Latest news with #east
CBC
14 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Returning Nopiming residents thankful their homes were spared by wildfire
Some Manitobans living and working in Nopiming Provincial Park have returned home more than a month after they were forced out by the largest wildfire in the province's east. The southern part of the park — including Bird, Booster, Flanders and Davidson lakes, as well as Provincial Road 315 — reopened for permanent residents, cottagers and commercial operators Wednesday at 8 a.m. Martin Enns said he's grateful he has a cabin to go back to. "I really didn't know at one point whether they could stop the fire or not," the Booster Lake cottager said. "It's just so powerful. It's huge and, from the map that I was looking at … 90 per cent of the park is burned. So how do you stop a monster like that?" The news comes 36 days after an evacuation order was issued for communities in the area because of the fire, which was then about 5,000 hectares in size. It's continued growing, and as of Thursday's update, was 218,700 hectares and still considered out of control. Provincial Road 314 across Nopiming remains closed, and a mandatory evacuation order is still in place for the rest of the park beyond the southern areas that opened Wednesday, as well as for nearby Wallace Lake, South Atikaki and Manigotagang River. Nancy Krebs said she feels lucky. The lifelong Nopiming resident said she knew her place on Bird Lake was safe because the fire hadn't gotten across the water. But Krebs said she and her husband still wanted to return home quickly to see for themselves everything was fine. "I've been here over 60 years. I don't see myself anywhere else, quite frankly," she said. "It's my life. My childhood. I spent all summer here with my mom.… She'd bang pots to keep the bears away at night. It was very rustic, believe me. But it was fun." Back in Booster Lake, Martin Enns said the return has put him at ease after some "very anxious moments." He and his wife purchased their lot in 1981 and built their cabin "basically with our own hands," enjoying it with the rest of their family over the years. "We were considering selling it at one point, but now all of a sudden you're faced with maybe losing it — wow. You don't want to sell it," he said. "You suddenly realize what you've got." The province said the Tulabi Falls and Bird Lake campgrounds will remain closed until at least June 26. Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Daily Mail
I've been to over 65 countries - these are the three underrated spots that are about to blow up
A travel influencer who has explored the world has urged holidaymakers to visit three 'hidden gem' destinations before they 'get too popular.' Tia, 26, from England, has visited 66 countries over three years since quitting a job in 2021 to travel full-time. From Oman, to Switzerland, to Singapore, the content creator has documented her global adventures in videos uploaded to Instagram, where shares budget travel hacks, hiking and travel recommendations and advice regarding local customs. In one video, posted to her account @teetravels_ on April 5, she highlighted three countries in Europe and Asia that are less-frequented by tourists, encouraging her followers to visit before they 'blow up' in popularity. Tia's first recommendation is Taiwan, which she described as one of the 'coolest' places she's visited. In the clip, she said: 'Compared to the other east Asian countries, you can experience the same things, and more, for a fraction of the price - and with way less crowds.' The globetrotter gushed over the island's 268 mountains, coastline, 'cool' and trendy cities, 'impressive' temples, 'insanely friendly' locals, 'amazing' architecture and 'some of the most underrated' nature spots. As well as sampling the delicious options at the endless number of night markets in Taipei, Tia also suggested tourists visit Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, Ci'En Pagoda, Wenwu Temple, Yuanzui Mountain and Jiufen. Next up is Slovenia, a central European country the content creator described as a 'nature-lover's paradise.' She highlighted the nation's 'beautiful' lakes, gorges, waterfalls and mountains, while adding she was dazzled by the brilliance of the shade of bright blue water flowing in alpine rivers. Tia added: 'Ljubljana is such an underrated city with lovely colourful buildings and a great alfresco setting in summer.' She personally recommended visitors explore Lake Bled, Tomlin Gorge, Triglav National Park, Pericinik Watercall, Lake Jasna, Soča river and Velika Planina. Last, but not least, is the Maldives - which happens to be home to ultra-affordable, lesser-known islands where tourists can enjoy crystal-clear waters and white-sand beaches for much less than its iconic luxury resorts. Tia said: 'People are realising that you can travel the Maldives on a budget visiting the local islands and this is a total game changer. 'I spent less than £35 a day on picture-perfect beaches. While tourism in the Maldives isn't new, budget travelling the local islands is booming.' She advised her followers to snorkel in Maalhos, surf in Thulsdhoo, and walk along the stunning beaches in Dhiffushi. In the comments, reactions were mixed among viewers, though many agreed with Tia that the three highlighted destinations were some of the best they had visited In the comments, reactions were mixed among viewers, though many agreed with Tia that the three highlighted destinations were some of the best they had visited. One person wrote, 'Taiwan was one of my favourite trips I'd go back in a heartbeat,' as another shared: 'The rivers in Slovenia really are so blue! Maldives is on my list.' A third wrote, 'I neeeeed to explore budget Maldives!' while another said, 'We went as a family to Slovenia in the summer and it was such an incredible place!' However, one person fumed: 'Of course they will, because you and other influencers are exposing them lol. All the hidden gems will be ruined.'
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
People (Ludzie) review – multi-thread epic offers raw tales from the Russia-Ukraine war
This portmanteau film – produced by Warsaw Film School and released for the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – is in the Come and See tradition: a near-phantasmagoric descent into the brutalising reality of the battlefield. Equally anti-war and anti-Russia, its interconnected stories kick off in the faintly theatrical and moralist mode sometimes seen in east European drama, before accelerating for the climax into a bravura cinematic sequence: a baby's point of view on Russian pillaging and destruction. The film is comprised of five threads: an unnamed Polish traveller (Cezary Pazura) arrives in Ukraine to meet his doctor lover (Oksana Cherkashyna), but is sidetracked into taking a group of orphans with visual impairments to the zoo. Tasked with escorting the kids back over the border, he stops in at her parents' house – but the old war hero (Hryhorii Bokovenko) and his wife (Nina Naboka) refuse to abandon it. Tatiana Yurikova plays a blinged-up Russian mother who has paid her way to the frontline to look for her missing son; it turns out he is in a Ukrainian hospital bed and appalling the doctor we have already seen with his opinions on Russian superiority. And finally, the frame story, seen in bleary cot-cam: a huddle of Ukrainian women in a basement hidey-hole. Not every section of this wartime story-scrum has the desired impact; the senior-citizen portion, especially, feels like padding. And, arranged in nonlinear fashion, the interconnections don't snap with as much dramatic force as they could – even if the poetic linkages, like the balloon animal from the zoo that later floats over the corpse incinerator in the third plotline, are neat. But some segments register on their own terms, like the callous satire of the Russian mother, in her Gucci jacket and Putin sweatshirt, begging a monstrous crematorium boss for mercy. Elsewhere, the three partially sighted wastrels, left to scramble alone through the ruins, gather metaphorical moss as symbols of universal wartime confusion. This rallying call for lost innocence reaches an unbearable pitch in the final section; filmed in long takes from underneath the cot-arch, Russian thugs violate the women from the cellar, until one of them (Maria Shtofa) flees into the chaos of invasion. It's raw but epic film-making with an instinctive grasp of the obscenity of war. People (Ludzie) is in UK cinemas from 21 February
Bloomberg
31-01-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cheap East Europe Stocks Soar on Trump's Ukraine Peace Ambitions
Eastern Europe's stock markets are among the world's best performers this month, benefiting from optimism that the nearly three-year war in Ukraine could be resolved as Donald Trump pushes for peace talks. The new US president's ambition to deliver peace in Russia's war in Ukraine has boosted bets that geopolitical risks weighing down east European asset prices could fade quickly if the war is resolved. Tailwinds also include low valuations and an improved economic outlook, as Trump has so far refrained from slapping tariffs on European imports.
Al Arabiya
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Lukashenko says critics ‘chose' prison as Belarus holds election scorned by West
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday that some of his political opponents had 'chosen' to go to prison as he cast his vote in an election that was set to extend his 31-year rule. As Belarusians voted, Lukashenko sparred with the world's media at a press conference lasting more than four hours and 20 minutes. Asked how the election could be free and fair, given that all the main opposition figures are in jail or have fled the country, the veteran leader replied: 'Some chose prison, some chose 'exile', as you say. We didn't kick anyone out of the country.' He said no one was prevented from speaking out in Belarus, but prison was 'for people who opened their mouths too wide, to put it bluntly, those who broke the law.' The United States and the European Union have both described the election as a sham, given the repression of political opponents and the banning of independent media. 'This is a blatant affront to democracy,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on the eve of the vote. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters this week that Lukashenko was engineering his re-election as part of a 'ritual for dictators.' Demonstrations against him took place on Sunday in Warsaw and other east European cities. Lukashenko shrugged off the criticism as meaningless and said he didn't care whether the West decided to recognize the election or not. The EU and the US both said they did not acknowledge him as the legitimate leader of Belarus after he used his security forces to crush mass protests after the last election in 2020, when Western governments backed Tsikhanouskaya's claim that he had falsified the results to cheat her of victory. Tens of thousands of people were arrested. Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an 'extremist' organization, says there are still some 1,250 political prisoners. Lukashenko has freed more than 250 in the past year on what he called humanitarian grounds, but he denied this was meant as a signal to the West to try to repair relations. 'I don't give a damn about the West,' he said, adding that Belarus was willing to talk to the EU but not to 'bow before you or crawl on our knees.' He said that leading dissident Maria Kalesnikava was guilty of 'violating the regime' but that she was in sound health and that he had intervened personally to allow her a visit from her father last year. Other prominent prisoners include human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, serving a 10-year sentence on smuggling charges that he denies. 'In any state you have to take responsibility if you break the law. The law is severe, but it's the law,' Lukashenko said. Putin ally Lukashenko, who took his small dog with him to a Minsk polling station, is standing against four other candidates, none of whom has mounted any serious challenge. But while there is no doubt about the outcome, he faces tricky choices in a new five-year term, which will be his seventh since 1994. The war in Ukraine has bound him more tightly than ever to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Lukashenko offering his country as a launchpad for the 2022 invasion and later agreeing to let Moscow place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Lukashenko said he saw 'light at the end of the tunnel' as Moscow and Kyiv prepare for possible peace talks in which he said they would have to thrash out a compromise. Asked if this would be his last election, the 70-year-old ex-Soviet farm boss declined to give a direct answer. He said he was 'not about to die,' and had no specific successor in mind. 'When the time comes, we will think about this,' he said.
