Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa decries ‘nightmare’ of Putin-Trump alliance

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In Cannes to promote his Stalinist drama Two Prosecutors, the film-maker said he feared the US and Russia would soon ‘become equal’

One of Ukraine’s leading film-makers has spoken of the “nightmare” of an emergent alliance between authoritarian leaders in Russia and the US, as his new film on contemporary echoes with the Stalinist era opens at the Cannes film festival.

“The events that unfolded in the past 100 days really surprised many people all over the world,” said director Sergei Loznitsa, whose new film Two Prosecutors received its world premiere on Wednesday. “One couldn’t even imagine in a nightmare such a union, such an understanding between two authoritarian leaders.”

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Chris Brown arrested for allegedly smashing tequila bottle over music producer’s head at nightclub – Page Six

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  1. Chris Brown arrested for allegedly smashing tequila bottle over music producer’s head at nightclub  Page Six
  2. Chris Brown arrested over alleged bottle attack  BBC
  3. Singer Chris Brown charged over alleged assault at London club  Reuters
  4. Chris Brown Arrested in England After Lawsuit Over Alleged Assault at London Nightclub in 2023: Report  People.com
  5. Chris Brown charged for smashing tequila bottle over music producer's head at nightclub: report  New York Post
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Prison recall shake-up will free some domestic abusers, ministers admit

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Source says ‘many but not all’ abusers and sexual offenders will be excluded from measure in England and Wales

Ministers have admitted that some domestic abusers and sexual abusers will be released under new plans to free up spaces in prisons in England and Wales, despite a denial from another government minister.

Under emergency measures announced by the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, some criminals serving sentences of between one and four years who breach their licence conditions will be returned to custody for only a fixed 28-day period.

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Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested for protesting Gaza blockade at US Senate hearing

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Ben Cohen and others interrupted RFK Jr at hearing to protest Israel’s Gaza blockade and Medicaid cuts

Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, has been charged with “crowding and obstructing” others after he was arrested while protesting against the Gaza blockade during a US Senate hearing.

Cohen – the Ben in Ben & Jerry’s – made his stand on Wednesday while Robert F Kennedy Jr was addressing a hearing of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. A group of activists heckled the health secretary over his anti-vaccine posture, yelling: “When Bobby lies, children die,” and “Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America”.

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Diplomat makes history as first refugee to become a UK high commissioner

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Kanbar Hossein-Bor, who says his mother once feared he ‘might not be British enough’, lands Fiji post

“In her mind this was a bastion of the establishment, she was a little worried of rejection,” Kanbar Hossein-Bor said of his mother’s reaction, two decades ago, to the news he was applying to work in the UK Foreign Office.

This week, the fear that “he might not be British enough” was proved wrong, when Hossein-Bor was appointed as the UK’s high commissioner to Fiji – the first refugee to achieve the rank.

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Poland votes for a new president Sunday as worries grow about the future – AP News

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  1. Poland votes for a new president Sunday as worries grow about the future  AP News
  2. Polish presidential hopefuls in final campaign push - Europe live  The Guardian
  3. Poland’s Election for President Is a Test of Unwinding Populism  The New York Times
  4. Why so much is riding on Poland’s presidential elections  The Economist
  5. Jarosław Kaczyński’s presidential gamble tests his grip on Polish opposition  Financial Times
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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 80 as Trump talks of turning Gaza into ‘freedom zone’

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Violence over last 48 hours diminishes hope that US president’s visit to Middle East would pause hostilities

At least 80 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling on targets across Gaza as faltering talks on a new ceasefire continued and Donald Trump said he wanted the US to “make” the devastated territory “into a freedom zone”.

Trump’s statement recalled the plan he put forward in February for the US to take control of Gaza to reconstruct it as a luxury leisure and business hub. The scheme implied the possible permanent displacement of many or all of the territory’s 2.3 million people and triggered global outrage.

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Deaths prompt MPs to call for better support for vulnerable benefit claimants

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Commons committee recommends independent scrutiny of failures and legal duty to safeguard those at most risk

A cross-party committee of MPs has called for greater protections for vulnerable benefit claimants after hundreds of cases of deaths and serious harms linked to safeguarding failures by welfare officials.

The work and pensions select committee said many of these cases, which include instances where claimants took their own lives, could have been prevented had the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discharged its responsibilities effectively.

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Bruce Springsteen says Trump is running ‘rogue government’ and ‘siding with dictators’

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Rock’n’roll legend makes series of blistering speeches on stage in Manchester, targeting ‘corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration’

Bruce Springsteen has made a series of rousing, splenetic speeches castigating Donald Trump and his administration, calling the president “unfit” for office.

In what amounts to one of the most sustained attacks on Trump and American lawmakers from a cultural figure, he made the speeches on stage in Manchester, as he opened his Land of Hope and Dreams tour with the E Street Band.

There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.

In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.

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