Thundercat honors Ryuichi Sakamoto with “Thousand Knives” cover

Wow! Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend Conor Kennedy secretly joined the fight in Ukraine!

Elite troops from Iran have 'secretly entered the frontline in Ukraine to help Russia's horror blitz', according to reports.

The White House said Tuesday that President Biden believes Saudi Arabia has effectively sided with Russia’s war aims in Ukraine following the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance’s announcement last week that it would cut oil production. "We believe by the decision that OPEC+ made last week, (Saudi Arabia is) certainly aligning themselves with Russia," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Tuesday briefing.

US President Joe Biden warned that the risk of a nuclear threat has reached its highest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, following harrowing threats from Vladimir Putin.

Thundercat has recorded a cover of Ryuichi Sakamoto‘s ‘Thousand Knives’, the title track from the Japanese composer’s 1978 solo debut – listen to it below.The cover is part of a new compilation that pays tribute to Sakamoto,in celebration of his 70th birthday. ‘A Tribute To Ryuichi Sakamoto: To The Moon And Back’ is due out on December 2 via Milan Records.Thundercat’s bass-laden take on ‘Thousand Knives’ is about half the length of Sakamoto’s vocoder-heavy original, with brand-new English lyrics fitting with the melody.It’s the first single from the album, with other artists to appear including Devonté Hynes (AKA Blood Orange), Fennesz, David Sylvian, Cornelius, and the Cinematic Orchestra.Last month, Sakamoto shared two new songs that were made for the Netflix anime series Exception.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Elon Musk are feuding over how the United States should handle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And the result of their disagreement could prompt a shift in U.S. policy, the lawmaker suggested.

China still has much to gain from its current relationship with Russia even as the invasion of Ukraine drags on, turning Russia into an international pariah and threatening to rub off on China’s reputation as well.  "China has, in effect, doubled down on its support for the Putin war effort, and we saw this, for instance, last month when China's third rank leader went to Moscow, spoke to the State Duma, and in very clear terms, expressed Beijing's support for Russia," Gordon Change, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," told Fox News Digital.  "Then, [we] see Jinping himself when he was in Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, actually confirmed that endorsement," Chang added. "The only conclusion that we can come to is that Beijing is not backing away from Russia."  The China and Russia dynamic has remained a troubling one for the United States since even before the invasion of Ukraine started in March 2022.

North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday morning local time, just two days after Pyongyang sent an intermediate-range ballistic missile flying over Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.  About 40 missiles have been launched by North Korea this year, including six in the past two weeks, but Tuesday's test marked the first time in five years that the country has sent a missile over Japan.  The U.S. and South Korea staged joint drills on Wednesday in response, with the USS Ronald Reagan moving into waters east of South Korea.

SoundCloud has been restricted in Russia, with the country claiming “false information” about a “special military operation” in Ukraine have been circulating on the music streaming site.According to Interfax, who cite information from communications watchdog Roskomnadzor (RKN) (via Reuters), “Roskomnadzor restricted access to the SoundCloud service in connection with placement of materials containing false information regarding the nature of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine.”The report continued, claiming that SoundCloud has been blocked at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, with the alleged messages circulating on the website including information on “attacks on civilians, strikes on civilian infrastructure, about numerous civilian casualties at the hands of Russian soldiers”.It said access to the service was blocked at the behest of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, adding that the information in question related to the special operation’s form and methods of warfare including “attacks on civilians, strikes on civilian infrastructure, about numerous civilian casualties at the hands of Russian soldiers”.Elsewhere, as the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, a rapper from Russia is believed to have taken his own life after he refused to be drawn into fighting in President Vladimir Putin’s war.Walkie, whose real name was Ivan Vitalievich Petunin, told fans in a Telegram video that he couldn’t “take the sin of murder on my soul” and that his final protest would be expressed by his death.

The DCTV Firehouse Cinema – the impressive new venue for documentary film exhibition in Manhattan – will dedicate its lobby tonight in honor of late documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud.

first reported by the news outlet AFP, the Film Academy of Russia announced Monday that it would not be submitting a Russian film to contend in the Oscars’ International Feature category. “The presidium of the Film Academy of Russia has decided not to nominate a national film for the Oscars award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022,” the Russian academy said in a statement.The surprise decision led to the resignation of Pavel Tchoukhraï, the head of Russia’s Oscars select committee responsible with choosing a film for competition.

Russia has opted not to submit a film in the Best International Feature category at the 95th Oscars. The decision, revealed late Monday night, was made by the Russian Film Academy and comes as the country’s ties with the west have deteriorated amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.