Mastercard & Visa Suspending Operations In Russia As U.S. State Department Again Recommends All Citizens Vacate Country “Immediately”

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify, which suspended its paid subscription service in Russia earlier this month due to that country’s unprovoked and bloody invasion of Ukraine, has announced it will “fully suspend our service in Russia,” apparently indefinitely. It joins dozens of other music companies that have ceased operations in the country.“Spotify has continued to believe that it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information in the region.

in a post on Instagram, which quickly racked up 5,100 likes. One follower gushed, “This brought tears to my eyes I would like to personally thank them.”The two women walked hand-in-hand while waving at gawking passersby, as The United Orchestra’s “We Stand with Ukraine” played over the clip.Some were unimpressed with their bold gesture, calling it “hella goofy” and a “sad” attempt to “go viral” in the comments.Still, others praised Diamond and Pierre for their effort to keep followers informed about world affairs.

Ukrainian band Antytila wants to share their music with Ed Sheeran’s Concert For Ukraine.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice reportedly has a preference to join Chelsea over Manchester United, according to reports.

Emilio Mayorga Argentine actor Joaquín Furriel is set to topline Rafa Russo’s next feature, “Devotion” (“Devoción”), which will be produced by Málaga-born producer-director Ezekiel Montes at his label 73140323PC.Spanish actress Elena Martínez, who has starred in Gustavo Hernández’s “Lobo Feroz” and Montes’ admired feature debut “A Dead Man Cannot Live,” which premiered at the Málaga fest last year, will co-star in “Devotion.”Furriel is mainly known for his star turn in Sebastián Schindel’s Guadalajara Actor, New Director double-winner “The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime” and “The Son” by the same director. He was also a standout in the HBO Latin America and Pol-Ka-produced TV show “The Bronze Garden,” recipient of five Telly Awards in 2018 and an international Emmy Awards nomination.

Brent Renaud, an acclaimed filmmaker who traveled to some of the darkest and most dangerous corners of the world for documentaries that transported audiences to little-known places of suffering, died Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle in Ukraine.

Right Said Fred, who took issue with the TV personality’s upcoming trip to the Ukrainian border.Rinder is heading to the area to help the grandparents of his former Strictly Come Dancing partner Oksana Platero find safety.According to the UN, more than one million civilians have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion.Earlier this week Rinder, a criminal barrister, shared his plans to fly to Poland, which borders Ukraine. “Right now (Platero’s) grandparents are a week into their struggle to find sanctuary in a safe country,” said Rinder on Twitter.

the band’s Twitter account states.The included works that are set to be leaving Russian and Belarusian streaming platforms are Pink Floyd studio albums “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” (1987), “The Division Bell” (1994) as well as 2014’s “The Endless River.” Gilmour has released four solo studio albums in his career, the most recent being “Rattle That Lock” in 2015. His entire solo discography is also being removed from streamers.Last week, Gilmour tweeted in support of Ukraine, writing, “Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music has suspended all of its operations in Russia, the company has confirmed to Variety. “Sony Music Group calls for peace in Ukraine and an end to the violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue our support of global humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need.,” the company said in a statement.Sources tells Variety that the company’s staffers will continue to receive their salaries for an undetermined time; the artists’ situation is still being worked out.Universal Music Group announced that it is suspending its operations in the country on Tuesday.

Manori Ravindran International EditorDiscovery has suspended all operations in Russia amid the country’s war on Ukraine. Around 15 channels that operate through Media Alliance — a joint venture with Russia’s National Media Group — will go off air from Wednesday.The business joins a growing number of media companies that are turning their backs on Russian operations.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs more and more companies have cut ties with Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, many have wondered why more music companies have not done the same.Early Tuesday, the U.K.’s performing rights organization, PRS for Music, said it has formally and immediately suspended its rights representation relationship with RAO, the Russian collecting society for musical works, “pending confirmation of its separation from the Russian Government and those individuals and companies on the sanctions lists.“We are also working with CISAC to consider the ongoing membership of Russian societies in the global network. It is not our desire to punish the Russian composer, songwriter and publisher communities who support peace, and we will work with the global community to identify opportunities to amplify the voices of protest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that he considers Western sanctions to be akin to a declaration of war against Russia.

invaded that country on Feb. 24.Host Ken Jennings read the $800 clue in the category “Bordering Russia”: ”The Kerch Strait — along with serious border issues — separates Russia from this country on the Black Sea.”The answer, of course, was Ukraine.The 1.9-mile-long strait separates Russia from Crimea to its west and Ukraine to the north. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and subsequently built a bridge across the strait to connect the two in 2018.

Chris Willman Music WriterHit songwriter Ross Golan, who has crafted smashes for Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, One Direction and Demi Lovato, has started a petition on Change.org asking the music community to stop licensing songs in Russia for as long as the nation wages war on Ukraine.The petition, posted Thursday afternoon here, was put up for the purpose of allowing songwriters to make their voices heard in requesting that collection agencies sever ties with their counterpart orgs in Russia, to ensure that they won’t be profiting from the rogue-superpower nation while the bloody siege of its neighbor country continues.“Currently, a portion of our royalties are going directly to the Russian government, which in turn funds their invasion into Ukraine,” Golan says. The petition — credited to “And the Writer Is,” the podcast Golan started to spotlight writers and their issues — reads: “The global songwriting business stands with Ukraine.

They may not be dancing together anymore but Giovanni Pernice and Rose Ayling-Ellis' support for each other is very much continuing.

including “The Batman,” amid Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The moves comes as Russia escalated its offensive Tuesday by bombing Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and dispatching a 40-mile-long convoy of tanks and other equipment to Kyiv.“In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing the release of its feature film ‘The Batman’ in Russia,” the studio said in a statement, per the Hollywood Reporter.