US Business

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday promised “victory” on a visit to the strategic city of Izyum that was recently recaptured from Russia by Kyiv’s army in a lightning counter-offensive.

The visit comes at a decisive moment in Russia’s six-month invasion, with Ukraine expelling Moscow’s forces from swathes of the east and seriously challenging the Kremlin’s ambition to capture the entire Donbas region of Ukraine.

“Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in de-occupied Izyum. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village,” Zelensky said in a statement on social media.

“We are moving in only one direction — forward and towards victory.”

Pictures distributed by his office showed the Ukrainian leader wearing dark green and flanked by guards as he took selfies with soldiers and thanked troops at a flag-hoisting ceremony.

Ukraine has claimed sweeping successes in the northeastern Kharkiv region that borders Russia in recent days, and also says it has clawed back territory along a southern front near the Kherson region on the Black Sea.

Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia’s occupation of Crimea — annexed by Russia in 2014 — was a “tragedy” and promised that his forces would eventually recapture the peninsula.

Kyiv’s forces in the Kharkiv region have since September 6 recaptured around 8,500 square kilometres (3,200 square miles) and areas home to some 150,000 people, said deputy foreign affairs minister Ganna Maliar.

– ‘They killed my son’ –

In the reclaimed eastern Ukrainian village of Bogorodychne, 58-year-old Mykola told AFP he had “barely survived” the Russian occupation during which his brother was killed.

“How can I describe it in words? It was difficult. I was afraid,” he said.  

Wiping tears from her eyes with a veil, Mykola’s mother Nina said: “I cry every day. They killed my son.” 

Moscow said its forces were hitting back on areas recaptured in Kharkiv with “massive strikes”, also claiming to have captured dozens of Ukrainian servicemen in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz disclosed the contents of a 90-minute telephone conversation with Putin Wednesday, saying the Russian leader did not feel he had made a mistake in invading Ukraine.

“There was no indication that new attitudes are emerging,” he said of Tuesday’s conversation.

The Kremlin said Putin himself had discussed getting Ukrainian grain to those most in need in a telephone conversation with UN chief Antonio Guterres.

“Both sides emphasised the importance of meeting the needs, as a priority, of those in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America who need food,” said a statement from his office Wednesday.

The Kremlin, which has made little mention of the setbacks in recent days, vowed to continue fighting, claiming that the perceived threat Kyiv posed to Russia remained.

The Ukrainian official in charge of the eastern Donetsk region, partially controlled by pro-Moscow separatists since 2014, said Russian forces had attacked the entire frontline region over the past 24 hours.

– ‘Life and death’ –

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk governor, said one civilian had been killed and again urged all others to leave, describing the order as a “matter of life and death”.

Military observers have credited the success of Ukraine’s pushback into the east on Western-supplied arms, particularly long-range precision artillery, and on the training of Ukrainian forces by Western allies.

The Ukrainian military announced on social media Wednesday that some 5,000 Ukrainian military personnel had been trained as part of a joint programme with the United Kingdom.

Western countries have also hit back against Russia with waves of economic sanctions.

EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday said the successive packages of EU measures against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine would remain and that Europeans had to keep their resolve against Moscow.

“I want to make it very clear, the sanctions are here to stay. This is the time for us to show resolve, not appeasement,” von der Leyen said in the European Parliament during her annual State of the Union speech.

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska attended the gathering in Strasbourg, receiving a standing ovation from lawmakers.

She also told MEPs that she would travel Wednesday to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

A revived Detroit Auto Show kicked off in earnest Wednesday, with US car giants showcasing a mix of gasoline and electric vehicles (EV) ahead of an address by President Joe Biden.

Wednesday’s media day opened with presentations by General Motors and Stellantis brands ahead of the speech by Biden, who toured the showroom floor in his latest visit to Michigan, a critical presidential swing state.

The presidential visit has boosted the profile of the Detroit gathering, but Biden’s presence also forced a last-minute rejiggering of the schedule in the first Detroit show since 2019 following pandemic cancelations.

The gathering, shifted to fall from its old January time slot, is much smaller than in years past, with most foreign automakers and newer players like Tesla not presenting.

While gasoline-powered cars still dominate US roads, Detroit auto giants are unveiling more and more EVs as they pump billions of dollars in investment in a  bid to wrest control of a growing market from Tesla and newer upstarts amid concerns over climate change and petroleum dependency.

“People are on the precipice of a massive adoption of EVs,” Chevrolet Vice President Steve Majoros told AFP shortly before presenting the General Motors brand’s electric versions of top-selling trucks.

“More and more Americans are ready,” said Majoros, pointing to the boost to consumer confidence from the increased number of EV charging stations.

Chevy, which unveiled Wednesday a performance edition of its Tahoe gasoline-powered truck, plans this weekend to launch a new media blitz highlighting its electric vehicle offerings at different price points in ways that will lead to “mainstream EV adoption at scale,” Majoros told the gathering.

Stellantis brand Jeep released a 30-year commemorative edition of the popular Grand Cherokee SUV, as well as a new fifth-generation model that is the first Jeep plug-in hybrid.

– Corvette fan –

Midway through the morning, the Detroit convention center was cleared of journalists to secure the space for Biden, who was greeted by GM Chief Executive Mary Barra and other top GM officials before test-driving the Cadillac Lyriq, a luxury EV.

The US president said he liked the Lyriq, but took a particular shine to an Orange Corvette he had earlier examined, according to a White House pool press report.

“He said he’s driving it home,” Barra said of Biden’s reaction to the Corvette, a gasoline-powered vehicle. 

Biden, who also met with top brass from Stellantis and Ford, as well as labor and Michigan political leaders, is expected to tout major legislative victories in recent weeks on federal funding for semiconductor investment and climate change mitigation. 

A White House fact sheet highlighted a deluge of investment decisions by companies that have amounted to nearly $85 billion in investment on manufacturing of EVs, batteries, and chargers in the United States since Biden took office.

“The President’s economic plan has generated an American, EV manufacturing boom that is creating new economic opportunity and tens of thousands of good-paying and union jobs across the country,” the fact sheet said.

Biden has a long and generally warm relationship with Detroit giants after presiding as vice president over the bailouts following the 2008 financial crisis. 

As president, he has visited both GM and Ford.

Biden “has given a lot of kudos to the Detroit automakers,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for the automotive research firm Edmunds.

“He’s been seen driving a lot of their products at the White House and all sorts of other places.”

– Sourcing rules –

But automakers have been griping about a provision in the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act that sets strict sourcing requirements for federal EV subsidies. 

The requirement is meant to prod automakers into using EV batteries produced in North America as well as critical materials sourced from North America or countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement.

Automakers are hoping officials in Washington may show flexibility in implementing the rule.

“There’s still a lot of guidance the government has to come forward with,” said Chevrolet’s Majoros. “We’re looking at future plans, we’re studying how things might adapt what we do from a sourcing perspective.”

Majoros said it is too soon to say whether the rule will prevent new subsidies for key vehicles, such as the Equinox, an SUV unveiled last Thursday with a starting price of $30,000, an affordable level in a pricey space.

The GM brand plans to begin modest production of the Equinox in 2023, but that 2024 would be a “big year” with higher output, Majoros said. Production will go still higher in 2025, but Chevy isn’t releasing specific targets.

Majoros said Chevrolet has capacity to “flex” output depending on demand, adding, “There’s a lot of questions about the rate at which industry will adapt.”

The US Department of Justice announced an indictment Wednesday against three Iranian hackers who used ransomware to extort a battered women’s shelter and a power company.

Authorities said the trio launched ransomware attacks at “hundreds” of victims, including inside Britain, Australia, Iran, Russia and the United States, saying they extorted money “largely” for their own accounts, and not for the Iranian government.

But a separate US Treasury announcement of sanctions said the three were part of a larger hacking group tied to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the US State Department has offered a $10 million reward for information on them.

The indictment identified the three as Mansour Ahmadi, Ahmad Khatibi Aghda, and Amir Hossein Nikaeen Ravari.

It said that between October 2020 and August 2022, the men used known vulnerabilities in computer systems to attack multiple targets in the United States, stealing their data and demanding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to have it returned.

Those included local governments, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, a children’s hospital in Boston, accounting firms and electricity generating companies.

The victims were not methodically chosen but were “targets of opportunity” whose computer systems were vulnerable to hacking, officials said.

“The indictment does not allege that these actors undertook these actions on behalf of the Government of Iran,” a senior Justice Department official told reporters.

The three “engaged in a pattern of hacking, cyber-theft, and extortion largely for personal gain,” FBI Director Chris Wray said in a separate statement.

But a concurrent announcement by the US Treasury said the three were part of a group of 10 Iranian hackers targeted with sanctions that was backed by the Revolutionary Guards.

“This IRGC-affiliated group is known to exploit software vulnerabilities in order to carry out their ransomware activities, as well as engage in unauthorized computer access, data exfiltration, and other malicious cyber activities,” the Treasury said.

Their actions align with those of known Iranian cyberattack operations which private cyber security groups have dubbed “APT35,” “Charming Kitten” and “Phosphorous,” Treasury added.

Viola Davis said the future of big-budget Black female filmmaking in Hollywood is at stake as her ground-breaking African warrior epic “The Woman King” hits theaters this weekend.

The Oscar-winning actress told AFP Wednesday she feels intense pressure and conflicting emotions, because she knows the movie’s performance will be judged in a way that films with white directors and casts are not.

“First of all, the movie has to make money. And I feel conflicted about that — that we sort of have one or two chances,” she said.

“If it doesn’t make money then what it means overall, is that, what, Black women, dark-skinned Black women can’t lead a global box office?

“That’s it, period. And now they have data on it because ‘Woman King’ did a, b and c. And that’s what I’m conflicted about.

“Because it simply isn’t true. We don’t do that with white movies. We simply don’t. If a movie fails, you do another movie, and you do another movie just like it.”

Sony Pictures’ “The Woman King,” which portrays the real-life 19th century all-female warriors of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, is in many ways a step into the unknown for a major Hollywood studio.

With a Black female director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and a majority Black and female cast, it will open in more than 3,000 domestic theaters, with a budget including marketing that reportedly approaches $100 million.

Davis, the only African-American to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony, spent six years trying to get “The Woman King” made, with studios and producers reluctant to take the plunge.

– ‘Prove it’ –

She plays veteran warrior Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits fending off a larger, rival African kingdom and European slavers.

The all-female army of the Dahomey kingdom served as an inspiration for the elite women fighters in “Black Panther,” which grossed $1.3 billion worldwide.

Davis called on the movie-going public to prove that films like “The Woman King” can succeed without being part of the Marvel superhero franchise.

“We’re all in this together, right? We know that we need each other. We know that we’re all committed to inclusion and diversity,” she said.

“Then, if you can plop down your money to see ‘Avatar,’ If you can plop down your money to see ‘Titanic,’ then you can plop your money into seeing ‘The Woman King.’

“Because here’s the thing. It’s not even that it’s just Black female-led, the cultural significance of it. It’s a very entertaining movie.

“And if we are indeed equal, then I’m challenging you to prove it.”

– ‘You won’t see us’ –

The movie received largely positive reviews following its world premiere at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival.

Variety called it a “compelling display of Black power,” with Davis in “her fiercest role yet.”

But, Davis said, the film’s muscular battle scenes had drawn criticism and misogyny from within the Black community.

“You even have people in the Black community saying, ‘Ah, it’s dark-skinned women, why do they have to be so masculine? Why can’t they look prettier? Why couldn’t it be a romantic comedy?'” she told AFP.

“Well, guess what, if this movie doesn’t make money September 16 — by the way, I am 150 percent certain it will — but if it doesn’t, then guess what? You won’t see us at all,” she said.

“That’s the truth. I wish it were different.”

A revived Detroit Auto Show kicked off in earnest Wednesday with presentations by GM and Stellantis brands ahead of an address by President Joe Biden expected to highlight electric vehicle investments.

Chevrolet Vice President Steve Majoros spotlighted the General Motors brand’s electric versions of top-selling trucks.

These include the massive Silverado pickup truck — typically the nation’s second most popular vehicle after the Ford F-series — and the Equinox, unveiled last Thursday with a starting price of $30,000, an affordable level in a pricey space.

Chevy, which unveiled Wednesday a performance edition of its Tahoe gasoline-powered truck, plans this weekend to launch a new media blitz highlighting its electric vehicle offerings at different price points in ways that will lead to “mainstream EV adoption at scale,” Majoros told the gathering.

Stellantis brand Jeep released a 30-year commemorative edition of the popular Grand Cherokee SUV, as well as a new fifth-generation model that is the first Jeep plug-in hybrid.

The presentations opened the first Detroit car show since 2019 following pandemic cancelations. The gathering, shifted to fall from its old January time slot, is much smaller than in years past, with most foreign automakers and newer players like Tesla not presenting.

Biden is expected to tout major legislative victories in recent weeks on federal funding for semiconductor investment and climate change mitigation. 

A White House fact sheet highlighted a deluge of investment decisions by companies that have amounted to nearly $85 billion in  investment on manufacturing of EVs, batteries, and  chargers in the United States since Biden took office.

“The President’s economic plan has generated an American, EV manufacturing boom that is creating new economic opportunity and tens of thousands of good-paying and union jobs across the country,” the fact sheet said.

Automakers have been griping about a provision in the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act that sets strict sourcing requirements for federal EV subsidies. 

But Biden has a long and generally warm relationship with Detroit giants after presiding as vice president over the bailouts following the 2008 financial crisis. 

As president, he has visited both GM and Ford.

Biden “has given a lot of kudos to the Detroit automakers,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for the automotive research firm Edmunds.

“He’s been seen driving a lot of their products at the White House and all sorts of other places.”