Ukraine

Antony Blinken is getting some heat for his decision to rock out on the guitar at a basement bar during his visit to Kyiv ... but by the same token, some say he shredded too.

The U.S. Secretary of State is in Ukraine's capital to pledge the States' support during the country's ongoing war with Russia. However, during his political visit, the secretary stopped by Barman Dictat ... where he joined the band 19.99 on stage for a rendition of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."

As you can imagine, some have blasted the Secretary of State ... calling the public appearance inappropriate and a waste of American taxpayers' money.

Stevie Wonder isn't entertained by Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef -- all war gets a thumbs down in his book ... including real-world ones, which he says are more important.

The music maestro spoke with TMZ Hip Hop Friday about his thoughts on the feud between Drizzy and K.Dot ... -- and while their respective diss songs may have racked up colossal numbers -- Stevie flat-out calls their battle a distraction to real problems going on right now.

Specifically, SW points to actual wars that are unfolding around the globe -- and while he doesn't pinpoint a specific one ... it seems pretty clear he's referring to Israel-Gaza.

Oleksandr Pielieshenko -- a former weightlifting champion who competed in the 2016 Olympics -- tragically died while fighting in the Ukraine-Russia war, the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation announced Monday.

He was just 30 years old.

UWF official Viktor Slobodianiuk said in a social media post the Olympian passed away while "defending Ukraine from foreigners."

The death count in Friday's tragic Moscow mass shooting is much higher than originally believed ... according to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

The controversial head of state reportedly told the nation during a televised address that 133 people had been killed in the vicious attack at Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on Moscow's Western outskirts.

Putin likens the shooters to Nazis ... saying they killed in an organized fashion, aiming for Russian citizens and even children.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but President Putin laid the blame squarely at the feet of Ukrainian officials ... saying they were working to let the perpetrators cross the border into their country.

FWIW ... an anonymous United States official told The Washington Post there's no reason to doubt the Islamic State's claim.

As we reported ... videos from the tragic shooting went viral -- showing graphic scenes of death and destruction at the music hall. People huddled behind chairs while gunshots echoed around the structure, and initial estimates put the death count at above 40.

Explosives were reportedly used during the attack, resulting in the whole building catching fire.

Officials in Western countries warned their citizens about venturing out to large public gatherings this month in the aftermath of Putin's recent election victory ... warning of possible terror attacks.

At least one man was detained by police last night ... caught on video being frisked with his hands up against a wall. It's unclear how many people were detained or how many were involved in the mass shooting.

Ukraine is lambasting HBO's "The White Lotus" for casting Miloš Biković ... a Serbian actor who's voiced support and admiration for Russia amid the ongoing war, and has accepted a medal from Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine's foreign ministry called out HBO in an X post Wednesday ... asking if it was right for the outlet to work with a person who supports genocide and violates international law.

A quick rundown on the uproar: Biković's been accused of supporting Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine ... even posting an X poll showing that trust in Putin was higher than in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He's starred in a string of Russian films, such as 2014's "Sunstroke" ... which Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he'd filmed in Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

In 2018, Putin awarded Biković a Pushkin medal for advancing Russian culture. A year later, Ukraine banned him from entering the country for national security reasons.

The 36-year-old was unfazed over the ban, making it clear where his loyalties lie as he gushed over receiving Russian citizenship in 2021 ... and added, he'd been actively participating in Russian cultural life for more than 7 years.

His casting in the third season of Mike White's anthology series was announced earlier this month ... and production is set to begin next month in Thailand.

Deadline reports he'll likely play a Russian-speaking wellness guru at the hotel -- though his character details haven't been confirmed.

The dark comedy has been a massive hit with fans and has dominated award season with its first 2 seasons ... so expectations are undoubtedly high for the third.

Imagine Dragons está ayudando a la familia de un chico ucraniano de 15 años a reconstruir su casa, después de que el lugar fuera destruido por la guerra aún en curso en su país.

Sashko es el adolescente de Ucrania que aparece en el video musical de la canción "Crushed". El video y la canción se convirtieron en un gran éxito en gran parte debido a la historia de Sashko, que lo perdió todo a manos de las fuerzas rusas.

El hogar del niño fue completamente destruido durante la primavera de 2022. Poco después, el director de fotografía de Imagine Dragons, Ty Arnold, conoció a Sashko durante un viaje a Ucrania, se sintió conmovido por su historia y quiso dar a conocer al mundo los horrores que estaba enfrentando.

El video musical provocó donaciones masivas a UNITED24, una plataforma lanzada por el Presidente Zelensky para recoger donaciones para los ucranianos, con la que Imagine Dragons se asoció.

UNITED24 utilizó los fondos para pagar toda la restauración de la casa de Sashko y nos dicen que Ty entregó las llaves de la casa la semana pasada a Sashko y su madre.

Imagine Dragons is helping a 15-year-old Ukrainian boy's family get their home back together .... after the place was destroyed during the ongoing war in his country.

Sashko is the teenager from Ukraine who was featured in the music video for the band's song, "Crushed" ... the video and song became a huge hit in large part due to Sashko's story about losing everything at the hands of Russian forces.

The boy's home was completely obliterated in 2022. Shortly after the Imagine Dragons' Director of Photography Ty Arnold met Sashko during a trip to Ukraine and was moved by Sashko's story ... and wanted to let the world know about the horrors Sashko faced.

The music video sparked massive donations to UNITED24 -- a platform launched by President Zelensky to collect donations for Ukrainian's -- because Imagine Dragons teamed up with the organization.

Thanks to the Imagine Dragons video, UNITED24 found a private donor to rebuild Sashko's house.

UNITED24 used the funds to pay for the entire restoration of Sashko's house ... and we're told Ty handed over the keys to the rebuilt home last week to Sashko and his mother.

President Biden is urging Americans to support the war efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine ... he says we all have to come together to help defeat terrorists and tyrants.

The Prez just made his case for Congress to approve billions more in military aid to help Israel fight Hamas and Ukraine fight Vladimir Putin ... selling Americans on the battle between good and evil.

In a rare speech Thursday from the Oval Office, Biden says Americans must put their petty differences aside and unite against the bad guys ... he says if the U.S. gives up the fight in Gaza and Ukraine, it will only embolden our enemies across the globe.

POTUS says he's going to ask Congress to approve more military aid to help fight wars overseas ... while reiterating he won't send American troops to fight Russia.

We haven't seen a lot of rah-rah speeches from Biden in office ... and he's pretty animated here, at least by his standards.

The Prez says it's all part of keeping up with America's calling as a global leader ... and he says the world is watching and counting on us to save the day.

El presidente Biden está instando a los estadounidenses a apoyar los esfuerzos de guerra en el Medio Oriente y Ucrania, argumentando que todos tenemos que unirnos para ayudar a derrotar a los terroristas y los tiranos.

El Presidente acaba de hacer su caso frente al Congreso para aprobar miles de millones de dólares en ayuda militar para apoyar la lucha de Israel contra Hamás y de Ucrania contra Vladimir Putin, poniendo a los estadounidenses en una batalla entre el bien y el mal.

En un raro discurso pronunciado el jueves desde el Despacho Oval, Biden dijo que los estadounidenses deben dejar sus mezquinas diferencias de lado y unirse contra los malos ... dijo que si Estados Unidos renuncia a la lucha en Gaza y Ucrania, solo envalentonará a sus enemigos en todo el mundo.

El Presidente añadió que va a pedir al Congreso que apruebe más ayuda militar para apoyar los combates en el extranjero, al mismo tiempo que reiteró que no enviará tropas estadounidenses para luchar contra Rusia.

No hemos visto muchos discursos entusiastas de Biden en el cargo, pero estuvo bastante animado en esta oportunidad, al menos para sus estándares.

El Presidente dijo que todo es parte de mantenerse con la vocación de Estados Unidos como un líder mundial y agregó que el mundo está mirando y contando con ellos para proporcionar una solución.

Historian Peter Kuznick fears for the fate of humanity ... warning of a third world war and a nuclear winter if conflicts across the globe continue to escalate.

The author and American University professor joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked him just how close we are to World War III, given the war in the Middle East.

Peter says things were already trending towards a doomsday scenario as a result of the war between Ukraine and Russia and the situation in Taiwan ... and he fears recent developments in Gaza may push things over the edge.

The way Peter sees a nightmare situation unfolding -- Israel invades Palestine, forcing Hezbollah to join the war -- and then other countries are drawn into battle.

From there, Peter says it's an all-out world war ... and it's pretty much guaranteed nuclear warheads will be used.

Peter explains how even a small number of nukes would create a nuclear winter capable of killing 2 billion people across the globe ... telling us it would be worse than ever imagined.

El historiador Peter Kuznick teme por el destino de la humanidad, advirtiendo sobre la posibilidad de una tercera guerra mundial y un invierno de armas nucleares si los conflictos en todo el mundo siguen escalando.

El autor y profesor se unió a nosotros en "TMZ Live" este jueves, donde le preguntamos qué tan cerca estamos de la Tercera Guerra Mundial, dada la situación en el Medio Oriente.

Peter dice que las cosas ya estaban tendiendo hacia un escenario apocalíptico como resultado de la guerra entre Ucrania y Rusia y la situación en Taiwán, pero teme que los recientes acontecimientos en Gaza pueden empujar las cosas aún más allá.

Desde la perspectiva de Peter se podría desplegar un escenario de pesadilla, en el que Israel invade Palestina, obligando a Hezbollah a unirse a la guerra y luego arrastrando a otros países a unirse al conflicto también.

A partir de ahí, Peter dice que se vendría una guerra mundial total y que es más o menos seguro que se utilizarían armas nucleares.

El historiador explica cómo incluso un pequeño número de armas nucleares crearía un invierno capaz de matar a 2 mil millones de personas en todo el mundo, diciéndonos que sería peor de lo que hemos incluso imaginado.

A U.S. congressman pulled a fire alarm on Capitol Hill this weekend right before the House was set to vote on a spending bill in hopes of avoiding a government shutdown.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) copped to the apparent delay tactic Saturday ... with a rep from his office saying, "Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion."

Capitol Police released a photo to the public, which appears to show Bowman pulling down the lever inside the Cannon House Office Building -- adjacent the Capitol itself -- which obviously set off a siren in the building and evacuation to follow. He's now under investigation for the stunt ... and Republicans are slamming as unpatriotic.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he was appalled that Dems would resort to something like this ... accusing them as a party of trying to force the federal government into a freeze.

Now, as for the actual vote itself ... it eventually continued, and a bill proposed by House Republicans actually got enough votes to pass -- which will now get kicked over to the Senate. They gotta vote on it soon ... come midnight, the shutdown goes into effect.

The bill -- which was voted in as a bipartisan, 45-day stopgap -- has a lot of disaster relief funding in it ... but no extra cash for Ukraine, which is something Dems were seeking.

The White House says this House bill should do the trick for now, but they expect McCarthy to bring a separate bill "shortly" to address the Ukraine issue. Time will tell if he does.

Vladimir Putin is apparently set to meet with Kim Jong-Un in the near future, and he wants to talk about teaming up for the Ukraine war ... which is definitely a terrible update.

The NYT reports that the North Korean leader and Russia's president are supposed to have a face-to-face sometime later this month ... and that it'd be Kim who travels to Russia for the sit-down. As far as what they'll be discussing -- the Times says it's all about weapons.

Apparently, Putin and co. are in need some of major reinforcements amid the ongoing war -- specifically, artillery shells and anti-tank missiles ... which he believes N. Korea can supply.

In exchange ... the NYT says Kim is seeking newer satellite tech and nuke-powered subs, as well as food for his people. Nothing's guaranteed, but it sounds like N. Korea is certainly open to the talks and seriously committed to discussing the possibility, at the very least.

Obviously, this is bad news in general ... as it appears Putin wants to form an alliance of sorts with Kim Jong-Un, with both nations being adversaries of the U.S./the West at large.

There's two takeaways from this -- one, Putin/Russia are low on firepower and seem to be out of allies/resources, so they're going to the isolated N. Korean state for backup. Second, it seems to prove that America's funds to Ukraine are helping Zelensky fight off Russia.

Oliver Stone thinks President Biden is leading us right into a looming Armageddon as it relates to Russia's war with Ukraine -- while also lamenting ever having voted for the guy.

The famed director went off on POTUS during a recent interview he did with Russell Brand -- who has tended to lean right in his political views these days. That was echoed in Oliver's diatribe ... where he accused Biden of being on the verge of starting World War III.

Check it out ... OS says Joe is repeating historical missteps with his foreign policy, especially as it relates to how he and his administration are dealing with the ongoing conflict.

He doesn't really get into specifics -- at least not in this lone clip -- but he seems to be alluding to the fact that the U.S. continues to support Ukraine through funding and weaponry ... which he seems to think is only further antagonizing Putin, maybe for the worse.

Stone also had this to say about having buyer's remorse on election night ... "I voted for him – I made a mistake, I was thinking he was an old man now that he would calm down, that he would be more mellow and so-forth, I didn’t see that at all. I see a man who maybe is not in charge of his own administration. Who knows."

Russia's men's basketball team will not be allowed to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the International Basketball Federation ruled Tuesday ... as the killing in Ukraine continues.

FIBA decided to not permit the Russian squad from participating in upcoming qualifying tournaments ... meaning the team will not play in the Olympics.

Bulgaria, the next highest-ranked team, will be given Russia's place.

It's not exactly a shocker ... FIBA suspended Russia from competing shortly after the attack on Ukraine in early 2022, when President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded the sovereign country. The fighting continues to this day.

So, the decision was expected, but nothing was official until today.

FYI, it's not that the Russian women have been granted permission ... they already missed out on qualifying due to their team being suspended over the war.

Despite today's ruling (and similar rulings made by other governing bodies), individual Russian athletes can still compete, but they can't rep Russia (they're essentially neutral -- countryless).

Ultimately, 12 teams will make the Olympic tourney and compete for gold ... but Russia won't be one of those teams.