Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed a state decoration on Steven Seagal , the American ac- tion- movie actor who also holds Russian citizenship. The awarding of the Order of Friendship was announced on the Russian government’s internet portal. The order recognizes people who Russia considers to have contributed to bettering international relations. Seagal was a vocal supporter of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and last year visited the Russian-held Ukrainian town of Olenivka where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were reportedly killed in an attack for which Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other. Seagal was named in 2018 as a Russian Foreign Ministry humanitarian envoy to the United States and Japan.
■ Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B likened performing court-mandated community service to the experience to a spiritual journey that sometimes left her in tears. She spoke to girls in a police mentorship program Friday as part of what she says has been an eye-opening and emotional week of community service for her role in a pair of brawls at New York City strip clubs in 2018. Car di B, a New York City native whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, visited an NYPD “Girls Talk” event at the police training academy in Queens and shared what the department said was “her rags to riches story.” “I feel like there’s so many people that make y’all probably feel like, ‘ This is what’s cool,’” Cardi B told her young audience. “Sometimes, that’s a little bit of peer pressure like on a girl. Don’t fall into that. … Be you. You’re amazing. You’re dope yourself.” That drew criticism from some people, including a retired police lieutenant, who questioned whether Almanzar was an appropriate role model for children given her sometimes provocative lyrics, criminal record and past admission that she drugged and robbed men while working as a stripper. Almanzar’s plea deal requires her to perform 15 days of community service by March 1 to avoid a 15-day jail sentence. She has been chronicling her community service on Twitter. “Those people that we leave behind they just need somebody to talk and a lil push and YOU might be able to change their life forever,” she wrote.