- Jason Reitman Enlists Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper and More to Buy Westwood’s Village Theater Hollywood Reporter
- Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper and dozens of filmmakers acquire historic Los Angeles movie theater CNN
- In LA, directors have clubbed together to save a landmark cinema. Why don’t Brits do the same? The Guardian
- Star Directors Buy Historic Village Theater in Los Angeles The New York Times
- Jason Reitman and Hollywood’s most prominent directors buy beloved Village Theater in Los Angeles The Associated Press
Tag Archives: Village
Resident Evil Village Now Available on iPhone 15 Pro and M1/M2 iPads – MacRumors
- Resident Evil Village Now Available on iPhone 15 Pro and M1/M2 iPads MacRumors
- Resident Evil Village For iPhone 15 Pro Offers PC-Like Graphics Settings With MetalFX Upscaling; Can Maintain 60FPS At Full HD+ Resolution Wccftech
- Resident Evil Village on the iPhone could be a preview of Apple’s gaming future The Verge
- ‘Resident Evil Village’ Out Now on iPhone 15 Pro and iPad M1 (and Later) Devices, Launch Celebration Discount Available – TouchArcade Touch Arcade
- Resident Evil Village comes to newer iOS devices today GodisaGeek.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Today’s D Brief: Ukraine liberates village, hits Russian warships; China investigates military chief; USAF seeks new drone bases; And a bit more. – Defense One
- Today’s D Brief: Ukraine liberates village, hits Russian warships; China investigates military chief; USAF seeks new drone bases; And a bit more. Defense One
- Ukraine claims to recapture Russian-occupied village south of Bakhmut CBS News
- Russian Brigade ‘in Tatters’ After Liberation of Andriivka: Ukraine Newsweek
- Ukraine’s Armed Forces storm and liberate Andriivka, have successes near Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast – General Staff report Yahoo News
- Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 569 of the invasion The Guardian
- View Full Coverage on Google News
🔴Live: Ukraine takes back control of village on Zaporizhzhia front in counter-offensive – FRANCE 24 English
- 🔴Live: Ukraine takes back control of village on Zaporizhzhia front in counter-offensive FRANCE 24 English
- Russia-Ukraine War: Kyiv retakes string of settlements in Donetsk region | Latest World News | WION WION
- Ukrainian forces take control of Piatykhatky village on Zaporizhzhia front, Russian-installed official says Reuters
- Russia-Ukraine war live: counteroffensive records ‘tactical successes’ as troops advance south – as it happened The Guardian
- Ukraine counteroffensive inches forward; Putin dismisses prospects of peace talks POLITICO Europe
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Belgorod governor says local authorities ‘cannot enter’ village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, which pro-Ukraine ‘partisans’ claim to control – Meduza
- Belgorod governor says local authorities ‘cannot enter’ village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, which pro-Ukraine ‘partisans’ claim to control Meduza
- Pro-Ukrainian fighters capture Russian soldiers during raid on Russian soil The Telegraph
- Freedom of Russia Legion claims destruction of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers – video Yahoo News
- Ukraine-Backed Troops Capture Russian Soldiers in Cross-Border Foray The Wall Street Journal
- Ukraine war: Anti-Kremlin fighters say Russian soldiers ‘captured’ BBC
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Far-right group attacks Arabs at pro-overhaul protest, chant ‘may your village burn’ – The Times of Israel
- Far-right group attacks Arabs at pro-overhaul protest, chant ‘may your village burn’ The Times of Israel
- Sanders voices support for mass protests against Israeli government’s ‘extreme’ actions The Hill
- Shikma Bressler: Protests will continue; coalition still intends ‘to enact Netanyahu’s dictatorship’ The Times of Israel
- Netanyahu urges protesters from both sides to avoid violence, ahead of rival Jerusalem rallies The Times of Israel
- Shin Bet chief checks security outside Netanyahu’s home The Times of Israel
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Guryong Village, South Korea: 500 evacuated as massive fire breaks out in one of Seoul’s last slums
Seoul
CNN
—
Around 500 people were evacuated from their homes on Friday after a fire broke out in Guryong Village, one of the last remaining slums in South Korea’s capital Seoul, according to fire officials.
The fire broke out around 6:28 a.m. in the fourth district of the village, said Shin Yong-ho, an official with the Gangnam Fire Station, in a televised briefing. First responders arrived around five minutes later, he said.
No deaths or injuries have been reported so far.
Around 60 homes are believed to have burned down, Shin said, adding most structures are made from vinyl plywood panels.
Videos on social media show the fire engulfing what looks like rows of homes, with huge plumes of thick black smoke hanging above the slum as sirens wail nearby.
More than 800 response personnel have been mobilized, including firefighters, police and governmental workers, while 10 helicopters have been deployed to assist with the response, Shin said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is in Switzerland attending the World Economic Forum, has been notified of the fire and has ordered authorities to mobilize “all available personnel and equipment,” according to the presidential office.
Yoon also requested local governments to evacuate residents and ensure the safety of rescue workers, his office said.
Authorities have long warned that Guryong residents are at particular risk of disasters, with the Gangnam government saying on its website that the slum was “vulnerable to fires” in 2019.
It was also hit hard by flooding last August, when record rainfall killed at least 13 people in Seoul – including some residents trapped in the dingy “banjiha” basement homes depicted in the movie “Parasite.”
The Guryong slum has long been seen as a symbol of the gap between rich and poor in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy. It’s part of the wealthy, glittering Gangnam district, made famous by Psy’s 2012 song “Gangnam Style” and sometimes called the Beverly Hills of Seoul.
Gangnam’s high-rise apartment buildings lie less than a kilometer from the shacks of Guryong, where many residents live in cramped makeshift housing built from materials like wood and corrugated iron.
Though plans to redevelop the area stretch back at least a decade, numerous proposals have faltered due to disagreements between local governing bodies and negotiations over land compensation.
These efforts are ongoing, with 406 households – more than a third of the slum’s population – relocated as of 2019, according to the Gangnam government website. More than 1,000 residents are still living there, Gangnam officials confirmed on Friday.
The district shared more redevelopment plans last May, with a local official saying the land would be turned into “an eco-friendly luxury residential complex.”
Authorities are working to help relocate about 1,500 households living in shacks across three major slums, including Guryong, into public housing instead, the Seoul government said in a news release last November.
It added that the city aims to eventually “eliminate abnormal residences such as shacks and vinyl houses.”
Polar bear kills mother, 1-year-old son after rampage through remote Alaska village
A young woman and her baby son were killed by a polar bear when the animal entered their remote village in Alaska and chased several people, according to authorities.
The incident occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Wales, Alaska — the westernmost point of the American mainland with an estimated population of about 170 people — when a polar bear reportedly entered the remote community, police said.
Investigators revealed Wednesday that the victims were Summer Myomick, 24, of St. Michael, and her son Clyde Ongtowasruk. The attack on the mother and child took place near a school, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents,” according to a statement released by the agency on Tuesday in the aftermath of the attack. “The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male.”
The bear was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the victims, according to authorities.
A polar bear chased down and killed a woman and a young boy when it entered a remote village community in Alaska before a resident was able to shoot and kill the bear during the attack on Jan. 17, 2023 in Wales, Alaska.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
An investigation into the attack is ongoing as “troopers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are working to travel to Wales as weather conditions allow,” the Alaska Department of Public Safety confirmed.
“Poor weather conditions in the region and the lack of runway lights in Wales prevented Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel from making it to Wales,” the agency said in a statement Wednesday.
Polar bear attacks are very rare but male polar bears can weigh anywhere from 600 to 1,200 pounds with female polar bears ranging between 400 and 700 pounds, according to the Alaska Department for Fish and Game. Their average life span is about 25 years.
“Current and predicted future declines in sea ice led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list polar bears as threatened under the ESA (Endangered Species Act) throughout their range,” according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Thinner ice and longer ice-free periods in summer may reduce the length of time polar bears have to hunt, and result in population declines.”
Polar bear fatally mauls woman and boy in Northwest Alaska village
A polar bear killed a woman and boy Tuesday afternoon in the Northwest Alaska community of Wales, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers received a report of a polar bear attack around 2:30 p.m., troopers said in an online report. According to initial accounts, a polar bear came to the village and chased several residents, troopers said.
The bear killed a woman and a boy, troopers said. Another Wales resident shot and killed the bear “as it attacked the pair,” troopers said.
The two people who were killed in the mauling weren’t identified in the report, and troopers said officials are working to notify their next of kin.
Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said troopers are coordinating with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as they try to send personnel to Wales as soon as the weather allows.
Wales — a predominantly Inupiaq village of fewer than 150 people — is located on the far western edge of the Seward Peninsula bordering the Bering Strait, just over 100 miles northwest of Nome.
In winter, polar bears can be found as far south as St. Lawrence Island, occasionally traveling even farther south, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Subsisting primarily on a diet of marine mammals, males can grow to be up to 1,200 pounds, females up to 700 pounds, with no natural predators beyond humans.
Fatal polar bear attacks are extremely rare in Alaska. In 1990, a polar bear killed a man in the North Slope village of Point Lay. Biologists later said the animal showed signs of starvation. In 1993, a polar bear burst through a window of an Air Force radar station on the North Slope, seriously mauling a 55-year-old mechanic. He survived the attack.
With the loss of sea ice and the ocean staying open later in the year, polar bears have been spending more time on land, which increases the chance of human encounters, said Joseph Jessup McDermott. He’s the executive director of the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, a tribally authorized organization consisting of the 15 Alaska tribes, including Wales, that have traditionally harvested polar bears for subsistence.
“Over the past few decades, it’s been very, very rare for those types of attacks to occur,” McDermott said. “It’s incredibly tragic it happened.”
While McDermott said the Chukchi Sea polar bear population is healthy, there were accounts of polar bears in Northwest Alaska seeking alternative food sources such as trash. About 10 years ago, residents as far inland as Noatak reported spotting animals, he said.
“While rare instances like a bear showing up in Noatak have occurred in recent years,” McDermott said, “the presence of bears around communities like Wales is a normal and regular occurrence.”
[From 2017: As sea ice gets scarcer, polar bear attacks on people become more frequent]
Some communities in Alaska — for example, several on the North Slope — have had polar bear patrols to keep residents safe. That’s not currently the case in Wales.
“Wales does not currently have an active Polar Bear Patrol Program due to lack of government funding, unlike the North Slope,” McDermott said, “but this is something that ANCC has sought to pursue with other (nongovernmental organizations).”
• • •
Germany plans to destroy this village for a coal mine. Thousands are gathering to stop it
CNN
—
It’s a stark image in 2023: Police in riot gear flooding a village, pulling people out of houses and tearing down structures to make way for the arrival of excavating machines to access the rich seam of coal beneath the ground.
Since Wednesday, as rain and winds lashed the tiny west German village of Lützerath, police have removed hundreds of activists. Some have been in Lützerath for more than two years, occupying the homes abandoned by former residents after they were evicted, most by 2017, to make way for the mine.
More than 1,000 police officers are involved in the eviction operation. Most of the buildings have now been cleared, but some activists remained in treehouses or huddled in a hole dug into the ground as of Friday, according to Aachen city police.
Protest organizers expect thousands more people to pour into the area on Saturday to demonstrate against its destruction, though they ultimately may not be able to access the village. After the eviction is complete, RWE plans to complete a 1.5-kilometer perimeter fence to snake around Lützerath, sealing off the village’s buildings, streets and sewers before they are demolished.
Still, activists vow to continue to fight for the village.
“We are taking action against this destruction by putting our bodies in the way of the excavator,” said Ronni Zeppelin, from campaign group Lützerath Lebt (Lützerath Lives).
Lützerath, about 20 miles west of Dusseldorf, has long been a climate flashpoint in Germany because of its position on the edge of the open-cast lignite coal mine, Garzweiler II.
The mine sprawls across around 14 square miles (35 square kilometers) in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) – a huge, jagged gouge in the landscape.
Its slow creep outwards over the years has already swallowed villages where families have lived for generations. It has prompted the destruction of centuries-old buildings and even a wind farm.
RWE has long planned to expand the mine further, in the face of criticism from climate groups. Lignite is the most polluting form of coal, which itself is the most polluting fossil fuel.
As far back as 2013, the German courts ruled the company was able to expand, even at the expense of nearby villages.
Following the Greens’ successes in the 2021 federal elections, some hoped the expansion would be canceled, said David Dresen, part of the climate group Aller Dörfer bleiben (All Villages Stay), who lives in Kuckum, a village that had been slated for destruction.
But in October 2022, the government struck a deal with RWE that saved several villages – including Kuckum – but allowed Lützerath to be demolished to give RWE access to the coal beneath it.
In return, RWE agreed to bring forward its coal phase-out from 2038 to 2030.
The Greens pitch it as a win.
“We were able to save five villages and three farms from being destroyed, spare 500 people a forced resettlement and bring forward the coal phase-out by eight years,” Martin Lechtape, a spokesperson for the North Rhine Westphalia Green Party, said in an email to CNN.
The Greens and RWE also say the expansion will help relieve the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, which has curtailed gas supplies.
It “is not a renaissance of lignite or coal, but only a side-step – helping Germany to cope with the energy crisis,” RWE spokesperson Guido Steffen, told CNN in an email.
Climate groups fiercely oppose the deal. Continuing to burn coal for energy will belch out planet-warming emissions and violate the Paris Climate Agreement’s ambition to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
RWE and the Greens both reject the claim the mine expansion will increase overall emissions, saying European caps mean extra carbon emissions can be offset.
Many feel betrayed by the Green Party, including people who voted for them.
“It’s such an absurd and catastrophic scenario that Germany, the country where everyone else thinks we have green [policies], is destroying a village to burn coal in the middle of the climate crisis,” said Dresen, who has voted Green in recent elections.
Fabian Huebner, campaigner on energy and coal at Europe Beyond Coal, said: “I think the Greens, faced by very difficult decisions, took the wrong turn and de-prioritized climate policy.”
Germany should accelerate the clean-energy transition instead, he added, including a faster roll out of renewables and energy efficiency measures: “You can’t solve the crisis with the energy source that basically created this crisis.”
Some studies suggest Germany may not even need the extra coal. An August report by international research platform Coal Transitions found that even if coal plants operate at very high capacity until the end of this decade, they already have more coal available than needed from existing supplies.
It’s a deeply uncomfortable moment for the Greens and an unfathomable catastrophe for those who want to save the village.
“The pictures from Lützerath are of course painful, as we have always fought against the continued burning of coal,” said Lechtape, on behalf of the NRW Greens. “We know the importance of Lützerath as a symbol in the climate movement. However, this should not obscure what has been achieved,” he added.
The party’s discomfort may deepen on Saturday when a protest, organized by a coalition of climate groups, is expected to draw thousands of people to Lützerath – including Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg.
“It is now up to us to stop the wrecking balls and coal excavators. We will not make this eviction easy,” said Pauline Brünger from the climate group Fridays for Future.
Even if the village is completely evicted before Saturday and access is blocked off, climate groups say the protest will still go ahead.
Dina Hamid, a recently evicted activist with Lützerath Lebt, told CNN, “in the end, it’s not about the village, it’s about the coal staying in the ground and we’re going to fight for that as long as it takes.”