On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Multiple calls for cease-fires come as Russia-Ukraine peace talks begin
The two sides are meeting face-to-face in Turkey today. Plus, national correspondent Bill Keveney reports on access for electric vehicles in lower income areas, parts of I-81 remain closed in Pennsylvania after a 50-car crash, Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze talks about the court agreeing to hear a copyright case involving Andy Warhol and Prince and Rep. Don Young lies in state.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Buenos dias. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 29th of March 2022. Today, face to face peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, plus access to electric vehicles in low income areas, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- 20 people are dead after gunmen stormed into a cock fighting venue in the Western Mexican state of Michoacán. The state has been home to a longstanding turf battle between the local cartel and the neighboring Jalisco cartel.
- Will Smith has apologized to Chris Rock over his now infamous Oscars slap. The actor issued a public statement yesterday saying that “violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive.” The incident came after Rock joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head.
- And then there were four. The women’s Final Four in college basketball is now set. Three number ones seed South Carolina, Stanford, and Louisville along with two seed Connecticut are going to Minneapolis for the national semifinals next weekend.
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Face to face peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to be held today in Turkey. The Kremlin lowered expectations before the meeting saying there had been no major breakthroughs in talks so far. But a Russian spokesperson admitted that in person meetings could lead to stronger talks. Still, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is rejecting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal to meet president Vladimir Putin, saying it would be counterproductive until the two countries get closer on key issues. Turkish president Recep Erdogan is calling for a cease fire ahead of his meeting in his country. And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched an initiative to explore the possibility of a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.
Anthony Guterres:
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one month ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives, the displacement of 10 million people, mainly women and children, the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide. This must stop.
Taylor Wilson:
Ahead of the Istanbul talks, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said his country is prepared to declare its neutrality as Moscow has demanded. Meanwhile, inside Ukraine, it appears that Ukrainian forces have taken back two towns, the Kyiv suburb of Irpin and Trostyanets in the country’s east. In the latter, residents greeted Ukrainian troops, driving tanks through town. And one resident said this was local’s reactions.
Taylor Wilson translating for Trostyanets resident:
“Residents said they were glad to see the Russians leave after fierce fighting.”
US officials say Russian forces appear to be in defensive positions around the capital of Kyiv and appear to be making little progress on the ground nationwide. Still, Russia is shelling from the air and sea and a cyber attack knocked Ukraine’s national telecommunications provider, Ukrtelecom, almost completely offline yesterday. A Ukrainian official communication blamed the enemy without specifically mentioning Russia.
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Low income areas and many communities of color face barriers when it comes to accessing electric vehicles, but climate justice programs aim to close that gap. National Correspondent Bill Kaveney reports.
Bill Kaveney:
I think electric vehicles started with the kind of wealthier demographics, people who could afford the higher prices. There tends to be some early adoption in those areas. I think the prices were very high and I think those were the people who could afford it. I think over time, they’re seeing that if we’re going to have a conversion to electric to get away from fossil fuels, that you have to everybody have involved and low and moderate income people have to be part of it. One other thing I wanted to mention related to that is that the lower income people and neighborhoods often tend to suffer more from the effects of pollution due to things like historical housing discrimination, living near highways, industrial areas. So in a health way, they need it in some ways, even more than other areas.
There’s various groups approaching it on a lot of levels. There’s groups that favor electric transportation, there’s climate change groups, there’s group seeking racial equity. Because…and I should mention economically disadvantaged people are affected. But communities of color, even regardless of socioeconomic status, even if well off, there hasn’t been the reach into those communities as strongly say with affluent white people, and there needs to be more effort there. To that end, there are programs going on with a lot of these different groups – climate, racial justice, even EV car users who are people of color – to have some experts who can model the behavior and also share with others that are doing pilot programs, that are doing partnering efforts, to, in some cases, provide ride sharing opportunities. That’s a program being done in a Black, low income neighborhood at a senior center in St. Louis, to have rental programs at a subsidized rate. That’s being done at a housing project near the port of Los Angeles, which has very high pollution. And there’s also alternative forms of transportation programs. There’s an e-bike program in Austin that’s adjacent to a housing authority project, and people there are being encouraged to use it for applicable trips.
So a lot of these are smaller programs, but there’s the hope to learn from them and then be able to scale them up. Also in the federal infrastructure legislation, there’s, I believe about two and a half billion dollars slated to go toward these types of things, charging stations in particular for low and moderate income neighborhoods.
Taylor Wilson:
Check out Bill’s full piece in today’s episode description.
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Parts of Interstate 81 will remain closed today in Pennsylvania, after a fiery collision with more than 50 vehicles left at least three people dead yesterday.
[Sound of vehicle colliding with vehicle]
Man on Interstate 81:
Good God.
Woman on Interstate 81:
Did you hear that?
Taylor Wilson:
Schuylkill County Coroner, Dr. David J. Moylan said he expects the death toll could rise because the search at the scene was not yet completed due to burning vehicles. The crash came at around 10:30 AM local time yesterday near Minersville, about a hundred miles Northwest of Philadelphia. And about 20 people have been sent to hospitals with injuries. Footage uploaded to so social media showed multiple crashes, including an out of control tractor trailer that smashed into a large dump truck, turning it nearly 180 degrees.
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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a copyright dispute over several images created in the 1980s by the iconic artist Andy Warhol, portraying the musician Prince. Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze has more.
John Fritz:
Normally, we don’t care all that much about copyright cases. The Supreme Court gets quite a few of them and they tend to be pretty boring, but you know, they don’t usually involve clients like Andy Warhol and dealing with Prince the musician. So this is a case that deals with a photograph that a pretty well known photographer of rock and roll musicians took in 1981 of Prince that later, Andy Warhol was commissioned to do a piece of art. And he relied on this photograph, he altered it. I have sort of changed the colors on it. It focused differently. It was cropped differently, but he relied on this photograph. And so the question is, in the case, did the image and the artwork that Warhol created, did that deviate enough? Did it have it’s own message different and separate and distinct from the photographer’s image or was it a copyright infringement?
And it’s an interesting case because of its clients, obviously the people involved. It’s also interesting because this comes up a lot, including in the news business. It’s a fair use issue that comes up a lot in the copyright context. Just how much do you have to alter someone else’s image to make it your own? And that’s really what’s an issue in this case.
The way we usually think about copyright and the idea of fair use is that if you are creating an image that is distinct, that is separate, that maybe had a reference to an earlier image, but that creates its own viewpoint, that it is permissible . It’s a fair use of that material. What the Second Circuit came along and said in this case, the appeals court said was that, “Nah, sorry, this is too close to the original image from the photographer.” And so the Warhol Foundation is suggesting, look, if you go with that precedent, if you go with that idea from the Second Circuit, that upends all sorts of things, including by the way, other images created by Warhol, right? Warhol was famous for taking some of these images and putting them in succession and changing the color and putting his own imprint on some of these famous images. And what they’re saying is that’s a problem for Warhol and many other artists who use some of this other material as reference points in their own work.
So it’s an issue now because the photographer said she wasn’t aware of it until after Prince’s death in 2016. And it was at that time that Warhol’s art got a little more attention. Apparently there was some auctioning off of this artwork for pretty big sums of money. And so the photographer says that she became aware of this only after Prince’s death. And so that’s why this is coming up now, even though both Prince and Andy Warhol of course have passed.
Taylor Wilson:
For more of John’s work, search Supreme Court on USATODAY.com.
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Congressman Don Young, the longest serving Republican in the US House of Representatives, will lie in state in the US Capitol today. Young was first elected to the House in 1970. He was elected in 2020 to serve his 25th term as Alaska’s only member. He arrived in Alaska in 1959 from California-the same year Alaska became a state-and credited Jack London’s “Call of the Wild,” which his father used to read to him, with drawing him there. I have held a number of jobs in Alaska before getting into politics, ranging from mining gold, to trapping and even teaching fifth grade. As a politician, he branded himself a conservative and fought for the trans Alaska pipeline and other projects that drew criticism from environmental groups, though that pipeline became a better economic lifeline for the state. In 2014, the House Ethics Committee found Young violated House rules by using campaign funds for personal trips and accepting improper gifts. But despite that, voters kept sending Young back to Washington, something he did not take for granted. He said in 2016, “Alaskans have been generous in their support for me because they know I get the job done. I’ll defend my state to the dying breath.” Don Young died earlier this month at the age of 88.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We’re here seven mornings a week on whatever your favorite podcast app is. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show. And I’m back tomorrow with more than 5 Things from USA TODAY.
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism