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Husband of U.S. journalist detained in Russia: “I’m not going to give up”
Fifteen-year-old Bibi Butorin has not been at home with her mom in Prague since last spring. Her mother, Alsu Kurmasheva, an American-Russian journalist, is now detained in Russia. “My mom is definitely my biggest inspiration,” Bibi said. “And I just miss her, like, more than I can possibly say. And I worry about her safety so much.”
She said her family understood that it was a risk for her mom to go to Russia: “But she was only going to go for two weeks, and it was for my sick grandmother.”
Kurmasheva was about to return in June from that personal visit to Kazan, when Russian authorities confiscated her passports. She’d not reported her U.S. citizenship. Kurmasheva was permitted to stay with her mom, until October. That was when masked police officers came knocking on her mother’s apartment door, and took Kurmasheva away.
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It’s turned Pavel Butorin into a single dad of sorts. Their girls both have U.S. citizenship like their mom. “She is in jail in Russia because she is an American citizen, and because she’s a journalist,” said Pavel. “And it seems like the Russian government is just building more cases against her.”
Kurmasheva’s pre-trial detention was extended until April 5. She’s facing charges of failure to self-register as a foreign agent, and disseminating false information about the Russian army, which could mean prison sentences of up to five and ten years, respectively.
Kurmasheva is listed as an editor on a book, “Saying No to War,” featuring stories of everyday people who oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I know that this book is a problem; it’s featured in her case file,” said Pavel. “There is nothing incendiary, nothing criminal about these stories. There’s no calls for violence in the book. It’s just opinions – not even Alsu’s opinions. But as a journalist, she certainly has the right to collect and publish any opinions.”
Butorin and Kurmasheva are both journalists with the Prague-based Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). It’s funded by U.S. taxpayers but is editorially independent, and reports news in 27 languages and 23 countries, including Iran and Afghanistan.
Steve Capus is RFE/RL’s president. “When freedom of expression is being shut down in one place after another after another, when the lights are turned out in one place, we turn them back on,” he said. “Our place is committed to the fundamental practice of accurate journalism where it might not otherwise be practiced these days.”
That puts his journalists at risk.
Capus, who’s worked at CBS and NBC, keeps photos of Kurmasheva and three other RFE/RL journalists who are currently detained (one in Russian-controlled Crimea, and two in Belarus) next to pictures of reporters who’d died while on duty.
“It has a way of kind of grabbing you and making you pay attention, and realize there’s an awful lot at stake here now – and never forget that they need to come home,” Capus said.
They’re in regular contact with the Wall Street Journal, whose reporter, 32-year-old American Evan Gershkovich, is also detained in Russia, arrested on espionage charges.
Doane asked, “Many Americans have not heard of Alsu. Why is Alsu’s name not as familiar to Americans?”
“It should be,” said Capus. “President Biden brought her up by name at the end of December. All of us are working our contacts to get as much attention for her case as we can.”
Jodie Ginsberg, who runs the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in New York, calls Kurmasheva’s case “extremely worrying.”
She says that since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the detention of journalists has happened much more frequently. “New laws are brought in that make it extremely difficult to report on the war,” Ginsberg said. “Even calling it a war can bring you a jail sentence.”
Globally CPJ figures there are 320 journalists jailed for their work. Most are imprisoned for reporting in their own countries, with nearly half in just five nations (Russia, Iran, China, Myanmar and Belarus).
“That’s, I think, a reflection of the democratic decline we’ve seen over a number of years,” Ginsberg said.
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Of the 17 foreign journalists detained worldwide, 12 are jailed in Russia. Ginsberg calls it “state-sponsored hostage-taking.” She said, “There’s a two-fold effect when you arrest a journalist, particularly when you arrest a journalist with foreign citizenship, as we see in Alsu and Evan’s case: You have a political prisoner, so you have someone with which to negotiate with the U.S.; but this kind of action sends a powerful message to all journalists that they are not welcome.”
The U.S. classifies Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” but has not yet given that status to Kurmasheva. The State Department told “Sunday Morning” it’s “deeply concerned” about Kurmasheva’s detention, and continues to seek access to her, noting it “continuously reviews the circumstances surrounding the detentions of U.S. nationals overseas.”
Ginsberg said, “What happens when you designate an individual, a U.S. citizen, as ‘wrongfully detained’ is, you bring more resources from the government on their case. And now we really need to make her case as well-known as Evan’s. It’s really important that both of them, and all the journalists wrongfully detained, are freed.”
Efforts to raise Kurmasheva’s profile are underway, from a billboard in Times Square, to a group of friends gathering at a Prague restaurant.
Todd Benson, from Seattle, said Pavel Butorin and his girls are showing a great face since Alsu’s detention: “But I think, deep down, they’re hurting.”
And that hurt surfaced while Pavel was reading a note his wife sent from jail: “Celebrate freedom and love, Alsu.”
Declaring her “wrongfully detained” is up to the U.S. government. Ultimately, Alsu Kurmasheva’s fate is to be decided by the Russians. So, for now, Pavel tries to control what he can. “I need to keep it together,” he said. “I don’t want emotion to get involved.”
Doane said, “I think anyone would understand being emotional…”
“Maybe that’s what they want – maybe they want us to break down and surrender and give up,” said Pavel. “I’m not going to give up. We will not rest until we see Alsu here with her family at home.”
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Story produced by Julie Kracov and Duarte Dias. Editor: Carol Ross.
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Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday promises to be bittersweet, star-studded
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night promises to be starry, jamming — and bittersweet. So many of the honorees this time have been lost.
Of the seven original members of Kool & the Gang, there is only one, Robert “Kool” Bell. There will be no living members of the MC5, which suffered the recent deaths of its two last original members, drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson and guitarist and singer Wayne Kramer. Foreigner’s original bassist Ed Gagliardi and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald have died and guitarist Mick Jones has been sidelined by Parkinson’s disease. A Tribe Called Quest has lost Phife Dawg.
“I wish George was here and the rest of the other gentlemen — the other original members — because they well deserve this recognition,” said Hahn Brown, widow of Kool & the Gang drummer and songwriter George Brown, who died in 2023.
Taylor Jewell
In many ways, the class of 2024 — which also includes Peter Frampton, Cher, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, the late Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick and the late Alexis Korner, the late John Mayall and the late Big Mama Thornton — is a catch-up class, reflecting turnover in the hall’s leadership.
“There’s been a change over from some of the old guard in years past so you see artists like Rush and Kiss and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Randy Rhodes, the MC5 and Judas Priest getting in. Whereas before that might not have been the case,” says Tom Morello, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist for bands like Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.
Morello recalls bringing up the issue of membership with Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen’s manager and a former Rolling Stone critic, who was then chairman of the nominating committee.
He told him: “Myself and my friends, we don’t think so much about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because none of our favorite bands are in it.”
Now it will have a band Morello has long championed, the MC5, who paved the way for the Stooges, the Ramones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down.
Chris Pizzello
Saturday’s induction ceremony will be held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. It will stream live on Disney+. A special featuring performance highlights and standout moments will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
Cher — the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multi-platinum albums and nine Grammy Awards, will help boost the number of women in the Hall, which critics say is too low.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees were voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits “Urgent” and “Hot Blooded” — into the Hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson’s stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner’s founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist.
Warwick will arrive at the ceremony only a few days after attending a memorial to her longtime friend and collaborator, Cissy Houston, in Newark, New Jersey. Jennifer Hudson and Teyana Taylor will help induct her.
Other members of rock, pop and hip-hop royalty will be on hand to help usher the class in, including Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Demi Lovato, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, James Taylor, Jelly Roll, Julia Roberts, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Lucky Daye, Mac McAnally, Method Man, Roger Daltrey, Sammy Hagar, Slash and The Roots.
Last year, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, Kate Bush and the late George Michael were some of the artists who got into the hall.
Boeing and the union representing striking machinists have negotiated a new contract proposal that would provide bigger pay raises and bonuses in a bid to end a costly walkout that has crippled production of airplanes for more than a month.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said early Saturday that it plans to hold a ratification vote on Wednesday.
The union said the deal would increase pay by 35% over four years, up from 30% that was offered last month. It also boosts upfront bonuses to $7,000 per worker instead of $6,000.
The new offer would not restore a traditional pension plan — a key demand of the 33,000 striking workers — but it would increase the amount of contributions to 401(k) retirement plans that Boeing would match, the union said.
“We look forward to our employees voting on the negotiated proposal,” Boeing said in a statement.
About 33,000 members of IAM District 751 began a strike on Sept. 14. The strike has halted production of Boeing 737s including the 737 Max, and 767s and 777s. Boeing is continuing to build 787 Dreamliners at a nonunion plant in South Carolina.
The strike won’t affect commercial flights but represents another setback for the aerospace giant, whose reputation and finances have been battered by manufacturing problems and multiple federal investigations this year.
Earlier this month, Boeing said it planned to cut 10% of its global workforce, or around 17,000 employees, amid the strike that has idled its factories. An S&P Global report estimates the company is losing $1 billion a month from the demonstration.
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Mail carriers reach tentative contract with USPS that includes pay raises, air-conditioned trucks
Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.
The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through Nov. 2026. Letter deliverers have been working without a contract since May 2023.
Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the agreement, which was announced Friday.
“Both sides didn’t get everything they wanted. But by bargaining in good faith, we ended with an agreement that meets our goals and rewards our members,” Brian Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, told The Associated Press. “To make that happen, the Postal Service had to recognize the contributions of members to the Postal Service and the American people.”
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Among other improvements, the deal increases the top pay and reduces the amount of time it takes new workers to reach that level, Renfroe said. He credited Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his deputy for bargaining in good faith throughout the arduous process.
The Postal Service said the agreement supported its 10-year ‘Delivering for America’ mission to modernize operations and adapt to changing customer needs.
“This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service,” said Doug Tulino, the deputy postmaster general and chief human resources officer.
As part of the agreement, all city carriers will get three annual pay increases of 1.3% each by 2025, some of which will be paid retroactively from Nov. 2023. Workers will also receive retroactive and future cost-of-living adjustments.
There is also a commitment from the Postal Service to “make every effort” to provide mail trucks with air-conditioning.
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
The Postal Service in summer began rolling out its new electric delivery vehicles, which come equipped with air-conditioning. While the trucks won’t win any beauty contests, they did get rave reviews from letter carriers accustomed to older vehicles that lack modern safety features and are prone to breaking down — and even catching fire.
Within a few years, the new delivery fleet will have expanded to 60,000 vehicles, most of them electric models, serving as the Postal Service’s primary delivery truck from Maine to Hawaii.
Under the tentative contract agreement, the Postal Service must discuss with the union any plans to buy new mail trucks that don’t have air-conditioning.
This is the second contract negotiated since DeJoy was appointed postmaster general in 2020. It is expected to take several weeks for union members to ratify the contract. Rural mail deliverers aren’t covered by the contract because they are represented by a different union.