Melbourne has a network of tunnels that are now used to carry data, power and water. Some of the tunnels were built more than a century ago and were intended to carry steam or telegrams. The use of tunnels owned by Telstra is a secret. Access is typically restricted, although a staircase near the entrance to the Royal Melbourne Hospital leads to a basement containing more than 100 staff spread across its various facilities. One tunnel there dates back to 1939 and was primarily used to transport steam. The hospital’s tunnels are still used today to carry pipes and cables running along the sides of the tunnels carrying data, power, water and sewerage. The tunnels were used by the US Army during the Second World War. St Vincent’s Hospital in Fitzroy also features a tunnel beneath Victoria Parade that was built in 1978. It is used to transport food, pathology, radiology and personnel, with patients taken between it and the Eye and Ear Hospital across the road.
Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin has called for a ban on Polish trucks making their way through Russia and demanded compensation worth over $750bn from Poland, stating Warsaw needed punishing for “betraying the historical memory” of World War Two. Volodin claims that it was the Soviet Union that rebuilt Poland following the war and that the country owes a historical debt to Moscow for this work. Volodin’s remarks came amid growing tension between the two countries with strained relations between the two states, since Russia’s support of Ukrainian separatists and the annexation of Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that destroyed cities in the country will be rebuilt in the same way as Hiroshima following Japan’s nuclear bombing. Zelensky, who was in Hiroshima in Japan to address G7 leaders, made the remarks as he visited the memorial to mark the first place to experience the devastation of a nuclear bomb after the United States attacked the city in 1945. The Ukrainian leader praised Japan’s reconstruction of Hiroshima and vowed to reconstruct Ukraine’s battered cities and towns in a similar way, saying: “Today it is a tragedy, but in the future there will be reconstruction and recovery”.
World leaders at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan have pledged not to back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the summit, flying in on a French government plane to canvas for greater support against Russia’s invasion. During the final day of the three-day talks, US President Joe Biden announced a $375m package of military aid, including artillery and armoured vehicles, for Ukraine. “Together with the entire G7, we have Ukraine’s back and I promise we’re not going anywhere,” Biden said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the summit, Zelensky said the battered eastern city, the focus of fighting in recent months, was destroyed. Putin hailed the taking of the city as a victory for his forces. The conflict has been ongoing for 15 months, with diplomatic discussions around how it may eventually become a frozen conflict.
Winnipeg made skyscraper history 120 years ago with tower once tallest in Canada
CBC
23-05-21 18:06
The Union Bank Building, western Canada's first skyscraper, has survived for over a century on the corner of Main and William Avenues, Winnipeg, as the skyline of the city has grown and changed around it. Completed in 1904, the building stands 11 storeys tall, with a steel skeleton and terracotta facade unique to Western Canada. Heritage Winnipeg fought to save the building from demolition when it became vacant but finally succeeded when Red River College Polytech took up residence, restoring the tower as a gastronomy school and residence.
The fifth and final Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, stars an 80-year-old Harrison Ford and checks off franchise tropes, including a MacGuffin, Nazis, tombs, and sidekicks, according to a review. The movie is mostly set in 1969, but the story also involves a plot by its villain, played by Mads Mikkelsen, to use a time machine designed by Archimedes to correct Hitler's mistakes and allow Nazi rule of the planet. The 142-minute film's fabulous extended opening sequence features CGI de-aging technology.
Jeremy Clarke, long-serving columnist for The Spectator, has died at the age of 66. He is known for his Low Life column, which chronicled the struggles of human life, including his own terminal cancer. Although reluctant to take on the mantle of the legendary Soho flaneur Jeffrey Bernard, he took over the Low Life column in 2001 and excelled in storytelling about issues ranging from alcohol and drug abuse, broken relationships, domestic violence, petty crime, and football hooliganism, many of which featured in Clarke's own life experiences. He brought empathy for all those whose lives struggled to follow untroubled paths, including his father, a heavy drinker who ended up as the uniformed car park attendant of a nudist beach. Clarke also had a fascination with the literature and battlefield geography of the First World War, in which four of his great uncles died. His last column, on “the pros and cons of kissing” appeared on 6 May 2023. He is survived by his wife Catriona, his son Mark, and three stepdaughters from Catriona’s first marriage.
Arthur Moore, a self-taught radio operator in Blackwood, Caerphilly was among the first amateur radio responders to hear the Titanic's calls for help, some 2,000 miles away from Wales. His homemade radio allowed him to intercept messages from further away than had previously been thought possible. Years after the Titanic tragedy, Moore helped to pioneer sonar technology which aided the discovery of the liner’s resting place on the floor of the Atlantic ocean. Born in 1887, Moore was an inventor and entrepreneur who lost a leg in a mill accident as a child learning to ride a bicycle.
During a press conference at the G7 summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the ruined eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to Hiroshima after World War Two. His comments came after Russia claimed that it had captured Bakhmut, although Ukraine denials that Moscow's forces have taken full control of the city. Zelensky stated that Ukrainian forces are continuing to fight inside Bakhmut and the situation inside the city is serious, compared to the situation across the conflict area, which he said had been "calming down." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mocked Zelensky’s comparison with Hiroshima, pointing out that the United States had bombed Hiroshima and provided military support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has compared the destruction of his country's eastern city of Bakhmut with that of Hiroshima in the wake of World War II. Russia claimed to have captured Bakhmut on 31 July as part of its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. However, Ukraine disputes this claim. Zelenskiy told reporters at the G7 summit that Ukrainian forces were still fighting inside the city and completing "important tasks", and expressed a desire for successful reconstruction efforts for the area post-conflict. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova mocked Zelenskiy's comparison on Telegram, describing it as "nice", but also pointed out that both Bakhmut and Hiroshima had undergone destruction facilitated by the US government.
US and Papua New Guinea poised to sign defense pact as Washington, Beijing vie for influence in the Pacific
CNN
23-05-22 04:00
The US and Papua New Guinea are set to sign a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement. While the specifics are unknown, this new agreement is expected to expand US access to military facilities in Papua New Guinea, boosting Washington's presence in the South Pacific as China also jostles for influence in the region. Beijing has become a significant player in Papua New Guinea's economy as both an investor and consumer of its natural resources. The US had planned to include Papua New Guinea in US President Joe Biden's recent Asia visit but he scrapped the visit earlier this month.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, has warned that the proposed transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv raises the involvement of NATO in Kiev’s conflict with Moscow. The US President Joe Biden has approved training programs for Ukrainian air force pilots on the jets. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has assured Biden that the F-16s will not be used to launch missions into Russian-held territory. Meanwhile, Antonov has also warned that any Ukrainian strike on the country’s Crimean peninsula would be viewed as an attack on Russia. He added that it was “important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response”.
B.C. Holocaust survivor shares stories of harrowing history — and hope — in 2023 memoir
CBC
23-05-22 11:00
Holocaust survivor Marie Doduck has spoken about her new book "A Childhood Unspoken" to mark Jewish Heritage Month in Canada. The memoir tells the story of how Doduck survived hiding from the Nazi regime, emigrated to Canada, and became a founder of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. On encountering hostility in Vancouver after the war, Doduck and three of her siblings initially settled in Winnipeg, which served as a temporary home for many Jewish children in the aftermath of World War II, before eventually finding foster parents in Vancouver.
Michael Caine's latest film, The Great Escaper, based on the true story of a WWII veteran who escaped his care home to attend D-Day commemorations, was filmed entirely in England instead of France in order to minimise travel for its elderly cast, according to production company Pathe. The film stars Caine, 90, and Glenda Jackson, 87, in their first acting project together in almost 50 years. Sir John Standing, who also appears in the film, has claimed that problems with Brexit red tape were the real reasons why the film could not be shot in France.
The battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which lasted for over 220 days and is possibly the longest in the war, was finally won by Russian forces but left behind nine million bottles of champagne made by Artwinery, one of eastern Europe’s major suppliers of sparkling wine. While the winery evacuated one million bottles, the rest remain in cellars 236 feet underground in gypsum mines from which the company sourced the materials it uses. The fate of the remaining stock remains uncertain, as celebrations are uneasily held due to the town’s protracted combat and ongoing conflict.
Bakhmut, an eastern Ukraine town with a population of 70,000 is now almost completely empty and Ukrainian authorities are divided over its significance. For many, the protracted and expensive defence of Bakhmut was crucial to setting up an eventual counter-offensive elsewhere. The Russian commanders see the prolonged defence as having held up the Ukrainian forces and depleted Ukrainian Western equipment.
Despite the capture of Bakhmut, the town remains a potent symbol for boosting Ukrainian morale and sending a message to the Russian military that if more fortified towns such as Slovyansk and Kramatorsk were attacked, then the Russian army would need to expend both men and materials. The Ukrainian military has claimed that the Russian forces in Bakhmut are “semi-encircled”, but this is not supported on war theatre maps.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has said that the defence agreement it signed with the US earlier this week prohibits “offensive military operations” and will not be used as a base for launching wars. The agreement expands PNG's capabilities and will make it easier for the US military to train with its forces. The signing of the deal was opposed by student activists amid fears that it could result in PNG becoming involved in strategic competition between the US and China. China has invested heavily in PNG.
