Norrie and Fearnley may have never previously met on the ATP Tour, but they are well aware of each other, having trodden a similar path into the professional ranks.
The pair both played United States college tennis at Texas Christian University, with the older Norrie often going back to offer wisdom to the younger cohorts.
Norrie has been a shining example to them by maximising his abilities to forge an impressive career – reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022 on his way into the world’s top 10.
Fearnley did not make his ATP debut until last year, turning professional shortly after completing his kinesiology degree.
Fearnley had not played on clay professionally until last month and a confident Norrie – who beat former world number one Daniil Medvedev in the first round – produced a confident display to win.
“I feel great – it was really tough to get there,” said Norrie.
“It was a tough match playing Jacob. He’s had an amazing season and breakthrough on the tour.”
The pair shared a warm embrace at the net after a three-hour contest played in bizarre circumstances.
Almost 50,000 football supporters were arriving at the Parc des Princes – which is over the road from Roland Garros – to watch the Champions League final on big screens.
Norrie had to abort his serve when he led 4-1 in the second-set tie-break, but refocused to secure a commanding lead.
As well as the fireworks, the players could also hear car horns tooting and police sirens during the opening two sets.
The noise subsided in the third set – as the football match’s kick-off time approached – and Norrie cruised to victory.
29. PSG record a seventh attempt of the game, five of which have been on target.
As for Inter, it’s just one wayward Francesco Acerbi effort so far for them.
From Dan King in Munich
As Paul Merson would say, only this time it’s probably true: game over.
PSG have been utterly dominant and are good value for their lead.They are superior in every department. Inter have barely laid a glove on them.
PSG’s full backs are giving them such a platform by pushing forward into midfield that you would hardly know Inter have five there.
And the PSG front three have produced, again.
PSG 2-0 Inter
25. Inter manage the game’s first corner, but that doesn’t count for much at the moment – particularly when the Parisians defend it so well.
It’s just not happening, not sticking, for the Italians at the moment. They simply must change something.
PSG 2-0 Inter
23. It’s a long, long way back for Inter now.
The last side to come back from a two-goal deficit to win the Champions League final was Liverpool in 2005.
But miracles such as Istanbul don’t happen every day. It’s unlikely that they even happen every 20 years.
PSG 2-0 Inter
20. Is that the Champions League won?!
Twenty minutes in and Paris Saint-Germain lead by two, and they are good value for such a margin.
It all stems from that long throw at the other end, which Willian Pacho does brilliantly to keep in play when others would have settled for an Inter corner.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia takes over on the left, and he pushes on to find Ousmane Dembele. The forward then switches play to the right for Desire Doue to take aim just inside the area.
The teenager’s shot isn’t the best, but it it loops up off Federico Dimarco, who has turned his back on the effort, and beats Yann Sommer at the near post.
The French club now have one hand on the Champions League trophy!
But, in the opening contest of a World Series rematch at Chavez Ravine on Friday night, the Dodgers mounted another stunning late-game rally against the New York Yankees.
And this time, they didn’t even need an assist from the Yankees’ porous defense.
Seven months to the day since the Dodgers’ historic comeback at Yankee Stadium in last year’s World Series finale — when three Yankees errors keyed an infamous five-run fifth that propelled the Dodgers to the franchise’s eighth championship — the team produced an inning of similarly unexpected magic, scoring four times in the bottom of the sixth to turn a three-run deficit into an eventual 8-5 win at a sold-out Dodger Stadium.
“The situation is a little different,” designated hitter Shohei Ohtani said in Japanese, “but I think coming back to win is always good.”
It was Ohtani who got Friday’s sixth inning started, leading it off with his second home run of the night and MLB-leading 22nd of the season.
Freddie Freeman took over from there, hitting an RBI double off the wall to reprise his role of Yankees killer after winning MVP honors in last year’s Fall Classic.
Then, what had once been a 5-2 New York lead officially evaporated when Andy Pages lined a tying single against a drawn-in infield. The Dodgers finally went in front on a bases-loaded walk from Michael Conforto.
For a team that has been grinding for much of the last month, the sequence led to a scene of stadium-wide elation.
“Just getting guys on, keeping the line moving, getting huge hits,” Freeman said, “that was awesome.”
“Every win is important, [but] this one is a big one,” added outfielder Teoscar Hernández. “We were down early, [but] we didn’t panic.”
Highlights from the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Yankees on Friday night.
For the Dodgers (35-22), nothing will compare to the ecstasy of last year’s fifth inning in Game 5; when a dropped ball from Aaron Judge, an errant throw from Anthony Volpe and calamitous miscommunication between Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo keyed the largest comeback in a title-clinching game in World Series history.
Asked about the similarities to Friday’s game, Freeman said he “actually never thought about it.”
But, given the team’s sub-.500 play over the last three weeks, and a rash of injuries that got worse Friday when Mookie Betts was scratched with a fractured toe and Evan Phillips was ruled out for the rest of the season because he’ll need Tommy John surgery, Friday injected this trying stretch of the regular season with a sorely needed jolt of life.
“For us to get behind the 8-ball a little bit … and find a way to scratch back into the game was huge,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Huge game for us to win.”
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages reacts after he hits an RBI single against the Yankees in the sixth inning Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
For much of Friday, the Dodgers seemed headed to the kind of loss that had become commonplace over their 10-11 slide entering the night.
Their starting pitcher struggled, with Tony Gonsolin giving up four home runs in the first three innings — including a mammoth blast from Judge two batters into the game — to hand the Yankees a 5-2 lead.
Their lineup, meanwhile, was sputtering against a premium pitcher, inducing little stress against major league ERA leader Max Fried after an Ohtani homer to start the night.
“After giving up a run on [Judge’s] homer, I think it’s important for the flow of the game to get one back right away,” said Ohtani, whose first blast was his sixth leadoff homer of the season. It marked the first time in MLB history that the reigning MVPs of both the American and National League hit first-inning home runs in the same game.
“We were in a bad position after that too,” Ohtani noted, “but everyone didn’t give up.”
Indeed, as they did so many times during last year’s World Series, the Dodgers flipped the script on the Yankees (35-21) with an inning they never saw coming.
Dodgers baserunner Freddie Freeman, right, beats the tag of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells to score in the seventh inning Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani’s blast to lead off the sixth was a sky-high fly ball to right, carrying just deep enough to land in the pavilion for his 15th home run of May (tying Pedro Guerrero in June 1985 and Duke Snider in August 1953 for the most in a single month in Dodgers history).
“Testament to Shohei,” Freeman said, “who is hitting home runs all over the place.”
The rest of the inning played out more methodically.
Hernández and Will Smith lined back-to-back singles. Freeman chased Fried from the game with an RBI double to left that got over Cody Bellinger’s head. Then, after the Yankees turned to right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga to face Pages, he hammered a ground-ball single through a drawn-in infield to bring home the tying run.
“When you can feel a little momentum, guys getting hits, you just try and keep that line moving,” Freeman said.
Another pitching change, with left-hander Tim Hill entering to face Conforto with the bases loaded and one out, didn’t help either.
“There were a lot of really good grindy at-bats in there, hitting some good pitches, spoiling some pitches,” Conforto said.
Against a ground-ball pitcher in Hill, Conforto took a different approach, working a full count while waiting for something up and over the plate.
On the payoff pitch, however, Conforto “kind of got the feeling he was losing the zone a little bit.”
Thus, when Hill pulled a sinker on his payoff offering, Conforto took for a run-scoring ball four.
“Just a rough inning,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
The Dodgers took more good at-bats in the seventh, when another double from Freeman set up Pages for a two-out, two-run single — with Freeman racing home on his battered right ankle to score on a bang-bang slide.
And after Gonsolin settled down to work through six innings without further damage, the Dodgers’ bullpen made the lead stand, getting key outs from Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius in the seventh, then struggling late-game options Tanner Scott in the eighth and Alex Vesia for a ninth-inning save.
“It’s still early, it’s still May,” Gonsolin said. “But it’s cool to play that kind of caliber team and come out on top.”
“We try to win each and every game, of course,” Ohtani added. “But I think [tonight was] a special atmosphere. I think it was huge to have taken the [first game] of the series.”
1 of 2 | An internally displaced Palestinian girl stands as she plays on the streets of Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, on April 14. File photo by Mohammed Saber/ EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) — Militant Hamas said Saturday it would release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners and ending the war that began in October 2023.
Steve Witkoff, who is President Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy, on Thursday submitted his proposal to mediators from Qatar and Egypt.
“As part of this agreement, 10 living Israeli prisoners held by the resistance will be released, in addition to the return of eighteen bodies, in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners,” Hamas said in a statement obtained by CNN.
The group said it came to the decision “after conducting a round of national consultations.”
“This proposal aims to achieve a permanent cease-fire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in a statement also obtained by The Guardian.
The Hamas response is similar to an earlier proposal to release 10 hostages, as well as a number of hostages’ remains during the cease-fire in exchange for 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.
An unidentified Israeli official told Israeli reporters in Saturday that they are treating Hamas’ response as an “effective rejection.”
Fifty-eight hostages are believed to still be alive. A total of 146 Israeli hostages have been freed or rescued from Gaza, including 25 during the truce.
The U.S. proposal called for a 60-day pause in fighting and renewed efforts toward long-term peace, as well as guarantees from Israel that it will not resume its offensive after Hamas releases hostages.
Negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire would begin immediately on the first day of the 60-day truce, according to the proposal.
Israeli negotiators accepted the deal, but Hamas has not backed it.
On Thursday, Hamas official Basem Naim said the U.S. proposal “does not respond to any of our people’s demands,” including lifting the humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip that has led to famine-like conditions among 2 million.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Friday threatened Hamas if it did not accept.
“The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the ‘Witkoff deal’ for the release of the hostages — or be annihilated,” Katz said.
A cease-fire lasted from Jan. 19 to March 1.
Israel refused to move to a planned second phase that could have led to a permanent end to the war. Israel began fighting, including airstrikes.
In a ramped-up offensive, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza over the last 24 hours, Hamas-run health officials said. And 72 were killed on Thursday.
Negotiators have made little progress.
“Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal,” Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ayla Ahmed Saif al-Thani said Friday. He noted the mediators from Qatar are “very determined to find an ending to the horrific situation in Gaza.”
For three months, Israel’s blockade has stopped virtually all humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving – and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the World Food Program said on Saturday.
The United Nations aid agency was allowed to bring 77 trucks loaded with flour into Gaza overnight, but the trucks were stopped by crowds of hungry people.
Lindsey Hutchison of Plan International said “having the military control aid and choose who they distribute it to in limited ways completely violates the way humanitarian operations are supposed to be conducted.”
She said the situation is not working.
“We saw chaos and despair at the distribution site, which is frankly masquerading as a humanitarian aid scheme. That’s not what this is,” she told Al Jazeera from New York.
More than 54,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7, 2023. Israel retaliated for a Hamas attack on the same da in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
There’s a quiet change brewing in the crypto payments world. This is not just another blockchain buzz. SpacePay is stepping into the spotlight with a goal that might seem ambitious at first.
It is trying to outperform traditional payment systems that have been in place for decades. But once you understand what this crypto project is doing, that ambition starts to sound a lot more realistic.
SpacePay is designed to make crypto payments as easy as using cash or a card. In today’s fast-moving digital world, that’s exactly the kind of shift that could catch on quickly. Their team also launched the presale for its native token – $SPY.
As more people become comfortable with digital assets, the need for a smoother, simpler way to actually spend those assets becomes obvious.
What Makes SpacePay Different
Instead of trying to replace traditional systems with some overly complex blockchain solution, SpacePay meets people where they are. It works directly with card machines that merchants are already using.
There’s no extra hardware to buy. Businesses simply install the SpacePay app on their existing Android terminals, and they’re ready to accept crypto payments.
On the user side, it’s even more effortless. You can pay using your favorite wallet/ SpacePay supports over 325 of them, and you can use a wide variety of cryptocurrencies too. That means no more awkward juggling between tokens just to make a transaction.
Transaction Speed and Fees: A Clear Win for SpacePay
One of the most frustrating parts of traditional payments is the delay. Even with modern card systems, merchants could sometimes wait a day or two for settlements to arrive.
With SpacePay, transactions are processed instantly. There’s no pending window, no uncertainty. Just real-time payment that settles on the spot.
When it comes to fees, the difference is even clearer. Traditional systems typically charge between 2% and 3% per transaction. That might not sound like much, but for high-volume businesses, it quickly adds up.
SpacePay keeps its transaction fee at just 0.5%. That’s a huge saving over time and one that could shift the economics for merchants in a big way.
Privacy and Control Are Built In
Another area where SpacePay really separates itself is privacy. When you swipe a card or make a bank transfer, your data moves through centralized systems. It can be tracked, stored, and sometimes even sold.
With SpacePay, users don’t have to rely on banks. Payments are made directly from their own wallets. That means no middlemen, no stored personal information, and no chance of chargebacks. This level of user control gives people a sense of freedom and privacy that legacy systems simply can’t offer.
Easier for Merchants to Adopt
One of the reasons many businesses hesitate to accept crypto is the perceived complexity. They imagine they’ll need to learn new tools or invest in specialized devices. SpacePay eliminates that problem. The app is simple to install and works with the terminals they already have.
Even better, merchants don’t have to worry about crypto volatility. SpacePay automatically converts the payment to the local fiat currency of their choice, so they know exactly how much they’ll receive, regardless of market fluctuations.
All of this is happening behind the scenes. From the merchant’s point of view, it feels like a regular sale. That level of convenience is how crypto adoption moves from niche to mainstream.
The SPY Token Adds Another Layer
SpacePay’s SPY token also gives holders real advantages inside the SpacePay ecosystem.
If you hold SPY, you get monthly loyalty rewards for simply using the platform.
The more active you are, the more you earn. You also gain voting power, which means you can help shape the future of the project by participating in community decisions.
SPY holders are also first in line for new features. They’ll be the first to test new products, access new upgrades, and receive early perks that the general public doesn’t get.
On top of that, SpacePay has promised a revenue-sharing model. That means token holders can receive a portion of the platform’s income, creating a passive income opportunity that is directly tied to SpacePay’s growth.
There’s even a social good component. When you make donations using SPY, SpacePay will match your contributions to pre-approved charities. It’s a way for the project to not just grow in value, but also give back in meaningful ways.
The Presale Is On Now – and It Could Be Just the Beginning
The presale stage offers a chance to get involved early, before SpacePay launches more widely and potentially becomes a go-to solution for crypto payments around the world. As more users and merchants come onboard, the value of SPY could rise.
To get started, go to the official SpacePay website and connect your crypto wallet like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, or any other compatible option. You can buy SPY using ETH, BNB, USDT, MATIC, AVAX, BASE, or even a bank card.
Choose how much you want to invest, and approve the transaction. Once complete, you will become an early participant in one of the most promising crypto payment projects currently available.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and the market can be unpredictable. Always perform thorough research before making any cryptocurrency-related decisions.
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
Following its recent premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, “The Phoenician Scheme,” the new film by Wes Anderson, opens in Los Angeles this weekend. Each new Anderson picture still feels like something of an event, simply because it is so fun to see what he is up to this time, what idiosyncratic subset of the world will he explore and make his own.
Personally, I have been taken with how densely packed his last few films have become. “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City” had a layered approach to storytelling that took some time to fully unpack. So it is likely “The Phoenician Scheme” has yet to reveal itself, in need of some extended unraveling of its energetic story of an ambitious 1950s international businessman, Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro, who we spoke to for our summer preview), and his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), on an a series of business deals. The cast, typical for Anderson, is packed, also including Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Aoyade, Riz Ahmed, Charlotte Gainsbourg and many more. (Never fear, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray are in there somewhere.)
Mia Threapleton and Benicio del Toro in the movie “The Phoenician Scheme.”
(TPS Productions / Focus Features)
In a review of the film, Amy Nicholson wrote, “Lately, Anderson has been on a tear of using his perfectionist aesthetic to defend the act of ambition itself — to honor artisans who create masterpieces in a world of philistines. The only thing he loves more than a carved credenza (and here, they’re decorated with hieroglyphics) is the craftsperson who made it and the aesthete who bought it, instead of settling for something disposable. I was never a fan of Anderson’s until ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ clicked him into focus. It was hard to believe he knew what he was talking about when his earlier movies tried to sell us on love between human beings. But a hotelier’s love of his linens? That I’ll buy.”
Amy added, “It’s not that you have to believe that there is a force out there more powerful than Zsa-zsa, or heck, even money itself. But if that doesn’t move you, at least Anderson deserves reverence for negotiating how to get all these A-list talents to act in his movie for peanuts. He’s managed to build yet another dazzler, a shrine to his own ambition and craft. And while it sometimes feels a bit drafty in the corners, the accomplishment itself is plenty.”
‘Bleak Week’ goes worldwide
Thomas Jane in an image from the black-and-white director’s cut of Frank Darabont’s 2007 horror movie “The Mist,” coming to “Bleak Week.”
(MGM)
The fourth edition of the American Cinematheque’s “Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair” program begins Sunday with screenings at all three of its local venues through Saturday, June 7. Having already expanded to the Paris Theatre in New York last year, “Bleak Week” is now spreading to several more cities and venues: the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Ore.; the Music Box Theatre in Chicago; the Texas Theatre in Dallas; Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis; Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston; and the Prince Charles Cinema in London.
“We look to expand our never-ending film festival whenever possible,” said Grant Moninger, artistic director of the American Cinematheque, via email, of the program’s ongoing expansion.
This year’s series will open with a 35mm screening of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 “Ikiru” at the Egyptian Theatre introduced by Bill Hader. French filmmaker Claire Denis will be present for screenings of a handful of her titles, including a 35mm presentation of 2001’s “Trouble Every Day” with a Q&A moderated by Barry Jenkins.
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold will be present for a tribute, including films they have made together and Corbet’s separate acting work. To be screened: Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games,” Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia,” Fastvold’s “The World to Come” and Corbet’s “The Childhood of a Leader” and “Vox Lux.”
Other “Bleak Week” highlights include John Hillcoat’s 2005 “The Proposition” with a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast, Michael Curtiz’s 1950 “The Breaking Point” in 35mm and Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1943 “Day of Wrath” screened from a nitrate print.
What may once have seemed a slightly cracked idea has grown into one of the Cinematheque’s signature programs. And there is no end in sight.
“After year one, which had 33 films, we had the worry that maybe we would have no titles left for next year — if there even was a second edition,” said Chris LeMaire, senior film programmer, via email. “But each time we start programming the next ‘Bleak Week,’ there seem to be endless possibilities.”
“Our lineup this year in L.A. has 55 films and we probably cut another 50 titles from our initial list,” added LeMaire. “Across all the venues, ‘Bleak Week’ includes over 100 titles this year, from all corners of the world and all eras of cinema history, from as early as 1919 to 2025. We’re never going to run out because many of the greatest films deal with the human condition, which naturally leads to some difficult truths.”
Brad Pitt in the movie “Moneyball.”
(Sony Pictures)
Alan Arkin’s 1971 “Little Murders” will screen in 35mm with a Q&A with star Elliott Gould moderated by screenwriter Larry Karaszewski. A screening of the black-and-white director’s cut of 2007’s “The Mist” will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Frank Darabont and actor Thomas Jane. Filmmaker Costa-Gavras and producer Michèle Ray-Gavras will be present for a double-bill of 1982’s “Missing” and 1970’s “The Confession.” Actor Gabriel Byrne will be at a 35th anniversary screening of Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1990 “Miller’s Crossing.”
I will be moderating a Q&A with Gus Van Sant following a screening of “Last Days.” There will also be the U.S. premiere of a 4K restoration of “Christiane F.” and the West Coast premieres of 4K restorations of “Withnail and I,” “Forbidden Games,” “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Happiness.” (A Q&A for “Happiness” will feature performers Lara Flynn Boyle and Camryn Manheim, moderated by Vera Drew.)
Where downbeat entries like Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go,” Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station,” Narcisco Ibáñez Serrador’s “Who Can Kill A Child?” or Elem Klimov’s “Come and See” more obviously fall within the thematic concept of “Bleak Week,” titles such as Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” or Boaz Davidson’s “The Last American Virgin” do not make such an apparent fit.
“We work outside of academic and algorithmic models,” said Moninger. “This allows for an emotional reaction to films and a more expansive ‘Bleak Week’ program. The festival is a tapestry of bleak moments and feelings that can be presented in all types of cinema, including the occasional comedy. We are not measuring the hopelessness of each film but creating something by bonding together a wide variety of challenging, unpromising cinema, which I hope builds to something positive.”
Ivan Dixon and ‘The Spook Who Sat by the Door’
An image from 1973’s “The Spook Who Sat by the Door,” directed by Ivan Dixon.
(United Artists / Photofest / UCLA Film & Television Archive)
This weekend the UCLA Film & Television Archive will be hosting “‘Going My Own Way’ Celebrating Ivan Dixon,” a tribute to the actor and filmmaker, including the local premiere tonight of a new 35mm print of the restoration of his 1973 film, “The Spook Who Sat by the Door.”
The film tells the story of the first Black CIA officer (Lawrence Cook), who leaves his token position at the organization to use what he learned there to train a Black guerrilla fighting force in Chicago. “The Spook Who Sat by the Door,” which was added to the National Film Registry in 2012, had a truncated release with it first came out due to its revolutionary politics, with some accounts that the FBI became involved in suppressing it.
“It’s just one of the most powerful meditations on the meaning of freedom that I’ve ever seen,” said UCLA programmer Beandrea July. “It’s so nice to see a movie that really knows what it is and doesn’t apologize for it. It doesn’t equivocate, it’s not trying to explain itself to people who aren’t interested in really understanding. It’s so satisfying to watch because it’s like finally someone actually speaks to the thing with the same oomph that the thing demands.”
On Saturday, along with the second screening of the film, there will be a showing of Christine Acham and Clifford Ward’s 2011 documentary “Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of ‘The Spook Who Sat by the Door,’” which examines the long saga of the film, its reception and release.
Acham will be present at screenings throughout the weekend as will Nomathande Dixon, Ivan Dixon’s daughter, as well as Natiki Hope Pressley, daughter of Sam Greenlee, author of the book on which the film is based.
Dixon, who died in 2008 at age 76, was best known for his role as Sgt. James Kinchloe on TV’s “Hogan’s Heroes,” a part he left before the show had ended to move behind the camera and begin a prolific career directing for television.
Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln in the movie “Nothing but a Man.”
(Criterion Collection)
Also screening will be the 1964 film “Nothing but a Man” starring Dixon and directed by Michael Roemer, who died just last week at age 97. The film tells the story of racial tension in a small town; Dixon considered the film his favorite of his performances. The film will be paired with a 1960 episode of “The Twilight Zone” starring Dixon and Kim Hamilton.
The series will conclude Sunday with two pieces Dixon directed for television, 1983’s “Frederick Douglass: Slave and Statesman,” starring “Blacula’s” William Marshall, and an adaptation of Philip Hayes Dean’s “The Sty of the Blind Pig” starring Mary Alice and Scatman Crothers.
The Dixon family lived for many years in Altadena. What was once their home was destroyed in the January fires, a circumstance that gives the weekend an even greater emotional resonance.
“It’s special for the family because his wishes were never to have a memorial,” said Nomathande Dixon. “And this is something that feels like a tribute to him in our hometown of L.A. So we’re very appreciative of that. And I think he would’ve been thrilled.”
Points of interest
‘Michael Clayton’ in 35mm
George Clooney, left, and Sydney Pollack in the movie “Michael Clayton.”
(Myles Aronowitz / Warner Bros. Pictures)
At Vidiots on Saturday will be a 35mm screening of 2007’s “Michael Clayton” with writer-director Tony Gilroy in person. The film marked the feature directing debut for Gilroy, who previously had a successful career as a screenwriter and has gone on to be showrunner of the recent series “Andor.”
George Clooney stars in the film as a fixer for a powerful New York City law firm. He finds himself drawn into an already complicated situation involving defending an agricultural conglomerate in a class-action lawsuit when one of the firm’s top lawyers (Tom Wilkinson) has a nervous breakdown.
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, with Tilda Swinton winning for supporting actress for her role as the conglomerate’s chief counsel. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote, “Watching this film makes you feel that Gilroy, best known for writing credits on all three ‘Bourne’ films, has poured the energy pent up during a decade and a half in Hollywood into this strong and confident directorial debut about desperate men searching for redemption in a cold and ruthless world. … As a director, Gilroy has an unmistakable instinct for the emotional jugular and a breakneck storytelling style that pulls you through his movie, no stragglers allowed.”
Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst with ‘The Virgin Suicides’
Leslie Hayman, left, Kirsten Dunst, A.J. Cook and Chelse Swain in “The Virgin Suicides.”
(Paramount Classics)
On Sunday afternoon, the Academy Museum will screen Sofia Coppola’s 1999 feature debut, “The Virgin Suicides” with the filmmaker and star Kirsten Dunst in person. (There will also be a signing for Coppola’s new book of Corinne Day’s on-set photos from the film.) The story of five sisters in 1970s Michigan who all die by suicide, the film set the stage for Coppola’s gently incisive explorations of female interiority and a recurring collaboration with Dunst.
In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, “Sofia Coppola shows an impressive maturity and an assured skill in adapting Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel ‘The Virgin Suicides’ to the screen for her directorial debut. As the title suggests, it’s a challenging undertaking that requires a smooth passage from pitch-dark humor to a stark finish. The result is a highly affecting film unafraid to exact an emotional toll. … While subtle in the utmost, Coppola leaves us with an understanding of how things could turn out as they did.”
‘Frances Ha’ and ‘Girlfriends’
Greta Gerwig, left, and Mickey Sumner in the movie “Frances Ha.”
(Pine District Pictures)
The New Beverly will host a double feature of Noah Baumbach’s 2012 “Frances Ha” and Claudia Weil’s 1978 “Girlfriends,” two sharply insightful portraits of female friendship, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Frances Ha” was the first screenplay co-written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, both who would (of course) go on to collaborate on the script for the mega-successful “Barbie,” directed by Gerwig. In “Frances Ha,” Gerwig plays a 20-something woman coming to grips with life as an adult while struggling to accept the end of a friendship by which she has long defined herself.
In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan declared it “Effortless and effervescent, ‘Frances Ha’ is a small miracle of a movie, honest and funny with an aim that’s true.”
Of Gerwig and Bambach’s collaboration, he noted, “For the actress, a quicksilver presence with a fluid face who couldn’t be more natural on screen, ‘Frances’ is an opportunity to build a character of unexpected complexity. For the director, having a gifted collaborator able to be so completely present adds a lightness his films have not always had and has made possible an irresistible command of the moment.”
I spoke to Baumbach and Gerwig about the film when it was premiering at film festivals in Telluride and Toronto.
“The writing of it and the acting of it were separate for me,” Gerwig said at the time. “The writing of it was such a huge thing, but the acting of it was scary. I really was worried I wouldn’t be right for it…. It didn’t feel like, ‘I wrote this great part, and I’m perfect for it.’”
“I can say I totally had Greta in my head,” Baumbach said. “I always thought, ‘I can’t wait for Greta to play this part.’”
“Girlfriends” stars Melanie Mayron as Susan Weinblatt, a young photographer in New York City, who finds her life starting to unravel when her best friend (Anita Skinner) moves out of the apartment they share together. The supporting cast also includes Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach.
Selected for the National Film Registry in 2019, the film was praised by Stanley Kubrick when it was originally released; he declared it “one of the very rare American films that I would compare with the serious, intelligent, sensitive writing and filmmaking that you find in the best directors in Europe.” Lena Dunham likewise sparked to the film, once recalling of her first viewing, “It felt eerie, in the true sense of the word, how familiar this film was to me. … I almost thought, ‘Have I seen this and been gently ripping it off for the last five years?’”
AS KING Canute found over a thousand years ago, it is quite difficult to stand on a beach and order the tide to recede.
Today, it is equally difficult to make the argument that giving families cash is not always the best way of lifting them out of poverty.
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David Blunkett grew up on just bread and dropping at home – but he is warning that lifting the 2 child benefit cap is not the best way to tackle povertyCredit: Alamy
This is especially true when one particular measure becomes the symbol of whether or not you’re on the right side of the debate about child poverty.
But as someone who now can afford the comforts of life, I constantly remind myself of my childhood.
The grinding poverty that I experienced when my father was killed in a work accident when I was 12 – leaving my mother, who had serious health problems, to fight a long battle for minimal compensation.
Having only bread and dripping in the house was, by anyone’s standards, a hallmark of absolute poverty.
Why on earth would I question, therefore, the morality of reversing a Tory policy introduced eight years ago?
This restricts the additional supplement to universal credit – worth over £3,000 a child per year – to just two children.
I should know, my friends tell me, that the easiest and quickest way of overcoming the growth in child poverty is to restore the £3.5 billion pounds it would cost to give this additional money for all the children in every family entitled to the credit.
It is true that the policy, introduced in 2017, failed its first test.
Women did not stop having more than two children even when they were strapped for cash. It is still unclear why.
After all, many people have to make a calculation as to how many children they can afford.
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Keir Starmer is under massive pressure form Labour backbench MPs to lift the 2 child benefit cap and go on a new welfare spending spreeCredit: AP
But one thing must be certain: namely, that if you give parents a relatively substantial additional amount of money for every child they have whilst entitled to benefits, they are likely to have more children.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said as much last week. His argument for restoring the benefit to the third and subsequent children was precisely that we needed to persuade low- income families to have more children.
Surely having children that you cannot afford to feed is the legacy of a bygone era?
All those earning below £60,000 are entitled to the basic child benefit, so the argument is about just over £60 a week extra per child.
One difficulty in having a sensible debate about what really works in overcoming intergenerational poverty is the lack of reliable statistics.
Some people have claimed, over recent days, that over 50 per cent of children in Manchester and Birmingham live in poverty.
I fear that such claims should be treated with scepticism.
Those struggling to make ends meet – sometimes having not just one but two jobs – who pay their taxes and national insurance and plan their lives around what can be afforded, have the right to question where their hard-earned wages go.
The simple and obvious truth is that child poverty springs from the lack of income of the adults who care for them.
Transforming their lives impacts directly on the children in their family.
There is a limit to how much money taxpayers are willing to hand over to pay for another family’s children.
Helping them to help themselves is a different matter.
So, what would I do?
Firstly, I would ensure that families with a disabled youngster automatically have the entitlement restored.
This would self-evidently apply also to multiple births.
In both cases, life is not only more difficult, it is also harder to get and keep a job.
I would come down like a ton of bricks on absent parents.
My mum was a single parent because she was widowed; many others are single in the sense that the other partner has walked away.
The Child Maintenance Service should step up efforts to identify and pursue absent parents who do not pay their fair share towards their child.
We, the community, have a clear duty to support and assist those in need.
To help those where a helping hand will restore them to independence and self-reliance.
But there is an obligation on individuals as well as the State, and mutual help starts with individuals taking some responsibility for themselves.
Finally, if (and this is where I am in full agreement with colleagues campaigning to dramatically reduce child poverty) we make substantial sums of money available to overcome hardship, then a comprehensive approach to supporting the families must surely be the best way to achieve this.
As ever in politics there is a trade off. What you spend on handing over cash is not available to invest in public services: that is the reality.
Help from the moment a child is born, not just with childcare but with nurturing and child development.
Dedicated backing to gain skills and employment and to taper the withdrawal of help so that it genuinely becomes worthwhile having and keeping a job.
A contract between the taxpayer and the individual or household. Government is about difficult choices, that is why Keir Starmer and his colleagues are agonising over what to do next.
Angela Rayner says lifting 2-child benefit cap not ‘silver bullet’ for ending poverty after demanding cuts for millions
Saracens have held talks with Racing 92 about a possible return for former club captain Owen Farrell, Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall says.
Former England skipper Farrell moved to the French club last summer, having spent his career to that point in north London.
“I think there are some discussions with Racing as to whether or not they would release him from his contract,” McCall told TNT Sports after his side’s final day win over Bath.
Saracens are looking to recruit cover with Alex Lozowski set to be out long term due to an Achilles injury suffered at the end of March.
It was just the third time Saracens have finished outside the top four since 2009.
Farrell, who has 112 England caps and has represented his country in three World Cups, was one of a number of senior players to depart the club last year including Mako and Billy Vunipola.
ISIS forces in a remote region in southern Syria claimed responsibility for two bombings targeting vehicles carrying soldiers and others on Wednesday and Thursday. Photo by Fayyaz Ahmad/EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) — The Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in a remote region in southern Syria on Wednesday and Thursday.
The twin bombings mark the first time ISIS has attacked the new Syrian government that took power in December and occurred in the remote Sweida Province.
ISIS posted two online statements on Thursday claiming responsibility for the bombings that killed and wounded Syrian soldiers and militia members who are allied with the Syrian government, The New York Times reported.
An attack occurred on Wednesday and struck a Syrian Army reconnaissance group that was tracking ISIS activities in the remote desert area, CNN reported.
Those wounded in that attack are members of the Syrian Army’s 70th Division, and the man who died was assisting the soldiers, according to The New York Times.
ISIS used a remote-controlled land mine to target the vehicle in which they were traveling, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced.
That attack occurred in the eastern portion of the Sweida Province and was the first attack carried out by ISIS and targeting forces allied with the new Syrian government.
A second bombing occurred on Thursday in the same region, according to news reports and ISIS.
ISIS said it killed and injured seven soldiers for the “apostate Syrian regime” by using an explosive device on a road in the Talul al Safa area in the Suwayda province in southern Syria, Al Jazeera reported.
Both attacks occurred near Sweida in southern Syria, which is a mountainous desert area in which ISIS has operated for many years.
Neither the Syrian government nor the Free Syrian Army has commented on either bombing.
The United States backs the Free Syrian Army, which operates in the Sweida region’s al Tanf Deconfliction Zone that is located near Syria’s borders with Jordan.
The United States maintains a small outpost in the area.
ISIS also has operated in the area for a long time due to its “extremely rugged and dangerous” terrain, CNN reported.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump said he he was lifting “crippling” U.S. sanctions on Syria originally imposed to block flows of money into Syria, including aid, to put pressure on the brutal regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
He met with the country’s transitional leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May14.
Al-Sharaa, who was appointed president in January, has promised to hold elections once a new constitution is in place in around four years.
Two adults in their 40s and a teenager have been killed in a crash on the M5 in South Gloucestershire.
A second child was taken to hospital after being seriously injured when a white BMW left the northbound carriageway of the M5 at about 21:00 BST on Friday, between junction 14 at Falfield and junction 13 at Michaelwood services.
National Highways said the road was initially closed in both directions “due to the severity of the incident and complexity of the vehicle recovery”, but all carriageways had since reopened.
“No significant delays remain,” it added.
Insp Mark Vicary, of the roads policing unit, said: “Our thoughts first and foremost are with the child in hospital and loved ones who have received the most awful news overnight.
“A specially trained officer will provide them with support at this difficult time.
“Emergency services have worked throughout the night at what has proved to be a very complex scene.
“They have worked diligently and professionally to try to save life in the most tragic of circumstances.”
Insp Vicary said it had been necessary for the road closures into Saturday afternoon “to enable further collision investigation work during daylight hours”.
Jane McDonald is back to preside over the annual British Soap Awards – now in their 26th year. Emmerdale and EastEnders are the shows to beat this year – with 13 nominations each.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will not start in any of this weekend’s games against the New York Yankees after sustaining a fractured toe this week, but the team is hopeful he will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list.
Betts told the Times on Friday night that he fractured his toe at home this week, after the Dodgers returned from a road trip on Wednesday night.
“I was just going to the bathroom in the dark and hit my toe on a wall,” he said.
The Dodgers were originally still planning to have Betts in the lineup Friday for their series opener against the New York Yankees, but he was ultimately scratched after his toe continued to give him problems before the game.
Despite the diagnosis, Roberts and Betts said they were confident the former MVP wouldn’t be out more than a few days.
“I know it’s at the tip of his toe, so it’s going to be one of those situations [that is] per his [pain] tolerance,” Roberts said. “I don’t expect an IL. We’ll probably have him down for the series and hopefully he’ll be available to hit in a big spot. And then we’ll kind of see. But I think for me right now it’s just day to day.”
“It’s just pain,” Betts added. “Get the swelling out, it’ll be all right.”
Betts had started in each of the Dodgers’ past 20 games, and appeared in each of their last 51 overall, having not missed any time since recovering from a two-week stomach virus at the start of the season.
While his defense had been much-improved during his second season as the club’s everyday shortstop, the 32-year-old was struggling at the plate, batting just .254 on the season with eight home runs, 31 RBIs and a .742 OPS.
In Betts’ absence on Friday, veteran Miguel Rojas took over at shortstop. Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim are also options to fill in for Betts at shortstop over the rest of the weekend.
“I’m gonna be all right,” Betts said. “It is what it is.”
General Anil Chauhan appears to confirm India lost at least one aircraft during the brief conflict with Pakistan earlier this month.
India’s chief of defence staff says the country suffered initial losses in the air during a recent military conflict with neighbouring Pakistan, but declined to give details.
“What was important is, why did these losses occur, and what we will do after that,” General Anil Chauhan told the Reuters news agency on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.
India and Pakistan were engaged in a four-day conflict this month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, but there are competing claims on the casualties.
India says more than 100 “terrorists” were killed in its “precision strikes” on several “terror camps” across Pakistan, which rejects the claim, saying more than 30 Pakistani civilians were killed in the Indian attacks.
New Delhi, meanwhile, says nearly two dozen civilians were killed on the Indian side, most of them in Indian-administered Kashmir, along the disputed border.
The fighting between the two nuclear powers was triggered by an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people, almost all of them tourists. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for supporting the armed group behind the attack, an allegation Islamabad denied.
During their conflict, Pakistan had also claimed to have downed at least five Indian military jets, including at least three Rafale fighters. But Chauhan on Saturday dismissed it as “absolutely incorrect”, confirming his country had lost at least one aircraft.
“I think what is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,” he told Bloomberg TV in a separate interview in Singapore.
On May 11, a day after the ceasefire, India’s Air Marshal AK Bharti told reporters in New Delhi that “all our pilots are back home”, adding that “we are in a combat scenario, and that losses are a part of combat”.
Chauhan said on Saturday India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of conflict and established a decisive advantage.
“So we rectified tactics and then went back on the [May] 7th, 8th and 10th in large numbers to hit airbases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes,” he said.
Islamabad has denied it suffered any losses of planes but has acknowledged its airbases suffered some hits, although losses were minimal.
Chauhan said while the fighting had ceased, the Indian government had made it clear that it would respond “precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan”.
“So that has its own dynamics as far [as] the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7,” he said.
Chauhan also said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, which borders India in the north and the northeast, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict.
“While this was unfolding from [April] 22nd onwards, we didn’t find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right,” he told Reuters.
Asked whether China may have provided any satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence to Pakistan during the conflict, Chauhan said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China as well as other sources.
No fewer than 115 persons have been reported killed after a devastating flood submerged several communities in Mokwa in Niger State, North-central Nigeria.
Communities are still struggling from the impact of the severe flooding, which is believed to have been triggered by torrential rainfall and structural failures in some areas. The disaster, which struck the region on the morning of Thursday, May 29, has claimed over 100 lives so far. Residents of the area told HumAngle that the death toll is nearing 150 even as officials work to rescue more victims.
The spokesperson of Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Audu Hussein, told newsmen that over 3000 houses were submerged. Eyewitnesses report entire neighbourhoods submerged, forcing people to abandon their homes in search of safety.
“There are entire families that have been almost wiped out,” Farouk Mokwa, a resident of the community, told HumAngle. “There is a family of 12, and only one person is alive. There is another family of nine, and only two people have survived so far.”
Farouk himself lost his shop, which functioned as both a chemist and a stop for people looking to buy soft drinks. The shop contained three refrigerators and goods worth millions of naira, he said.
Rescue teams and emergency responders are on the ground to locate missing persons and provide relief to affected residents. The flooding has also cut off major roads, complicating rescue efforts and making access to food and medical supplies difficult.
So far, displaced people have sought refuge in two primary schools in Mokwa, while those with relatives in unaffected communities have trooped there in search of cover.
Mokwa serves as a commercial hub in Nigeria’s north-central region and a key point for traders and farmers from the north to the south.
In response, President Bola Tinubu has ordered swift intervention from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to support rescue operations. Residents also said the Deputy Governor had paid a visit to the area to assess the devastation.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had issued prior warnings of potential flash floods, urging residents to take precautions.
Nigeria faces annual devastation due to heavy rainfall, which wreaks havoc on infrastructure and is made worse by inadequate drainage systems. In September 2024, HumAngle reported how torrential rains and a dam failure in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, led to severe flooding, claiming lives and displacing millions of residents.
Two months after the Maiduguri incident, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed that in 2024, Nigeria saw one of its worst floods in decades, with significant deaths leaving 1.3 million people affected across 34 out of 36 states.
Currently, the number of residents displaced by floods in Nigeria has reached 1.2 million, with over 1000 deaths, according to NEMA.
The worsening flood crises highlight the urgent need for improved drainage infrastructure and long-term disaster management strategies to protect vulnerable communities. As relief efforts continue, affected families are in dire need of temporary shelter, clean water, and essential supplies.
A catastrophic flood in Mokwa, North-central Nigeria, has resulted in over 115 fatalities and thousands displaced. Torrential rains and structural weaknesses caused the disaster, which has devastated communities since May 29. The flood submerged approximately 3,000 homes, leaving residents without shelter and complicating rescue efforts due to inaccessible major roads.
Amidst the crisis, President Bola Tinubu has instructed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to intervene, while local officials assess the damages. Prior warnings from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency about potential floods went unheeded. The ongoing disaster emphasizes the urgent need for effective drainage infrastructure and long-term disaster management plans to mitigate the effects of recurrent floods in Nigeria.
Saudi and Qatari efforts aim to stabilise Syria by funding public-sector salaries and boosting economic recovery plans.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has said that the kingdom and Qatar will offer joint financial support to state employees in Syria.
His statements came on Saturday during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shibani in Damascus.
The two Gulf nations have been among the most important regional supporters of Syria’s new authorities, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of war.
Saturday’s statement did not provide details on the exact amount of the support for Syria’s public sector. However, it comes after Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said earlier in May that Qatar was going to provide Syria with $29m per month for an initial three months to pay civilian public sector worker salaries.
The Reuters news agency had also reported that the United States had given its blessing to the Qatari initiative, which came a few days before President Donald Trump announced that sanctions on Syria imposed during the al-Assad regime would be lifted. The European Union has since also lifted sanctions on Syria.
Further evidence of Saudi Arabian and Qatari support came in mid-May, when it was announced that the two countries had paid off Syria’s debt to the World Bank, a sum of roughly $15m.
International ties
Syria’s new government, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has sought to rebuild the country’s diplomatic ties and convince wary Western states that he has turned his back on past ties with groups such as al-Qaeda.
The Syrian leader has repeatedly disavowed extremism and expressed support for minorities, but incidents of violence that has led to hundreds of deaths continue to cause international trepidation – even as the government and al-Sharaa denounce the killings.
Syria’s new government has also made a concerted effort to solidify ties to Gulf Arab states who have begun to play a pivotal role in financing the reconstruction of Syria’s war-ravaged infrastructure and reviving its economy.
On Tuesday, the European Union announced it had adopted legal acts lifting all economic restrictive measures on Syria except those based on security grounds. It also removed 24 entities from the EU list of those subject to the freesing of funds and economic resources, including the Central Bank of Syria.
And after Saudi Arabia and Qatar cleared Syria’s debt to the World Bank, the US-based financial institution said that it would restart operations in the country following a 14-year pause.
The World Bank has begun to prepare its first project in Syria, which will focus on improving electricity access – a key pillar for revitalising essential services like healthcare, education, and water supply. It also marked the start of expanded support to stabilise Syria and boost long-term growth.
Syria’s gradual re-integration into the global economy is in large part due to Trump’s dramatic shift in Washington’s policies towards the country. After announcing the lifting of US sanctions on May 13, Trump also became the first US president in 25 years to meet with a Syrian counterpart.
The US had already removed a $10m reward for the capture of al-Sharaa, and the Syrian president has been able to travel internationally and meet world leaders, including in Saudi Arabia and France.
Still, there is a lot to be done. A February report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that at current growth rates, Syria would need more than 50 years to return to the economic level it had before the war, and it called for massive investment to accelerate the process.
The UNDP study said nine out of 10 Syrians now live in poverty, one-quarter are jobless and Syria’s gross domestic product “has shrunk to less than half of its value” in 2011, the year the war began.
Access to passwords within the app will be completely blocked by AugustCredit: Alamy
While many use the platform to verify their identity there is also a useful password autofill capability.
The feature allows users to securely store all their passwords in one place and summon them from any mobile device or computer you’re logged into.
But it’s being phased out, with the first stage commencing in days.
From June, you’ll be blocked from saving any new passwords on the app.
Then in July, the autofill function that automatically adds your login details onto webpage will stop working.
Finally, the entire saved passwords tool will cease in August with any login data stored on the app deleted.
Microsoft has ramped up warnings to users, with a banner now appearing in the app.
“Autofill via Authenticator ends in July 2025,” the app says.
“You can export your saved info (passwords only) from Authenticator until Autofill ends.
“Access your passwords and addresses via Microsoft Edge at any time.
Change Gmail and Outlook password using ‘phrase rule’ right now as experts warn most log-ins can be guessed in an hour
“To keep autofilling your info, turn on Edge or other provider.”
The popular passkeys and two-factor authentication features on Microsoft Authenticator will continue to work as normal.
It all comes as tech firms shift away from the dreaded password which are easily hacked, due to common mistakes like re-used passwords or easily guessed terms.
By comparison, passkeys can’t be guessed and they’re impossible to re-use too.
A number of tech companies such asGoogleare shifting people from passwords to passkeys.
SHOULD I SWITCH TO PASSKEYS?
Here’s what security expert Chris Hauk, Consumer Privacy Advocate at Pixel Privacy, told The Sun…
“Passwords are both hard to remember and in most cases, easy to guess.
“I would venture to say that most users (especially older users) will reuse passwords, simply because of all of the websites and apps that require sign-ins.
“While password managers do help, they are at best, a stopgap measure and do not offer full-ranging security for your login information.
“Passkeys offer the advantage of eliminating the need to enter an email address and password to log in.
“This is especially handy when users are logging in on an iPhone or Android device.
“Passkeys have multiple advantages over passwords. Passkeys cannot be shared or guessed.
“Passkeys are unique to the website or app they are created for, so they cannot be used to login elsewhere like a reused password can.
“Plus, passkeys cannot be stolen in a data breach, as the passkeys are not stored on the company’s servers.
“But are instead are a private key stored only on your device, where biometric authentication (like face ID or Touch ID) is required to use the passkey.”
May 30 (UPI) — More than 200,000 undocumented migrants have left the Dominican Republic this year, including at least 145,000 Haitians deported by immigration authorities.
The figure marks a 70% increase from the same period last year and is part of a plan by President Luis Abinader and the National Security and Defense Council to reduce the number of undocumented migrants in the country.
The Dominican Republic’s General Directorate of Migration has stepped up immigration operations and deportations of Haitians since October 2024, when a new immigration law took effect.
International organizations have raised concerns about the impact deportations have had on the Haitian community in the Dominican Republic. Many people now live in fear of being detained and expelled, which has limited their access to basic services such as healthcare and education.
The Caribbean nation has barred entry to pregnant Haitian women in their third trimester, saying its healthcare system cannot cover the cost of childbirth for undocumented foreigners.
The United Nations condemned the deportation of 900 pregnant or breastfeeding Haitian women from the Dominican Republic in recent months.
U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the International Organization for Migration provided assistance at the border to an average of 30 such women each month during their deportation, calling the practice a violation of international standards.
Dujarric added that nearly 20,000 Haitians were repatriated from the Dominican Republic between April and May 2025, the highest number on record for that time period.
The Dominican Republic has tightened its immigration policy by partially closing its border with Haiti and building a 160-kilometer border wall equipped with sensors, cameras and watchtowers. The government said the measures aim to curb irregular migration, smuggling and insecurity.
The DGM defended the immigration operations, saying they comply with human rights standards.
“Our actions are carried out with strict respect for the fundamental rights of those involved, ensuring dignified treatment, proper safety and hygiene conditions, and due process in accordance with national and international human rights standards,” the agency said in a press release.
Haiti is facing one of the worst crises in its recent history, marked by widespread violence from armed gangs that control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince. These groups have carried out attacks on public institutions, mass killings, and prison breaks, displacing more than 1 million people and leaving the transitional government, led by the Presidential Transitional Council under Fritz Alphonse Jean, in collapse.
The insecurity has overwhelmed Haiti’s health system, forcing hospital closures, driving medical professionals to flee the country, and triggering outbreaks of diseases such as cholera. The crisis is compounded by severe food insecurity, with more than 5 million people struggling to access adequate food and thousands living in famine conditions.
In April 2025, a familiar tension resurfaced on the global trade stage. The United States, through its 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report, criticized Indonesia’s national QR payment system, QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard), and its domestic payment network GPN for allegedly restricting access to foreign firms like Visa and Mastercard. This came at a politically sensitive moment: just as the U.S. announced a 32% reciprocal tariff on Indonesian goods—a move temporarily suspended by the Trump administration for 90 days starting April 9, 2025 (Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2025).
At the center of this trade dispute is a quiet yet transformative success story: Indonesia’s regulator-led push to unify, simplify, and democratize digital payments. While the U.S. frames QRIS as protectionist, many in the Global South see it differently. They see it as sovereignty in code form—a model where innovation doesn’t only emerge from Silicon Valley, but from sovereign policy designed with inclusion, affordability, and national interoperability at its core.
QRIS, launched in 2019 by Bank Indonesia, now boasts over 50 million users and 32 million merchants—92% of whom are MSMEs. Its impact is visible not only in transaction volumes but in the radical reshaping of Indonesia’s informal economy. Through a single interoperable QR standard, QRIS reduced barriers for small vendors, brought millions into the financial system, and enabled digital literacy at scale (Bank Indonesia, 2025; QRIS Interactive, 2025). Features like QRIS TUNTAS and QRIS Antarnegara extend its utility to ATM-like services and cross-border payments with neighboring ASEAN countries (“Riset Sukses QRIS Indonesia”, 2025).
Today, QRIS is accepted not only across Indonesia but also in partner countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, and South Korea. These regional agreements strengthen QRIS as a payment bridge across Asia, facilitating tourism, trade, and local currency settlements.
In contrast to the U.S. critique, QRIS represents a strategic choice to design for dignity rather than dependence. The lesson here is not anti-global—it is about asserting a model of digital governance where financial infrastructure, when governed wisely, can serve local resilience while remaining open to fair, mutually beneficial cooperation.
In fact, the Indonesian government has consistently expressed openness to global firms—including Visa and Mastercard—being part of the QRIS ecosystem. This reflects a collaborative model that embraces interoperability and innovation, as long as it aligns with the public interest and meets the nation’s inclusive development goals. The QRIS story shows that sovereignty and openness can coexist, and that digital payment systems can be built on principles of both equity and cooperation.
For the Global South, Indonesia’s QRIS success offers five strategic lessons:
Lead with Policy, Not Platforms: Innovation doesn’t have to be outsourced. Sovereign institutions can shape markets when they prioritize public interest over private monopolies.
Standardize Early to Scale Fast: Mandating one interoperable code simplified adoption, removed friction, and prevented early-stage fragmentation.
Subsidize the Small: By waiving merchant fees for low-value transactions, QRIS made itself indispensable to micro-enterprises.
Adaptation Is Innovation: QRIS kept evolving, integrating ATM functions, enabling cross-border payments, and responding to real-world behaviors.
Sovereignty Is Not Isolation: Building domestic rails doesn’t mean closing doors. It means entering global trade with stronger footing.
Data Inclusion Enables Policy Precision: By digitizing informal transactions, QRIS generates more accurate data flows across sectors. This improves transparency, tracks real-time economic activity—especially in the informal sector—and strengthens the foundation for evidence-based policymaking.
This trajectory stands in marked contrast to two other Global South giants: India and China.
In India, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), created a real-time payment system that integrates bank accounts across providers. Its success stems from similar government-led standardization, free or minimal transaction fees, and integration into flagship digital initiatives. UPI has become central to India’s financial inclusion drive, particularly among underbanked rural populations (IJFMR, 2025; NPCI, 2025).
Meanwhile in China, QR payment adoption exploded via a different route: commercial super-apps. Alipay and WeChat Pay dominated over 93% of the market by 2019, offering frictionless experiences integrated into social media and e-commerce platforms. However, their dominance led to walled gardens, until government intervention in 2017 required all non-bank QR transactions to be cleared through a centralized clearinghouse known as Wanglian (REI Journal, 2025; Toucanus Blog, 2025).
This comparison reveals not just different models, but different philosophies:
Indonesia and India: regulator-first, interoperability by design, competition fostered between diverse providers.
China: market-first, innovation by dominance, regulation applied retroactively to rein in systemic risk.
As financial digitalization accelerates worldwide, the choice is no longer between Silicon Valley or state control. The new frontier lies in hybrid governance models rooted in public interest, where local needs shape global partnerships. QRIS is not perfect, but it proves a crucial point: the Global South can chart its own fintech path—inclusive, interoperable, and sovereign—while still welcoming collaboration.
The key is to ensure that such collaborations are not extractive, but mutual. Interoperability with foreign systems can and should be pursued, as long as it doesn’t compromise local resilience or digital sovereignty. Rather than rejecting international cooperation, Indonesia’s QRIS shows how it can be done on equal terms—answering local priorities first.
For many nations in the Global South, digital public infrastructure like QRIS offers not just a financial tool, but a social mission. It is directly aligned with ESG and SDG narratives—advancing financial inclusion, reducing poverty, and promoting economic equity at the last mile. As such, future cooperation—whether with international firms or multilateral agencies—must serve this broader vision: technology as a lever for dignity, not dependency.
And sometimes, that path starts with a simple square of black-and-white code.
