Wednesday, May 20, 2009

One of the most popular Russian theatrical and cinema actors, Oleg Yankovsky, died at the age of 65 on Wednesday. He died in Moscow after a nearly life-long struggle with pancreatic cancer.

Yankovsky was a leading actor of Mark Zakharov‘s Lenkom Theatre for over 35 years.

He starred in many films, including Two Comrades Were Serving, The Kreutzer Sonata, An Ordinary Miracle and The Very Same Munchhausen.

He is survived by his widow, the actress Lyudmila Zorina, and his son Philip, who is also an actor and a film director.

Cinematologist Kirill Razlogov said that “Oleg Yankovsky was an actor from God.”

“Oleg Yankovsky was a unique phenomenon, an unbelievably strong and talented actor,” said Mark Zakharov, a film director, as quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Larry Stevens is running for the Libertarian Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Kitchener-Conestoga riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Thursday, April 6, 2006

Patrick Owomoyela, a soccer player in the German national team, has achieved a preliminary injunction against the far-right NPD over a pamphlet of the party depicting Owomoyela.

On the cover of the pamphlet concerning the upcoming Soccer World Cup in Germany, the NPD had shown the torso of a man wearing a jersey of the national soccer team with the number 25, which is the fixed number of Owomoeyela in the team. Below it were the words: “White. Not just the color of the jersey. For a real national team.”

The court found that this portrayal “defames [Owomoyela] in an unbearable racist manner” and ordered that the NPD cease distributing the pamphlet under penalty of 250,000 €.

Owomoyela’s lawyer and the German Football Association also intend to press criminal charges for defamation and hate speech against the party.

NPD spokesperson Klaus Beier said the reference to the word “white” was not related to skin color, but rather to a series of betting and corruption scandals in German soccer in recent months.

He also claimed that “neither the player nor his number were recognisable”. However, although partially covered by the caption, the number 25 is easily identifiable on the image.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs.

When Shankbone rings the bell of “HC & Co.” he has no idea what to expect. A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon is a legal enterprise in New York City, and there are more than a few businesses that cater to a clientèle that wants an enema, a spanking, to be dressed like a baby or to wear women’s clothing. Shankbone went to find out what these businesses are like, who runs them, who works at them, and who frequents them. He spent three hours one night in what is considered one of the more upscale establishments in Manhattan, Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, where according to The Village Voice, “you can take your girlfriend or wife, and have them treated with respect—unless they hope to be treated with something other than respect!”

When Shankbone arrived on the sixth floor of a midtown office building, the elevator opened up to a hallway where a smiling Rebecca greeted him. She is a beautiful forty-ish Long Island mother of three who is dressed in smart black pants and a black turtleneck that reaches up to her blond-streaked hair pulled back in a bushy ponytail. “Are you David Shankbone? We’re so excited to meet you!” she says, and leads him down the hall to a living room area with a sofa, a television playing an action-thriller, an open supply cabinet stocked with enema kits, and her husband Bill sitting at the computer trying to find where the re-release of Blade Runner is playing at the local theater. “I don’t like that movie,” says Rebecca.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came at the end of the night when Shankbone was waiting to be escorted out (to avoid running into a client). Rebecca came into the room and sat on the sofa. “You know, a lot of people out there would like to see me burn for what I do,” she says. Rebecca is a woman who has faced challenges in her life, and dealt with them the best she could given her circumstances. She sees herself as providing a service to people who have needs, no matter how debauched the outside world deems them. They sat talking mutual challenges they have faced and politics (she’s supporting Hillary); Rebecca reflected upon the irony that many of the people who supported the torture at Abu Ghraib would want her closed down. It was in this conversation that Shankbone saw that humanity can be found anywhere, including in places that appear on the surface to cater to the inhumanity some people in our society feel towards themselves, or others.

“The best way to describe it,” says Bill, “is if you had a kink, and you had a wife and you had two kids, and every time you had sex with your wife it just didn’t hit the nail on the head. What would you do about it? How would you handle it? You might go through life feeling unfulfilled. Or you might say, ‘No, my kink is I really need to dress in women’s clothing.’ We’re that outlet. We’re not the evil devil out here, plucking people off the street, keeping them chained up for days on end.”

Below is David Shankbone’s interview with Bill & Rebecca, owners of Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, a BDSM dungeon.