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The film is inspired by dissident director Jafar Panahi’s own experience in jail.

An Iranian thriller film that explores corruption and state violence in the country has won the the Palme d’Or, the coveted top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

It Was Just an Accident, directed by dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, was crowned at the world-famous festival on Saturday, hours after a power outage briefly threw the event off course.

The festival’s crowd burst into a roaring standing ovation for Panahi, who has endured years of travel bans and prison terms in Iran due to his provocative cinema, often produced in secret. He had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years.

“Art mobilises the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,” said jury president Juliette Binoche when announcing the award.

On stage, Panahi said what mattered most was the future of his country.

“Let us join forces,” Panahi said. “No one should tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, or what we should or shouldn’t do.”

Partly inspired by Panahi’s own experience in jail, It Was Just An Accident follows a man named Vahid (played by Vahid Mobasseri), who kidnaps a man with a false leg who looks just like the one who tortured him in prison and ruined his life.

Vahid sets out to verify with other prison survivors that it is indeed their torturer, and then decide what to do with him.

Critics have praised the film as a clever, symbolic exploration of justice that blends dark humour with its intense themes.

Iraqi film “The President’s Cake” wins Best First Film

The festival’s Grand Prix, or second prize, was awarded to Joachim Trier’s Norwegian family drama, Sentimental Value, his lauded follow-up to The Worst Person in the World.

Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Brazilian political thriller, The Secret Agent, won two big awards: best director for Fihlo and best actor for Wagner Moura.

The jury prize was split between two films: Oliver Laxe’s desert road trip, Sirat and Mascha Schilinski’s German, generation-spanning drama, Sound of Falling.”

Best actress went to Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister, Hafsia Herzi’s French coming-of-age drama.

Cannes also honoured Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake with a best first film award, marking the first time an Iraqi film has won an award at the festival.

The Cannes closing ceremony took place after a major power outage struck southeastern France on Saturday, knocking out traffic lights and forcing businesses to close along the main shopping street in the Alpes-Maritimes holiday region. Police suspect arson as the cause.

Geopolitical tensions were also a constant backdrop at the festival, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza and US President Donald Trump’s proposal of tariffs on foreign-made films fuelling discussion.

More than 900 actors and filmmakers signed an open letter denouncing the genocide in Gaza, according to the organisers.

Arsenal lift the UEFA Women’s Champions League with a 1-0 win that ended Barcelona’s hopes of a three-peat.

Arsenal upset defending champions Barcelona 1-0 to win the Women’s Champions League for a second time.

Stina Blackstenius scored in the 75th minute after being set up by fellow second-half substitute Beth Mead in the final at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Saturday.

Arsenal’s title came 18 years after it became the first, and still the only, English club to win the top club title in women’s football.

Arsenal’s players embraced on the final whistle and ran to celebrate in front of the red-and-white corner of the stands, which were otherwise mostly dressed in burgundy and blue.

“We believed from the moment our Champions League journey started,” Arsenal striker Alessia Russo told broadcaster TNT Sports. “We knew that we had the capabilities. We knew that we could be good enough. It was just about going and doing it. And we’ve done it!”

Barcelona were considered the heavy favourite. They were aiming for a fourth title in five years and to become the only team other than Lyon to win three consecutive titles. The team led by two-time Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas won nine straight in the competition and blew out Wolfsburg and English champion Chelsea in the knockout rounds.

But Arsenal locked down in defence, except for early in the second half, and created the best chances. Only two superb saves by Barcelona goalkeeper Cata Coll to deny Frida Maanum and Blackstenius kept it scoreless, until Blackstenius finally beat her.

The victory marks an incredible finish to a rocky season for Arsenal, which included coach Jonas Eidevall resigning and being replaced by assistant Renee Seglers.

Since taking over, Seglers steered the team through a spectacular European campaign. Arsenal built its confidence from come-from-behind wins over Real Madrid and eight-time champion Lyon in the knockout rounds before laying low the almighty Barcelona.

The loss was a huge disappointment for the large group of Barcelona fans who filled the stadium that is home to Sporting Lisbon. Blue-and-burgundy shirts and flags outnumbered the red-and-white section, but their calls of “Yes we can!” in the final minutes were not enough to inspire a comeback by the Catalan club.

The closest Barcelona came to a goal was a shot by Claudia Pina that hit the crossbar just after halftime when the Spanish team had its best period. Otherwise, the game was to Arsenal’s liking.

“We are very sorry for all our fans who have come to support us,” Bonmati told Catalunya Radio in the field before the award ceremony. “We will try to do it again.”

Arsenal shook off some early jitters in defence and soon had Barcelona on the back foot. Arsenal’s pressure up the field stopped Barcelona from getting their possession game going, and Arsenal found spaces with long balls down the left flank.

England striker Russo was a rock for Arsenal, using her size to win balls and keep the attack going.

Arsenal thought it went ahead in the 22nd but a video review waived off an own goal by Barcelona’s Irene Paredes when the referee spotted an offside by Frida Maanum. Maanum then went close with a long shot in the 27th that Coll did well to stretch and push over her bar.

Bonmatí was the only Barcelona player who seemed to be in the flow before halftime. Her dribble moves through the middle created a few threats and kept Arsenal on guard in defence. Leah Williamson blocked her best shot deep in the box in the 12th.

Barcelona came out of the restart firing.

Pina hit the woodwork with her chipped shot from a sharp angle in the 49th. Bonmati forced goalie Daphne van Domselaar to get low to parry her shot, and Ona Batlle bombarded the area with three shots from long range.

But Blackstenius set the tone when she had a golden chance when she stole a ball with only Cata to beat, but the goalie got her leg out to block her effort in the 72nd. The Sweden forward would not be denied a second time.

A power cut in southern France caused by suspected sabotage has disrupted screenings on the final day of the Cannes Film Festival.

About 160,000 homes in the city of Cannes and surrounding areas lost power early on Saturday, before supply was restored in the afternoon.

Officials said an electricity substation had been set on fire and a pylon at another location damaged.

Organisers of the international film festival say the closing ceremony will go ahead as planned as they have an alternative power supply.

Prosecutors say a first power cut occurred when a substation in the village of Tanneron, which supplies Cannes, was attacked by arsonists in the early hours.

At about 10:00 (08:00 GMT) the legs of an electricity pylon near the town of Villeneuve-Loubet were cut, triggering a second outage.

In Cannes, shops and restaurants struggled to operate.

“Another hour and I’ll throw everything away,” Laurent Aboukrat, who owns Cannes’ Jamin restaurant, told the AFP news agency. He said his fridges had been off since the morning.

“Cannes is in a total slowdown, meltdown, there’s no coffee anywhere, and I think the town has run out of croissants, so this is like crisis territory,” Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic told Reuters news agency.

Several screenings were interrupted by the cut in the morning, before festival organisers were able to switch to private generators.

Saturday is the last day of the festival. French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury are set to announce the winner of the Palme d’Or – the highest prize awarded at the festival.

Despite war losses, Hezbollah is using the vote as an opportunity to show it still has political influence.

Voters in southern Lebanon are casting their ballots in municipal elections seen as a test of support for Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and armed group.

The vote on Saturday in the mostly Shia area, where Hezbollah is allied with Amal – the party led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri – marks the final phase of Lebanon’s staggered local elections.

It comes after a November 2024 ceasefire between the group and Israel was supposed to end months of attacks. lsrael, however, has continued sporadic strikes as recently as on Thursday, when air raids hit multiple locations in the south.

Both Hezbollah and Amal are widely expected to dominate the municipal races, having already secured control of numerous councils unopposed.

Turnout was high in border villages ravaged by last year’s conflict, with residents of Kfar Kila – a town nearly levelled by Israeli attacks – voting in nearby Nabatieh. Others from surrounding areas cast ballots in Tyre.

“The will of life is stronger than death and the will of construction is stronger than destruction,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told reporters on Saturday, as he made a tour of the country’s south. He said he voted for the first time in 40 years in his hometown of Aaichiyeh.

Among those heading to the polls were Hezbollah members still recovering from a series of Israeli attacks in September 2024, when thousands of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously, killing more than a dozen people and wounding nearly 3,000.

“Southerners are proving again that they are with the choice of resistance,” Hezbollah legislator Ali Fayyad, who represents border villages, said in Nabatieh.

Hezbollah still holding political influence

The vote comes at a critical time for Hezbollah. While the group emerged from the conflict with reduced military capabilities and diminished political leverage, the elections offer a platform to reaffirm its influence in the region.

“Lebanon has still not fully recovered from last year’s war between Hezbollah and Israel. In fact, Israel continues to target Hezbollah despite a ceasefire,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Nabatieh.

“Hezbollah, no doubt was militarily weakened during the conflict; it lost a lot of its military power but it is using these elections as an opportunity to show that it still has political influence,” Khodr added.

Many feel Hezbollah failed to shield them during the war, yet fears of isolation persist, she said. “They feel vulnerable … not just towards Israel, but also in a deeply divided country and they feel that opponents of Hezbollah are also marginalising the community as a whole.”

Lebanon’s new government has pledged to create a state monopoly on arms, raising pressure on Hezbollah to disarm as required under the United States-brokered truce with Israel.

Lebanon now faces the massive task of rebuilding after 14 months of war, with the World Bank estimating its reconstruction needs at more than $11bn.

In October 2023, Hezbollah launched a rocket campaign on Israel in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which was being bombarded by Israel following a surprise attack led by Palestinian group Hamas.

Israel responded with shelling and air attacks on Lebanon that escalated into a full-blown war before the ceasefire went into effect in late November.

In a year when pace bowling will be so crucial to England’s hopes, and with a number of seamers absent, those on show did little to press their claims.

The biggest opportunity was to Cook, who has been prolific for Essex. It would be harsh to write off anyone after one Test, and it could be that he picked a bad time to have a poor game. His average speed of 77.9mph was the slowest recorded by an England seamer since 2006 and was not compensated by accuracy.

Atkinson has credit in the bank after 52 wickets in 2024 and will surely improve, while Tongue showed glimpses of why England rate him so highly. In his three-Test career, he has been England’s second-fastest bowler behind Mark Wood.

At least Stokes was able to get through three sprightly spells across the match, including bowling the first over on Saturday. When he returned in the afternoon, he found extra bounce to Madhevere and Brook clung to his flying one-hander.

Bashir was undercooked before this Test, being sent on loan from Somerset to Glamorgan. He improved the more he bowled, a fuller length and straighter line to better the five-wicket haul he took in this ground against West Indies last year.

The lbw to get Williams was fortunate and Curran surrendered, but the flight to Tafadwa Tsiga, who charged and was bowled, was delightful.

Blessing Muzarabani holed out and Raza sliced to slip. When Tanaka Chivanga was lbw, Bashir had the first six-wicket haul by an England spinner in a home Test since Moeen Ali in 2017.

The meeting comes after the US and the EU agreed to lift sanctions to allow the civil war-hit country to recover and rebuild.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top officials in Istanbul as Western sanctions on Syria are lifted.

The two leaders were pictured by Turkiye’s state media shaking hands after an official reception and joining for a meeting at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul on Saturday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, National Intelligence Organisation director Ibrahim Kalin, and secretary of Turkish Defence Industries Haluk Gorgun were part of the talks, which were closed to the press.

Al-Sharaa, who enjoyed sweeping Turkish backing in overthrowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was accompanied by his Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

The Syrian interim leader was also received by Erdogan in the capital, Ankara, in early February, in what was his second international trip after a visit to Riyadh to meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The two sides have been discussing deepening bilateral relations and the reconstruction of Syria, as regional allies helped convince United States President Donald Trump to lift devastating sanctions imposed on Syria.

Washington on Friday lifted the first sanctions as part of the drive announced by Trump during his regional tour earlier this month. The European Union has also followed suit, lifting economic sanctions to help with Syria’s recovery after years of civil war.

The new Syrian government has welcomed the lifting of the sanctions, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday describing the move as a “positive step in the right direction to reduce humanitarian and economic struggles in the country”.

The first of the US sanctions on Syria were imposed in 1979, when Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, was in power. But they were hugely levelled up after the al-Assad government launched a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2011, which triggered the country’s civil war.

The sanctions targeted any entity or company working with the al-Assad establishment, including those involved in rebuilding the country.

Critics say the Cambodian government’s attacks on opposition members and activists have gone global.

On January 7, 2025, former Cambodian opposition politician, Lim Kimya, was gunned down outside a busy bus station in central Bangkok.

A former Thai marine confessed to carrying out the hit as a gun for hire, but two Cambodians with ties to their country’s governing party are on the run, suspected of organising the murder.

While Lim Kimya’s family and friends are seeking justice, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, denies his government had any involvement.

101 East investigates the brazen killing and Cambodia’s increasingly repressive government.

Football supporters travelling to and from Wembley for the Championship play-off final have been warned of delays or cancellations due to a series of train faults.

LNER said it was experiencing “major disruption” to services due to several trains requiring repairs on the East Coast Main Line.

Sheffield United and Sunderland compete for a place in the Premier League this afternoon, with the game kicking off at Wembley at 15:01 BST.

The travel problems could impact supporters of both sides, with disruption expected until the end of the day.

Rail passengers have been warned trains will be “extremely busy”, with the faults causing delays or cancellations.

Routes affected include LNER services between Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Harrogate, Leeds, Bradford Forster Square, Skipton, Hull, Lincoln and London King’s Cross.

Lumo services between Edinburgh and King’s Cross are also impacted.

Passengers on cancelled journeys can travel on any LNER service, the firm said, or use their tickets on routes operated by other rail firms.

Earlier this week, Sheffield United supporters were warned about planned bank holiday rail engineering works also impacting journeys.

The two countries swap hundreds of soldiers and civilians as Russia launches more drone attacks on Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more prisoners of war as Ukrainian officials renew their calls for more sanctions in response to dozens of attack drones and ballistic missiles launched by Moscow’s forces at Kyiv overnight.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Saturday it released 307 Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for as many Russian servicemen, who are being cared for in Belarus before their return to Russia.

Ukraine confirmed the exchange, saying among those returned were army soldiers, agents of the State Border Guard Service, and members of the National Guard of Ukraine.

The two sides each released 270 servicemen and 120 civilians on the Ukrainian border with Belarus on Friday, as part of the biggest prisoner exchange since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Both sides have agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, but the aerial attacks and ground fighting have not stopped.

Ukraine’s military on Saturday said overnight attacks launched from multiple Russian regions used 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles to hit Kyiv and other areas, damaging several apartment buildings and a shopping mall, and injuring at least 15 people in the capital.

Sites in the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Zaporizhia were also hit, with Ukrainian forces saying six of the ballistic missiles were shot down by its air defences, along with 245 drones, many of which were said to be Iranian-designed.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv’s regional state administration, said on Saturday morning that four Ukrainians were killed and several others injured over the past 24 hours in the region as a result of multiple Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said at least 100 Ukrainian drones attempted to strike Russian targets overnight. It said 64 unmanned aerial vehicles were downed overnight in the skies of the Belgorod region, along with 10 additional drones launched on Saturday morning.

Dozens more projectiles were downed over Kursk, Lipetsk and Voronezh and another five were shot down over Tver northwest of Moscow, it said.

‘Difficult night’

In a social media post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country had another “difficult night” that he believes should convince the world that “the reason for the war being dragged out is in Moscow”.

“It is obvious that we need to put much more pressure on Russia to get results and start real diplomacy. We are waiting for sanctions from the US, Europe and all our partners. Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”

The Group of Seven (G7) nations threatened on Friday to impose further sanctions on Russia if it fails to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a week after talks in Turkiye’s capital Istanbul led only to an agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war, that Moscow has yet to send any “peace memorandum”.

“Instead, Russia sends deadly drones and missiles at civilians,” he wrote in a post on X, adding that “increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process.”

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s John Hendren said the Istanbul meeting was disappointing for Zelenskyy because he wanted a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Instead, it was a much lower-level meeting. But they did manage to get this prisoner swap,” he said, adding that the exchanges could be over by Sunday but the details were not clear.

“Zelenskyy has been disappointed by the lack of additional US sanctions against Russia. Europe has agreed to new sanctions, but it’s not clear that they will really have the desired effect to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.”

Four people, a 43-year-old woman and three boys, aged 15, eight and four, have been killed in a house fire in Brent, north-west London.

The emergency services were called to the blaze in Tillett Close, Stonebridge, at about 01:20 BST.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the fire and remains in custody, the Met Police said.

A further two people were taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service, the Met said. Their conditions have not been disclosed.

Supt Steve Allen, from the force’s local policing team in north-west London, said: “This is an extremely tragic incident and our thoughts are with everyone involved… we continue to work alongside investigators from the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire.”

Among the geopolitical dynamics of the Southeast Asian region, cultural heritage has become a battleground of identity that presents both challenges and opportunities for ASEAN regional solidarity. As a manifestation of national identity inherent in a nation’s collective identity, claims over cultural heritage often trigger diplomatic tensions when they intersect with nationalistic sentiments. The case of the Cambodia-Thailand dispute over Phra Viharn Temple is clear evidence of how cultural heritage can transform a simple conflict into a multidimensional sovereignty issue. But behind its destructive potential, nationalism also holds constructive power that can strengthen ASEAN cultural integration through respect for diversity and diplomacy based on cultural exchange. This article explores the complex role of nationalism in the dynamics of ASEAN cultural cooperation, offering perspectives on how such sentiments can be managed and directed to strengthen the region’s collective identity without compromising the cultural uniqueness of each member state.

Based on cases of conflict related to cultural heritage that have occurred in the ASEAN region, it can be said that nationalist sentiment has a major effect on exacerbating conflict. The reason is, as is known, that cultural heritage itself is the “identity” of a nation that represents the nation, which provides meaning for individuals and groups in understanding the world and their position in it. The presence of this culture also distinguishes it from other nations, which is the point of an identity itself. If the identity is claimed by other parties, of course this becomes a sensitive issue because the identity itself is already an ownership that reflects the characteristics of the nation.

Cultural heritage becomes a national identity, which will build its own pride for a nation. As happens in Indonesia, which consists of various provinces with their respective cultural identities, these differences make people from different cultures unite to represent Indonesia as a nation that has many cultures. This form of pride then creates a sense of “nationalism,” where a nation will love and preserve its identity.

Then what if the cultural heritage that is the identity of this nation is claimed by another party? It will certainly bring up feelings like losing self-identity. This feeling then triggers conflict when a nation fights for its identity in the form of cultural heritage, as in the Cambodia-Thailand dispute over the Phra Viharn Temple claim, where both parties have different views regarding the claimed cultural heritage. Preah Vihear Temple is located on Mount Dangrek, Preah Vihear Province, in the northern part of Cambodia and Sisaket Province in southwestern Thailand, which has led to unclear boundaries between the two countries. Preah Vihear Temple was named a world heritage site in 2007, triggering a territorial dispute over the temple’s claim. This claim issue then shifted into a more serious political issue that threatened national sovereignty with the support of nationalist demonstrations. Thus, nationalist sentiments can be influential in exacerbating conflicts and creating issues that spill over into the realm of politics and sovereignty for the reasons explained earlier.

Is nationalism always an obstacle to cultural cooperation in ASEAN? Not always. There will be a role for nationalism in both directions, either as an obstacle or a driver of cultural cooperation in ASEAN, depending on how the sentiment is “expressed.” If seen from the cases that have occurred, it is true that there are times when nationalism is an obstacle. Where the impact of this conflict affects cultural cooperation, such as the refusal to recognize sovereignty and cultural development, as done by Thailand against Cambodia. It also affects cultural exchange policies, which, as we know, can be a platform for diplomacy between countries. With cases related to nationalism, there can be a feeling of fear of pollution of national culture by foreign influences so that cultural exchanges are limited on the grounds of “protecting” local culture. In ASEAN itself, nationalism affects cultural cooperation, which is a regional vision, which in turn creates competition rather than cultural collaboration.

Considering these things, it is evident that nationalism is an obstacle. However, the role of nationalism as a driver cannot be denied and ignored. The existence of nationalism also plays a role in encouraging cultural cooperation in the ASEAN region, such as strengthening cultural cooperation itself by respecting mutual forms of identity between nations in the ASEAN region. Nationalism also strengthens cultural cooperation through cultural exchanges where the cultures of each country are introduced to each other. Within the ASEAN framework, this cultural exchange is a forum for cultural diplomacy, which is soft power. In addition, each country can also support cultural collaboration so as to create an ASEAN image that supports the preservation of ASEAN culture and identity diversity.

Because of the two-way influence of nationalist sentiment, it proves that it is not always an obstacle. What needs to be done is to have countries and nations turn the sentiment of nationalism into a driver of cultural cooperation in ASEAN, for example, by viewing the sentiment as a cultural interaction rather than a threat that must be limited to foreign cultures or by strengthening ASEAN integration, where its role is to facilitate cultural cooperation in the ASEAN region.

These are the key events on day 1,185 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Saturday, May 24:

Fighting

• At least 14 people were injured in one of the biggest combined drone and ballistic missile attacks to date on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, according to city officials, and witnesses reported a series of explosions and waves of Russian drones flying over the city.
• Ukraine’s air force said that Moscow launched 250 long-range drones and 14 ballistic missiles overnight. It said it down 245 of the Shahed-type drones and six of the Iskander ballistic missiles. It was unclear if the remaining drones and missiles hit its targets.
• Anti-aircraft units were activated across the Ukrainian capital following the attack at dawn. Timur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, said two fires had broken out in the city’s Sviatoshynskyi district. Drone fragments also hit the ground in four districts.
• At least two people were killed in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa after Russia struck port infrastructure with missiles, according to authorities.
• Three people were killed in shelling incidents in different parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the focal point of the war’s front line, authorities said.

• Russia has accused Ukraine of launching a massive wave of drone attacks, numbering up to 800, against non-military targets in Moscow and other regions in the last three days and said it would respond, but said it was still committed to holding peace talks with Kyiv.

• Ukraine’s military said that it had hit a battery-manufacturing facility in Russia’s Lipetsk region, which it said supplied Russian missile and bomb manufacturers. It added that the batteries were used in aerial bombs, cruise missiles and the Iskander-M ballistic missile.

• A Russian military helicopter has crashed near the village of Naryshkino in Russia’s Oryol region, killing the crew, the state news agency TASS reported, citing the Moscow military district headquarters. The preliminary cause of the crash was a technical malfunction.

Politics and diplomacy

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced that Moscow will be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace accord once a prisoner exchange, now under way, is completed.

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters that Kyiv was waiting for Russia’s proposals on the form of talks, a ceasefire and a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

• Sybiha, quoted by Ukrainian media, said Kyiv would be in favour of expanding such a meeting to include United States President Donald Trump.

• Lavrov has cast doubt on the Vatican as a potential place for peace talks with Ukraine. Italy had said Pope Leo XIV was ready to host the peace talks after Trump suggested the Vatican as a location. Italy, the pope and the US had voiced hope the city-state could host the talks.
• Russia and Ukraine have each released 390 prisoners of war and said they would free more in the coming days, an initiative agreed in talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkiye last week.
• Putin has declared in televised remarks that Russia needs to strengthen its position in the global arms market by increasing exports of weapons.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to back Western efforts towards a Ukraine truce in his first phone call with China’s leader since Merz took office this month.

Economy

• US credit rating agency Fitch has affirmed Ukraine’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating at “Restricted Default”, as the war-torn nation continues to navigate diplomatic tensions and a significant erosion of its finances amid its grinding war with Russia.

• The International Monetary Fund has started a new review of its $15.5bn programme to Ukraine this week, even as the country failed to reach a deal with GDP-linked debt holders last month.

EU official says a trade deal ‘must be guided by mutual respect, not threats’ after the US president says talks with the bloc are ‘going nowhere’.

The European Union has said it will defend its interests after United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50-percent tariff on all goods from the 27-member bloc.

The EU’s top trade official, Maros Sefcovic, said in a post on X that he spoke on Friday with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the issue.

“The EU is fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both,” he said, adding that the EU Commission remains ready to work in good faith towards an agreement.

“EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests.”

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he is “recommending” a huge 50 percent duty on the EU starting on June 1 since talks with them “are going nowhere”.

Speaking later in the Oval Office, the Republican president emphasised that he was not seeking a deal with the EU but might delay the tariffs if more European companies made major investments in the US.

“I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump told the reporters. “We’ve set the deal. It’s at 50 percent.”

European leaders warned the tariffs will hurt both sides.

German economy minister Katherina Reiche said everything must be done “to ensure that the European Commission reaches a negotiated solution with the United States” while French foreign minister Laurent Saint-Martin said the bloc prefers de-escalation but is “ready to respond”.

If implemented, the tariffs would mean that the EU will have higher import taxes on its hundreds of billions worth of exported goods compared with China, which had its tariffs cut earlier this month to allow more negotiations between Washington, DC, and Beijing.

In early April, Trump announced a 20 percent tariff on most EU goods but brought it down to 10 percent until July 8 to allow time for more negotiations.

Trump has complained that existing frameworks are “unfair” to US companies as the European bloc sells more goods to its ally than it buys from it.

Trump on Friday also warned that the US tech giant Apple could also be hit with a 25 percent import tax on all iPhones not manufactured but sold in the US.

His announcements online dealt another blow to stock markets both in the US and in the EU, with the S&P 500 down about 0.8 percent and the pan-European STOXX 600 index falling about 1.2 percent.

Science and technology ministry accuses messaging app of not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by users in Vietnam.

Vietnam has ordered the country’s telecommunication service providers to block the messaging app Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by users of the platform, in a move that Telegram said was surprising.

A report on the government’s news portal on Friday said Vietnam’s telecommunications department at the Ministry of Science and Technology sent letters to internet service providers warning that there were “signs of law violation” on Telegram.

The ministry said internet service providers should “deploy solutions and measures to prevent Telegram’s activities in Vietnam”.

The letter dated May 21 ordered the providers to take measures against Telegram and report back to the ministry by June 2.

Almost 70 percent of 9,600 channels on Telegram in Vietnam contain “poisonous and bad information”, the government said in its report on the app, quoting police. Groups and associations on Telegram, involving tens of thousands of people, had disseminated “antistate documents” and were involved in “reactionary activities”, the government added.

The government also claimed that some groups on Telegram also used the app to sell users’ data, and were involved in drug trafficking or had “terrorist” links.

Vietnam’s hardline administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.

New rules came into force in Vietnam last year that required platforms such as Facebook and TikTok to verify user identities and hand over data to authorities, in what critics described as the latest attack on freedom of expression in the communist-ruled country.

In a statement to the Reuters news agency, a representative of Telegram said the company was “surprised” by the Vietnamese government’s move.

“We have responded to legal requests from Vietnam on time. The deadline for the response is May 27, and we are processing the request,” the Telegram representative said.

An official at Vietnam’s Science and Technology Ministry told the Reuters news agency that the decision followed Telegram’s failure to share user data with the government as part of criminal investigations.

Telegram was still available in Vietnam as of Friday.

According to the Data Report website, there were 79.8 million individuals using the internet in Vietnam at the start of 2025, and according to the data extraction company SOAX, there were 11.8 million Telegram users.

With close to one billion users worldwide, Telegram has been involved in controversies across the world related to security and data breach concerns.

Telegram’s Russian-born founder and chief executive, Pavel Durov, was detained at a Paris airport and later charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and “terrorist” content on the app. He reportedly remains in France and is unable to leave without authorisation from authorities.

BBC

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‘People are going to hate me’

EMMA LYNCH / BBC

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On 1 December, Netflix began streaming Farha (2021) worldwide, despite immense pressure directed at the platform to prevent its debut. The film is director Darin J. Sallam’s first full-length feature and chronicles the coming-of-age story of its heroine, Farha, a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager who possesses a voracious appetite for books and learning. Farha’s cultural background is that of a villager – her Arabic dialect infused with the authenticity often associated with Palestinian grandparents, particularly the generation born in the decade just before or that of the Nakba itself. Yet, what makes Farha a distinguished heroine isn’t necessarily her linguistic veracity, it is her bravery and her desire to pursue her education at a school in the neighbouring city. At the start of the film, she is seen at one with the land, collecting water from the local spring, eating figs straight from the communal trees and collecting almonds in her satchel, still intact and unpeeled. She goes through the motions of her chores in the village, but her mind often wanders into the literary worlds of the books she reads, novels gifted to her by her best friend Fareeda, who is from a city-dwelling family not far from the village from which Farha hails.

The first scenes of the film show Farha as a dreamer, a girl who urges her father, a man of mayoral standing, to register her in the city’s school. Her father is hesitant as he believes her economic livelihood is best secured through the arrangement of marriage and that the local Quran recitation learning groups provided by the Sheikh are a sufficient education. Still, Farha fights for her desire to learn and secures the support of many an ally in her extended family and community to finally convince her father. On the eve of the Nakba, he signs her enrolment certificate. Throughout the film, there are peripheral present-absent signifiers of just how troubling the situation in Palestine has become. Talk of resistance tactics and meetings between rebels and the officials hint that the historical events of the Nakba and its tragedy are on the cusp of eruption. These more politicised characters weave in and out of frames of the film, infiltrating the scenes with reminders, only to give way to Farha’s experience, which remains at the centre. Slowly but surely, the viewer’s understanding expands organically with Farha’s, and we see that this curious girl, who had very little understanding of the depth of this dire situation, is forced to contend with its brutality as a witness and as a survivor of violence, loss and dispossession. In fact, Farha’s father hides her in a closet where she remains trapped throughout the most violent moments that befall her village, and she is left alone to deal with the aftermath.

The film was produced by TaleBox, a production company co-founded by Sallam and producer Deema Azar. Ayah Jardaneh also served as the producer of the film. The film likewise received support from Laika Film & Television, Chimney, The Jordan Film Fund – Royal Film Commission, the Swedish Film Institute and the Red Sea Film Fund (an initiative of the Red Sea Film Festival). It remains a largely Jordanian-based initiative, highlighting the lived experience of Palestine and Palestinians, with support from European-based organisations. On a political level, Farha has depicted the tragedy of the Nakba for the first time through film and employs what the late Palestinian American scholar, Edward Said, has called the “permission to narrate” the Palestinian experience against many odds.

OPINION: Israel’s terror against Gaza’s children on Netflix

In response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, Said penned “Permission to Narrate” for the Journal of Palestine Studies in 1984. In it, he notes: “A disciplinary communications apparatus exists in the West both for overlooking most of the basic things that might present Israel in a bad light and for punishing those who try to tell the truth.” In short, Said’s argument can be summed up as such: despite declassified archives, countless human rights reports, international organisation inquiries and both official and ethnographic accounts of Palestinian plight and dispossession from Nakba to diaspora and from Nakba to military occupation, the Palestinians have been denied the right to narrate their own stories. They have also been denied the privilege of seeing their experience reflected back at them through film and literature and, by extension, preventing them from experiencing the catharsis that comes with artistic acknowledgement and representation. Farha has granted the Palestinian diaspora permission to narrate this story on one of the world’s largest entertainment streaming platforms. More importantly, Farha’s story has been recounted, in numerous iterations and manifestations, 700,000 times by the first generation of the dispossessed. The trauma of that memory remains forever fixed in the minds of the descendants of those who were forcibly displaced – a global diasporic population of nearly six million people and counting – approximately half of the total population of 12 million Palestinians across the historical homeland and outside of it. This population has been classified by the international community, despite its many failures towards it, as ipso facto stateless.

Palestinian’s culture and heritage is the best weapon against the Occupation – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

While on the one hand, Farha has been hailed by many viewers as an incredible feat, it comes as no surprise that the film has been targeted by Israeli officials and has caused outrage. Israel’s Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement condemning Netflix, stating his belief that: “It’s crazy that Netflix decided to stream a movie whose whole purpose is to create a false pretence and cite against Israeli soldiers.” Though Farha has been screened globally in many film festivals and series since its debut in 2021, at venues such as Dubai-based Cinema Akil and intentional film festivals, including the Toronto Film Festival, the Red Sea Film Festival and others, it is its recent reincarnation on Netflix and its screening at Saraya, a theatre in Jaffa that has caused the most outrage towards the film. The Israeli government has threatened to act against Saraya and has encouraged a mass exodus of subscribers to Netflix. While many regional and international news networks hail the film for its artistic and historical merits, there is also a cacophony of discordant opinions about it, with publications like Fox News and The Times of Israel labelling the film as “terrible” or as “lies and libels”, whilst other major publishers such as The New York Times tiptoe around the film’s representations, selecting its words carefully to maintain its readership. Sites such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes have seen an onslaught of divided reviews: either five-star glowing recommendations from the film’s supporters or comments of rage and disbelief from its detractors.

In all the opinions emerging in the now global conversation surrounding this film, there has been no mention of Sallam’s other smaller work, The Parrot, a 2016 short film she co-directed with Amjad Al-Rasheed. In eighteen powerful minutes, The Parrot follows the story of a Tunisian Jewish family who arrives in Haifa and takes up residence in a home belonging to a Palestinian Greek-Orthodox family. Their clothing, blue-tinted walls and Christian iconography, which borrow heavily from the aesthetic and colour-scape of local churches, are left behind by the displaced family. The breakfast and tea on the table are still hot, and the new occupants, played by Tunisian actress Hend Sabry as Rachel and Palestinian citizen of Israel Ashraf Barhom as Mousa, are haunted by the spectre of the family that once lived there and by the constant echoes of the parrot that was left behind and calls out after the Palestinian boy who owned him asking for a kiss. The parrot also repeats “where are you?” and “why are you looking at me like that” incessantly.

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Yet, for viewers who are unaware of the Nakba, this imagery and the story of Palestinian displacement remain subliminal. Instead, what takes centre stage is the othering of Eastern Jews who find themselves in Euro-Israeli modernity, one that they can’t quite figure out. As such, by the end of the short film, many viewers would engage in a conversation about the depiction of an intense encounter between the Tunisian Jewish family and their Ashkenazi neighbours, who look at the architecture and structure of the house in Haifa with envy, bewildered at how Eastern Jews, othered and orientalised, had acquired such luck. The film is as much a critique of ethnic relations among Israelis as it is about the Palestinian exodus, and, like Farha, it tells a tragic tale through beautifully directed cinematography and crafted set and costume designs. The pleasing nature of Sallam’s use of pastels, verdure and white stone almost works as an antidote to the harsh emotional blow to the nerves that her cinematic tales have delivered thus far and will continue to do in the future.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Kenya’s role in global environmental diplomacy is becoming more important than ever. Now that climate change is having the harshest effect on vulnerable countries, Kenya has had its share of opportunity to make its environmental work a kind of soft power—both to safeguard its ecosystems and to improve its reputation abroad. Although Kenya may not be the most industrialized or the most economically developed country, it somehow has become a respected voice in global environmental talks. This isn’t by accident. It’s the fruit of decades of struggle for conservation, international partnership in promotion of conservation works, and recognition of the fact that environmental policy can also be utilized to fund foreign policies.

Kenya has a reputation for great natural beauty. From the savannah of the Maasai Mara to the Aberdare Forest, the country is a homeland to some of the world’s most iconic wildlife and ecosystems. Kenya isn’t just a safari destination, though; it’s also one of the countries that has genuinely done its best to protect the environment. This goes back decades. When the U.N. decided to build its global environmental headquarters, it settled on Nairobi. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) still lies there — an extraordinary tribute and a prestigious mark of Kenya’s old environmental credibility. What is so special about Kenya is not the biodiversity itself, but the fact that this state considers it to increase its influence and to earn international goodwill. Put differently, besides serving the conventional diplomacy purposes of Kenya, environmental diplomacy also plays a part in the promotion of public diplomacy, namely, as a device for demonstrating the country to other nations as responsible, peaceful, and willing to cooperate on a global scale. Through sustainable development, conservation, and climate justice, by so doing Kenya is not just making a policy statement; it is very deliberately forming views of itself held by other countries and the international institutions.

Over the recent years, this strategy has become more welcomed by the recently elected presidents of Kenya. For instance, President William Ruto has made it obvious that green growth and environmental protection are at the heart of Kenya’s future. He has attended climate conferences such as COP27 and put Kenya in pole position on renewable energy and adaptation to climate change. Already, the country produces more than three-quarters of the electricity from clean sources such as geothermal, wind, and hydropower—a feat very few rich countries can achieve. This clean energy record enables Kenya to talk the talk and walk the walk on its quest to have other countries act on climate. It is in doing this that Kenya will not only enlarge their voice in climate talks but also build confidence from other nations. This is at the heart of its public diplomacy: presenting to the world that it is behaving in good faith and assuming responsibility towards its future and towards the planet’s future. Environmental diplomacy becomes a space for dialogue and trust development and international recognition. It gives Kenya an opportunity to shape policy but still draw investment, tourists, and partnerships.

Simultaneously, Kenya is doing its best to save its environment from the worst consequences of climate change. The country records regular occurrences of drought, floods, and other extreme weather patterns affecting farming, driving people from their homes, and jeopardizing wildlife. In response, Kenya has launched efforts like national tree-planting campaigns, water conservation projects, and climate-smart farming. These actions not only create domestic resilience but also enhance Kenya’s credibility once talks on global standards begin. If a country talks the talk at home, it receives greater respect in the international arena.

One of the most visible examples of Kenya’s environmental diplomacy influencing others was the hosting of the Africa Climate Summit in 2023. Held in Nairobi, the summit gathered several African leaders to harmonize their climate policies and speak as one voice. The issued Nairobi declaration demanded immediate global reforms on climate finance and on the sharing of technologies. Kenya took advantage of this chance to not only determine continental climate action but also use the platform to present itself as a convening power and thought leader on climate policy. Other countries, such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa, associated themselves with Kenya, thus showing that environmental diplomacy can lift a country’s regional floor.

Kenya has received massive green investment in the form of partnerships with countries such as Germany and members of the European Union. Among the major green investments is major renewable energy like the Lake Turkana Wind Power Plant. Germany has acknowledged Kenya’s initiative positively; it has provided the latter with technical and financial support to shift towards the use of cleaner energy. Kenya, at the same time, also succeeded in guiding Chinese investment to greener practices. For example, although there are concerns about the environment concerning the Standard Gauge Railway project, Kenya insists on environmental assessments and green standards so that China’s infrastructural deals are more climate aware. Kenya’s relationship with the United States has also been enhanced through cooperation in the environment. The U.S., via USAID and other bodies, has supported initiatives covering such areas as wildlife conservation, clean energy, and even climate-smart agriculture. This environmental partnership has enhanced Kenya’s image as a reliable friend in East Africa; they have opened more diplomatic and economic doors.

Kenya’s environmental credibility makes bridges for it both to the Western countries and also to the Global South. Through the active promotion of climate justice, particularly at times of significant climate confabulations such as COP27, Kenya has become a voice for the rest of the developing countries that suffer the effects of climate on them. This was evident in Kenya’s support for the establishment of a “Loss and Damage” fund that compensates the vulnerable countries—a call that was later adopted. Kenya is also diversifying its external cooperation from the traditional Western powers. It is collaborating with countries like India and Brazil and other emerging economies to jointly develop green economies. This spreads out Kenya’s alternatives, enhances its diplomatic clout, and argues for a more multipolar cooperation in climate leadership. Once more, this fits into its public diplomacy, as that makes Kenya a welcoming and collaborating nation ready to collaborate with many partners towards common environmental interests. Finally, Kenya’s environmental diplomacy is not only about savages from forests but also about wildlife and carbon emission cutting—it is all about the influence.

Kenya has managed to turn around its environmental activities into instruments of foreign policy and public diplomacy. Involving heavy nations such as Germany, China, the U.S., and Africa’s regional partners, Kenya is defining how other governments see climate justice, clean energy, and sustainable development. It is fighting for global reforms, setting the examples, organizing major summits, and appealing for justice on behalf of developing nations. Kenya’s green leadership is not only doing its environment good; it is a calculated policy to shape global discussions, draw other nations to its angle on climate, and gain respect, confidence, and collaboration in the world. In a nutshell, Kenya’s environmental diplomacy is about transforming the international agenda and (not by force but rather by the values, vision, and responsibility) demonstrating that even the midsized African nation can lead the world.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has taken its first concrete action to deliver sanctions relief for Syria, following a surprise policy pivot earlier this month.

On Friday, the US Department of the Treasury announced sweeping relief to an array of individuals and entities, which it said will “enable new investment and private sector activity consistent with [Trump’s] America First strategy”.

The US State Department, meanwhile, concurrently issued a waiver to a 2019 law, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, that would “enable our foreign partners, allies, and the region to further unlock Syria’s potential”.

Trump surprised the international community when, on May 13, he pledged to remove sanctions placed on Syria during the leadership of its now-ousted leader, President Bashar al-Assad.

Friday’s announcements mark an initial step towards that goal, as Syria recovers from abuses under al-Assad’s government and 13 years of civil war.

“As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Syria must also continue to work towards becoming a stable country that is at peace, and today’s actions will hopefully put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future”.

Sanctions relief is critical for Syria to move forward. The United States is issuing a Caesar Act sanctions waiver to increase investments and cash flows that will facilitate basic services and reconstruction in Syria. We support the Syrian people’s efforts to build a more…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 23, 2025

Trump first unveiled his plans for sanctions relief during a tour of the Middle East in mid-May. He said lifting US sanctions would give Syria “a chance at greatness”, since the restrictions left the war-torn country economically isolated.

“It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off,” he said from Riyadh.

Shortly after, Trump met and shook hands with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had only recently been removed from the US’s “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” list.

Appeal for relief

Calls for sanctions relief had grown following the fall of al-Assad’s government last December. As head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, al-Sharaa spearheaded the offensive that led to al-Assad fleeing the country, bringing the civil war to an end.

The war, which first broke out in 2011, had left Syria’s economy in tatters.

As many as 656,493 people were killed during the conflict, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and a 2020 report from the United Nations estimated that the country suffered total economic losses of about $442.2bn in the first eight years of the war alone.

Sanctions have further dampened Syria’s economic outlook, making it difficult for countries with ties to the US to conduct business there.

Since taking power in December, Syria’s interim government has argued the ongoing sanctions, largely imposed during al-Assad’s rule, would slow development and cause further instability.

Trump’s announcement earlier this month buoyed hope for many Syrians of a new path forward, although the extent of the relief had remained unclear.

Earlier this week, the European Union also announced it had lifted sanctions against Syria.

Friday’s sanctions relief in the US applies to the “the Government of Syria … as in existence on or after May 13, 2025”, according to the Treasury Department.

The reprieve also applies to several previously sanctioned transportation, banking, tourism and fossil fuel entities.

Transactions related to Russia, Iran and North Korea remain under US sanctions.

One of the biggest hurdles, however, is the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a law that was passed in 2019, during Trump’s first term.

It included broad sanctions that targeted al-Assad’s government and its allies and supporters for atrocities committed against civilians.

The act was named after a former Syrian military photographer and whistleblower who smuggled out of the country a cache of images showing torture and mass killing at detention centres run by al-Assad’s security forces.

But since the law was passed by Congress, it will likely take an act of Congress to completely lift its restrictions.

The president, however, can issue temporary waivers to the law, which is what the Trump administration did on Friday.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver will last for 180 days, in order to “increase investments and cash flows that will facilitate basic services and reconstruction in Syria”.

“We support the Syrian people’s efforts to build a more hopeful future,” Rubio said.

A top figure in Venezuela’s opposition has been arrested on charges of “terrorism” before parliamentary elections scheduled for the weekend.

On Friday, a social media account for Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close associate of Maria Corina Machado, considered the leader of the opposition coalition, announced he had been detained. State television also carried images of his arrest, as he was escorted away by armed guards.

In a prewritten message online, Guanipa denounced Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for human rights abuses, including stifling political dissent and false imprisonment.

“Brothers and sisters, if you are reading this, it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduro’s regime,” Guanipa wrote.

“For months, I, like many Venezuelans, have been in hiding for my safety. Unfortunately, my time in hiding has come to an end. As of today, I am part of the list of Venezuelans kidnapped by the dictatorship.”

Since Venezuela held a hotly contested presidential election in July 2024, Guanipa, along with several other opposition figures, has been in hiding, for fear of being arrested.

That presidential election culminated in a disputed outcome and widespread protests. On the night of the vote, Venezuela’s election authorities declared Maduro the winner, awarding him a third successive six-year term, but it failed to publish the polling tallies to substantiate that result.

Meanwhile, the opposition coalition published tallies from voting stations that it said proved its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, had prevailed in a landslide. International watchdogs also criticised the election for its lack of transparency.

Maduro’s government responded to the election-related protests with a police crackdown that led to nearly 2,000 arrests and 25 people killed. It also issued arrest warrants against opposition leaders, accusing them of charges ranging from conspiracy to falsifying records.

Maduro has long accused political dissidents of conspiring with foreign forces to topple his government.

Gonzalez himself was among those for whom a warrant was signed. He fled to exile in Spain. Others have gone into hiding, avoiding the public eye. Until recently, a group of five opposition members had sought shelter in the Argentinian embassy in Caracas, until they were reportedly smuggled out of the country earlier this month.

Opposition members and their supporters have dismissed the charges against them as spurious and further evidence of the Maduro government’s repressive tactics.

“This is pure and simple STATE TERRORISM,” Machado, the opposition leader, wrote on social media in the wake of Guanipa’s arrest.

Machado and others have said that Guanipa was one of several people arrested in the lead-up to this weekend’s regional elections, which will see members of the National Assembly and state-level positions on the ballot.

Several prominent members of the opposition have pledged to boycott the vote, arguing it is a means for Maduro to consolidate power.

“Just hours before a farcical election with no guarantees of any kind, the regime has reactivated an operation of political repression,” Gonzalez wrote on social media, in reaction to the recent spate of arrests.

He argued that the detention of Guanipa and others was a means of ensuring “nothing will go off script” during Sunday’s vote.

“They harass political, social, and community leaders. They persecute those who influence public opinion. They intend to shut down all alternative information spaces and ensure a narrative monopoly,” Gonzalez wrote.

“To the international community: This is not an election. It’s an authoritarian device to shield the power they’ve usurped.”