Latest news with #all-Russian
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
JD Vance booed at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover
Credit: Andrew Roth / The Guardian JD Vance has been booed by audience members at the Kennedy Center following Donald Trump's decision to oust the prestigious venue's leadership. Jeers rang out as the US vice-president sat down with his wife, Usha, ahead of a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra at the site in Washington on Thursday evening. It comes after Mr Trump sacked the chairman of the Kennedy Center board and its 13 trustees last month – making himself chairman and Richard Grenell its interim leader. Mrs Vance was also made a board member, having previously served on the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra between 2020 and 2022. Mr Grenell criticised the audience for booing, accusing them of being 'intolerant'. Following the shake-up in February, Mr Trump said: 'So we took over the Kennedy Center. 'We didn't like what they were showing and various other things. We're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke. There's no more woke in this country.' Such public outbursts are highly unusual at classic music concerts, where audiences are expected to be quiet and cordial. However, it demonstrates the backlash generated by Mr Trump's overhaul of the venue. Critics have included the producers of Hamilton, the American history musical, who cancelled an upcoming run of the show at the concert hall. Mr Grenell accused Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show's creator, and Jeffrey Seller, its producer, of orchestrating a 'publicity stunt'. The vice-president responded to the hostile reception by waving, pointing at the crowd and smiling awkwardly at his wife. The boos lasted for several moments, with one person heard shouting: 'You ruined this place'. The concert had already been delayed by nearly 30 minutes because of Secret Service checks as Mr Vance's motorcade pulled in. Audience members later joked about the concert's all-Russian line-up, given Mr Vance's stance on the war in Ukraine. Shortly after Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022, Mr Vance said: 'I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.' The Republican was also involved in the row between Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, and Mr Trump in the Oval Office last month. Since the White House confrontation, Mr Vance has been targeted by angry members of the public on several occasions. Pro-Ukraine protesters confronted him as he walked with his family in Cincinnati over the weekend, while he was also jeered during a recent skiing holiday in Vermont. One protester told him: 'Go and ski in Russia'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
JD Vance humiliated by boos at Kennedy Center after showing up 25 mins late for concert
Vice President JD Vance was welcomed to the Kennedy Center by a chorus of boos after he arrived at a concert 25 minutes late. Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance took their seats at the iconic performing arts venue in Washington, DC for the National Symphony Orchestra on Thursday evening featuring a program of all-Russian music. The start of the concert was reportedly delayed by 25 minutes upon Vance's motorcade pulling up, with audience members having to undergo full Secret Service security checks. In a viral clip filmed by the Guardian's global affairs correspondent Andrew Roth, the presidential party was met with boos, whistles and jeers as they shuffled into the box tier. 'Oh, f***. S***,' one woman can be heard saying after a person alerted her it was Vance who arrived late. 'Kill that light,' another person in the crowd shouts, seemingly eager for the performance to begin. Despite the din of boos, one person can be heard clapping. According to the Guardian, the vice president appeared to acknowledge shouts from the disgruntled crowd and, with a smile and a wave, retorted: 'You ruined this place!' Richard Grenell, MAGA loyalist and the interim director of the Kennedy Center, described the audience's behavior as 'intolerant.' In February, President Donald Trump fired the chairman of the Kennedy Center along with 13 of its trustees. Trump, who claimed the board unanimously voted him in as the new chairman of the center, named the second lady on its board last month as part of a purge of Democratic-appointed members. Usha Vance was on the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's board between 2020 and 2022. Grenell told Fox News Digital that Trump's leadership would see a 'Golden Age of the Arts' in the nation's capital and 'sell tickets.' Describing the hostile takeover of the venue at the time, Trump said: 'We didn't like what they were showing and various other things. We're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke. There's no more woke in this country.' In an X post last month, Trump vowed: 'NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST.' The president also appointed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Fox News host Laura Ingraham to the board. The decision followed as ticket sales halved, Kennedy Center staff members told The Washington Post anonymously for fear of reprisals. The slump in sales came as Trump's White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt bragged: 'The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke.' And it is not just audience members who resisted the changes at the Kennedy Center. Actress and comedian Issa Rae was the first major artist to announce that she was canceling her show there. Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny then pulled out of her scheduled appearance. Lin-Manuel Miranda and the producers of the hit musical Hamilton also withdrew from a run at the institution, which was set to take place in 2026.
Sky News
31-01-2025
- Sky News
Second ship seized in Baltic Sea cable damage investigation
A Norwegian ship suspected of being involved in "serious damage" to an underwater telecoms cable between Latvia and Sweden has been boarded by police. The Silver Dania cargo vessel, with an all-Russian crew, was seized by Norway's authorities following a request by Latvian officials and a Norwegian court ruling. The ship was stopped on Thursday and brought into the port of Tromso on Friday by the coastguard for inspection. Damage to an underwater fibre optic cable in the Baltic Sea, running from Ventspils in Latvia, to the Swedish island of Gotland, was detected last Sunday. "It is suspected that the ship has been involved in serious damage to a fibre cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden," Norwegian police said in a statement. "The suspicion is that someone on the (Silver Dania) has something to do with the cable incident," police lawyer Ronny Joergensen told a news conference. The Silver Dania's owner, the Silver Sea shipping group, denied the vessel was involved in the damage, Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported. It is the second ship named by investigators amid their inquiries into damaged undersea cables. It comes after Finland separately seized a Russian-linked oil tanker after a cable connecting it and Estonia was cut as well. The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert following a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The ship seized by Norway had been sailing from St Petersburg to Murmansk in the Russian Arctic, police said. Last Sunday, Swedish police boarded the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen, on suspicion it damaged the cable linking it and Latvia. Mats Ljungqvist, the Swedish prosecutor handling the sabotage investigation in Sweden, said he believed the Vezhen caused the cable damage. The head of the Bulgarian company that operates the Vezhen said on Monday it might have struck the undersea cable with its anchor but denied any malicious intent.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Second ship seized in Baltic Sea cable damage investigation
A Norwegian ship suspected of being involved in "serious damage" to an underwater telecoms cable between Latvia and Sweden has been boarded by police. The Silver Dania cargo vessel, with an all-Russian crew, was seized by Norway's authorities following a request by Latvian officials and a Norwegian court ruling. The ship was stopped on Thursday and brought into the port of Tromso on Friday by the coastguard for inspection. Damage to an underwater fibre optic cable in the Baltic Sea, running from Ventspils in Latvia, to the Swedish island of Gotland, was detected last Sunday. "It is suspected that the ship has been involved in serious damage to a fibre cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden," Norwegian police said in a statement. "The suspicion is that someone on the (Silver Dania) has something to do with the cable incident," police lawyer Ronny Joergensen told a news conference. The Silver Dania's owner, the Silver Sea shipping group, denied the vessel was involved in the damage, Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported. It is the second ship named by investigators amid their inquiries into damaged undersea cables. It comes after after a cable connecting it and Estonia was cut as well. The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert following a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The ship seized by Norway had been sailing from St Petersburg to Murmansk in the Russian Arctic, police said. Read more from Sky News: Last Sunday, Swedish police boarded the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen, on suspicion it damaged the cable linking it and Latvia. Mats Ljungqvist, the Swedish prosecutor handling the sabotage investigation in Sweden, said he believed the Vezhen caused the cable damage. The head of the Bulgarian company that operates the Vezhen said on Monday it might have struck the undersea cable with its anchor but denied any malicious intent. In the face of the most recent developments, NATO .
Euronews
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Norway seizes ship with Russian crew in Baltic Sea cable damage investigation
A Norwegian ship with an all-Russian crew has been seized by police in Norway on suspicion of being involved in damage to an underwater telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea. The Silver Dania was stopped on Thursday evening and brought into the port of Tromsø in northern Norway on Friday by a Norwegian coast guard vessel, local police said. This action followed a request from Latvian authorities and a ruling by a Norwegian court. Police in Tromsø said there is a suspicion that the cargo ship — which was sailing between the Russian ports of St. Petersburg and Murmansk — was involved in serious damage on Sunday to the cable that connects Latvia to the Swedish island of Gotland. Swedish prosecutors announced on Sunday afternoon that they had opened a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage and ordered the detention of a vessel on suspicion of damaging the cable, the Malta-flagged Vezhen. The Vezhen's Bulgarian owner said it was possible that the ship had accidentally caused a cable to break, but dismissed any possibility of sabotage or any other wrongdoing. Sunday's cable rupture follows a string of similar incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic Baltic Sea region. In the last three months alone, there has been damage to a cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden, another connecting Germany and Finland, and a number of cables linking Estonia and Finland. Such damage has been linked by authorities to Russia's so-called shadow fleet — ageing tankers that are dodging sanctions and ensuring continued oil revenue for Moscow. The NATO military alliance earlier this month launched a new mission to protect undersea cables in the region by deploying frigates, naval drones, and patrol aircraft. 'We will do everything in our power to make sure that we fight back, are able to see what is happening and take the next steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again. And our adversaries should know this," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at the time.
