Opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who faces incumbent President Recep Erdogan in a second round of voting on 24 June, has pledged to deport all refugees from Turkey. In addition, the left-wing politician has attempted to reject the support of pro-Kurdish groups. Experts have suggested that Kilicdaroglu will need to broaden his support from moderate Islamists and right-wingers in order to oust Erdogan from power after his two-decade presidency.
The UN's humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, is in discussions with Lloyd's to secure insurance coverage for Russian agricultural exports to developing countries suffering from high food prices. Griffiths said the UN is liaising at all levels of the private sector, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as the organisation seeks to ensure it can facilitate Russian food and fertiliser exports. The country has complained that sanctions have hurt its shipping, insurance and financing situations, although the implementation of wheat exports via other ports appears to belie the claims.
Despite increasing calls from critics to cancel a Bruce Springsteen concert within a region of Italy devastated by floods which has already claimed 14 lives, the gig remains scheduled to go ahead. Organisers of the concert, which is to take place in Ferrara and is expected to be attended by 50,000 fans, has defended itself by arguing that Italy’s meteorological service did not place the area within a 'red zone' related to serious weather danger.
Johnny Depp has discussed his recent marginalisation by Hollywood and how his trial for domestic violence affected him in an interview with the Associated Press. Depp took a libel suit against Amber Heard, his ex-wife, last year, which was ultimately ruled to have gone in her favour by a British court. As a result, Depp has been dropped from a string of films, including Fantastic Beasts and Pirates of the Caribbean. He is currently in Cannes promoting period drama Jeanne du Barry, which has not yet been acquired for US distribution.
The United States and Taiwan have reached a modest trade agreement as part of Washington's support for Taiwan and its demands from China. The deal is the first under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and is expected to set the stage for a more significant agreement. The agreement aims to cut red tape at customs, reduce waiting times for US businesses in Taiwan and commits to adopting measures to combat bribery and encourage more trade with small to medium-sized enterprises. There is widespread bipartisan support for Taiwan in Washington, and the island country remains a prosperous democracy that split from China in 1949.
Chinese comedian Li Haoshi has been fined $2.6m, and his employer has been fined $1.3m, after Li made a statement, deemed by authorities to be offensive to the Chinese military, in a live broadcast. Li was performing in Shanghai, where he quipped, in reference to two dogs that he adopted, that they "were able to win battles, with a first-rate style". The phrase Li was using alluded to propaganda descriptions of the People’s Liberation Army’s strength, and became associated with President Xi Jinping after he first used it. Critics argue that China's sensitivity to even the smallest slight against the military is symptomatic of increasing nationalism and authoritarianism in the country.
An underground bunker has been constructed beneath Russian President Vladimir Putin's Black Sea palace, according to images posted online by the now-defunct construction firm that built it, Metro Style. The complex, which was built in the early 2010s, when Putin was cultivating warm relations with European powers, spans roughly 6,500 sq ft and features concrete bunkers with their own sewage and fresh water supply, alongside an elevator shaft and two tunnels which have exits visible on the cliff face rising up from the sea to the palace. The purpose of the underground complex is unclear, but speculation suggests it has been developed as a form of protection for Putin in the event of a revolution or war.
France's government will increase security for elected officials following a rise in the number of attacks against them. A "security package" includes a pledge to appoint civil servants in charge of liaising with gendarmeries, while maximum jail terms for those who attack elected officials will go up from three years to seven and fines from €75,000 to €100,000. France's government has noted a 32% annually rise in the number of registered threats and attacks against officials since 2020 to reach 2,265.
The US has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $3bn as a result of assigning a higher than warranted value on weaponry that was taken from US stocks. This calculation may lead the way for further weaponry to be sent to Kyiv and could delay the Biden administration's need to seek additional funds for Ukraine, amid the country's intensifying debt ceiling fight. Since August 2021, Washington has sent about $21.1bn worth of weaponry to Ukraine across 37 Presidential Drawdown Authority packages, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers and Javelin anti-tank weapons.
Leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies (G7) have discussed how to build support for a “strong response to economic coercion” by China. Ahead of a summit in Hiroshima, US officials predicted a joint response from all countries, which will involve protecting technologies in areas of national security. The EU has also been seeking to create support for a strategy against economic coercion, to “derisk” rather than disconnect from, China. However, all seven members of the G7 require a positive relationship with the world’s second-largest economy. The US imported goods amounting to $537bn from China last year, while its businesses invested nearly $120bn in China. EU investments in China over the course of two decades amounted to over $140bn. In the face of criticisms from the US, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin argued that the US was the chief culprit in the coercion of China.
An 88-year-old Australian doctor who was held captive in West Africa for more than seven years has been released, according to the Australian government. Kenneth Elliott, from Perth, and his wife Jocelyn were kidnapped by Islamic extremists near the border with Mali and Niger in January 2016, where they were running a medical clinic. Jocelyn Elliott was released a month later. The family said the 88-year-old now needed time and privacy to rest and rebuild strength.
West Ham's Europa Conference League semifinal win against AZ Alkmaar was disrupted by crowd trouble when some Dutch supporters tried to storm into the area reserved for friends and family of the visiting players behind the dugout after the final whistle. West Ham players, including Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma, Aaron Cresswell and Flynn Downes, climbed over the advertising boards to stop the trouble, with West Ham winning 3-1 on aggregate to reach their first European final in 47 years. West Ham manager David Moyes expressed concern for his family's safety, although there were no reported injuries.
Britain will announce a ban on Russian diamond sales and block import of “industrially significant metals” later today, alongside specific sanctions on another 86 senior figures and companies in Vladimir Putin's military industrial complex. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last year, countries such as Belgium have opposed plans to ban the country’s diamonds. The UK has previously taken the lead on action against Russian diamonds, sanctioning Alrosa, the state-owned company, and increasing tariffs by an additional 35%. The ban will disrupt an industry worth $4bn in exports in 2021.
Dubai could be home to a 274m replica of the moon atop a 30 metre building, forming part of a $5bn real estate project named MOON. The project includes a 4,000-room hotel, a 10,000-capacity arena and a "lunar colony". Artist renderings have shown the moon at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, which stands at 828m. Dubai has significantly increased rents and residential sales in recent years and has launched "selling out on the spot" products. The MOON also includes space for a possible casino. Gambling remains illegal in the UAE, but major brands like Caesar's Palace already exist or hope to build in Dubai, including Wynn Resorts' $3.9 resort due to open in Ras al-Khaimah in 2027.
The Associated Press (AP) has published a photo gallery comprised of images taken by its journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ariana Cubillos, an AP photojournalist based in Caracas, Venezuela, curated the collection, which spans 30 visually arresting images from a region that is home to over 650 million people. Among the highlights is an image captured by photographer Arnulfo Franco of a woman tending to her bees in Panama’s Nargansola island, alongside a shot of Haitian street artist Jerry Rosembert Moïse posing with a completed piece in Port-au-Prince. AP’s series is one of many currently being showcased by major news organisations; The Guardian recently profiled the work of Egyptian photojournalist Mosa'ab Elshamy, while National Geographic has been highlighting photos selected from over 2 million entries submitted for its 2019 Travel Photo Contest.
US military officials are no longer confident that a drone strike killed a senior al-Qaeda leader after the dead man's family claimed he was innocent. Lotfi Hassan Misto was believed to have been killed by an MQ-9 Predator drone that had been surveying his home town in north-west Syria for two weeks. The family claimed that he was tending to his sheep when he was killed and that he had no ties to terrorist organisations. There is now doubt inside the Pentagon as to who was killed in the attack. Last year, President Joe Biden vowed to reduce the risk of killing unintended targets and promised greater transparency when unintended killings happen. In 2021, a strike during the US evacuation of Afghanistan that officials first claimed took out a suicide bomber actually killed ten civilians, including seven children.
The death toll from flooding in Italy has risen to 14, with thousands of homes and farms damaged and many left without power. The most badly affected regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche host significant migrant communities, and images have emerged of livestock such as pigs facing drowning. The clean-up is underway and the coalition government is expected to declare a state of emergency and ask for funds from Brussels.
Direct flights between Russia and Georgia have resumed despite protests and opposition from the South Caucasus country's president. Demonstrators gathered at Tbilisi airport to voice anger over what they described as the Georgian government’s pro-Russia course, while the country’s pro-Western leader, Salome Zourabichvili, tweeted her opposition. The Kremlin lifted its four-year-old flight ban and abolished visas for Georgian nationals in a surprise move from President Vladimir Putin, following a show of strength in a military parade with leaders from across Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
After four decades, Harrison Ford has retired Indiana Jones, the swashbuckling archeologist who first debuted in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, directed by James Mangold, premiered at the Cannes film festival, where Ford received an honorary Palme d'Or. Ford, who confessed to frequently tearing up during his farewell tour, declined to say more than that he needed to rest and loved the character of Indiana Jones. The film, set in the 1960s, offers a poignant take on the iconic franchise and is Ford's last appearance in the role.
A car accident along the China-Vietnam border has killed 11 people, including nine Vietnamese citizens, in an incident related to human smuggling. The mountainous border region has a long history of trade in agricultural goods and workers coming from Vietnam to the Chinese province of Guangxi. The issue highlights the limited job opportunities in parts of Vietnam, pushing some citizens to seek higher wages in areas of China. In 2019, the bodies of 39 young Vietnamese were found in a container truck in southeastern England in an apparent people-smuggling tragedy.
