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Russian authorities announced Wednesday they were partially restricting calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet. In a statement, government media and internet regulator Roskomnadzor justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime, saying that according to law enforcement agencies and numerous appeals from citizens, foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities. The regulator also alleged that repeated requests to take countermeasures have been ignored by the owners of the messengers. There was no immediate comment from either platform. Russian authorities have long engaged in a deliberate and multipronged effort to rein in the internet. Over the years, they have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that wont comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic. While its still possible to circumvent restrictions by using virtual private network services, those are routinely blocked, too. Authorities further restricted internet access this summer with widespread shutdowns of cellphone internet connections. Officials have insisted the measure was needed to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts argued it was another step to tighten internet control. Russia’s Digital Development and Communications Ministry said this month that, along with internet providers, it was working on a white list of essential websites and services users could access during shutdowns. In Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Russian-installed officials said Wednesday that shutdowns of cellphone internet may last indefinitely. The government adopted a law last month punishing users for searching for content they deem illicit and threatened to go after WhatsAppone of the most popular platforms in the countrywhile rolling out a new national messaging app thats widely expected to be heavily monitored. Reports that calls were being disrupted in WhatsApp and Telegram appeared in Russian media earlier this week, with users complaining about calls not going through or not being able to hear each other speak. According to Russian media monitoring service Mediascope, WhatsApp in July was the most popular platform in Russia, with over 96 million monthly users. Telegram, with more than 89 million users, came in a close second. Both platforms have had their run-ins with the Russian authorities in the past. The Kremlin tried to block Telegram between 2018 and 2020 but failed. After Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram, and outlawed their parent company, Meta, which also owns WhatsApp, labeling them as extremist. In July, lawmaker Anton Gorelkin said WhatsApp should prepare to leave the Russian market and that a new national messenger, MAX, developed by Russian social media company VK, would take its place. MAX, promoted as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments, and more, was rolled out for beta tests but has yet to attract a wide following. Over 2 million people registered by July, the Tass news agency reported. Its terms and conditions say it will share user data with authorities upon request, and a new law stipulates its pre-installation in all smartphones sold in Russia. State institutions, officials, and businesses are actively encouraged to move communications and blogs to MAX. The Digital Development and Communications Ministry said access to calls via WhatsApp and Telegram may be reinstated if the platforms comply with Russian legislation. It clarified that the partial restrictions, announced by Roskomnadzor, applied only to audio calls. By Dasha Litvinova, Associated Press
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New York’s iconic Eleven Madison Park, the worlds only three-Michelin-starred vegan restaurant, announced on Wednesday that it is putting meat back on the menu after achieving what most thought was impossiblesnagging the first and only coveted three-star Michelin rating for its entirely plant-based haute cuisine in 2022. (That’s something not even the food-loving countries of France and Spain have been able to achieve.) The restaurant, which originally opened in 1998 by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, was purchased by chef Daniel Humm and his business partner Will Guidara in 2011. It first earned three Michelin stars in 2012 with a meat-based menu, and retained its Michelin rating in 2022 after it went fully plant-based. “Over the last five years . . . weve also been intently listening to our guests’ feedback. It became clear that while we had built something meaningful, we had also unintentionally kept people out,” Humm said in a statement on the restaurant’s website. “This is the opposite of what we believe hospitality to be. The all-or-nothing approach was necessary to develop our expertise, but that, too, comes with its own limitations. As a chef, I want to continue to open paths, not close them.” Fast Company has reached out to Eleven Madison Park for further comment. Starting October 14, Humm said Eleven Madison Park will integrate “our new language into a menu that embraces choice,” still offering the fully plant-based menu but also adding certain animal product dishes, including “fish, meat, and yes, our honey-lavender-glazed duck.” Humm told The New York Times the decision was motivated by both financial and hospitality concerns. Many people have criticized the move to bring back meat, saying a full vegan menu is widely accessible and doesn’t exclude others. On the restaurant’s Facebook page, more than 350 people have commented, many registering their dismay. Those comments range from you can still reverse this decision to “everyone can eat vegan food.” Added one disappointed patron: “Gross. Just like your morel butter. Now, vegans will not feel welcome at the table. Plenty of other fabulous restaurants in NYC, though. Let’s all support those.” However, the plant-based menu will continue to be at the foundation of the fine dining restaurant, with plant-based options available for every course, according to its website. The tasting menus will be the same price regardless of one’s selection. (The full tasting menu, with eight to nine courses, runs $365 per person.) Both the cocktail menu and the pastry program will remain entirely plant-based.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump on Wednesday named country music star George Strait, Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Center Honors nominees under his leadership as the centers chairman and said hell host the awards program. Trump also said he will fully renovate the entire infrastructure of the Kennedy Center to make it a crown jewel of arts and culture in the United States. Were going to bring it to a higher level than it ever hit, the president said, adding the venue would be featured in next years celebrations of Americas 250th anniversary. Trump said he didnt want to host the program but was invited to do so and agreed. Trump avoided the Kennedy Center Honors awards program during his first term after artists said they would not attend out of protest. This year, the Republican president has taken over as the Kennedy Centers new chairman and fired the board of trustees, which he replaced with loyalists. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump teased a name change for the center, formally the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and said it would be restored to its past glory. GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS, Trump wrote. He said work was being done on the site that would be bringing it back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment. It had fallen on hard times, physically, BUT WILL SOON BE MAKING A MAJOR COMEBACK!!! he wrote. In a statement on its social media feed, the Kennedy Center said it was honored to host Trump, who was visiting for the third time since January. Thanks to his advocacy, our beautiful building will undergo renovations to restore its prestige and grandeur, the venue said. Trump complained during a March visit that the building is in a state of tremendous disrepair. It is unclear how this years honorees were chosen, though Trump had indicated he wanted a more active role. Historically, a bipartisan advisory committee selects the recipients, who over the years have ranged from George Balanchine and Tom Hanks to Aretha Franklin and Stephen Sondheim. A message sent to the Kennedy Center press office asking how this years honorees were selected wasnt returned Tuesday. In the past, Trump has floated the idea of granting Kennedy Center Honors status to singer-songwriter Paul Anka and Stallone, one of three actors Trump named as Hollywood ambassadors earlier this year. Anka was supposed to perform My Way at Trumps first inaugural and backed out at the last moment. The Kennedy Center Honors were established in 1978 and have been given to a broad range of artists. Until Trumps first term, presidents of both major political parties traditionally attended the annual ceremony, even when they disagreed politically with a given recipient. Prominent liberals such as Barbra Streisand and Warren Beatty were honored during the administration of Republican George W. Bush, and a leading conservative, Charlton Heston, was feted during the administration of Democrat Bill Clinton. In 2017, after honoree Norman Lear declared that he would not attend a White House celebration in protest of Trumps proposed cuts to federal arts funding, Trump and first lady Melania Trump decided to skip the Kennedy Center event and remained away throughout his first term. Honorees during that time included such Trump critics as Cher, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sally Field. Since taking office for a second time, Trump has taken a much more forceful stance on the Kennedy Center and inserted himself into its governance. Besides naming himself chairman and remaking the board, he also has indicated he would take over decisions regarding programming at the center and vowed to end events featuring performers in drag. The steps have drawn further criticism from some artists. In March, the producers of Hamilton pulled out of staging the Broadway hit musical in 2026, citing Trumps aggressive takeover of the institutions leadership. Other artists who canceled events include actor Issa Rae, singer Rhiannon Giddens and author Louise Penny. House Republicans added an amendment to a spending bill that Trump signed into law in July to rename the Kennedy Centers Opera House after Melania Trump, but that venue has yet to be renamed. Maria Shriver, a niece of the late President Kennedy, a Democrat, has criticized as insane a separate House proposal to rename the entire center after Trump. Annie Ma and Hillel Italie, Associated Press Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
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