Culture

Russia says it has captured city of Melitopol as Kyiv is struck by missiles

Russian troops have captured the city of Melitopol in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday, the first significant population centre to be taken over since Moscow launched an invasion.

The ministry also said Russia had used air- and ship-based cruise missiles to carry out overnight strikes on military targets in Ukraine.

It said Russian troops had hit hundreds of military infrastructure targets and destroyed several aircraft and dozens of tanks and armoured and artillery vehicles.

Ukrainian officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the matter.

Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed on the streets of Kyiv as authorities urged citizens to help defend the city from advancing Russian forces.

Heavy, frequent artillery fire and intense gunfire, apparently some distance from the city centre, could be heard, a Reuters witness in Kyiv said. The Ukrainian military said Russian troops attacked an army base on a main avenue but the assault was repelled.

Gunfire was heard after dawn near government buildings in the city centre, a Reuters witness said.

Ukraine’s military command said areas near the cities of Sumy, Poltava and Mariupol were hit by air strikes on Friday, with Russian Kalibr cruise missiles launched at the country from the Black Sea.

Two missiles hit areas southwest of the Kyiv city centre on Saturday, a Reuters correspondent reported.

One of the missiles landed in the area close to the Zhulyany airport, he said.

Another witness said the missiles hit the area near the Sevastopol square, while the Kyiv city government said one of the missiles struck a residential building.

It came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday it was “a crucial moment” to decide on Ukraine’s membership of the European Union, as Russia continued to invade its neighbour. Mr Zelenskiy said in a tweet he had discussed with European Council President Charles Michel “further effective assistance and the heroic struggle of Ukrainians for their free future.”

‘Fate of Ukraine’

“The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now,” Mr Zelenskiy said on Friday in a video address posted to his Telegram channel.

The air force command reported heavy fighting near an air base at Vasylkiv southwest of the capital, which it said was under attack from Russian paratroopers.

It also said one of its fighters had shot down a Russian transport plane. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.

Kyiv residents were told by the defence ministry to make petrol bombs to repel the invaders.

Some families cowered in shelters afraid of more Russian missiles. Hundreds of thousands who have left their homes to find safety, according to the United Nations’ aid chief.

As dawn broke, media reported air raid sirens in several cities.

After weeks of warnings from Western leaders, Mr Putin unleashed a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south on Thursday, in an attack that threatened to upend Europe’s post-Cold War order.

UN Security Council

Late on Friday night, in a move seen as significant, China abstained from a vote on a draft UN Security Council resolution that would have deplored Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Western countries viewed this as a win for showing Russia’s international isolation.

Russia vetoed the vote and the United Arab Emirates and India also abstained while the remaining council members voted in favour. The draft resolution is now expected to be taken up by the 193-member UN General Assembly.

Mr Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, describing it as a special operation to protect Russian speakers, whom he claimed had been “subjected to genocide” since its pro-western revolution in 2014.

Alluding to that baseless claim on Friday, he said Russian forces were fighting mostly with “nationalist units responsible for genocide” and called on Ukraine’s military to “take power into your own hands”.

“It seems it will be easier for us to come to agreement with you than with this band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage,” he added, in apparent reference to unsubstantiated rumours about the lifestyle of Mr Zelenskiy, a former comedian and a Russian-speaking Jew.

Mr Zelenskiy continued to discuss the crisis with western leaders and request more help for Ukraine and tougher measures against Russia.

With regime change in Kyiv apparently a priority for Mr Putin, his Ukrainian counterpart reportedly told European leaders during a conference call on Thursday that it could be the last time they saw him alive. As Kyiv hunkered down for another night under shelling and missile fire, however, Mr Zelenskiy filmed himself surrounded by top aides outside the presidential administration in the city centre.

“All of us are here protecting the independence of our country,” he said.

Amid sweeping international condemnation of Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU announced personal sanctions against him and his long-time foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, which would freeze assets they hold in Europe; the US and the UK also announced similar steps. “They are responsible for the deaths of innocent people in Ukraine, and for trampling on the international system,” said German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. The bloc’s second wave of sanctions against Russia also took aim at its oil-refining, airline, financial and bankingindustries.

“I have no doubt that war crimes are currently being committed in Ukraine as we speak,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. “I’ve been in politics for nearly 25 years. I’ve never seen anything that has galvanised the European Union in the way that this has, in terms of the sense of unity, the sense of urgency, the need to respond.”

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general, said the “Russian military has shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas. Some of these attacks may be war crimes.”

Nato will continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and to deploy parts of its combat-ready rapid response force to member states in eastern Europe. – Additional reporting from Reuters

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Culture

The Hat Worn By Napoleon Bonaparte Sold For $2.1 Million At The Auction

A faded felt bicorne hat worn by Napoleon Bonaparte sold for $2.1 million at an auction on of the French emperor’s belongings.

Yes, that’s $2.1 million!!

The signature broad, black hat, one of a handful still in existence that Napoleon wore when he ruled 19th-century France and waged war in Europe, was initially valued at 600,000 to 800,000 euros ($650,000-870,000). It was the centerpiece of Sunday’s auction collected by a French industrialist who died last year.

The Hat Worn By Napoleon Bonaparte Sold For $2.1 Million At The Auction

But the bidding quickly jumped higher and higher until Jean Pierre Osenat, president of the Osenat auction house, designated the winner.

‘’We are at 1.5 million (Euros) for Napoleon’s hat … for this major symbol of the Napoleonic epoch,” he said, as applause rang out in the auction hall. The buyer, whose identity was not released, must pay 28.8% in commissions according to Osenat, bringing the overall cost to 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million).

While other officers customarily wore their bicorne hats with the wings facing front to back, Napoleon wore his with the ends pointing toward his shoulders. The style, known as “en bataille,” or in battle, made it easier for his troops to spot their leader in combat.

The hat on sale was first recovered by Col. Pierre Baillon, a quartermaster under Napoleon, according to the auctioneers. The hat then passed through many hands before industrialist Jean-Louis Noisiez acquired it.

The entrepreneur spent more than a half-century assembling his collection of Napoleonic memorabilia, firearms, swords and coins before his death in 2022.

The sale came days before the release of Ridley Scott’s film Napoleon with Joaquin Phoenix, which is rekindling interest in the controversial French ruler.

Culture

The Call for AI Regulation in Creative Industries

THE VOICE OF EU | Widespread concerns have surged among artists and creatives in various domains – country singers, authors, television showrunners, and musicians – voicing apprehension about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on their professions.

These worries have prompted an urgent plea to the U.S. government for regulatory action to protect their livelihoods from the encroaching threat posed by AI technology.

The Artists’ Plea

A notable rise in appeals to regulate AI has emerged, drawing attention to the potential risks AI poses to creative industries.

Thousands of letters, including those from renowned personalities like Justine Bateman and Lilla Zuckerman, underscore the peril AI models represent to the traditional structure of entertainment businesses.

The alarm extends to the music industry, expressed by acclaimed songwriter Marc Beeson, highlighting AI’s potential to both enhance and jeopardize an essential facet of American artistry.

The Call for AI Regulation in Creative Industries

Copyright Infringement Concerns

The primary contention arises from the unsanctioned use of copyrighted human works as fodder to train AI systems. The concerns about AI ingesting content from the internet without permission or compensation have sparked significant distress among artists and their representative entities.

While copyright laws explicitly protect works of human authorship, the influx of AI-generated content questions the boundaries of human contribution and authorship in an AI-influenced creative process.

The Fair Use Debate

Leading technology entities like Google, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms argue that their utilization of copyrighted materials in AI training aligns with the “fair use” doctrine—a limited use of copyrighted material for transformative purposes.

They claim that AI training isn’t aimed at reproducing individual works but rather discerning patterns across a vast corpus of content, citing precedents like Google’s legal victories in the digitization of books.

The Conflict and Seeking Resolution

Despite court rulings favoring tech companies in interpreting copyright laws regarding AI, voices like Heidi Bond, a former law professor and author, critique this comparison, emphasizing that AI developers often obtain content through unauthorized means.

Shira Perlmutter, the U.S. Register of Copyrights, acknowledges the Copyright Office’s pivotal role in navigating this complex landscape and determining the legitimacy of the fair use defense in the AI context.

The Road Ahead

The outpouring of concern from creative professionals and industry stakeholders emphasizes the urgency for regulatory frameworks to safeguard creative works while acknowledging the evolving role of AI in content creation.

The Copyright Office’s meticulous review of over 9,700 public comments seeks to strike a balance between innovation and the protection of creative rights in an AI-driven era. As the discussion continues, the convergence of legal precedents and ethical considerations remains a focal point for shaping the future landscape of AI in creative industries.

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Culture

Germany’s Real Estate Market Is Heading Towards Stagnation and Potential Reversal

By Cindy Porter

In a landscape marked by evolving economic forces, Germany’s real estate sector has recently grappled with formidable challenges. Over the past year, surging interest rates, cautious lending practices, and soaring inflation have prompted prospective buyers to reconsider homeownership, contributing to a resurgence of interest in the rental market. This shift has led some to speculate that the era of booming real estate growth might be waning.

However, amid these headwinds, whispers of a potential reversal of fortunes have started to circulate. Despite another interest rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB), German property prices demonstrated unexpected resilience in the second quarter of 2023, stagnating rather than declining.

Notably, sales prices for flats exhibited only a marginal decline of 0.3% from April to June, as per the Greix real estate price index published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). In contrast, prices for detached and semi-detached homes surged by 2.3% and 1.8%, respectively.

“The German real estate market showed itself to be quite robust in the second quarter,” remarked IfW President Moritz Schularick. He highlighted the positive impact of the expectation that the ECB’s interest rate hikes may be tapering off, following significant price corrections in preceding months.

EY, in a recent study, offered a more optimistic projection for the construction sector, anticipating a rebound from months of turmoil in 2024. Despite challenges stemming from rising material costs, supply bottlenecks, and expensive credit, EY’s analysis suggests that the industry will find equilibrium as inflation recedes and policy interventions strive to meet housing construction targets. Consequently, construction prices, historically volatile, are expected to normalize, potentially setting the stage for a stabilization of construction volume.

WATCH: HOW MUCH MONEY DO I NEED TO AFFORD A PROPERTY IN GERMANY

In terms of property prices in the long run, a joint study by Postbank and the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) predicts a mixed outlook for the German housing market. Approximately half of the surveyed districts and cities, comprising 400 regions, are anticipated to experience around a two percent decline in real terms by 2035. Conversely, 43% of districts are projected to witness price increases.

Leading the pack in rising real estate prices is Potsdam, situated on the outskirts of Berlin in Brandenburg. The city’s property prices could soar by up to 2.71% annually by 2035, making it a growth frontrunner. Erding, near Munich, follows closely with projected annual growth of around 2.13%, while Leipzig in Saxony and Frankfurt am Main are also expected to experience healthy growth.

The map below offers insights into the projected property price development in Germany until 2035

All of the remaining top 10 – including Landshut, Munich and Augsburg – were all located in Bavaria.

The so-called ‘big seven’ cities are also poised for positive price trajectories. While Hamburg is predicted to experience the lowest growth at 0.29% per year, Munich is forecasted to lead the pack with an impressive 2.08% growth rate. Berlin is expected to achieve healthy growth at 1.24% per year.

Conversely, the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) analysis suggests that properties in regions with inadequate infrastructure and declining populations, particularly in the eastern states, could witness value depreciation over the next decade. This scenario is likely to manifest in numerous areas across Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saarland.

Rural regions in eastern Germany, disconnected from major cities and outside the Berlin commuter belt, face the possibility of significant price declines, ranging from 1.5% to 4.3% annually.

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