
World News
Q DA FOOL SHARES NEW VIDEO SINGLE “HEISMAN”
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World News
Lil Durk Drops Anxiously Awaited New Album, ‘Almost Healed’
After increasing excitement to a boiling point, Chicago hip-hop trailblazer and multiplatinum superstar Lil Durk unleashes his anxiously awaited eighth full-length offering and one of the year’s most anticipated albums, Almost Healed, out now. Stream Almost Healed on all DSPs HERE.
Superstar icon Alicia Keys notably stars in the music video for “Therapy Session/Pelle Coat,” which just premiered. Watch it HERE. The visual features her in emotionally charged and thought-provoking moments alongside Lil Durk. It marks their first collaboration together.
Tense production underlines his reflective rhymes as the accompanying visual explores his relationship with the streets and faith through a series of arresting vignettes. It instantly captivates—like everything he does.
Almost Healed pops off as his most personal, engaging, and enigmatic project to date. Laced with bold bangers and introspective anthems alike, it highlights his undeniable melodies and incisive bars at the forefront. He not only shines solo on the likes of “Never Again,” but he also distinguishes himself as the rare chameleonic force who can collaborate with country superstar Morgan Wallen on “Stand By Me” or the late Juice WRLD on “Cross The Globe.”
He may be Almost Healed, but he still takes no prisoners lyrically…
Check out the full tracklisting below.
Fittingly, he set the stage for the project with the single “All My Life” [feat. J. Cole]. Upon arrival, it bowed at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, arriving his first Top 5! It has already reeled in over 80 million worldwide streams and over 20 million YouTube views on the accompanying music video in just under three weeks!
In support of Almost Healed, Durk launches one of the year’s most anticipated jaunts—the Sorry For The Drought Tour. He will be joined by special guests Kodak Black, NLE Choppa, and DD Osama in select cities. Produced by Live Nation, the 27-city tour kicks off on July 28 at MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa making stops across the U.S. in Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles and more before wrapping up in Phoenix at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre on September 7.
The 2023 tour run comes after his successful ‘The 7220 Tour’ which hit North America in 2022 featuring special guests Doodie Lo & Booka600. Last year, Lil Durk owned the charts with the platinum-certified 7220, which crashed the Billboard 200 as his first #1 debut on the chart and boasted “AHHH HA,” “What Happened To Virgil” [feat. Gunna], and the cross-genre smash “Broadway Girls” [feat. Morgan Wallen].
Get tickets for the Sorry For The Drought Tour at Ticketmaster.com and A
Experience Almost Healed now! It’s Durk’s year…
TRACKLISTING:
1. Therapy Session
2. Pelle Coat
3. All My Life (feat. J. Cole)
4. Never Again
5. Put Em On Ice
6. Big Dawg (feat. Chief Wuk)
7. Never Imagined (feat. Future)
8. Sad Songs
9. Before Fajr
10. War Bout It (feat. 21 Savage)
11. You Got Em
12. Grandson (feat. Kodak Black)
13. 300 Urus
14. Same Side (feat. Rob49)
15. B12
16. At This Point We Stuck
17. Cross The Globe (feat. Juice WRLD)
18. Dru Hill
19. Belt 2 Ass
20. Stand By Me (feat. Morgan Wallen)
21. Moment of Truth
SORRY FOR THE DROUGHT 2023 TOUR DATES:
Fri Jul 28 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater
Sat Jul 29 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre ^&
Sun Jul 30 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Tue Aug 01 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Thu Aug 03 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Fri Aug 04 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena ^
Sat Aug 05 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Sun Aug 06 – Boston, MA – Xfinity Center
Tue Aug 08 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Wed Aug 09 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage ^
Fri Aug 11 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Aug 13 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Tue Aug 15 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Wed Aug 16 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
Fri Aug 18 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 19 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Mon Aug 21 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Tue Aug 22 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Wed Aug 23 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
Fri Aug 25 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
Sat Aug 26 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena ^&
Tue Aug 29 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Wed Aug 30 – Portland, OR – RV Inn Styles Resort Amphitheater
Fri Sep 01 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Sat Sep 02 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre ^&
Wed Sep 06 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
Thu Sep 07 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
World News
Rising Atlanta Star Destroy Lonely Releases Gripping Music Video For “If Looks Could Kill”
Opium Sensation Destroy Lonely shares a captivating music video for, “If Looks Could Kill,” the first single off his highly anticipated debut album of the same name, which dropped earlier this month. The visuals show the 21-year-old artist leading a group of expressionless villagers through a journey of self-reflection and transformation. Dressed in beige, they are introduced to Lonely as he pulls up in an off-road vehicle filled with new attire. He stands in contrast to the bleak backdrop, sporting all black, dark shades and embodying a mysterious aura. Through Lonely’s guidance the individuals grasp they will no longer be forced to all dress the same. He guides them from creative oppression by giving them a sense of power and individuality. Watch “If Looks Could Kill” HERE.
Destroy Lonely is currently hot on the heels of the success of his debut album, If Looks Could Kill. The well praised project features 26 songs that ooze casual confidence and irrepressible style. It proceeded to reach No. 1 on Apple Music just 24 hours after it dropped. He also debuted No. 1 and earned his biggest streaming day of all-time on Spotify with nearly 10 million streams as well as charted Top 20 on the Billboard 200. Alongside the album Lonely also shared an original horror film titled, “Look Killa,” which trended No. 3 on YouTube. Watch HERE.
This year Lonely also took the stage at several festivals including Rolling Loud LA, and Thailand. This followed his lengthy North American “NO STYLIST” headline tour. From there, beginning with a Berlin stop on March 9, Lonely performed his international run to crowds in Europe and the United Kingdom. This Summer he’s also set to perform at Rolling Loud Miami, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Wireless Festival, and more.
The Opium Records artist began generating serious momentum after unloading NO STYLIST, a project coated in splashes of luminous warbles, dexterous flows and all the energy of a blossoming superstar. The project, and its follow up, this past fall’s NS+ (ULTRA), have earned him spots on 2023 artist to watch lists like Complex, Billboard, Pigeons & Planes, Alt Press, HipHopDX, The CFDA, Zane Lowe, Spotify, Genius, and more.
World News
Celine Dion cancels world tour due to health issues
Celine Dion’s “Courage World Tour” dates through 2024 have been canceled as she continues to battle a rare neurological disorder, it was announced Friday. (more…)
World News
Man accused of killing Migos rapper Takeoff indicted on murder charge
Last December, a man named Patrick Xavier Clark was arrested for the murder of Migos rapper Takeoff, who was shot and killed on November 1 in Houston, Texas. (more…)
World News
Rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to 6 years in prison for drug trafficking conspiracy
Rapper Fetty Wap was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking scheme that saw narcotics shipped from the West Coast and sold in New Jersey and Long Island. (more…)
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