No one arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. But there was valet parking for the guests invited to a "mini-ball" held at the Library of Congress in honor of the Disney film "Cinderella."
The Thursday evening event featured a costumed Cinderella character, who descended the library steps to the cheers of a crowd of children and adults, including some members of Congress and their families.
Before Cinderella made her grand entrance, hundreds watched a screening of the Disney classic animated movie, released 70 years ago. The Library of Congress recently added the film to the National Film Registry.
Costumed Cinderella poses with Mary Walsh, left, managing director of the Disney Animation Research Library and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, right, at a ceremony marking the inclusion of Disney's "Cinderella" into the National Film Registry on its 70th anniversary, Thursday night, June 21, 2019 at the Library of Congress in Washington. (AP PhotoOscar Wells Gabriel II)
Attending a brief ceremony to mark the honor were Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Mary Walsh, director of the Disney Animation Research Library.
Walsh says though "Cinderella" is 70 years old, it has a message that still resonates today, calling it "a story of perseverance and resiliency." She notes of the movie's heroine, "her life was not easy and she found it within herself to continue to have the strength and determination to hold on to her dreams, no matter what was going on and she did it with kindness and respect."
Walsh notes that despite the harsh treatment Cinderella endured, she chose not to retaliate. And she says that "sends a strong message" about enduring under duress, one that is "as important today as it was 70 years ago."
Costumed Cinderella greets a young guest at an event marking the inclusion of Disney's "Cinderella" into the National Film Registry on its 70th anniversary, Thursday night, June 21, 2019 at the Library of Congress in Washington. (AP PhotoOscar Wells Gabriel II)
After the ceremony, Cinderella posed for pictures with a long line of children and adults. For guests seeking to create their own fairy tale images, there were a series of photo backdrops, including one that gave guests the chance to slip their feet into a replica glass slipper.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).
Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.
That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.
In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.
Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.
In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.
“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.
Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.
It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.
“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.
It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.
While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.
“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.
Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.
Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
