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‘Complete absurdity’: Usyk slams Russia’s sporting return with eye on Fury trilogy

  • Usyk condemns Russia’s return to global sport

  • Ukrainian champion calls Olympic shift “absurd”

  • Heavyweight star still targeting Fury trilogy

The world of sport appears to be softening the hardline stance it took when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Russian athletes are back competing under their own flag at the Paralympics. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the international ban on Russian soccer teams “has not achieved anything”. And his counterpart at the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, insists all athletes should be allowed to “compete freely.”

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Man jailed for 26 years for ex-wife’s murder and burial in Cardiff garden

Alireza Askari, 42, sentenced for killing Paria Veisi after she left him, and aunt Maryam Delavary jailed for helping bury her

A man has been jailed for at least 26 years for the “cold-blooded murder” of his ex-wife and the burying of her body in his garden.

Alireza Askari, 42, admitted killing Paria Veisi, 37, at the property they previously shared in Penylan, Cardiff, in April last year.

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Great haul of China: how table-topping nation rose to be a Winter Paralympic power

Their sporting dominance is all the more striking after winning just a solitary medal eight years ago but no country can match them now

With two days of competition left at the Winter Paralympics there is no doubt who will finish top of the medal table. At close of play on Friday, China had a total of 33 medals, the same as their nearest rivals the USA and Italy combined. They have won gold in four of the Games’ six sports – cross-country skiing, curling, snowboarding and biathlon – and are in line for a medal in para-ice hockey too. This sporting dominance is all the more striking because, only eight years ago, China was nowhere.

At the Pyeongchang Games, the Chinese won a solitary medal, gold in the mixed team curling. Three of that team are competing here at Milano Cortina and a fourth, Wang Meng, already has a gold medal around her neck after winning the inaugural mixed doubles alongside her partner Yang Jinqiao. “I’m very, very proud, very, very honoured, and also very grateful,” she said after beating the Korean pair 9-6 following a tie-break end. “I’m so grateful to so many people who have helped us along the way, and [to be] finally standing on this podium”.

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Another Farmer hat-trick lifts USA to verge of fifth straight Paralympic sled hockey gold

  • Farmer hat trick powers USA past Czechia 6-1

  • Americans reach fifth straight Paralympic final

  • USA move one win from fifth consecutive gold

The United States defeated Czechia 6-1 on Friday in the semi-finals of the Paralympic sled hockey tournament in Milan, advancing to the gold medal game for a fifth consecutive Games.

Declan Farmer scored three goals and assisted on the other three as the Americans pulled away after conceding the opening goal. Farmer’s hat trick – his fourth in four games at these Paralympics – set records for most goals and most points in a single Paralympic tournament. He now has 14 goals and 24 points in Milan.

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The Moscow Times - Independent News From Russia

The Moscow Times offers everything you need to know about Russia: Breaking news, top stories, business, analysis, opinion, multimedia

Moscow Summons British and French Ambassadors Over Deadly Ukrainian Attack on Bryansk

Ukraine's military said it used Storm Shadow missiles, developed by Britain and France, in the attack that killed eight people on Tuesday.

Great-Granddaughter of Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev Branded ‘Foreign Agent’

Nina Khrushcheva is a Russian-American academic and author who has lived in the United States since 1991.

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

China ziet 'positieve signalen' Nederland na gesprek met minister

BEIJING (ANP/RTR) - China waardeert de "positieve signalen" die het nieuwe Nederlandse kabinet heeft afgegeven over de betrekkingen met China en is bereid de communicatie en wederzijds vertrouwen te verdiepen. Dit heeft de Chinese minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Wang Yi gezegd, die vrijdag met zijn Nederlandse evenknie Tom Berendsen heeft gebeld.

De relatie tussen Nederland en China staat al maanden onder druk vanwege het conflict rond de Nijmeegse chipfabrikant Nexperia en zijn Chinese moederbedrijf Wingtech. Zo plaatste de toenmalige minister van Economische Zaken Nexperia vorig jaar onder curatele, uit angst dat de Chinese topman het Europese deel naar China zou verplaatsen.

Wang zei vrijdag dat China en Nederland belangrijke partners zijn en dat "het bevorderen van wederzijds voordelige samenwerking in het gemeenschappelijk belang is van beide landen", aldus een verklaring van het Chinese ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken.

Berendsen meldt op X dat de relatie met China "van groot belang" voor Nederland is.


India reserveert miljarden om impact Iranoorlog op te vangen

NEW DELHI (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - India reserveert miljarden om nadelige gevolgen voor de economie van de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten op te vangen. Dat maakte de Indiase minister van Financiën Nirmala Sitharaman vrijdag bekend. India heeft veel last van de fors gestegen olieprijzen, het land importeert bijna 90 procent van zijn jaarlijkse ruwe oliebehoeften.

In totaal zet India 6,2 miljard dollar opzij (5,4 miljard euro). "Het stelt ons in staat om economische schokken van verschillende aard op te vangen", zei Sitharaman over de reserves.

De regering neemt ook maatregelen om de importafhankelijke economie van India te beschermen tegen de gevolgen van de sterk gestegen olieprijzen. De prijzen van diesel en benzine zijn bijvoorbeeld niet veranderd. Ook heeft de regering extra voorraden veiliggesteld nadat de Verenigde Staten enkele importen van Russische olie toestonden.


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Good EU trans news

EU rules that all EU countries must provide passports as lived gender.

Looks this is short and sweet and proof that some governments are still there for Trans people even if their own countries aren't.

Colossal

The best of art, craft, and visual culture since 2010.

In ‘Life Forms,’ Janny Baek Imagines a Speculative Landscape

In ‘Life Forms,’ Janny Baek Imagines a Speculative Landscape

Joy Machine is pleased to present Life Forms, a solo exhibition by Janny Baek, on view from March 20 to May 9, 2026.

How do we conceive of change? With fear, excitement, or uncertainty? As Janny Baek builds sculptural ceramics of speculative beings and imagined landscapes, she grapples with these questions. The work follows its own dream logic, one that accepts incongruity and dissonance as necessary to play and experimentation. Marbling hunks of colored clay, coiling bases, and molding a singular material into something new is part of an exploratory practice that embraces transformation and its often strange outcomes.

detail of a ceramic head sculpture by Janny Baek with various floral forms emerging
Detail of “Dream State” (2024)

Life Forms emerges from this dual meaning, invoking both the act of creation and the fantastical works it produces. Neither wholly abstract nor representational, Baek’s sculptures draw on natural structures and processes and invite us to question how we interpret the world around us. Recognizable forms like open blossoms, birds, and creatures are met with the unexpected. These lively components make even the more abstract works appear animate, like ambiguous organisms that might decide to scuttle away. They evoke something primordial and yet are exhilaratingly new.

Baek paints in the way she sketches, as a means of developing ideas and visualizing their potential. For her ceramics, she incorporates hand building alongside the Japanese pottery technique known as nerikomi, which involves splicing and designing patterns with strips of colored clay. “My material choices are a way of thinking about natural processes: color gradients as the continuous nature of change, a multitude of colors as potential, abundance, and vitality, and patterns as signals and communications,” she says.

Hovering between worlds, Baek’s work populates a speculative environment in which beings morph, mutate, and blossom, their individual features forming an otherworldly lineage that’s recognizable but not identical. While “temporarily and imperfectly captured in a moment of many possible transformations,” the works beckon us into a world in which change is not only inevitable but also the most alluring proposition.

Life Forms is Baek’s Chicago debut. An opening reception will be held on March 20, and the artist will be present. See more from Baek previously on Colossal.

a ceramic flower sculpture by Janny Baek
“Future Blossoms” (2023), colored porcelain, 13 x 13 x 12 inches
a ceramic sculpture by Janny Baek with patterned colorful clay and a blue bird form emerging from a lighter blue flower
“Landscape” (2025), colored stoneware with glazed interior, 15 x 8 x 8 inches
detail of a ceramic head sculpture by Janny Baek with various floral forms emerging
Detail of “Dream State” (2024)
a ceramic head sculpture by Janny Baek with various floral forms emerging
“Dream State 2” (2025), stoneware, colored slip, porcelain, and glaze, 21 x 17 x 16 inches
a detail of a ceramic sculpture by Janny Baek with patterned colorful clay and a blue bird form emerging from a lighter blue flower
Detail of “Landscape” (2025)
a ceramic sculpture by Janny Baek with colorful organic forms emerging from white shoots
“Plant Life” (2025), stoneware, colored stoneware, and glaze, 21.5 x 15 x 15 inches
a detail of a ceramic sculpture by Janny Baek with colorful organic forms emerging from white shoots
Detail of “Plant Life” (2025)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In ‘Life Forms,’ Janny Baek Imagines a Speculative Landscape appeared first on Colossal.