Sidhu Moose Wala: The murdered Indian rapper who 'made sense of chaos' - BBC

Sidhu Moose Wala via Instagram

Ni ehda uthuga jawani ch janaja mithiye (The funeral will happen in youth).

This is a line from Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala's latest track, The Last Ride. The song, which was released in May - and has gathered over 10 million views on YouTube since - features the iconic crime scene where American rapper Tupac was murdered in his BMW in 1996.

"Many hated him, and many died wanting him...everything is revealed in the eyes of the young boy," Moose Wala cackles in the music video, which is shot in slick monochrome tones.

On Sunday, in an ominous turn of events, Moose Wala met the same fate. The 28-year-old singer was driving near his village in Punjab state on Sunday when he was shot dead by unidentified attackers.

Crazy how life works sometimes

Moosewala had just dropped "The Last Ride"

The image featured on it is the crime scene from Tupac's assassination

Where he also was shot and killed whilst sat in the front right-hand seat of the car. pic.twitter.com/3tBv47B3tv

— Crypto Singh (@CryptoMisl) May 29, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Things have moved fast since then.

The murder has whipped up a political storm in the state, with opposition leaders criticising the government. The state police claimed that a Canada-based gangster had claimed responsibility for the attack. Moose Wala's family has denied this and criticised the police for not doing its job properly. In the middle of all this, protests erupted in several parts of the state as the singer's fans and supporters took to the streets, prompting the government to appeal for calm. The state's chief minister has now ordered a high court-level investigation into the case.

For Moose Wala's millions of fans though, the tragedy is deeply personal.

In four years of his career, the 28-year-old rapper became one of the most ubiquitous faces of Punjab's fertile hip-hop scene. His voice blares from DJ turntables at Delhi's flamboyant parties, rickety stereos at tea stalls in rural India and - as a colleague from BBC Punjabi told me - every possible radio channel in Punjab.

And he made it big in every sense. His songs, which he wrote and composed, racked up more than 5bn views, made it to the Top 5 in the UK charts last year, and he was also featured among the best new artists of 2020 in The Guardian. He had millions of fans around the world, especially in Canada which has a sizeable diaspora population.

"He had an aura of edginess around him," says Noor Sethi, 27, an event stylist in Delhi. "He also had a very distinct rapping style that captured the nuances of life in Punjab."

Punjabis will be unpacking and processing this for years to come.

— Uday Rana (@UdaySRana) May 29, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Born as Subhdeep Singh Sidhu in Moosa village in Mansa district, the singer studied engineering from Punjab and moved to Canada in 2016. The next year, he released his first track "So High" under the name Moose Wala. The singer has since become a household name in Punjab and among Sikhs in Canada and UK.

Drawing heavily from the genre of gangster rap, his music was a jumble of gritty opulence - measured in guns and fancy sports cars - as he made sense of life around him. His songs offered unvarnished commentary on the dark underbelly of the rural heartland, where drugs, crime and corruption often make headlines.

Rap music is a genre that often has lyrical expressions of revenge. And Moose Wala was no exception to this trend. Jealousy of his rivals was also an overarching theme in his music, which was best captured in the smash hit Jatt da Mukabla: "Don't flutter so high, you birds, for if I want, I can buy the sky."

But Moose Wala was as controversial as popular. Since the news of his death broke on Sunday evening, heaps have been said about the singer's legacy.

The actor often ran into trouble with the law. In May 2020, he was booked for firing an AK-47 rifle at a shooting range during the Covid lockdown. He also had a police case against him for allegedly promoting violence and gun culture through his song, Sanju. And a cursory glance at his Instagram profile would reveal his affinity for guns.

The singer was never convicted for any of the alleged crimes, but critics have routinely called him out for normalising violence.

Sidhu Moose Wala via Instagram

Fans say that Moose Wala was merely confronting the dark truths about modern life and holding up a mirror to society. "He was just making sense of the chaos, whether it was corruption, violence or the gun problem in Punjab," one fan said. "And that contribution in itself is valuable."

Moose Wala's music has meant different things to different people. Some say they admired him for the "courage and I-don't-care attitude" that was evident in his songs. Others liked the way he added English words to his Punjabi songs, which gave it a contemporary sheen.

"His simple and colloquial style of writing made it easy to understand for his audiences. Also, we loved the way he answered his critics through his songs," 27-year-old Niyamat Singh, one of his fans, told BBC Punjabi.

Mr Singh is particularly fond of the track 295, in which the singer delivers a strong-worded commentary on the shrinking scope for dissent in the country. The song's title is a reference to Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with "injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class".

"Every day there will be controversy with someone or the other. There will be a debate in the name of religions. If you speak the truth, you will get 295 (section) And if the son progresses, he will get hate," Moose Wala sings in the track.

Mr Singh told BBC Punjabi that he loves the way the singer "says what it is".

Ms Sethi remembers a concert Moose Wala did at an upmarket Delhi hotel a few months ago. "People from every walk of life came to see him perform. The excitement was so high that people were willing to pay extra money just to get a glimpse of him," she says.

Fans also credit him for baptising hip-hop - which until recently clung to the fringes of popular culture in South Asia - as a mainstream genre. His songs were hugely popular not just in India but across the subcontinent, and especially among the Punjabi speaking population in Pakistan.

Sidhu Moosewala had promised to come to Pakistan this year with the first concert in Lahore and the second in Islamabad.

Art transcends all boundaries and today Pakistanis share the grief of our Indian brothers and sisters over the death of #sidhumoosewala. #Pakistan #India pic.twitter.com/A7L8BktdDf

— Hamza Azhar Salam (@HamzaAzhrSalam) May 29, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

In 2021, he decided to enter politics. He contested elections as a candidate for India's principal opposition, the Congress party, in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections. Although he lost, his popularity as a "people's leader" continued to grow. He was especially invested in the betterment of his village. "That is why I chose to be known not by my name but by that of my village," he would tell people during his political rallies.

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Ukraine updates: EU leaders agree to a partial embargo on Russian oil - USA TODAY

Paris demands probe after French journalist killed in Ukraine - Reuters

An undated photo of French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, who was killed in shelling, is seen in this screengrab taken from a video released by BFM TV, obtained by Reuters on May 30, 2022. BFM TV/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

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PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) - France on Monday called for an investigation after a French journalist was killed in Ukraine when the vehicle he was travelling in, which was being used to evacuate civilians near the city of Sievierodonetsk, was hit by shelling.

"France demands that a probe be carried out as soon as possible and in transparency on the circumstances of this drama," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who was in Ukraine on Monday, said in a statement.

Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, the latest journalist killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, was on his second reporting trip for French television channel BFM in Ukraine, his employer said.

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The governor of Ukraine's Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said in a post on the messaging service Telegram that an armoured transport vehicle was hit by shrapnel from a Russian shell, killing the journalist. An attached picture showed a truck that appeared to have been adapted with armour. read more

The evacuation effort was suspended after the strike, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Leclerc-Imhoff was the 32nd media person killed since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

"My sincere condolences to Frederic's colleagues and family," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Russia's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has repeatedly denied that its forces target civilians in Ukraine.

Colonna said on Twitter that she had spoken to the Luhansk governor and had asked Zelenskiy for an investigation.

Both had assured her of their help and support.

"It is a double crime to target a humanitarian convoy and a journalist," she said.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter: "Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. Onboard a humanitarian bus with civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was mortally wounded."

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Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Conor Humphries, Max Hunder; Editing by GV De Clercq, Alison Williams and Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine's Zelenskiy visits frontline in first official appearance outside Kyiv since invasion - Reuters.com

May 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops on the frontline in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region on Sunday, his first official appearance outside the Kyiv region since the start of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.

"You risk your lives for us all and for our country," the President's office website cited him as telling the soldiers, adding that he handed out commendations and gifts.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits a position of Ukrainian service members, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 29, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram app that the president had also visited Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv.

Yermak said Zelenskiy toured destroyed residential buildings, noting that their replacements had to be built with bomb shelters in place.

The president's chief of staff added that 31% of Kharkiv region's territory was currently occupied by Russia, and a further 5% had been taken back by Ukraine having been occupied earlier.

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Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Nick Macfie

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Heavy rain kills 56 in northeast Brazil - CNN

(CNN)At least 56 people have died in Brazil's northeastern state of Pernambuco amid heavy rains over the weekend, according to the state's civil defense forces.

An additional 56 people are missing and at least 25 are injured, Brazil's Minister of Regional Development Daniel Ferreira said on Sunday.

More than 3,900 people have also lost their homes due to devastating downpours, Ferreira added.

Some of the deaths were caused by landslides in the greater Recife area, said the Pernambuco civil defense, which has urged residents living in high risk areas to seek shelter elsewhere.

In the city of Recife itself, schools have opened to shelter displaced families.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that Brazil's military would assist those impacted, and that he would personally travel to Recife on Monday to assess the situation.

"Our Government made available, from the first moment, all its means to help those affected, including the Armed Forces," he tweeted Sunday.

Brazil's northeast has been suffering from exceptionally high volumes of rain, officials say. Some areas have registered more rain in the past 24 hours than the total volume expected for the month of May.

Extreme rain has battered Brazil repeatedly in recent months. In December, downpours caused two dams to burst in nearby Bahia state, killing dozens and submerging entire streets.

Reporting contributed by Marcelo Medeiros and Michelle Velez from Atlanta, and by Marcia Reverdosa in Sao Paulo.

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Russia takes small cities, aims to widen east Ukraine battle - The Associated Press

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried Saturday to shake European resolve to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine’s defense.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Lyman, the second small city to fall this week, had been “completely liberated” by a joint force of Russian soldiers and Kremlin-backed separatists, who have waged war for eight years in the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia.

Ukraine’s train system has ferried arms and evacuated citizens through Lyman, a key railway hub in the east. Control of it also would give Russia’s military another foothold in the region; it has bridges for troops and equipment to cross the Siverskiy Donets river, which has so far impeded the Russian advance into the Donbas.

Ukrainian officials have sent mixed signals on Lyman. On Friday, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian troops controlled most of it and were trying to press their offensive toward Bakhmut, another city in the region. On Saturday, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar disputed Moscow’s claim that Lyman had fallen, saying fighting there was still ongoing.

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In his Saturday video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the east as “very complicated” and said that the “Russian army is trying to squeeze at least some result’’ by focusing its efforts there.

The Kremlin said Putin held an 80-minute phone call Saturday with the leaders of France and Germany in which he warned against the continued transfers of Western weapons to Ukraine and blamed the conflict’s disruption to global food supplies on Western sanctions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron urged an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian troops, according to the chancellor’s spokesperson, and called on Putin to engage in serious, direct negotiations with Zelenskyy on ending the fighting.

A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin affirmed “the openness of the Russian side to the resumption of dialogue.” The three leaders, who had gone weeks without speaking during the spring, agreed to stay in contact, it added.

But Russia’s recent progress in Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces that make up the Donbas, could further embolden Putin. Since failing to occupy Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Russia has set out to seize the last parts of the region not controlled by the separatists.

“If Russia did succeed in taking over these areas, it would highly likely be seen by the Kremlin as a substantive political achievement and be portrayed to the Russian people as justifying the invasion,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a Saturday assessment.

Russia has intensified efforts to capture the cities of Sievierodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk, which are the last major areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk.

Luhansk Gov. Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian fighters repelled an assault on Sievierodonetsk but Russian troops still pushed to encircle them. He later said Russian forces had seized a hotel on the city’s outskirts, damaged 14 high-rise buildings and were fighting in the streets with Ukrainian forces.

Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said there was fighting at the city’s bus station. A humanitarian center couldn’t operate due to the danger, Striuk said, and cellphone service and electricity were knocked out. And residents risked exposure to shelling to get water from a half-dozen wells, he said.

Some supply routes are functioning, and evacuations of the wounded are still possible, Striuk said. He estimated that 1,500 civilians in the city, which had a prewar population of around 100,000, have died from the fighting as well as from a lack of medicine and diseases that couldn’t be treated.

Just south of Sievierodonetsk, Associated Press reporters saw older and ill civilians bundled into soft stretchers and slowly carried down apartment building stairs Friday in Bakhmut.

Svetlana Lvova, the manager of two buildings in Bakhmut, tried to persuade reluctant residents to leave but said she and her husband would not evacuate until their son, who was in Sievierodonetsk, returned home.

“I have to know he is alive. That’s why I’m staying here,” said Lvova, 66.

On Saturday, people who managed to flee Lysychansk described intensified shelling, especially over the past week, that left them unable to leave basement bomb shelters.

Yanna Skakova left the city Friday with her 18-month-old and 4-year-old sons and cried as she sat in a train bound for western Ukraine. Her husband stayed behind to take care of their house and animals.

“It’s too dangerous to stay there now,” she said, wiping away tears.

Russia’s advance raised fears that residents could experience the same horrors seen in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which endured a three-month siege before it fell last week. Residents who had not yet fled faced the choice of trying to do so now or staying. Mariupol became a symbol of massive destruction and human suffering, as well as of Ukrainian determination to defend the country.

Mariupol’s port has reportedly resumed operations after Russian forces finished clearing mines in the Azov Sea. Russian state news agency Tass reported that a vessel bound for Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia entered the port early Saturday.

In the call with Macron and Scholz, the Kremlin said, Putin emphasized that Russia was working to “establish a peaceful life in Mariupol and other liberated cities in the Donbas.”

Germany and France brokered a 2015 peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia that would have given a large degree of autonomy to Moscow-backed rebel regions in eastern Ukraine. However, the agreement stalled long before Russia’s invasion in February. Any hope that Paris and Berlin would anchor a renewed peace agreement now appears unlikely with both Kyiv and Moscow taking uncompromising stands.

Ukrainian authorities have reported that Kremlin-installed officials in seized cities have started airing Russian news broadcasts, introduced Russian area codes, imported Russian school curriculum and taken other steps to annex the areas.

Russian-held areas of the southern Kherson region have shifted to Moscow time and “will no longer switch to daylight saving time, as is customary in Ukraine,” Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Krill Stremousov, a Russian-installed local official, as saying Saturday.

In his address Saturday, Zelenskyy also accused Russian forces of preventing Kherson residents from leaving, saying they effectively “try to take people hostage” in a “sign of weakness.’’

The war has caused global food shortages because Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other commodities. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations over which side bears responsibility for keeping shipments tied up, with Russia saying Ukrainian sea mines prevented safe passage and Ukraine citing a Russian naval blockade.

The press service of the Ukrainian Naval Forces said two Russian vessels “capable of carrying up to 16 missiles” were ready for action in the Black Sea, adding that only shipping routes established through multilateral treaties may be considered safe.

Ukrainian officials have pressed Western nations for more sophisticated and powerful weapons. The U.S. Defense Department would not confirm a Friday CNN report saying the Biden administration was preparing to send long-range rocket systems.

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoliy Antonov, said Saturday that such a move would be “unacceptable” and admonished the White House to “abandon statements about the military victory of Ukraine.”

Moscow is also trying to rattle Sweden and Finland’s determination to join NATO. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its navy successfully launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea that struck its target about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away.

If confirmed, the launch could spell trouble for NATO voyages in the Arctic and North Atlantic. The Zircon, described as the world’s fastest non-ballistic missile, can be armed with either a conventional or a nuclear warhead and is said to be impossible to stop with current defense systems.

Last week Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that Russia would form new military units in the country’s west in response to Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Andrea Rosa in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Andrew Katell in New York and AP journalists around the world contributed.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria - ABC News

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many children.

The stampede at the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Somehow the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said first responders were able to evacuate the bodies of those trampled to death and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any assistance they could to emergency workers. Doctors and emergency workers treated some of the injured as they lay in the open field. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and other items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also lost her life.

Some church members were attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the situation.

The police spokeswoman said the seven injured were “responding to treatment."

The “Shop for Free” event was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred.

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at least 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd got out of control during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

—

Associated Press journalist Hilary Uguru in Warri, Nigeria, contributed.

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Russia claims it tested hypersonic Zircon cruise missile - Fox News

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Russia has successfully tested a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile, the country's Ministry of Defense said Saturday. 

The missile has previously been touted as a major breakthrough in weapons development, with the Saturday launch clearing a distance of 625 miles, according to reports.

Video shows the missile fired from the Barents Sea and striking a target in the White Sea with great precision. 

"Today, the lead frigate of Project 22350 Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile at a sea target position in the White Sea from the Barents Sea," the defense ministry announced, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES 3 TEST MISSILES AS BIDEN LEAVES ASIA

The zircon missile can travel nine times the speed of sound, according to intelligence on the new weapon. Russia recently completed test launches of the Sarmat – an intercontinental missile that can carry nuclear warheads, according to reports.

Russia said it tested a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile in the Barents Sea, Saturday, May 28, 2022. (Russian Ministry of Defense)

While countries including the U.S., China, Israel, and others also boast extensive nuclear programs with evolving weaponry, Russia currently maintains the world's largest stockpile of nuclear warheads by sheer volume.

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Despite the impressive launches and tests of cutting edge ballistics, the Russian military is struggling to provide quality weaponry to its troops on the front lines in certain regions of Ukraine.

Old weaponry may prove dangerous for Russian troops as Ukrainian forces seek to exploit decades-old weaknesses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Talent and Success Educational Foundation via videoconference at the Sirius Educational Center for Gifted Children in Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia has deployed Soviet-era T-62 tanks to support the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The machinery, far outdated, has deep vulnerabilities to exploit, according to British intelligence.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense reported Friday that Russia has recently begun deploying the 50-year-old tanks from deep storage. 

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U.S. leans toward sending powerful multiple launch rockets as Ukraine seeks "heavy weapons" to stop Russia's Donbas offensive - CBS News

Near Kherson, Ukraine — Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba issued an urgent plea Thursday evening for Western leaders to send his country more "heavy weapons" to help Ukrainian forces counter a powerful Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

"The only position where Russia is better than us, it's the amount of heavy weapons they have," Kuleba said in his video appeal. "Without artillery, without multiple launch rocket systems, we won't be able to push them back."

Kuleba said the situation in Donbas was "even worse than people say," beseeching Western allies with a repeated plea: "If you really care for Ukraine, weapons, weapons and weapons again."

The appeals from Kyiv have apparently been heard in Washington, where a Biden administration official told CBS News senior national security correspondent David Martin that the White House was leaning toward providing multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Ukraine as part of the next package of military aid for the country.

A promotional photo shows one of Lockheed Martin's "High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems" (HIMARS) in use. Lockheed Martin

No final decision has been made in Washington, officials told CBS News, but if the Biden administration does commit to providing MLRS to Ukraine, they said it would likely be weapons known as HIMARS, made by Lockheed Martin, which would provide slightly longer range and significantly more punch than the 155 mm howitzers the U.S. is currently providing. The highly-portable HIMARS can fire six shells at a time, unlike the single-fire howitzers, and the rockets themselves are considerably larger than the howitzer rounds, at 277 mm.     

Ukrainian troops are already relying heavily on the howitzers provided by the U.S. as they try to stop Russia's advance on villages around two major cities in Donbas, Ukraine's long-time industrial heartland which is now largely under Russian control.

Some of the latest video to emerge from the war-torn nation shows Russia bombarding Ukrainian positions with next-generation warheads known as vacuum bombs. Russia's overwhelming artillery advantage has allowed its forces to capture more territory in Donbas this week.

CBS News correspondent Imtiaz Tyab says the town of Popasna is a clear example of what a Russian "victory" in Ukraine looks like. The town is just over 10 miles south of the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which Russia is trying hard to capture. Popasna was recently taken by pro-Russian troops, and it's now in ruins, with the remains of the dead still lying in the streets.

Tyab says Moscow is throwing nearly all of its firepower into efforts to consolidate control of the entire Donbas, with thousands of Russian troops attacking from three sides.

A map shows the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Getty/iStockphoto

If Severodonetsk and Lysychansk fall, nearly all of the province of Luhansk, which makes up about half of the Donbas, would be under Russian control.

But Ukrainian forces Tyab and his team have met this week say they won't go down without a fight, and the American howitzers are a big part of how they hope to turn the tide back against Russia. The American-made artillery pieces shoot further, move faster and can be hidden far easier than other weapons already at the Ukrainians' disposal.

The Ukrainians currently have about 85 of the 108 howitzers that were promised by the Biden administration.

U.S. trains Ukrainians on howitzer artillery 02:02

"The more howitzers we have, the easier it will be to fight Russians," Lieutenant Colonel Serhii Zayika, the lead trainer for the Ukrainian forces using the weapons near the southern city of Kherson, told CBS News.

It was the howitzer that helped Ukrainian troops push back Russian forces shelling a small village near Kherson, forcing Tyab and his team to duck for cover with the soldiers near the front lines earlier this week.

On the frontlines of war in Ukraine 02:59

It's a nimble but mighty weapon against Russia's advancing army, but it's clear that Ukraine wants more of them, and even more lethal firepower as its forces face the mounting Russian offensive.

It appeared on Friday that Kyiv's wish could be granted, but it wasn't clear when any multiple rocket launch systems from the U.S. might actually arrive, or if they would come soon enough to help Ukraine's defenders stop Russia from seizing the two big cities in Donbas.      

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US wins latest legal battle to seize Russian yacht in Fiji - The Associated Press - en Español

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The United States on Friday won the latest round of a legal battle to seize a $325-million Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji, with the case now appearing headed for the Pacific nation’s top court.

The case has highlighted the thorny legal ground the U.S. finds itself on as it tries to seize assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. Those intentions are welcomed by many governments and citizens who oppose the war in Ukraine, but some actions are raising questions about how far U.S. jurisdiction extends.

Fiji’s Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed an appeal by Feizal Haniff, who represents the company that legally owns the superyacht Amadea. Haniff had argued the U.S. had no jurisdiction under Fiji’s mutual assistance laws to seize the vessel, at least until a court sorted out who really owned the Amadea.

Haniff said he now plans to take the case to Fiji’s Supreme Court and will apply for a court order to stop U.S. agents sailing the Amadea from Fiji before the appeal is heard.

As part of its ruling, the appeals court ordered that its judgment not take effect for seven days, presumably to give time for any appeals to be filed.

The U.S. argues that its investigation has found that behind various fronts, the Cayman Islands-flagged luxury yacht is really owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, an economist and former Russian politician.

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Kerimov made a fortune investing in Russian gold producer Polyus, with Forbes magazine putting his net worth at $16 billion. The U.S. first sanctioned him in 2018 after he’d been detained in France and accused of money laundering there, sometimes arriving with suitcases stuffed with 20 million euros.

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Kerimov family through their alleged use of code names while aboard and the purchase of items like a pizza oven and a spa bed. The ship became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize Russian oligarchs’ assets to pressure Russia to end the war.

The 106-meter (348-foot) long vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and and a large helipad.

Haniff, who represents paper owner Millemarin Investments, argues the owner is another wealthy Russian who doesn’t face sanctions, Eduard Khudainatov. He’s the former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company.

The U.S. acknowledges that paperwork appears to show Khudainatov is the owner but say he’s also the paper owner of a second and even larger superyacht, the Scheherazade, which has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. question whether Khudainatov could really afford two superyachts worth a total of more than $1 billion.

“The fact that Khudainatov is being held out as the owner of two of the largest superyachts on record, both linked to sanctioned individuals, suggests that Khudainatov is being used as a clean, unsanctioned straw owner to conceal the true beneficial owners,” the FBI wrote in a court affidavit.

The U.S. claims Kerimov secretly bought the Amadea last year through shell companies. The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up emails showing that Kerimov’s children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names — G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.

The FBI said crew members discuss a possible “upcoming G0 guest trip” noting he wants the quickest jet skis available — so they’ll need to buy new jet skis.

In his appeal, Haniff argues the U.S. case is based on hearsay and rumors spread by unnamed crew members, and there’s no evidence that Khudainatov couldn’t afford an investment in two superyachts.

The yacht remains berthed at Lautoka harbor in the heart of Fiji’s sugar cane region.

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Former Head of Louvre Is Charged in Artifact Trafficking Case - The New York Times

Jean-Luc Martinez, who led the museum from 2013 to 2021, was charged with complicity in fraud and money laundering in an investigation into the trafficking of Egyptian antiquities.

PARIS — The former president of the Louvre has been charged with complicity in fraud and money laundering in connection with an investigation into Egyptian artifacts that were trafficked over the past decade, French prosecutors said on Thursday.

Jean-Luc Martinez, who was the president and director of the Louvre from 2013 to 2021, was released under judicial supervision after he was charged, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The prosecutor’s office did not provide more details about the investigation, which was first reported by Le Canard Enchaîné and Le Monde.

Under the French legal system, the charges against Mr. Martinez indicate that investigators suspect him of involvement in a crime but he may not necessarily stand trial. The charges could be dropped at any point if the police uncover new evidence. Complex legal investigations often take several years to unfold in France.

Representatives for the Louvre declined to comment on Thursday. Lawyers for Mr. Martinez were not immediately reachable for comment but told Agence France-Presse that he firmly disputed the charges.

“For now he is saving his statements for the judiciary, and he has no doubt that his good faith will be established,” Jacqueline Laffont and François Artuphel, Mr. Martinez’s lawyers, told the news agency.

The charges were a stunning turn of events for Mr. Martinez, who is currently France’s official ambassador for international cooperation on heritage issues and spearheaded efforts to safeguard artifacts at risk of looting and destruction in conflict zones during his time at the Louvre.

Mr. Martinez had written a report that France presented to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2015 that included 50 proposals, like the digital mapping of threatened sites and increased border controls, to protect antiquities from looters.

Two French Egyptologists were also questioned by the police in connection with the case but were released without charges, the prosecutor’s office said. According to Le Monde, in 2019, a colleague of the Egyptologists alerted them that he had grown suspicious of the provenance of a Tutankhamen stele that ended up at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi said it was unable to comment on the specifics of the case because of the ongoing investigation.

“Louvre Abu Dhabi applies a strict international protocol for artworks entering the collection, as outlined in the intergovernmental agreement between Abu Dhabi and France, signed in 2007,” the museum said. “This protocol is strictly aligned with the 1970 UNESCO convention and follows the most stringent standards of major museums in the world.”

Alex Marshall contributed reporting from London.

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Man dies in Brazilian police custody after being restrained in car filled with unknown gas - CNN

(CNN)Protests were held in the Brazilian city of Umbauba on Thursday following the death of a man in police custody.

In video purportedly showing the incident on Wednesday, two federal highway police officers are seen attempting to restrain 38 year-old Genivaldo de Jesus Santos on the ground.

The footage in the widely-shared video is edited, leaving gaps where it is unclear what happened between the clips.

The next clip shows officers allegedly putting Santos in the trunk of a Federal Highway Police patrol SUV. The individual appears to push back against the officers' efforts to get them entirely into the car.

In another clip, officers are shown using the trunk of the police car to pin down the man's legs while the vehicle fills with an unknown white smoke or gas. The trapped man is heard screaming. In another clip, the police officers are seen holding the man's legs down while the gas dissipates, and after about a minute and a half, his legs appear to stop moving. The officers are seen holding the trunk of the vehicle closed.

An image from the video purportedly showing the incident.

Federal Highway Police from the state of Sergipe said in a statement that Santos "actively resisted" the officer's approach with "aggressiveness" and the police officers had to use "immobilization techniques and instruments of lower offensive potential" to contain him.

The police say the man "fell ill" while being transported back to the station and later died in the hospital.

The Sergipe's coroner's office (IML) said in a statement that Santos died of asphyxiation but said "it was not possible to establish the immediate cause" of it. IML said it would conduct further exams to establish "how the asphyxia process took place."

Police have opened an internal investigation into the case.

CNN has reached out to the police for comment on the incident and why the man was stopped.

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China, Russia veto U.S. push for more U.N. sanctions on North Korea - Reuters.com

A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea's launch of three missiles including one thought to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in Seoul, South Korea, May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

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UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (Reuters) - China and Russia vetoed on Thursday a U.S.-led push to impose more United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches, publicly splitting the U.N. Security Council for the first time since it started punishing Pyongyang in 2006.

The remaining 13 council members all voted in favor of the U.S.-drafted resolution that proposed banning tobacco and oil exports to North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong Un is a chain smoker. It would also have blacklisted the Lazarus hacking group, which the United States says is tied to North Korea.

The vote came a day after North Korea fired three missiles, including one thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), following U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Asia. It was the latest in a string of ballistic missile launches this year, which are banned by the Security Council.

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U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the vote as a "disappointing day" for the council.

"The world faces a clear and present danger from the DPRK (North Korea)," she told the council. "Council restraint and silence has not eliminated or even reduced the threat. If anything, DPRK has been emboldened."

She said Washington had assessed that North Korea had carried out six ICBM launches this year and was "actively preparing to conduct a nuclear test."

Over the past 16 years the Security Council has steadily, and unanimously, stepped up sanctions to cut off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. It last tightened sanctions on Pyongyang in 2017.

Since then China and Russia have been pushing for an easing of sanctions on humanitarian grounds. While they have delayed some action behind closed doors in the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee, the vote on the resolution on Thursday was the first time they have publicly broken unanimity.

"The introduction of new sanctions against the DPRK (North Korea) is a path to a dead end," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. "We have stressed the ineffectiveness and the inhumanity of further strengthening the sanctions pressure on Pyongyang."

China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said that additional sanctions against North Korea would not help and would only lead to more "negative effects and escalation of confrontation."

"The situation on the Peninsula has developed to what it is today thanks primarily to the flip flop U.S. policies and failure to uphold the results of previous dialogues," he told the council.

China has been urging the United States to take action - including lifting some unilateral sanctions - to entice Pyongyang to resume talks stalled since 2019, after three failed summits between Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump. The United States has said Pyongyang should not be rewarded.

The U.N. General Assembly will now discuss North Korea in the next two weeks under a new rule requiring the 193-member body to meet every time a veto is cast in the Security Council by one of the five permanent members - Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain.

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Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Richard Chang and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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