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The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine will be in Danville on Friday to perform works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky.

The orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Teodor Kuchar, will perform at George Washington High Schools auditorium at 7:30 p.m., presented by the Danville Concert Association.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students, and are available at eventbrite.com or by calling (434) 792-9242. They will also be available one hour prior to the performance at the box office.

A full complement of musicians more than 60, according to Gary Grant, marketing and outreach coordinator for the Danville Concert Association is in the United States as part of its North American tour, which began in mid-January and will continue through March.

In Danville, the orchestra will perform Rachmaninoffs Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44; Tchaikovskys Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, with a solo by violinist Dima Tkachenko; and Stravinskys Suite from the Ballet The Firebird, 1919 version.

It is a really, really fine orchestra, a distinguished orchestra Grant said.

Solo violinist Tkachenko is a Ukraine-born violinist who began playing the violin and piano before the age of 6, studied at Lysenko Music School in Kiev, the National Music Academy of Ukraine and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, according to a news release. He has been a prize winner at several international violin competitions, including the Carl Nielsen Competition in Odense, Denmark; the Lysenko Competition in Kiev, Ukraine; and the Wronski Solo Violin Competition in Warsaw, Poland.

In addition to performing with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, he has performed with symphonies in Budapest, Russia, Turkey, London, Cracow, Chile, Spain and Germany.

The orchestra was formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in 1918. Grant said it is considered one of Eastern Europes finest orchestras; since 1993, it has released more than 100 recordings, many Grammy-nominated.

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From Ukraine to Danville: Full complement of musicians to perform Friday - GoDanRiver.com

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Ukraine and Poland's history of wars are a gift for Putin Stars and Stripes KIEV, Ukraine Since 2014, when it began its war against better-equipped and better-funded Russians and their proxies, Ukraine has been in desperate search of heroes to inspire the country. At least one of those national inspirations is now ... and more »

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Ukraine and Poland's history of wars are a gift for Putin - Stars and Stripes

In the past, transgender people in Ukraine who wanted to have theirgender legally recognized faced a degrading, years-long obstacle course of psychiatric observation, sterilization, and other horrors. But change is on the way, as the government introduces new rules that stem some of the worst abuses of the old system.

Gay rights activists attend a rally outside the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, November 10, 2015.

2015 Reuters

Activists in Ukraine are welcoming substantial revisions to a procedure to allow for legal gender recognition for transgender people. While falling short of good models in countries such as Argentina and Malta, the changes are a clear step forward from a truly archaic system that was the subject of a Human Rights Watch complaint to the Special Rapporteur on torture.

The previous rules outlined in Order No. 60, of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, required transgender people to undergo extensive psychiatric observation and irreversible sterilization, to obtain a divorce, and submit to gender reassignment surgery: all just to get their documents aligned with their gender. Failure to complete this procedure and obtain a legal ID that matched their gender meant a life circumscribed by a legal identity at odds with an innate identity. It also resulted in discrimination and endless obstacles in undertaking simple life tasks such as trying to open a bank account or rent an apartment as a transgender person with only an ID that does not match their gender identity.

The new procedures cut back on a number of these unnecessary processes, changes that are consistent with recent small steps towards recognition of transgender rights and protection from LGBT discrimination in the work place. But the procedure still falls far short. The new rules have done away with mandatory in-patient psychiatric evaluations, coerced sterilization, and mandatory appearance before the State Evaluation Commission, which was meant to confirm the diagnosis of transsexualism.

Transgender people in Ukraine, however, will still be required to jump through onerous hoops to obtain legal documents aligned with their gender. For example, they are still required to get a divorce, undergo outpatient psychiatric examinations that could easily transition to inpatient hospitalization, and submit to observation by a sexologist for a period of one year to determine their degree of social adaptation.

That these changes are a significant improvement underscores how bad Order No. 60 was. Legal gender recognition should be entirely separate from medical procedures. Governments, including Ukraine, should work towards a simple administrative procedure that allows individuals without any undue burden and in a dignified manner to obtain documents congruent with their gender identity.

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A Glimmer of Light for Transgender People in Ukraine | Human ... - Human Rights Watch

PARIS Germany and France agree that any moves to lift sanctions against Russia must be tied to progress in the peace process for eastern Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Saturday.

"We in Germany and France have a clear position on the sanctions," Gabriel said during the news conference with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. "We wish to implement the Minsk peace process ... And that is the only way that sanctions can be lifted."

Gabriel said he and Ayrault also agreed that it was important that Germany and France express strong unified positions on issues. He said the two countries would create bilateral working groups to address issues such as Ukraine and Russia.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Sabine Siebold in Paris; Editing by Dominic Evans)

GENEVA The United Nations refugee agency and International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on the Trump administration on Saturday to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, saying its resettlement program was vital.

BEIRUT Several Syrian Islamist factions including al Qaeda's former branch in the country said on Saturday they were joining forces, as clashes between jihadists and more moderate rebels raged on in northwestern areas.

ANKARA British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday signed a $125 million defense equipment deal with Turkey and promised to push for more trade between the NATO allies, but cautioned Ankara on human rights following last year's failed coup.

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Russia sanctions must be tied to progress on Ukraine peace: Gabriel - Reuters

Ukraine and Poland's history wars are a gift for Putin Stars and Stripes KIEV, Ukraine Since 2014, when it began its war against better-equipped and better-funded Russians and their proxies, Ukraine has been in desperate search of heroes to inspire the country. At least one of those national inspirations is now ... and more »

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Ukraine and Poland's history wars are a gift for Putin - Stars and Stripes