ukraine

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza, have left tens of thousands dead and sent shockwaves across Europe and the Middle East. But—brutal and tragic as they are—the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are regionally bounded, meaning that most of the rest of the world rolls along, largely unaffected. This will not be the case if armed conflict breaks out in east Asia.…

Arkady Volozh, the billionaire cofounder of Russia's biggest internet company, was removed from the EU sanctions list today, clearing the way for his return to the world of international tech.On Tuesday a spokesperson for the European Council confirmed to WIRED that the Yandex cofounder was among three people whose sanctions were lifted this week.Volozh, 60, was initially included on the EU sanctions list in June 2023, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “Volozh is a leading businessperson…

The Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol, which was shot inside the besieged port city during the assault by Russian forces, has won the best documentary Oscar at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.Directed by Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian journalist who documented the invasion in early 2022, 20 Days in Mariupol drew wide acclaim after its premiere at the Sundance film festival in 2023, with the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw calling it “a searing film bears a terrible witness to this great crime” in a five-star review. In an…

During warm periods in Earth's history, known as interglacials, glaciers the size of continents pulled back to reveal new landscapes. These were new worlds for early humans to explore and exploit, and 1.4 million years ago this was Europe: a Terra nullius unoccupied by humans. Long before it emerged as the epicenter of global colonialism, Europe was itself colonized for the first time by humans migrating from the east. A new study,…

Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee pressed SpaceX on Wednesday over allegations that Russia is using the company’s Starlink terminals in its war against Ukraine, “potentially in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls.” In a letter to SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell, Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said they are alarmed by the possibility that Russia could be using Starlink technology to “coordinate attacks against Ukrainian…

The Starlink photo is seen on a mobile device with Ukraine on a map in the background in this illustration photo in Warsaw, Poland on 21 September, 2022.STR | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesHouse Democrats Robert Garcia, D-Calif. and Jamie Raskin, D-Md, sent a letter to SpaceX demanding transparency from the defense contractor following reports of potentially illegal purchases and use of Starlink satellite internet equipment by Russia in occupied territories of Ukraine. The congressmen also announced a probe of SpaceX by the…

This photo provided by researcher Roman Garba shows a heavily weathered flake artifact at the Korolevo I archaeological site in western Ukraine in August 2023. Stone tools found in the area are the earliest evidence of early human presence in Europe, dating back to 1.4 million years ago, according to research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Credit: Roman Garba via AP Ancient stone tools found in…

A mega-yacht seized by U.S. authorities from a Russian oligarch is costing the government nearly $1 million a month to maintain, according to new court filings.The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking permission to sell a 348-foot yacht called Amadea, which it seized in 2022, alleging that it was owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The government said it wants to sell the $230 million yacht due to the "excessive costs" of maintenance and crew, which it said could total $922,000 a month."It is…

There are many reasons why couples break up. Likewise, there are more or less as many reactions one could have to a breakup.And when it turns out that the reason is “we just don’t have that much in common” and it gets re-interpreted into “oh you just dumb,” you can bet the reaction is going to be of appropriate intensity. Like gathering up all your friends and trashing your ex’ apartment. Yeah, that’ll show her who’s the smart one!Breakups are often an extremely negative experience, but they can be tackled and led into…

Time lapse video shows the cumulative effects of the Russian campaign against Bakhmut. When researchers "saw the end result, it looked like a checkerboard or mesh… we realized that it's only the roads that survived. Everything else was collapsed, destroyed, evaporated, and the entire city is completely flattened." Credit: Hang Xu Two years of war in Ukraine have caused widespread devastation to the country's citizenry,…