This year's Cannes Film Festival has been an epic mix of ground-breaking women's perspectives and nostalgic homages to icons of the 20th century.. - Old masters - At times, Cannes felt like a sort of dream retirement home populated by ageing male film icons.
Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele after almost 15 months in custody on Friday, in a prisoner exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism. . Iran announced that the freed Iranian is diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was jailed in Belgium over a 2018 plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally outside Paris.
The commander of a Kyiv-area air defence team knows what's at stake every time a missile or drone appears on his team's radar: if they miss, people may die.. Ukraine said it shot down one of the Russian missiles for the first time in early May, using a powerful US Patriot anti-aircraft system delivered to Kyiv in April.
Russian missiles hit a medical clinic in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing one, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Russia blamed Ukraine for dozens of strikes on its southern Belgorod region.. - 'Hostile environment' - A Russian strike on a residential building in Dnipro in January left more than 45 people killed and injured dozens more.
Fierce fighting between rival Sudanese forces rocked on Friday the western region of Darfur, witnesses said, as US and Saudi observers noted "improved respect" for a fragile ceasefire now in its fourth day.. - Medical supplies - In a joint statement Friday, the mediators "noted improved respect for the agreement" and said they had "cautioned the parties against further violations and implored them to improve respect for the ceasefire on (Thursday), which they did".
The annual general meeting of TotalEnergies opened on Friday in Paris after police teargassed climate activists, as the oil giant also faces pressure from the French government to speed up the switch to renewable energy.. But France's energy transition minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, urged the company to speed things up on Friday.
Fulgence Kayishema, one of the last fugitives sought for their role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, was due in a court in Cape Town on Friday, two days after being arrested following 22 years on the run.. Rwanda started trying genocide suspects in 1996, and on a single day in April 1998 had 22 of them executed by firing squad.
French security forces have detained 38 migrants seeking to cross the Channel on a small boat to Britain after they clashed with police, prosecutors said.. London has repeatedly accused Paris of not doing enough to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
The return of Chinese tourists to destinations worldwide will top off a spectacular post-coronavirus global tourism revival this year, according to industry leaders.. Executives said China's free-spending tourists will play a key role in the revival, while putting new pressure on the travel industry.
While much talk at Cannes this year has been about the unprecedented seven women directors in competition, an impressive cavalcade of old white guys has also charmed the French Riviera festival, with 86-year-old Ken Loach entering the race on Friday. . He is the oldest director of the 21 in competition at the film festival -- but not by much.
