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Estonia’s, Latvia’s, Lithuania’s, and Poland’s presidents are travelling to Ukraine

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Estonia’s, Latvia’s, Lithuania’s, and Poland’s presidents are travelling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “On our way to Kyiv, a city that has suffered greatly as a result of the Russian war since my last visit,” Estonian President Alar Karis tweeted.

On Wednesday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausda stated that he would be “heading to Kyiv with a strong message of political support and military assistance.”

The trip also includes Polish President Andrzej Duda and Latvian President Egils Levits.

The visit was supposed to include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier “to send a strong signal of European solidarity with Ukraine,” but he said on Tuesday that he was not welcome in Ukraine.

“I was prepared to do this,” he said, “but apparently, and this is something I must note, this was not wanted in Kyiv.”

After an unidentified Ukrainian diplomat told the German newspaper Bild that he was not welcome in Kyiv at the moment, Steinmeier spoke out.

President Zelenskyy has criticised Steinmeier’s historical support for Western-Russian rapprochement.

The German president has been a vocal proponent of the “Wandel durch Handel” (Change through Trade) theory, which contends that strengthening commercial ties can help spur democratic reforms.

Berlin had been hesitant to send weapons to Ukraine due to historical reasons, but in response to the conflict, it has now sent anti-tank weapons, missile launchers, and surface-to-air missiles.

Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, paid a visit to Kyiv last week after promising to provide Ukraine with more than $130 million in advanced weaponry. Johnson’s surprise visit was described by Downing Street as a “show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” with his one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy focusing on long-term support and new financial and military aid.

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Britney Spears Says She Is Pregnant After Controversial Guardianship Ends

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Britney Spears announced on Monday that she is expecting her third child, five months after a judge ended the tumultuous guardianship that the pop star claimed prevented her from having more children.
The 40-year-old wrote on Instagram, “I got a pregnancy test… and uhhhhh well… I am having a baby.”

In November, a Los Angeles judge dissolved Spears’ father’s conservatorship, which the singer claimed had prevented her from having a contraceptive IUD removed despite her desire for more children.

Spears’ representatives did not respond to an AFP request for comment right away. “I was like, ‘Geez… what happened to my stomach???'” says the narrator. Spears wrote that her 28-year-old partner Sam Asghari, whom she has begun to refer to as her “husband” online, speculated that she was “food pregnant.” “It’s getting bigger!!! If there are two of them in there, I’m going to lose it “The singer’s comments sparked speculation that she was expecting twins, prompting speculation on the internet.

After a highly public breakdown in 2007, when Spears attacked a paparazzo’s car at a gas station, she was placed under her father Jamie Spears’ conservatorship, which lasted nearly 14 years. Fans had long suspected that the “…Baby One More Time” singer was unhappy with her father as guardian, so she asked a Los Angeles judge to end the legal arrangement that had left her “traumatised” in June 2021.

Her claim that the conservatorship was preventing her from removing a contraceptive IUD, despite her desire to have control over her own birth control method in order to conceive, infuriated reproductive rights groups and her fans, many of whom were already active in the #FreeBritney movement. “I’d like to gradually move forward, and I’d like to have the real deal,” Spears said in a shocking court appearance last summer. “I want to be able to marry and start a family. I don’t get pregnant because I have a (IUD) implanted in my uterus. They don’t want me to have any more children, they say “During the engrossing 20-minute statement, she said.

After her father Jamie Spears was removed from his position as guardian of her finances and estate at a hearing in September, the guardianship was officially ended in November 2021. After documentaries that emphasised the role of the early-2000s celebrity journalism machine in triggering breakdowns and questionable behaviour, she and other turn-of-the-millennium female pop stars have drawn sympathy.

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The Eagle Has Landed author, Henry Patterson, died at 92 years

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The best-selling author of The Eagle Has Landed, Henry Patterson, has died at the age of 92, according to his publisher.

Between 1959 and 2017, Patterson, who began writing as a teacher, published 85 novels. Patterson died at his Jersey home, surrounded by family, according to HarperCollins. The Eagle Has Landed, a novel written under the pseudonym Jack Higgins about a Nazi plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill during World War II, sold more than 50 million copies and was adapted into a film. Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Sir Michael Caine starred in the 1976 adaptation.

Patterson’s other works include Comes the Dark Stranger, Hell is Too Crowded, and To Catch a King, and he has sold over 250 million books in his career. Patterson grew up in Belfast before moving to Leeds. He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne. After becoming a teacher, he wrote novels in his spare time and received a £75 advance for his first novel, Sad Wind from the Sea, in 1959.

His final book, The Midnight Bell, was a Sunday Times bestseller when it was released in 2017. HarperCollins stated that by the time his last novel was published, he was simply referred to as “the legend.”

Patterson’s novels “were and remain absolutely unputdownable,” according to HarperCollins CEO Charlie Redmayne, who described him as a “classic thriller writer: instinctive, tough, relentless.”

“I had the privilege of being at Collins Publishers when we received the manuscript of The Eagle has Landed,” Patterson’s literary agent Jonathan Lloyd said.

“With rare certainty, we all knew we’d be publishing an instant classic.”

Patterson is survived by his wife, Denise, and four children from his first marriage: Sarah, Ruth, Sean, and Hannah.

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The Kinder chocolate factory has been ordered to close due to salmonella outbreaks

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After being linked to dozens of salmonella cases, a Kinder chocolate factory in Belgium has been ordered to close.

The Belgian food safety authority has also ordered the recall of all Kinder products produced at Ferrero’s Arlon factory. Salmonella cases suspected to be linked to Kinder chocolate have been reported in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Belgium. Ferrero has issued an apology and admitted to “internal failures.”

The factory was ordered to close by Belgium’s food safety authority, the AFSCA, after Ferrero failed to provide complete information for its investigation.

The investigation is still ongoing, according to the AFSCA, and the factory will only be allowed to reopen if Ferrero can provide the necessary assurances that it is in compliance with food safety regulations. In a statement, Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval said: “Such a decision is never easy to make, but the current situation necessitates it. Our citizens’ food security must never be overlooked.”

All Kinder Surprise, Kinder Surprise Maxi, Kinder Mini Eggs, and Kinder Schokobons products are affected by the recall.

The AFSCA has also requested that companies remove the products from their shelves and that consumers refrain from eating them. Ferrero recalled some of its Kinder chocolates from stores in the United States on Thursday due to concerns about salmonella contamination. A number of Kinder Surprise chocolate egg products were also recalled in the UK earlier this week.

The UK’s Food Standards Agency announced on Friday evening that none of the recalled products should be consumed, regardless of their best before date.

All of the sweets in question were produced in the same Belgian factory.

In Asia, including Hong Kong and Singapore, some Kinder chocolates have been recalled. Ferrero previously described the recalls as “precautionary,” claiming that none of its Kinder products had tested positive for salmonella when they were released for sale.

It came after an outbreak linked to Kinder Surprise eggs infected more than 60 people in the UK, the majority of whom were young children.

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that it was investigating dozens of suspected salmonella cases linked to chocolate consumption in at least nine countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Belgium.

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Will Smith banned from Oscars for 10 years over slap

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Will Smith has been barred from attending the Oscars and other Academy events for the next ten years after slapping comedian Chris Rock at the ceremony.

The 94th Academy Awards were “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage,” according to a statement from the Academy. Smith has apologised for his actions and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The actor slammed Rock for making a joke about his wife’s shaved head, which is the result of alopecia, a hair-loss condition.

He won the best actor award for his role as the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard” less than an hour later. On Friday, the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the awards show, met virtually to discuss disciplinary action. It said in a statement that the ban was aimed at protecting performers and guests while also “restoring trust in the Academy.”

The Academy claimed it did not “adequately address the situation in the room” at the time of the slap and was “unprepared for the unprecedented.” It expressed regret for this.

It also praised Rock for “retaining his composure in the face of adversity.” Smith said in his resignation statement that he had “betrayed the Academy’s trust” and was “heartbroken” over his actions. He went on to say that he would “fully accept any and all consequences” for his actions.

As a result of his resignation, he will be unable to vote in future Oscars. After Smith resigned, the Academy’s disciplinary review of the incident was accelerated. It was originally scheduled for April 18th.

Few people have ever left the academy. Four members have been expelled for sexual misconduct allegations: producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Bill Cosby, director Roman Polanski, and cinematographer Adam Kimmel, while actor Carmine Caridi was expelled in 2004 for pirating screener videos given to him.

However, the film academy’s code of conduct included a number of disciplinary options for Smith, including barring him from future Oscar ceremonies, revoking his eligibility for awards, and returning his newly won Oscar.

Only one Oscar has ever been rescinded; in 1969, a film called “Young Americans” won best documentary but was later found to be ineligible for the award.

Smith would face “big consequences,” according to actor Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the academy’s board of governors, but “we’re not going to take that Oscar away from him.”

In addition to the Academy’s actions, at least two studios, Sony and Netflix, have put Smith’s projects on hold.

Rock, who started his latest stand-up comedy tour shortly after the Oscars, has remained silent on the incident.

At a recent show, he told fans that he is “still kind of processing what happened” and that he will speak about the incident “at some point.”

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Sexual assault charges against US rapper Snoop Dogg have been dropped

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An unnamed woman filed a sexual assault claim against US rapper Snoop Dogg, which was later withdrawn.

Jane Doe, the woman named in the lawsuit, claimed that the US rapper sexually assaulted her after she attended one of his concerts in 2013. The allegations were false, according to Snoop Dogg’s representatives, who welcomed the voluntary dismissal.

The claim was withdrawn earlier this week, nearly two months after it was filed in California’s Central District. It was filed just days before Snoop Dogg’s appearance at the Super Bowl half-time show.

Charges against all other parties named in the case, including the rapper’s business associate, were also dropped as a result of the voluntary dismissal. Snoop Dogg’s ex-girlfriend was described as a dancer, model, host, and actress. However, the actress stated that she had never worked for him.

In a statement to the Reuters news agency on Thursday, a representative for Snoop Dogg said, “It is not surprising that the plaintiff dismissed her complaint against the defendants.”

“Her complaint was riddled with inaccuracies and flaws.”

Jane Doe’s lawyer, Matt Finkelberg, has yet to publicly comment on why the case was dropped.

Initially, the unnamed woman claimed she was left “panicked and terrified” during the alleged incident, which she claimed occurred in a TV studio bathroom.

Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, allegedly barged into her house when she was sick, forcing her to perform oral sex and masturbating in front of her.

She went on to say that she had “felt pressured” by the star because of his dominance and power.

Snoop Dogg previously called the allegations “meritless” and stated that he had never had “any sexual encounter” with her.

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Zhirinovsky, Putin’s ultranationalist ally and clown, has died at the age of 75

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Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a Russian ultranationalist politician, died at the age of 75, after a career marked by fiery remarks and absurd antics.

He ran for president six times and was a member of the official opposition that President Vladimir Putin tolerated. He appeared to predict Russia’s attack on Ukraine in December. He claimed to have received eight doses of Covid-19 vaccine. After being admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, he contracted coronavirus and died a few weeks later.

After two earlier reports had been discounted, parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin finally confirmed his death on Wednesday.

“A man who deeply understood how the world works and foresaw a lot,” he said of Zhirinovsky, who was always in the thick of things. During his more than 30-year political career, Zhirinovsky’s brand of clownish ultranationalism shocked and entertained Russians.

He claimed in the early 1990s that he fantasised about the day “when Russian soldiers will be able to wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.” In one of his final appearances before MPs, he predicted that Russia would invade Ukraine and predicted the date almost to the minute.

From the Baltics and Germany to Japan and the Middle East, he faced similar threats throughout his career. When he threw juice in the face of a political rival, Boris Nemtsov, during a TV debate, he became famous around the world.

He ran a Soviet state-approved Jewish cultural organisation before entering politics. His Liberal Democratic Party of Russia was the country’s first official post-communist political party, and he was widely regarded as a Soviet stooge at the time. When his party won Russia’s first democratic elections in 1993, Russians and the rest of the world were stunned.

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Asghar Farhadi, a well-known Iranian filmmaker, accused of plagiarism

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Asghar Farhadi, an Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker, has been summoned to appear in court in Iran on plagiarism charges.

Azadeh Masihzadeh, a former Farhadi student, claims that he stole the idea for his new film, A Hero, from her documentary, All Winners All Losers. He denies this, claiming that he independently researched the story.

Farhadi won Academy Awards for A Separation in 2012 and The Salesman in 2017 for Best International Feature Film.

Last year’s Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prize winner, A Hero, was overlooked for an Oscar nomination.

Rahim, played by Amir Jadidi, is a divorced father of a young boy who is imprisoned in Iran because he was unable to repay a debt. During a two-day temporary release, he is applauded by authorities and the media for returning a handbag containing gold coins to its rightful owner. He, on the other hand, quickly becomes a target of suspicion.

“It’s really hard for me to go back and remember what the genesis was, what triggered this story,” he told the BBC’s Talking Movies programme in January. Many of these stories develop subconsciously in your mind, gradually taking shape, and a desire to write a script grows.

“I used to collect local newspapers and work with my students to investigate these kinds of stories about 12, 15 years ago.” Masihzadeh, on the other hand, accused Farhadi of stealing the story from All Winners, All Losers, a documentary workshop she attended in 2014 and which was screened at an Iranian film festival in 2018.

Farhadi denied the plagiarism charge and countersued Masihzadeh, accusing him of defamation. The defamation suit was dismissed by a media court in Tehran on Monday, according to Masihzadeh, who told the Hollywood Reporter that there was insufficient evidence to support Farhadi’s claim.

She expressed relief at the decision, but added that she was “not happy” because “I respected Mr Farhadi a lot as my master.” “Sometimes I wonder if I should have [speak out] in the first place,” she continued. The court also determined that there was sufficient evidence to issue Farhadi a summons to appear in court to answer allegations of copyright infringement.

On Instagram, Kaveh Rad, the director’s lawyer, stated that the case would now be re-examined by a criminal court and, potentially, an appeals court. “This summons is not the court’s final decision,” he clarified, “but it is part of the process.”

Mr Rad also stated that the court had dismissed Masihzadeh’s claim for a cut of the film’s profits, as well as a defamation suit filed by a former prisoner who claimed the story was based on their own life.

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In a pink gift bag,’stolen’ Charles Darwin notebooks were left on the library floor

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Charles Darwin’s “stolen” notebooks have been mysteriously returned to Cambridge University, 22 years after they were last seen.

The small leather-bound books, which include the scientist’s “tree of life” sketch, are worth millions of pounds. Their return comes 15 months after the BBC first reported their disappearance and the library launched a global search for them.
“I’m overjoyed,” says Dr. Jessica Gardner, the university’s librarian.

She gives a big grin as she delivers the news. She can’t seem to stop grinning. “They’re safe, they’re in good shape, and they’ve arrived at their destination.” But it’s a real mystery as to who returned the two postcard-sized notepads. They were placed in a bright pink gift bag with the original blue box the notebooks were kept in and a plain brown envelope, and they were left anonymously.

A short message was printed on it: “Librarian, Happy Easter X.”

The two notebooks were tightly wrapped in cling film inside. Outside Dr. Gardner’s office, the package had been left on the floor in a public area of the library with no CCTV.

Dr. Gardner describes her reaction to seeing the bag and its contents for the first time on March 9 as “shaking.” “However, I was cautious because we couldn’t be certain until we could unwrap them.”

Between discovering the package and the police granting permission to open the cling film, examine the notebooks, and confirm they were genuine, there was a five-day wait.

The notepads were made after Darwin returned from the Galapagos Islands in the late 1830s. He drew a spindly sketch of a tree on one page, which helped inspire his theory of evolution and would become a central theory in his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species more than 20 years later. The manuscripts were last seen in November 2000, when they were removed from the library’s special collections strong room to be photographed due to a “internal request.”

They were discovered to be missing only two months later during a routine check. Initially, librarians believed they had been returned to the wrong location in the massive university library, which houses over 10 million books, maps, and manuscripts. Despite numerous searches, the notebooks were never found, and Dr. Gardner concluded in 2020 that they had most likely been stolen. She alerted the authorities and Interpol.

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Olivia Rodrigo, Silk Sonic, and Jon Batiste have all received Grammy nominations

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At the 64th Grammy Awards, Olivia Rodrigo, Silk Sonic, and jazz musician Jon Batiste shared the top prize.

We Are, by Batiste, was named album of the year, while Rodrigo was named best new artist and best pop album. Silk Leave The Door Open, Sonic’s soul throwback anthem, won both the record and song of the year awards. A tribute to Foo Fighters frontman Taylor Hawkins was paid during the ceremony, as was a video plea from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

He urged musicians to “fill the silence” left by Russian bombs “with your music” in a pre-recorded message. “Please tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on social media and on television. However, there will be no silence.”
Following his speech, John Legend performed with Ukrainian musicians Siuzanna Iglidan and Mika Newton, as well as poet Lyuba Yakimchuk. Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and BTS all gave energetic performances at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and folk icon Joni Mitchell made a rare on-stage appearance to introduce Brandi Carlile.

The “big four” categories were expanded to include ten nominees each, making this year’s Grammys one of the most open in years. However, the Recording Academy prefers artists who acknowledge their musical roots, which helped Silk Sonic and Jon Batiste win their respective categories.

We Are, Batiste’s album, is steeped in black music tradition, from the New Orleans jazz he grew up with to Al Green’s classic soul to modern R&B.

In 2020, the title track was written in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the album’s themes of positivity and intergenerational wisdom made it a favourite with voters, who gave Batiste 11 Grammy nominations. Bruno Mars and rapper/drummer Anderson collaborated on Silk Sonic.

Plough a similar furrow, Paak. Leave The Door Open, their sumptuous ballad, is steeped in the 70s soul sounds of acts like The Chi-Lites and Earth, Wind & Fire, delivered with a knowing wink to modern sensibilities.

The duo were clearly ecstatic with their song of the year and record of the year victories.

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