Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “following the devil” and waging a war to ensure that its President Vladimir Putin remains in power “until the end of his life.”

Zelensky switched to speaking Russian in his nightly address on Saturday to send a message to the Kremlin and Russian citizens, as Moscow launched a series of deadly strikes that swept several regions of Ukraine ahead of New Year.

“All this war that you are waging, you – Russia, it is not the war with NATO, as your propagandists lie,” Zelensky said. “It is not for something historical. It’s for one person to remain in power until the end of his life.

“And what will be with all of you, citizens of Russia, does not concern him,” he added.

Zelensky said “Russian leader is hiding behind the troops, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces” and behind his people. “He hides behind you and burns your country and your future. No one will ever forgive you for terror,” Zelensky emphasized.

Zelensky said “most of the Russian missiles intercepted by air defense forces.”

“If it were not for air defense, the number of casualties would have been different. Much bigger,” he stressed. “And this is yet another proof for the world that support for Ukraine must be increased.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal earlier said Moscow wants to cause darkness and leave the country “in the dark for the New Year.”

Moscow intends to “intimidate, leave us in the dark for the new year, cause as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible,” Shmyhal said on Telegram.

“There are attacks on civilian infrastructure in different regions of our country. Residential buildings, hotel, (a) shop, place for festivals were damaged. There are dead and injured,” he wrote.

“Russians want to intimidate, leave us in the dark for the New Year, cause as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible.”

Russian shelling in recent weeks targeting critical infrastructure across Ukraine has left much of the country without access to heat and power, amid a harsh winter season.

Out of the 20 injured, 14 were hospitalized, while six others were given medical care on the spot, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Several school buildings in the capital suffered severe damage from the explosions, the mayor added.

Air raid sirens, which were activated earlier following the attacks, are now off in Kyiv.

Further east in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, Russian strikes killed at least six people.

Three people died and three more were wounded in the Donetsk region, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

One person was wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region. Two were killed and one wounded in the Kharkiv region. Two people were wounded in the Kherson region, while one died in the Chernihiv region.

It came after Russia launched five missiles and 29 air strikes on Friday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Saturday.

“26 of the enemy’s air strikes were on civilian infrastructure. In particular, the occupants used 10 Shahed-136 UAVs, but all of them were shot down. In addition, the enemy made 80 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, civilian settlements were also hit,” the General Staff said in its latest operational update.

It said that Russia “continues to conduct offensive actions at the Lyman and Bakhmut directions and is trying to improve the tactical situation at the Kupiansk and Avdiivka directions.”

Russian forces fired on several towns and villages, including in Lyman, in the direction of Bakhmut, in the areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Thirty percent of the capital was left without power due to emergency shutdowns, Klitschko said.

“The municipal ‘life support system’ of the capital is operating normally. Currently, 30% of consumers are without electricity. Due to emergency shutdowns,” he said on Telegram.

“Kyiv residents have water and heat,” he added.

Klitschko also reported that the restrictions were applied to check the open section of the red metro line in the city “for the presence of remnants of missile debris.”

“Specialists are on the way to that area,” he said. “We will inform you further about the resumption of traffic on the red line.”

Locals in Kyiv told CNN how they planned to spend the New Year in the capital.

“From 2023 I really want to win, and also to have more bright impressions and new emotions. I miss it very much. I also want to travel and open borders. And I also think about personal and professional growth, because one should not stand still. I have to develop and work for the benefit of the country,” said Alyona Bogulska, a 29-year-old financier.

“This year, it’s a symbol, not that it’s a small victory, but a symbol that we survived the year,” said Tatiana Tkachuk, a 43-year-old pharmacy employee.

“And I want to thank everyone who helps Ukraine. We’ve made a lot of friends. And in order to understand that we have a lot of good things, unfortunately, we had to go through terrible things. But so many people are doing real miracles for Ukraine.”

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said the country “will persevere,” following the strikes.

“On New Year’s Eve, cities should be covered by wave of celebration, joy and hope. Ukrainian cities are again covered by missile wave from Russia,” Zelenska tweeted.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors. But we will persevere and be even stronger – in spite of everything.”

CNN
 — 

Paris Hilton is back to see “what love can do” for the second time with a new version of her 2006 song “Stars Are Blind.”

The socialite (and occasional actress, musician, model, and youth advocate) originally released the song as a single off her debut studio album, Paris. The love song topped charts around the world.

Hilton announced the release of an updated version of the song on Instagram Friday. The new version, titled “Stars Are Blind (Paris’ Version)”, is streaming on Amazon Music.

“This song has always meant so much to me, it felt right to close out 2022 with a refreshed version,” wrote Hilton on Instagram alongside photos of Times Square screens advertising the song. “And seeing my face lighting up Times Square is so special. Thank you to everyone who has always supported my music career.”

She added fans can look out for “new music to come in the new year.”

In another Instagram posted on New Year’s Eve, she hinted she had another surprise to announce before the end of the year.

“I have one more surprise for you all tonight to ensure I close out the year with a bang, like a wrecking ball,” she wrote.

CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden mourned the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, saying in a statement Saturday that the late pontiff “will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith.”

Benedict died Saturday at the age of 95 in a Vatican monastery, according to a statement from the Vatican. He was the first pope in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, doing so in 2013.

Biden, the second Catholic to serve as president of the United States, reflected on his meeting with Benedict at the Vatican in 2011, recalling the late pontiff’s “generosity and welcome as well as our meaningful conversation.”

“As he remarked during his 2008 visit to the White House, ‘the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity.’ May his focus on the ministry of charity continue to be an inspiration to us all,” Biden said Saturday.

Benedict’s funeral will be held on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City at 9:30 a.m. local time, the Vatican statement said. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis.

Benedict was a polarizing figure, hailed by conservatives who admired his erudite writings and careful theology. But he faced criticism, particularly in the postmodern West, for his staunch insistence on fidelity to church doctrine and his willingness to silence dissent. He also came under fire for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis that engulfed the Catholic Church during his years as a senior cleric.

Benedict met with three sitting US presidents – in addition to future President Biden – during his time as leader of the Catholic Church.

“It was like going back to theology class,” Biden told America, a Jesuit publication, in 2015 of his meeting with Benedict. “And by the way, he wasn’t judgmental. He was open. I came away enlivened from the discussion.”

Benedict met with his first sitting president in 2007 when George W. Bush traveled to the Vatican. Benedict made his only papal visit to the United States the following year. Bush took the rare step of meeting the pope when his plane arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, DC, and he later welcomed Benedict to the White House with an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn where thousands gathered and sang “Happy Birthday” to the pope, who turned 81 that day.

Later that year, Bush visited Benedict at the Vatican, where the two men strolled through the Vatican Gardens and met privately for roughly 30 minutes.

In 2009, President Barack Obama met with Benedict for 30 minutes at the Vatican. Officials at the time said their meeting included discussions on addressing poverty and the Middle East, as well as issues such as abortion and stem cell research.

Abortion also appeared to be a topic of discussion during Biden’s meeting with Benedict. In his 2015 interview with America, Biden said the two men spoke about Catholic doctrine and the then-vice president’s view that he should not impose his own beliefs on other people, including on issues such as abortion.

Benedict talked about Biden’s abortion stance after he became president in 2021.

“It’s true, he’s Catholic and observant. And personally, he is against abortion,” Benedict said in an interview with The Tablet, a Catholic publication. “But as president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the line of the Democratic Party … and on gender policy, we still don’t really understand what his position is.”

Biden also spoke of Benedict at a White House event this summer, calling him a “great theologian, a very conservative theologian.” The president shared that Benedict had asked him for advice when they met.

“‘Well, one piece of advice,’ I said, ‘I’d go easy on the nuns. They’re more popular than you are,’” Biden recounted to laughter.

CNN
 — 

Three children are dead following a Saturday morning fire in Buffalo, New York, that also left three other children, including a baby, and their grandmother hospitalized.

The fire was reported in the 200 block of Darmouth Ave. around 7:30 a.m., Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said during a press conference Saturday.

Three girls aged 7, 8, and 10, died as a result of the fire, according to Renaldo.

Two other children, one girl and one boy, were taken to Children’s Hospital and are currently in critical condition, he said. A seven-month-old girl was also taken to the same hospital and is currently in stable condition.

A 63-year-old grandmother was taken to Erie County Medical Center and is currently in critical condition.

The children were being raised by their grandparents. The grandfather wasn’t home at the time of the fire, according to Renaldo.

“It’s been a very challenging year at the fire department. There’s been a number of fatalities. A number of high-profile fires. Obviously, we had the mass shooting at Topps on 5/14 and we’re coming off the challenge of a worldwide pandemic as well,” Renaldo said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No firefighters were injured in the incident.

Buffalo is still recovering from a deadly and historic blizzard that barreled through last weekend, burying the city in nearly 52 inches of snow and killing at least 39 people. Most of the victims were found dead either outside or in their homes, while others died in their cars, as the result of delayed emergency medical service, and while removing snow or from cardiac arrest, officials have said.

CNN
 — 

US Highway 101, one of California’s most famous routes, closed in both directions in south San Francisco Saturday as heavy precipitation and snow melt are flooding roads, especially in the northern half of the state.

The California Department of Transportation also advised of a partial closure of Interstate 80 near the Nevada line midday Saturday “due to multiple spinouts over Donner Summit.” Driving through the mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada range has required tire chains for much of this month due to heavy snowfall.

A strong storm began to bring widespread heavy rain Friday through Saturday, creating a flood threat for much of Northern and Central California. An active jet stream pattern also continued to bring a parade of storms fueled by an atmospheric river of Pacific moisture.

An atmospheric river is a long, narrow region in the atmosphere which can transport moisture thousands of miles, like a fire hose in the sky. This heavy rainfall will slide southward to Southern California on Saturday and Sunday, accompanied by gusty winds of 30 to 50 mph.

Several small communities in northern California were put under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday due to flooding. Three communities near the city of Watsonville were told to evacuate by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office due to creek flooding, while officials ordered the communities of Paradise Park and Felton to evacuate due to rising levels of the San Lorenzo River.

Neighborhoods near the Santa Rita Creek in Monterey County were put under a warning Saturday afternoon because of concerns the creek “will spill over its banks,” according to the sheriff’s office.

A flood watch for more than 16 million is in effect including the entire Bay Area and Central Valley though Saturday night. Rain could ease Saturday evening before the calendar turns to 2023.

Earlier weather predictions said widespread rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are expected in northern and central California, but locally higher amounts of 5 to 7 inches are also possible for the foothills.

Northern California and the central California coast have already received 2 to 4 inches of rain in the last week. The cumulative effect of multiple Pacific storm systems laden with moisture from a potent atmospheric river will make impacts such as flash floods and landslides more likely.

Videos and photos shared by the National Weather Service in San Francisco show fallen trees blocking roadways, and multiple landslides.

“Downtown SF rain gauge now reporting 5.33 inches for today,” the National Weather Service office in San Francisco said. “Making a run for wettest calendar day ever… (records go back to 1849).”

CNN
 — 

When Indonesia passed controversial amendments to its criminal code earlier this month, one aspect above all others dominated the headlines: the criminalization of sex outside marriage.

Tourism figures warned it would put foreigners off visiting and hurt Indonesia’s global reputation – no small matters in a country that welcomed up to 15 million international travelers annually before the pandemic and recently held the G20 presidency for the first time in its history.

Officials have since played down the likelihood of tourists being charged, but hundreds of millions of Indonesians still face the prospect of up to a year in jail for the same offense – and rights activists warn that this is only the start of the new code’s potential to threaten Indonesians’ personal freedoms and civil liberties. Indonesian officials, on the other hand, defend the move as a necessary compromise in a democracy that is home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

The new code also criminalizes cohabitation between unmarried couples and promoting contraception to minors, and enshrines laws against abortion (except in cases of rape and medical emergencies when the fetus is less than 12 weeks) and blasphemy.

It also limits Indonesians’ right to protest and criminalizes insulting the president, members of his cabinet or the state ideology.

Offenders face the prospect of prison terms ranging from months to years.

Rights groups have been scathing in their assessments.

“In one fell swoop, Indonesia’s human rights situation has taken a drastic turn for the worse,” said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Potentially, millions of people will be subject to criminal prosecution under this deeply flawed law. Its passage is the beginning of an unmitigated disaster for human rights in Indonesia.”

The creation of the new code is in part a reflection of the growing influence conservative Islam plays in the politics of what is the world’s third-largest democracy.

About 230 million of the 270 million people who call this vast and diverse archipelago nation home are Muslim, though there are also sizable Christian and Hindu minorities and the country prides itself on a state ideology known as “Pancasila,” which stresses inclusivity.

The constitution guarantees a secular government and freedom of religion, and criminal law is largely based on a secular code inherited from the former Dutch colonial power – though the province of Aceh adopts and implements sharia law – and Islamic principles influence some civil matters and local level by-laws.

However, more conservative forms of Islam that were once repressed under the former dictator Suharto have in recent years emerged as increasingly powerful forces at the ballot box.

In the most recent general election, in 2019, President Joko Widodo controversially picked an elderly Islamic cleric – Ma’ruf Amin – as his running mate in a move that was widely seen as a move to secure more Muslim votes.

The appointment of Ma’ruf raised eyebrows among Widodo’s more moderate supporters, but it helped see off the challenge from the former military general Prabowo Subianto who had forged an alliance with hardline Islamist groups. Some of those groups had already demonstrated their clout by leading mass protests that led to the toppling of the Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, on a blasphemy charge.

The new criminal code – which updates the code inherited from the Dutch and was passed unanimously by lawmakers belonging to multiple parties – also reflects this growing influence of conservative Islam. Some conservative parties had been calling for an even stricter code, but previous proposals sparked mass street protests and were shelved after Widodo intervened.

Describing the new code as a “compromise”, Indonesian officials have said it needed to reflect a spread of interests in a multicultural and multi-ethnic country.

Still, while the new code clearly has the backing of many conservative voters, critics paint it as a step backwards for civil liberties in what is still a fledgling democracy.

Indonesia spent decades under strong-man rule after declaring its independence from the Dutch in the 1940s, under its first president Sukarno and later under the military dictator Suharto. It was not until after Suharto’s downfall in 1998 that it entered a period of reformation in which civilian rule, freedom of speech and a more liberal political environment were embraced.

Rights groups fear the new code risks undoing some of that progress by pandering to the conservative religious vote at the expense of the country’s secular ideals and reinforcing discrimination against women and the LGBTQ community. They also fear its longer-term effects could be corrosive to the democratic system itself and see uncomfortable parallels to the country’s authoritarian past.

Aspects of the code relating to insulting the president or the state ideology could, they say, be abused by officials to extort bribes, harass political opponents and even jail journalists and anyone deemed critical of the government.

“It is never a good thing when a state tries to legislate morality,” said Zachary Abuza, a professor specializing in Southeast Asian politics and security issues at the National War College in Washington, DC. “The new code puts civil liberties at risk and gives the state powerful tools to punish ideological, moral and political offenses.”

One political blogger, who asked not to be identified for fear of persecution under the new laws, told CNN that he expected online surveillance and censorship by the authorities to increase.

“The terms are not clear – that’s what makes the code especially scary and dangerous,” he said. “It’s all left to interpretation by the government.”

He gave the example of someone liking a critical tweet about the president, asking if that would be enough to land the person in jail.

“It will boil down to whoever the government wants to prosecute,” the blogger said.

It will be at least three years until the revised code comes into effect, according to officials, so it is still early to predict how the new laws will be implemented and enforced.

Much may depend on how satisfied more conservative voters are with the “compromise” code – or how angry those who protested on the streets against its earlier formulation remain.

At the same time, there are those who question whether lawmakers have made the mistake of listening only to the loudest voices in an attempt to pick up votes.

Norshahril Saat, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said there was a “complex relationship between Islam, politics, and society in Indonesia.”

He pointed to a 2022 national survey commissioned by the institute that found most respondents considered themselves moderate and supported the idea of a secular state – even though more than half of them also felt it was important to elect a Muslim leader.

Norshahril cautioned against concluding that support for the new criminal code was evidence of “a conservative Islamic tide.”

“It may mean that the current slate of elected politicians are conservative but more likely that they are responding to pressure from some powerful conservative lobby groups,” he said.

Of more concern, he said, is that “in today’s Indonesia, all of the political parties unanimously agreed on criminalizing these ‘sins’.”

CNN
 — 

The Federal Election Commission has levied a $30,000 fine on incoming Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and a private border wall organization he was once affiliated with due to campaign finance violations committed during his unsuccessful 2020 Senate bid.

In an agreement approved by the FEC last month, about a week after Kobach was elected, he admitted to illegally accepting an in-kind contribution from We Build the Wall, a Steve Bannon-linked group which ran a fundraising campaign to build a private border wall but became ensnarled in allegations of fraud.

CNN has reached out to attorneys for Kobach and We Build the Wall for comment.

In 2019, Kobach’s campaign rented We Build the Wall’s 295,000-person email list for just $2,000, a price significantly below the normal rate.

The campaign was also accused of additional campaign finance violations in connection with We Build the Wall, but the FEC, which is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, either dismissed those allegations or was equally divided.

Kobach is an immigration hardliner and a longtime spreader of false election claims who served as Kansas’ secretary of state from 2011 to 2019 and has close ties to former President Donald Trump.

Kobach was narrowly elected Kansas attorney general in November, defeating Democrat Chris Mann 51% to 49% in the reliably red state. His victory came after two consecutive defeats in recent election cycles – losing bids for the governorship in 2018 and for the GOP nomination for US Senate in 2020.

He previously served on We Build the Wall’s board and as the organization’s general counsel.

Two men have pleaded guilty in federal court, and another was convicted of defrauding donors in connection with We Build The Wall. Bannon and the organization itself are now facing charges in New York state. Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to state charges, had previously been indicted in federal court but was pardoned by then-President Trump at the end of his term.

Global leaders are paying homage to Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus, who died Saturday in Vatican City at the age of 95.

Benedict, who was the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, passed away on Saturday, according to a statement from the Vatican.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Saturday that the former pope “sent a strong signal through his resignation.” 

“Pope Benedict’s passing saddens me. My sympathy goes out to all Catholics,” von der Leyen said in a tweet, adding, “He had set a strong signal through his resignation. He saw himself first as a servant for God and his Church.” 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also paid tribute. “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Sunak tweeted Saturday.

“My thoughts are with Catholic people in the UK and around the world today,” Sunak added.

Britain’s King Charles III sent a message of condolence to Pope Francis after Benedict’s death. “His visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 was important in strengthening the relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom,” the king said in the message published on the Royal Family’s official website.

“I also recall his constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people, and to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church,” he said.   

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni voiced her admiration for the former pope.

“Benedict XVI was a giant of faith and reason. He put his life at the service of the universal Church and spoke, and will continue to speak, to the hearts and minds of men with the spiritual, cultural and intellectual depth of his Magisterium,” she tweeted Saturday. 

Italian President Sergio Mattarella described Pope Benedict XVI as an “unforgettable figure for the Italian people,” saying that Italy is in “bereavement” over his death.

His gentleness and wisdom were a blessing “for our community and the entire international community,” Mattarella said Saturday in a statement.   

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the former pope “was a special church leader for many.”

“As a ‘German’ Pope, Benedict XVI was a special church leader for many, not only in this country. The world loses a formative figure of the Catholic Church, an argumentative personality and a clever theologian. My thoughts are with Pope Francis,” Scholz tweeted.  

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer tweeted: “Together we Catholics mourn the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  

“He was a remarkable historical figure, a great scholar even at a young age. Benedict XVI was one of the few German-speaking heads of the Church and the first Pope of modern times, who resigned from office of his own accord. 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said his “thoughts” were with Catholics around the world after the former pope’s death.

“My thoughts are with the Catholics of France and the world, mourning the departure of His Holiness Benedict XVI, who worked with soul and intelligence for a more fraternal world,” Macron tweeted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to the pope emeritus in a message on Twitter.

“I express my sincere condolences to Pope Francis, the hierarchy and the faithful of the Catholic Church all over the world on the death of Pope Benedict XVI – an outstanding theologian, intellectual and promoter of universal values,” Zelensky wrote.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the former Pope will be remembered for his “rich service to society.” 

“Saddened by the passing away of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who devoted his entire life to the Church and the teachings of Lord Christ. He will be remembered for his rich service to society. My thoughts are with the millions around the world who grieve his passing,” Modi said in a tweet. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “saddened” by the former pope’s death.

“Saddened to hear of the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, this evening. May he rest in eternal peace,” Albanese tweeted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is leading Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, called the former pope “a staunch defender of traditional Christian values.”  

“I had the opportunity to communicate with this outstanding person, and I will forever keep the brightest memories of him. I would like to convey to you the words of sincere sympathy in this mournful hour,” he added.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres honored the former pope as “a humble man of prayer and study” who was “principled in his faith, tireless in his pursuit of peace, and determined in his defence of human rights.”

CNN’s Stephanie Halasz and Richard Roth and Sharon Braithwaite contributed reporting.

CNN International will air an inside look at the Yayoi Kusama show as part of its New Year’s Eve Live special on December 31.

Advanced age and the pandemic have done little to deter Japan’s Yayoi Kusama. At 93, the world’s best-selling living female artist is still painting daily at the psychiatric hospital she voluntarily checked into and has lived in since the 1970s.

Some of her latest creations feature alongside early drawings in a new exhibition at Hong Kong’s M+ museum. Bringing together more than 200 works, “Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to now” spans seven decades as the largest retrospective of her art in Asia outside her home country.

Best known for her signature pumpkin sculptures and polka-dot paintings, which can command millions of dollars at auction, Kusama’s success has skyrocketed in the past decade. The most photogenic parts of her oeuvre — including her immersive “Infinity Mirror Room” installations, tickets for which sell out at museums the world over — have achieved mainstream appeal in the era of social media.

Needless to say, her new Hong Kong exhibition is filled with Instagram-friendly moments. But the museum’s deputy director Doryun Chong, who co-curated the show, says he hopes visitors take the opportunity to dive deeper.

“Kusama is so much more than pumpkin sculptures and polka-dot patterns,” he explained. “She is a thinker of deep philosophy — a ground-breaking figure who has really revealed so much about herself, her vulnerability (and) her struggles as the source of inspiration for her art.”

The artist’s self-portraits on show. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

Infinity and beyond

Arranged chronologically and thematically, the show explores concepts that Kusama has revisited across multiple mediums over the course of her career. The notion of infinity, for example, appears in the form of repetitious motifs inspired by the vivid hallucinations experienced in childhood, when she would see everything around her consumed by seemingly endless patterns.

Visitors are given a sense of how these forms have evolved, beginning in a room filled with her “Infinity Net” paintings — including a breakthrough work she created after seeing the Pacific Ocean for the very first time from a plane window when she moved to the US from Japan in 1957.

The motif later re-emerges to bold, vibrant effect, filling the bodies of amoeba-like forms in selected works from “My Eternal Soul,” a hundreds-strong series of acrylic paintings that she began in 2009 and completed last year. They appear in the retrospective’s colorful “Force of Life” section, which immediately follows one titled “Death,” a contrast that speaks both to the dichotomies of Kusama’s work and the internal struggles underpinning it.

“Nowadays we’re very used to (people) talking about their mental health challenges, but this was 60 to 70 years ago that she started doing this,” said Chong. “It really runs throughout her life and career, but it never really stays in a dark place. She always proves that, by talking about death and even her suicidal thoughts and illness, she reaffirms and regenerates her will to live.”

Elsewhere, the exhibition features lesser-known pieces from the artist’s repertoire, shining a light on what she created mid-career, when she returned to Japan depressed and disillusioned. Among them is a black and white stuffed fabric sculpture from 1976 called “Death of a Nerve.”

While lesser known, the exhibition’s curators consider “Death of a Nerve” to be a key piece. It was made in 1976, the year before she voluntarily checked herself into a psychiatric hospital. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

A 2022 version of the artwork, created for M+ and slightly renamed “Death of Nerves,” is also on display. Realized to a much grander scale and rendered in color, it embodies a sense of resilience and even optimism in contrast to the original. An accompanying poem acknowledges that, after a suicide attempt, her nerves were left “dead and shredded.” After some time, however, a “universal love” began “coursing through my entire body,” she wrote; the revived nerves “burst into beautifully vibrant colors… stretching to the infinitude of eternity.”

“Death of Nerves” can been seen from multiple levels of the museum. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

“It’s an unusual piece for Kusama because most people associate her with the pumpkins, or the mirror rooms, or with more Pop forms, but this is a very soft sculpture that she has always been working on, since the beginning,” explained Mika Yoshitake, an independent curator who worked on the M+ show with Chong, as well as previous Kusama shows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. and the New York Botanical Garden.

“I think she’s incredible to be able to sustain her strength through art,” added Yoshitake, who last saw Kusama in 2018, before the pandemic. “She’s determined to have her story told.”

Small by comparison is a group of 11 paintings the artist began in 2021 and completed this summer, called “Every Day I Pray for Love.”

“She has always said ‘love forever,’ said Yoshitake. She wants people to be at peace, and have this warmth and to care for each other. There’s so much strife and war, terrorism, a lot of things she sees in the world, especially through this pandemic.”

An image of Kusama wearing a signature red wig, featured in exhibition materials. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

In a short email interview with CNN, Kusama explained her dedication to her art.

“I paint every day,” she said. “I am going to continue creating a world in awe of life, embracing all the messages of love, peace and universe.”

Since her teens, Kusama has read Chinese poems and literature “with deep respect,” she said. As such, she added, she is “happy” to have her work on show in Hong Kong.

According to M+, the exhibition has now been described as “the most comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s work to date,” by curator and critic Akira Tatehata, who serves as director of the Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo. Tatehata, who visited the museum in November, has long supported the artist, and was the commissioner of her solo representation of Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1993.

Art’s healing power

The retrospective also carries special meaning for M+, which used the show to mark its one-year anniversary.

Since its conception over a decade ago, the museum has been touted as Asia’s answer to the London’s Tate Modern or New York’s Museum of Modern Art. When it finally opened last year, it faced unique challenges, from Hong Kong’s changing political environment, which continues to raise censorship concerns across sectors including the arts, to pandemic restrictions that closed the museum for three months and, until recently, barred most international visitors from the city. But Chong sees the latter, at least, as “a blessing in disguise.”

“For a global museum to have opened and be embraced by our local audiences, first and foremost, in its first year couldn’t have been a better way to start the museum,” he said.

Polka dot pumpkins located at the museum entrance. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

“(Kusama is) living proof that art is indeed therapy and has a powerful healing power,” said Chong. “And that’s such an important lesson, especially for us during this period of post-pandemic.”

London
CNN
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In May 2017, Sophie Bichener did what many in their twenties are unable to do: buy a home. She paid around £230,000 (around $295,000 at the time) for her two-bedroom apartment in a high-rise building in a town north of London, where a train could get her to work in the capital in less than half an hour. She had her foot on the first rung of Britain’s housing ladder, an increasingly difficult feat, and it felt like the only way was up.

A month later, Bichener woke up to news that would change her life. A fire had broken out at a similar block to hers: the 24-story Grenfell Tower in west London, which was encased in flammable cladding. The material meant to keep out the wind and rain went up like a matchstick. The fire killed 72 people and left an entire community homeless and heartbroken. The ordeal sent Bichener into a panic. Was her building also at risk, she wondered?

The burned remains of Grenfell stood uncovered for months, looming over one of London’s richest boroughs. It became a monument that to many symbolized the disastrous effects of austerity – the decade-long policy of cost-cutting embarked on by the Conservatives in response to the financial crisis of 2008. The tragedy was made all the more stark by its surroundings: the public housing block is just a five-minute walk from Kensington properties worth tens of millions of pounds. Look one way: scarcely imaginable wealth. The other: a hulking symbol of a broken and divided Britain.

In the wake of the fire, there was a wave of promises from politicians that things would change – that building safety would be improved, social housing reformed, and that responsibility would be taken for the government agenda of public spending cuts, deregulation and privatization that acted as kindling for the tragedy that unfolded.

But in the five years since, Britons living in tower blocks with unsafe cladding have found themselves stuck in a perpetual state of limbo. CNN spoke with 10 people, who all say they are paralyzed by fear that their buildings could catch fire at any moment, and crippled by costs thrust upon them to fix safety defects that were not their fault – despite the government promising they would not have to “pay a penny.”

Now, their problems are compounded by a fresh disaster: a spiraling cost-of-living crisis. As energy prices and inflation soar, residents like Bichener are facing an impossible situation, burdened not only by sky-high bills but also the eye-watering expense of remediating properties that now feel more like prisons than homes.

Residents told CNN they were living in a perpetual state of anxiety, inundated by text alerts informing them of mounting bills and waiting on tenterhooks for the next buzz of their phone. Some said their building insurance had quadrupled since they moved in, while others were burdened by ballooning service charges – hundreds of pounds a month for safety fixes that hadn’t been started.

Many said they had left their mortgages on variable rates in the hopes they could eventually sell their apartments, but after the Bank of England hiked interest rates this fall their repayments had become untenable, with monthly payments almost doubling in some cases. Paired with the rising costs of living – more expensive energy, fuel and food – the residents CNN spoke with said they are finding themselves several thousand pounds a year poorer.

When Bichener bought her flat in Vista Tower in Stevenage, a 16-story office block built in 1965 and converted into residential housing in 2016, there was “no mention” of fire hazards, she said. “When Grenfell happened we spoke to our local council just to double-check all the buildings in the town. We asked the management agent and freeholder [the owner of the apartment building and land] if they have any concerns. At that point, everyone was saying no, all these buildings are good,” Bichener told CNN.

But there were soon signs of trouble. The developer that built the block put itself into liquidation – the first “red flag,” Bichener said. Emails to the freeholder went unanswered – the second. Then confirmation: In 2019, two years after Grenfell, the management agent reported that the building was unsafe. An inspection had found an array of hazards not previously listed.

After the revelations, a group of former Grenfell residents came to visit Vista Tower to raise awareness about the nationwide cladding crisis. Bichener said that one man who had lost a family member in the Grenfell fire told her he was struck by the similarities: “He said he went cold.”

In November 2020, she was hit with a life-changing bill from the freeholder. “The whole project, all of the remediation, came to about £15 million.” Split between the leaseholders, it worked out to be about £208,000 per flat.

That bill – almost the same price she initially paid for the flat – has hung over Bichener’s head since. The government has offered little help and the political chaos in Britain has made matters worse. There have been seven housing secretaries in the five years since Grenfell, as the governing Conservative Party remains embroiled in internal strife. Some have begun to make progress – including threatening legal action to get the company that owns Vista Tower to pay up rather than passing the cost on to the residents – only to find themselves out of the job weeks later.

Meanwhile, Bichener is still waiting for her life to get back on track. She is unable to sell, because banks are unwilling to lend against the property, and, in recent months, her mortgage, insurance and service charge have all shot up. The crippling costs meant she delayed getting married and has put off having children.

“I can’t afford to live in this building anymore. I don’t want to pay the service charge, I don’t want to pay all of the horrific leaseholder costs. I just don’t want it. But I can’t get out,” Bichener, now 30 years old, said. “I’m trapped.”

And she’s not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be in the same boat, but the UK government has failed to commission a full audit, which means the scale of the impact is unclear. Peter Apps, deputy editor at Inside Housing, who has covered the story meticulously over the past five years, estimates there are likely more than 600,000 people in affected tall buildings and millions more in medium-rise towers – those between five and 10 stories. CNN has been unable to verify the precise number.

The problems playing out now are the result of decades of poor policy choices, according to Apps. His new book detailing the Grenfell tragedy and subsequent inquiry, “Show Me the Bodies,” claims the UK “let Grenfell happen” through a combination of “deregulation, corporate greed and institutional indifference.”

Evidence presented to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry found that the local council, which managed the building, had made a £300,000 ($389,400) saving by switching higher quality zinc cladding to a cheaper aluminum composite material (ACM). This meant for an additional £2,300 ($3,000) per flat, the fire might have been prevented.

Any regulations demanding developers use better quality materials were seen as being “anti-business,” Apps told CNN. Developers did not even have to use qualified fire safety inspectors to carry out checks on their buildings – just individuals the developers themselves deemed to be “competent.”

So extensive was the deregulation that the problems were not confined just to high-rise tower blocks – or even to cladding. Instead, many low-rise buildings suffer from problems ranging from poor fire cavities to flammable insulation.

“The cladding wasn’t the issue at all,” said Jennifer Frame, a 44-year-old travel industry analyst, who lived in Richmond House in south-west London. “It was the fact that it was a timber frame building, with a cavity between that and the cladding,” she added, a safety defect that was confirmed by an inspection report.

One night in September 2019, a fire broke out in a flat in Richmond House. Rather than being contained in one room, the cavity acted “like a chimney,” Frame said. An independent report commissioned by the building owner, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association, and included in written evidence submitted to the UK parliament by residents, revealed that the cavity barriers were either “defective” or “entirely missing” at Richmond House, allowing the fire to spread “almost unhindered” through the 23-flat block.

“The use of materials such as ACM within cladding systems has rightly attracted a lot of attention since Grenfell. It is now clear that there is a much wider failure by construction companies,” the residents said in their submission.

Sixty residents lost their homes that night. Three years later, Frame is still living in temporary accommodation in the same borough of London, while paying the mortgage for her property which no longer exists. Perversely, she said she feels lucky that it’s only the mortgage – and not the monumental cost of remediations – that she’s on the hook for.

“I do consider myself – for lack of a better word – one of the lucky ones, as we don’t have the threat of bankruptcy hanging over our head any more,” she said.

CNN reached out for comment to the developer of Richmond House, Berkeley Group, but did not receive a reply. Berkeley Group has previously denied liability.

Years of delay and disputes over who should cover the cost, combined with the sheer stress of living in unsafe buildings, have weighed heavily on residents.

Bichener moved back to her parents’ house in 2020. “I just couldn’t face being there,” she said. “I ended up on anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication just from being in those four walls in a pandemic, in a dangerous home, with a life-changing sum of money that would potentially bankrupt me over my head.”

At a rally for the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, she recalled being with a group of people her age and how they all broke down in tears. “They’re the only people who understand the situation you’re in. Everyone’s having huge crises over this.”

Their options are limited. Most can’t sell their properties, since banks won’t offer mortgages against them. Even if banks were to reverse this policy, it is unclear whether there would be a demand for them, given the spiraling costs of borrowing. According to the residents CNN spoke with, a scant few have been able to sell to cash buyers – but often at a 60-80% loss.

Some have become “resentful landlords,” a term used by residents who are unable to sell their properties, but are so desperate to move out that they rent it out cheaply to others. Lilli Houghton, 30, rents out her flat in Leeds, a city in the north of England, at a loss to a new tenant. She still pays the service charge for her flat, while also renting a new place elsewhere.

Most have no choice but to wait – but five years has felt like an eternity. When Zoe Bartley, a 29-year-old lawyer, bought her one-bedroom apartment in Chelmsford, a city in Essex, she thought she’d sell it within a few years to move into a family home.

But she hasn’t been able to sell. She found a buyer in January 2020 – but their mortgage was declined after an inspection of the building found a number of fire safety defects.

Bartley’s 15-month-old son still sleeps in her bedroom. When her two stepchildren come to stay, “they have to sleep in the living room,” she said. “When they were four and five and I’d just started dating their dad,” they were excited to have sleepovers in the living room. Now they’re nine and 10, “it’s just pathetic,” Bartley said.

Bartley said she struggles to sleep knowing that a fire could break out at night. Others who spoke to CNN say they have trained their children on what to do when the alarms go off.

Earlier this year, residents in unsafe buildings began to see some fledgling signs of progress. In a letter to developers, the then-housing secretary, Michael Gove, said it was “neither fair nor decent that innocent leaseholders … should be landed with bills they cannot afford to fix problems they did not cause.” He set out a plan to work with the industry to find a solution.

First, he gave developers two months “to agree to a plan of action to fund remediation costs,” estimated at £4 billion (around $5.4 billion). That deadline passed with no agreement reached.

To force developers’ hands, the Building Safety Act was passed into law in April, which requires the fire safety defects in all buildings above 11 meters to be fixed and created a fund to help cover the costs. The act implemented a “waterfall” system: Developers would be expected to pay first, but, if they are unable to, then the cost would fall to the building owners. If they are also unable to pay, only then would the cost fall to the leaseholders. Leaseholders’ costs were capped at £10,000 ($11,400), or £15,000 ($17,000) in London, for those who met certain criteria. The government asked 53 companies to sign this pledge; many did.

For many residents, this came as a relief. They had faced life-changing bills for years, but the cap meant they wouldn’t be totally wiped out. It seemed the worst of their worries were over.

But there was a problem: The pledge made by developers wasn’t legally binding. Even though the government has made money available for remediation, no mechanism has yet forced any developers to make use of it.

One resident explained to CNN: “Prior to Michael Gove, your building owner could give you a bill to replace the cladding. They’re now not able to do that anymore, but that doesn’t mean your building gets fixed.”

The government tried again. In July it published contracts to turn the “pledge into legally binding undertakings.” If developers signed the contract, this would commit them to remediating their buildings. Still, there was nothing obliging the developers to sign these contracts – and so none did.

In October, Vista Tower – where Bichener lives – came under scrutiny. Then-Housing Secretary Simon Clarke set a 21-day deadline for Grey GR, the owner of the building, to commit to fixing it. “The lives of over 100 people living in Vista Tower have been put on hold,” Clarke said. “Enough is enough.” Bichener stressed her building was just one among thousands in need of remediation, but welcomed this as a “step in the right direction.”

But when that deadline came, Clarke was already out of the job. He had been appointed by former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, but after her six-week premiership came to an end, Clarke was replaced in the subsequent reshuffle. The deadline passed without Grey GR making any commitment.

Gove was reappointed by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as Clarke’s successor in October. In response to questions from CNN, the UK’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) confirmed that the government has started formal proceedings against Grey GR.

“We are finalizing the legally binding contracts that developers will sign to fix their unsafe buildings, and expect them to do so very soon,” a DLUHC spokesperson said in a statement.

Grey GR told CNN that it was “absolutely committed to carrying out the remediation works required,” but that they had not started yet due to obstacles in receiving government funds.

“Issues with gaining access to [the Building Safety Fund], created by Government, have been, and remain, the fundamental roadblock to progress,” Grey GR said in a statement, adding that the security of residents was of the “utmost priority” and that it was taking steps to make buildings safer.

But, according to Bichener, residents are no safer than they were five years ago. All that has changed is that, legally, they will no longer have to pay tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds to fix their buildings.

That hasn’t stopped building owners from seeking funds from residents though. “The amount of £208,430.04 is outstanding in connection with [your] property,” read a letter sent to a resident of Vista Tower by the building owner in November. “We would appreciate your remittance within the next seven days.”

In the meantime, life for the residents of these buildings goes on. Since speaking to CNN, Bichener got married. She and her husband are both paying off their own mortgages until she is able to sell her flat. For years they had been “stressed,” she said, asking “do we tie ourselves together and have these two properties?” But they decided they couldn’t put their lives on pause forever because of her Vista Tower nightmare.

“I want to have left,” Bichener said of where she wants to be, a year from now. “The dream is that I no longer own that property and I am long gone and I never have to see it or visit it again.

“But if I’m realistic, I think we’ll be in the same situation. I think the ‘who’s paying’ question will drag on for many years. That might be through court cases and tribunals. But I don’t see how it will be resolved.”