Taliban leader says Afghan women won't be allowed to play sports

MEET THE NEW TALIBAN SAME AS THE OLD TALIBAN

Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A Taliban ruler in Afghanistan said Wednesday that women in the country will be barred from playing sports, including cricket for the national women's team.

Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission, told Australian broadcaster SBS that the Taliban don't consider sports to be appropriate in which for women to participate.

Wasiq was asked about Afghanistan's men's cricket team coming to Australia in November and the International Cricket Council requiring participants to have both men's and women's teams.

Wasiq said women will not be allowed to play, even if its means the men canceling their matches.

"I don't think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary that women should play cricket," Wasiq told SBS. "In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this."

Tuesday, the Taliban announced its interim Afghan government, comprised of male Taliban fundamentalists. No women and members of the former U.S.-led Afghanistan government were included.

Wednesday's remarks by Wasiq are sure to deepen concerns about the treatment of women and girls under the new Afghan regime. Western governments, the United Nations and other human rights groups immediately expressed serious concern about the issue when the Taliban captured Kabul last month and ran off the U.S.-supported government.

AN EXAMPLE OF A BANNED WOMEN'S SPORT UNDER THE TALIBAN

Halloween's Jamie Lee Curtis: 'I hate horror movies'

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

Jamie Lee Curtis received a life-time achievement award in Venice and premiered her sixth 'Halloween' film 

Filippo MONTEFORTE AFP

Venice (AFP)

She has been starring in the "Halloween" movies for 43 years, but Jamie Lee Curtis said Wednesday that the secret to her success is that she despises horror films.

"I scare easily," Curtis said at the Venice Film Festival, where the latest instalment, "Halloween Kills", premiered.

"I am an untrained actor. I've never been to acting class," she told the press conference.

"But I hate these movies. I loathe them. I do not like to be frightened. So it's a natural talent -- that genuine emotional connection to being afraid. You're watching that happen on screen."

Curtis, 62, -- daughter of Hollywood legends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh -- was also receiving a life-time achievement award in Venice for her long career, which includes hits "A Fish Called Wanda" and "True Lies". 

A FISH CALLED WANDA IS A BRILLIANT ENSEMBLE CAST COMEDY

She said the role of Laurie Strode, which she has portrayed since the first "Halloween" film by cult director John Carpenter in 1978, was crucial to her career but initially put her in the firing line with feminists who took issue with the story for allowing only the virgin to survive.

"I was in horror films for a long time, it gave me a foothold in the business, but the women's movement hated me," Curtis said.

"Then I was in 'Trading Places' and took off my shirt, and all of a sudden, I was what they call legitimate, an A-lister.

IT WAS THE KIND HEARTED HOOKER ROLE THAT JANE FONDA PLAYED AS WELL IN KLUTE

"Now, today, the women's movement would love Laurie Strode... her strength, her ability to fight back against adversity, and yet somehow it was anti-feminist then."

The "Halloween" series was relaunched to massive box office success in 2018 with indie director David Gorden Green at the helm.

The new instalment is the second part of a trilogy by Green, with the third part due to start filming soon.

"I read the third one on the plane over here, and I did not sleep. It's an extraordinary way to finish this trilogy," said Curtis.

She said Green's success with the new trilogy lay in its reflection of real-life issues, particularly women challenging the patriarchy and protests against injustice.

"I'd like to take him to Vegas because my guess is we'd win a shitload of money because he's so far-thinking," Curtis said.

© 2021 AFP

NASA's next space telescope to launch in December

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

The $10 billion observatory, which will be the largest and most powerful telescope launched into space, will take off on a European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 5 rocket from Spaceport in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America

 Chris GUNN NASA/AFP

Washington (AFP)

The James Webb Space Telescope, which astronomers hope will herald a new era of discovery, will launch on December 18, NASA said Wednesday.

The $10 billion observatory, which is a joint project by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will blast off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Spaceport in French Guiana.

It is currently stowed at contractor Northrop Grumman's facilities in Redondo Beach, California, where it is awaiting shipping.

"Webb is an exemplary mission that signifies the epitome of perseverance," said Webb's NASA program director Gregory Robinson in a statement.

"We are extremely honored to orbit NASA's James Webb Space Telescope with Ariane, a first for Arianespace and the European space team," added Stephane Israel, CEO of Arianespace.

Researchers want to use the space telescope, the largest and most powerful ever built, to look back in time over 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies that formed, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

A key feature is its ability to detect infrared, as by the time the light from the first objects reaches our telescopes, it has shifted towards the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum as a result of the universe's expansion.

The current premier space telescope, Hubble, only has limited infrared capacity.

Astronomers also hope the James Webb Space Telescope will supercharge the discovery of alien worlds.

The first planets to orbit other stars were detected in the 1990s and there are now more than 4,000 exoplanets that have been confirmed.

© 2021 AFP

'Keep looking forward' says Niyonsaba, barred from 800m

Isued on: 08/09/2021 - 

Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba was forced to move up to 5,000m due to controversial rules governing high testosterone levels

 Jonathan NACKSTRAND AFP/File


Zurich (AFP

Unusually for an athlete in her mid-20s, Francine Niyonsaba has been forced to recalibrate from an outstanding multiple medal-winning 800m runner to adopting the 5,000m as her new event.

The Burundian won an Olympic silver medal at 800m in Rio in 2016 and also came second at the London world championships a year later, and is also a two-time world indoor champion.

But Niyonsaba, like South Africa's gold medal winner in Rio, Caster Semenya, saw her hopes of continuing in the two-lap discipline dashed in May 2019 after World Athletics introduced controversial rules governing testosterone levels.

Female athletes like Niyonsaba and Semenya who have unusually high levels of testosterone, which gives them added strength, are prohibited from competing in races between 400m and a mile unless they undergo treatment to reduce the levels.

It left them looking around at what other events they might qualify in for the Tokyo Games. While Semenya failed to make the qualifying time amid a court battle, Niyonsaba made the cut for the 5000m in only her second competitive run over the distance.

"It was a long journey. I was blessed to be in the Olympics," Niyonsaba said ahead of the two-day Diamond League finale in Zurich on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Tokyo, Niyonsaba was disqualified in the heats of the 5,000m, but finished fifth in the 10,000m.

"I had many changes. I'm glad I never gave up."

Now 28, she said: "Since I was born, I have not had an easy life and I love challenges and I face them with a lot of determination and perserverance.

"To transform 800m into long-distance, it's not easy. In the Olympics it was new challenges, new experiences, so I was happy."

- 'Not going back' -

Niyonsaba had relocated for training to Eugene, Oregon, as an athlete affiliated to the US sportswear giant Nike.

But her change in distance on the track saw her decide on a different course, swapping Eugene for the foothills of Kenya shortly after she was barred from her favoured 800m in May 2019.

"It was the right decision to move from America to Kenya because I knew Kenya is home of champions in long distance," she said.

"To meet many athletes there... Meeting Kipchoge in the morning, it gives you motivation!" she said, referring to the dominant marathon runner in the world, Eliud Kipchoge.

Kipchoge's Kenyan teammate Hellen Obiri, the two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist behind Sifan Hassan in Tokyo, will likely be Niyonsaba's main rival in Wednesday's race, run on an unorthodox 560-metre track on the shores of Lake Zurich.

"Every race is new for me. I think it's going to be a great race," the Burundi athlete said. "Running with Obiri is an honour."

Niyonsaba trumped Obiri when the two took to the track at last week's Diamond League meet in Brussels, just as Namibian teenager Christine Mboma triumphed in the 200m over Britain's reigning world champion Dina Asher-Smith.

Like Niyonsaba, Mboma has been barred from running her favoured 400m unless she takes the testosterone-reducing drugs.

The fact the pair beat current world champions after recent decisions to swap events out of necessity raised the contentious issue of whether regulations put in place by the sport's governing body to try to create a "level playing field" actually go far enough.

It is a delicate subject, but Niyonsaba was sanguine.

"I'm here and I'm doing well," she said. "I'm back because I want to make sports be in a better place and keep inspiring others.

"I will never go back, I'm going to keep looking forward.

"Today, every moment I enjoy to run. I'm going to keep training hard and perform well. I love to do my best."

© 2021 AFP

Niyonsaba, Crouser shine in opening Diamond League finals

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba Fabrice COFFRINI AFP

Zurich (AFP)

Francine Niyonsaba again trumped Hellen Obiri in the women's 5000m while two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser won the men's shot put on the first of two days of Diamond League finals in Zurich on Wednesday.

In hot, sunny conditions at the Sechselaeutenplatz square on the shores of Lake Zurich, Niyonsaba best negotiated an unorthodox 560-metre track to win in 14:28.98, 0.70sec ahead of two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist Obiri.

Niyonsaba's victory saw her bag $30,000 in prize money to cap a tremendous season in which she switched to the 5,000m after being barred from running her favoured 800m.


The former Olympic and world 800m silver medallist, like South African Caster Semenya, has fallen foul of World Athletics regulations that prohibit athletes who have unusually high levels of testosterone from competing in races between 400m and a mile unless they undergo treatment to reduce the levels.

"I love challenges. I have a lot of resilience and determination," said the 28-year-old.

"I stayed behind most of the race, this was my tactic, I am still learning after switching from 800m to longer distances.

"I did what I had to do. We love to see the people around here, cheering for us. This race was amazing."

The Burundi runner left it late, taking the lead at the bell for the last lap ahead of her Kenyan rival and comfortably keeping her nerve through to the line.

"This race was like a championship," said Obiri. "It was a new experience, we did not know where we can start to kick and to accelerate.

"The race was hard for me, I tried to kick and did my best, but Francine is a former 800m runner. She had a stronger kick."

- Cowboy Crouser -

Crouser was introduced to the crowd of 2,500 basking in the early evening sunshine in his customary cowboy hat, but quickly shelved that to take an early lead.

USA's Ryan Crouser Fabrice COFFRINI AFP

The 28-year-old, who set a world record of 23.37m in the pre-Tokyo US Olympic trials in June, managed a best of 22.67m on his third attempt.

Tokyo silver medallist Joe Kovacs finished second with 22.29m, with Serbia's Armin Sinancevic claiming third spot (21.86).

Crouser also beat by 7cm the meet record set in 2018 by Tokyo bronze medallist Tom Walsh, the New Zealander -- who sports "Space for rent" on the front of his all-black vest after losing sponsorship -- finishing fourth (21.61).

"This meeting record is a big one for me," said Crouser. "This is my first Diamond League victory. I am honoured to be here and come out with a victory.

"I love great events like this, you can see and feel the energy of the crowd. This is a perfect evening."

Crouser was joined on the winners' podium by teammate Maggie Ewen, who won the women's shot with a best of 19.41m, having failed to even make the Olympics.

Olympic champion Mariya Lasitskene of Russia won the women's high jump in a meet record of 2.05m.

Russia's Mariya Lasitskene STEFAN WERMUTH AFP

"The venue here is difficult and fantastic at the same time - difficult because of the track and fantastic because of the spectators," said the three-time world gold medallist.

There was no such luck, however, for Germany's Malaika Mihambo, another Tokyo champion, who could only finish fifth in the women's long jump, which was won by Serbia's Ivana Spanovic in 6.96m.

Sweden's Thobias Montler won the men's long jump with a last-gasp 8.17m, while Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi topped the podium in the men's 5,000m in 12:58.65.

All 25 other Diamond League finals are scheduled for Thursday at the iconic Letzigrund Stadium, where more than 20,000 spectators traditionally create a raucous atmosphere.

© 2021 AFP

Protests as France sends last nuclear shipment to Japan

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

The container of highly radioactive Mox was loaded aboard a ship at harbour in Cherbourg in northern France.

 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

Cherbourg (France) (AFP)

Activists from environmental group Greenpeace protested against a shipment of reprocessed nuclear fuel that was set to leave France for Japan on Wednesday for use in a power plant.

The load of highly radioactive Mox, a mixture of reprocessed plutonium and uranium, was escorted by police from a plant near the port of Cherbourg to the dockyard in the early hours of the morning.

A handful of Greenpeace activists waved flags and signs with anti-nuclear logos as they camped out on Tuesday night to wait for the heavy-goods truck transporting the high-security cargo.

The Mox from French nuclear technology group Orano is destined for a nuclear plant in Takahama in Japan and is the seventh such shipment from France since 1999.

Greenpeace activists wait for the convoy.

 Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP

Japan lacks facilities to process waste from its own nuclear reactors and sends most of it overseas, particularly to France.

The country is building a long-delayed reprocessing plant in Aomori in northern Japan.

"Orano and its partners have a longstanding experience in the transport of nuclear materials between Europe and Japan, in line with international regulations with the best safety and security records," Orano said in a September 3 statement.

The fuel is being shipped by two specially designed ships from British company PNTL.

© 2021 AFP

PUTIN 💓GLOBAL WARMING OPENING THE ARCTIC
Russian minister dies trying to save filmmaker in Arctic drills

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

Zinichev previously served in President Vladimir Putin's security detail 

Alexey NIKOLSKY SPUTNIK/AFP

Moscow (AFP)

Russia's emergencies minister has died trying to save a filmmaker who slipped from a cliff during training exercises in the Arctic, officials said Wednesday.

Yevgeny Zinichev, who previously served in President Vladimir Putin's security detail, is the first Russian cabinet member to die on duty.

He was lauded by senior government officials and the Russian leader as a loyal civil servant and a "hero". The UK's ambassador in Russia also offered condolences.

The 55-year-old "tragically died trying to save a person's life" near the city of Norilsk, the ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The ministry identified the filmmaker as 63-year-old Alexander Melnik who produced several films set in the Arctic region. It said he also died in the incident that took place earlier Wednesday.

Margarita Simonyan, the well-connected editor-in-chief of the state-funded news outlet RT, said the minister had fallen to his death trying to save the man later identified as Melnik.

"He and the cameraman were standing at the edge of a cliff," she said.

"The cameraman slipped and fell... Before anyone even figured out what happened, Zinichev jumped into the water after the fallen person and crashed against a protruding rock."

- Personal tribute from Putin -

Zinichev's deputy Andrei Gurovich said in televised remarks: "Without thinking for a second he acted not like a minister, but like a rescuer.

"This is how he lived all his life," Gurovich added.

In an usually personal note to Zinichev's family published by the Kremlin, Putin said he was "shocked by the tragic news" of his death.

"We have lost a true military officer, a comrade, a person of great inner strength and courage and bravery close to all of us. For me, this is an irreparable personal loss," Putin said.

Zinichev was a member of the KGB security service in the last years of the USSR and his career took off after he served in Putin's security detail between 2006 and 2015.

He held a number of high-profile jobs, briefly serving as acting governor of Russia's exclave region of Kaliningrad and then as deputy head of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

He was appointed head of the emergencies ministry in May, 2018. He was also a member of Russia's Security Council.

As head of the emergencies ministry, he held one of the highest-profile cabinet jobs, dealing with natural and man-made disasters and other rapid-response situations across the vast country.

The two-day drills he was participating in across several Arctic cities including Norilsk, kicked off on Tuesday involving over 6,000 people.

- 'Big loss for Russia' -

Condolences poured in from top officials and even foreign dignitaries including Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin praised Zinichev as a "true Russian officer" and Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov said the minister "died like a hero."

"I knew him personally. We worked together closely and fruitfully," said the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov called his passing "a big loss for Russia."

The British Ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, said on Twitter she was "saddened" by Zinichev's death and expressed her condolences to his family.

Melnik was an award-winning film director and had travelled to Norilsk to work on a new film about the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route.

Opening up the Arctic is a strategic priority for Moscow and it has huge projects to exploit the vast region's natural resources.

© 2021 AFP

Priceless historical Dutch artefacts get new lease of life

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

RESTORATION

The new building has the same floor area as almost four-and-a-half football fields, uses solar power as well as rain water to flush its toilets, and sustains its own climate 

Clemence OVEREEM AFP


Amersfoort (Netherlands) (AFP)

Prized paintings, an ornate throne and a barrel organ that survived the great 1953 flood are some of the thousands of artefacts plucked from obscurity to be showcased in a new Dutch 'physical memory' centre.

Dutch culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven will on Monday unveil the new Netherlands Collection Centre (CC NL), a state-of-the-art, tailor-made building housing a myriad of objects which previously gathered dust in storages at four of the country's most influential museums and institutions.

While not a museum, the combined collection will be available on appointment for people expressing a specific interest or for research purposes.

The CC NL "brings to light thrilling collections that were previously hidden from view," said Taco Dibbits, director of Amsterdam's famous Rijksmuseum where some of the artefacts were previously stored.

"Combining the collections means that royal carriages now stand alongside farm carts. This gives rise to a more complete picture of the Netherlands, both in a chronological and social sense," Dibbits said in a statement.

"The four national collections together under a single roof form the physical memory of the Netherlands," the Rijksmuseum statement added.

Building the high-tech centre, which features the country's first dedicated quarantine chamber to clear museum pieces of mould and insects, started in the central city of Amersfoort in 2018.

The building has the same floor area as almost four-and-a-half football fields, uses solar power as well as rain water to flush its toilets, "and sustains its own climate," CC NL location manager Wim Hoeben told AFP.

A veritable Aladdin's cave, it houses some 500,000 objects from the four collections, from King William II of the Netherlands' ornate throne to a large traditional barrel-organ called De Blue Mortier, which at 5.4 metres (17.7 feet) tall is the largest object.

Built in 1913, the organ was severely damaged in the Netherlands' infamous, deadly 1953 floods, before it was eventually restored.

An ancient steam engine weighing over seven tonnes and the restoration of a 350-year-old painting by Dutch still life master Matthias Withoos are also among the artefacts.

Moving all the pieces from across the Netherlands was a mammoth task: it took some 869 truckloads to get all of them to their new home.

"It was quite an adventure," Hoeben told AFP.

The storage depots previously used by the Rijksmuseum, Open Air Museum, Het Loo Palace and Cultural Heritage Agency "did not meet the needs of modern collection management," the Rijksmuseum said.

Hoeben added they needed a lot of energy to be heated or cooled and were not always easily accessible.

© 2021 AFP

ISRAEL APARTHEID PRISON NATION 

Israel arrests relatives of Palestinian fugitives after jailbreak

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 
A protester in the Gaza Strip holds a spoon, reportedly the tool six Palestinian prisoners used to dig their way out of Israel's Gilboa prison SAID KHATIB AFP
2 min
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Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

Israeli troops have arrested at least six relatives of Palestinians who broke out of a high-security jail, a local watchdog said on Wednesday amid protests in support of the escapees.

The six Palestinians staged their jailbreak on Monday through a hole they had dug under a sink in a Gilboa prison cell in northern Israel -- reportedly using a spoon.

Israel has deployed drones, road checkpoints and an army mission to Jenin, the home town in the occupied West Bank of many of the men locked up for their roles in attacks on the Jewish state.


The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said two brothers of Mahmud Ardah, described in local media as the mastermind of the escape, have been arrested.

The army has also taken into custody four other people -- fellow family member Dr Nidal Ardah, two brothers of Mahmud's cousin and fellow fugitive Mohammad Ardah and the father of Munadel Infeiat, another escapee.

All three of these escapees are members of the Islamic Jihad armed group.

Amani Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the prisoners' group, told AFP that others could also have been arrested, while some had been only briefly detained.

Asked by AFP, the Israeli army -- which has occupied the West Bank since 1967 -- said "several arrests were made overnight", without elaborating.

Subhiyeh al-Ardah, the mother of escaped prisoner Mohammad Qassem Ardah, prays for him at her home in Arraba village south of Jenin on September 8, 2021 

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP

"Holding someone in order to coerce a relative to do something is a mafia-style tactic," tweeted Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, on Wednesday.

An Israeli injunction is in effect against publishing details of the jailbreak investigation, even as local media report on the scramble to recover from the embarrassing lapse and prevent any possible attack by the fugitives.

The group on the run includes Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant leader from Jenin.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club reported "tensions" in Israeli prisons on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli prison authorities confirmed to AFP that fires had been lit in Ktziot and Ramon jails.

"The situation is now under control, the fires have been extinguished," she said as Palestinian groups called for rallies later Wednesday in Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin in support of the men on the run.

Many people in the Gaza Strip and in Jenin took to the streets to celebrate when news of the escape broke on Monday.

Gilboa prison -- which opened in 2004 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising -- is a high security site where hundreds of Palestinians are detained among other inmates.

The prison service said all those held at Gilboa over "security offences" were being relocated in case more escape tunnels have been dug beneath the facility.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has called the breakout "a serious event that required a comprehensive effort by all of the security services".

His Palestinian counterpart, Mohammed Shtayyeh, said on Tuesday he was "happy" about the jailbreak.

he-ha-cgo-gl/srm/dv

© 2021 AFP

WHO IGNORED BY G7
WHO urges Covid vaccine booster moratorium until 2022

'We don't want any more promises,' said Tedros.'We just want the vaccines.'

Issued on: 08/09/2021 -

 Christopher Black World Health Organization/AFP

Geneva (AFP)

The World Health Organization called Wednesday for countries to avoid giving out extra Covid jabs until year-end, pointing to the millions worldwide who have yet to receive a single dose.

"I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor should be satisfied with leftovers," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.

Speaking from WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Tedros urged wealthy countries and vaccine makers to prioritise getting the first jabs to health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer nations over boosters.


"We do not want to see widespread use of boosters for healthy people who are fully vaccinated," he said.

The WHO called last month for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine booster shots until the end of September to address the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.

But Tedros acknowledged Wednesday that there had "been little change in the global situations since then.

"So today I am calling for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year," he said.

High-income countries had promised to donate more than one billion vaccine doses to poorer countries, he said -- "but less than 15 percent of those doses have materialised.

"We don't want any more promises," he said. "We just want the vaccines."

- 'Appalled' -

Despite the call for a moratorium, some countries have been arguing for booster jabs not only for vulnerable people but also for the wider population, citing signs of waning vaccine effectiveness against the highly transmissive Delta variant.

The WHO has acknowledged that an additional dose could be needed for immunocompromised people, but stresses that for healthy people, the vaccines still seem very effective, especially in preventing severe disease.

"There is not a compelling case to move forward with a generalised recommendation for booster doses," Kate O'Brien, the WHO's vaccines chief, told Wednesday's news conference.

The UN health agency has set a global target of seeing every country vaccinate at least 10 percent of its population by the end of this month, and at least 40 percent by the end of this year.

It wants to see at least 70 percent of the world's population vaccinated by the middle of next year.

But Tedros lamented that while 90 percent of wealthy countries have hit the 10-percent mark, and more than 70 percent have already reached 40-percent, "not a single low-income country has reached either target".

He expressed outrage at a statement by a pharmaceutical industry organisation that the world's seven wealthiest nations, known as the G7, now had enough vaccines for all adults and teenagers -- and to offer boosters to at-risk groups -- and so the focus should shift to dose sharing.

"When I read this, I was appalled," he said.

"In reality, manufacturers and high-income countries have long had the capacity to not only vaccinate their own priority groups, but to simultaneously support the vaccination of those same groups in all countries."

© 2021 AFP

Venice films expose horrific Ukraine war, man's brutality

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

'I was deeply affected by the fact that in modern Europe nowadays these cruel, totally inhumane things can happen,' Vasyanovych told AFP 

Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Venice (AFP)

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine's east is the subject of two films at the Venice Film Festival this year, underscoring the horror and futility of the simmering -- and largely forgotten -- war.

The festival also premieres Oleh Sentsov's "Rhino" about corruption in 1990s Ukraine, two years after the Ukrainian director was released from a Russian prison after being arrested for protesting the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"Reflection", from Ukranian director Valentyn Vasyanovych, portrays the gruesome torture inflicted in secret detention centres by pro-Russian separatists in occupied Ukraine.

A documentary by France's Loup Bureau, "Trenches", follows Ukranian soldiers inside their tunnelled defences as they deal with anxiety, monotony, and unpredictable artillery attacks.

Since 2014, Ukraine's army has been locked in a protracted battle in the east with pro-Russian breakaway fighters, a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.

"I was deeply affected by the fact that in modern Europe nowadays these cruel, totally inhumane things can happen," Vasyanovych told AFP Wednesday.

The torture -- which the United Nations said in July was occurring daily -- is "not less important than the war itself that's going on".

Using bleak, single-frame tableaus reminiscent of chiaroscuro paintings, Vasyanovych lays bare the torture inflicted on captured Ukrainian soldiers, and one former prisoner's journey towards healing and salvation.

After surgeon Serhiy (Roman Lutskyi) enlists in the war, he is soon taken prisoner. After first subjecting him to torture, his captors rely on him to tell them whether other mutilated and barely recognisable victims of their torture are dead, or still alive.

In one powerful scene, Ukranian soldiers who have been tortured to death are burned in a mobile incinerator inside a truck labelled "Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation."

- Spies and saboteurs -

In Bureau's documentary shot mostly in black and white, front-line soldiers spend much of their time digging with pickaxes, carrying sandbags, waiting and worrying -- all between moments of fire from enemy trenches within eyesight.

The trenches' lone female soldier -- nicknamed Persephone, for the queen of the underworld -- says her fellow soldiers, the same age as her children, "look like grown-ups, but some of them are just kids.

"They simply don't understand that it's no picnic," she says. "They're on a frontline, there are bombardments, people die and others are seriously injured."

Man's brutality is also a theme of the powerful period drama "Captain Volkonogov Escaped", by Russian directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov.

Like "Reflection", it is competing for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion.

A captain, played by Yuriy Borisov, escapes from the state security services in 1938 Leningrad where he and his colleagues have been charged with killing "terrorists, spies and saboteurs".

"You know the times we're living in," the captain's superior tells him, to justify the gruesome torture used to exact confessions.

"Yes, they're innocent now -- but they'll be guilty later on."

© 2021 AFP