Although rumors that Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal are engaged, the pair made separate entrances at the Cannes Film Festival have been in full swing recently.
Gracie Abrams at Cannes Film Festival(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal got fans dreaming of an engagement earlier this month as they cosied up to each other. However, on Wednesday, the pair tried to shut down the rumour mill after attending a red carpet even separately.
The American singer-songwriter, 25, and the Normal People actor, 29, were in Cannes for the annual Film Festival and were taking in the The History of Sound premiere. They made sure to keep their distance though as speculation of their relationship intensifies.
Gracie opted for a figure-hugging gown with a halter neck as she stunned on the red carpet. She completed the look with a black scarf draped over her arms.
Paul, by contrast, paired a shoulder-padded jacket with a pair of flared pants for an all-black appearance. He added a cravat and a tucked-in shirt to finish off his outfit.
Recently, Gracie was spotted sporting a diamond ring. There was a lot of rumor about the duo’s potential expansion of their relationship. Sharing a photo of Gracie in Melbourne, the celebrity gossip site Deux Moi also questioned whether the big diamond was an engagement ring.
Paul Mescal attends the “The History Of Sound” red carpet(Image: Getty Images)
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Gracie Abrams in Cannes(Image: Getty Images)
A fan had also sent in a message, too. The songstress was pictured on stage while tugging on her engagement finger, along with a picture of her.
Almost a year ago, Gracie and Paul first met. Before the engagement rumors began to spread, they had appeared to be ready to split up.
In January, they were reportedly dining in a London restaurant when onlookers spotted what was possibly a break-up. Singer singer Gracie was said to have burst into floods of tears before storming out of the eatery.
Before things unexpectedly turned out differently, the couple were said to have been enjoying a meal in North London. At one point, patrons at a restaurant claimed that Paul had his “head in his hands as Gracie just sat there crying.”
One witness claims that after she started crying, she started too. He was left to pay the bill before leaving shortly after she eventually rose and exited the restaurant while she was halfway through their meal.
Paul, the Gladiator II star, dated American singer Phoebe Bridgers for about two years prior to their relationship with Gracie. In December of this year, the duo split.
Last year, the actor opened up about the distressing rumours about his love life that circulated on social media at the end of 2023, revealing the impact they had on his family.
The BAFTA-winning actor would then leave his one-night stands for a walk the following day, distract them, and then leave. Some even claimed that he would quickly flee after finding a bird to his date. More than three million people watched a video that claimed to show “actual footage” of him fleeing.
He explained to GQ in a statement from November last year how much his family, and especially his mother, was affected by these rumors, which he firmly believes are “categorically untrue.” He claimed, “We were p******* ourselves at it when [Mescal and his siblings] were watching the videos. Untrue in any way. And we were laughing all the while.
“And the one thing that irritated me was that my mother was watching the videos and getting upset while I was in the kitchen.” That’s devastating, isn’t it? Because I am aware that this is how the internet operates, I was like, “Oh, it’s funny to our brother, me, and my sister.”
He continued, “It’s hilarious. It would be f****** bad if it were true, but it’s funny rumor-wise. Then I realized that if a mother was trying to make things clear, “He wouldn’t do this.” “
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Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, has argued that Nigeria must use unwavering resolve to fight corruption, misappropriation, and fiscal recklessness.
He claimed that Nigeria must stop acting as a “crime scene” and be repositioned for real development in a post on X with the title “Nigeria continues to be a relentless scene of corruption.”
He argued that to ensure our people’s future, the nation’s national resources must be responsibly managed and strategically invested in key sectors like education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.
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Obi responded to a non-governmental organization’s claim that the 2025 budget was squandered while addressing the controversy.
He added that “the country cannot invest adequately in education, which is why there are nearly 20 million children who are not in school anymore,” and that is why. The corruption that has harmed primary healthcare has led to alarming numbers of malnourished children.
Our leaders ignore agricultural investment because of persistent mismanagement and a lack of accountability, despite the widespread hunger we face. Similar disregard has an impact on our ability to effectively fund national security or to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which are essential to national growth.
“These blatant acts of corruption confirm my claim that Nigeria has been reduced to a crime scene,” I said.
In a statement signed by a senior communications officer, Nancy Odimegwu, a prominent civic tech organization dedicated to promoting accountability and transparency in Nigeria’s public finances, the National Assembly inserted 11, 122 projects valued at $6.93 trillion into the budget for the 2025 Federal Government.
The issue has not yet received any comments from the Presidency or the National Assembly.
Obi claimed, however, that the figure only represented a small portion of the actual amount cheated up.
How else can we explain the troubling revelations made by BudgIT, which included a staggering $7 trillion in dubious projects for the 2025 national budget? I’m persuaded that this figure only accounts for a small portion of the actual misappropriation.
These findings confirm my long-held claim that we have turned our nation into a crime location. To effectively and effectively manage our resources, we must urgently and systematically combat corruption, misappropriation, and fiscal recklessness, and invest in essential areas of development, such as education, health, and rescuing our people from poverty, he said.
The former governor of Anambra State claimed that the figure exceeded the ministry’s total funding for agriculture, poverty alleviation, humanitarian aid, and education.
The Ministry of Education received a sum of $3.52 trillion, to be precise. 2.48 trillion was given to the Ministry of Health. 260 billion dollars were given to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and 636.08 billion to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
According to Obi, “together, these four ministries were given a total budget of $6.896 trillion, which is an already exaggerated sum,” but it is still less than the $7 trillion budget was dubiously injected into.
Following the resumption of Boko Haram attacks in the area and other parts of the North East, the Senate has demanded the immediate establishment of a military base in Adamawa State’s Hong Local Government.
After lawmakers debated a motion highlighting the rising insecurity in Hong and Gombi LGAs, where numerous coordinated attacks by Boko Haram insurgents have resulted in dozens of fatalities and thousands of people being displaced, the resolution was presented during plenary on Wednesday. It is of urgent national importance.
The Senate stressed the need to increase existing personnel with a permanent military base in Hong to better secure the area and stop further escalation of violence, despite the praise of the Nigerian Army and other security operatives.
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Five major attacks have occurred in Hong LGA since February 2025, according to Senator Iya Abbas, the motion’s sponsor.
Senator Seriake Dickson, a member of the opposition, raised an objection to the Senate during the discussion, warning that such directives would violate the country’s constitutional rights by directing the establishment of a military base.
Senator Wasiu Eshilokun, who argued that the National Assembly was entitled to make these recommendations, promptly refuted his position. Eshilokun clarified that while the deployment of military forces is an executive function, the National Assembly’s approval of the legislation is contingent on it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares in his first press conference since December that the entire Gaza Strip will be under Israeli military rule when the besieged Palestinian enclave is overthrown.
As hunger persecutes and only a small number of aid trucks are allowed in with the blockade in place, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in recent days. At least 82 have died as a result of Israeli relentless bombardment across Gaza.
Israel will be willing to negotiate a temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to Netanyahu’s statement on Wednesday.
The release of all prisoners, the disarmament of Hamas, the exile of its leaders, and the possibility of carrying out President Donald Trump’s proposed plan in February to expel Palestinians from Gaza were all demands made by the Israeli leader.
Trump has suggested that the US should run Gaza and establish it as the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Netanyahu has mentioned Trump’s plan as one of the conditions for halting fighting for the first time. The plan has been characterized as ethnic cleansing by numerous countries and human rights organizations.
In response to Israel’s decision to allow a limited number of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel should avoid a “humanitarian crisis to preserve our freedom of operational action.” He also made reference to a highly critical plan that was “developed with the US” to distribute food in the enclave without Hamas gaining control of it. The Palestinian organization denies providing aid.
Gaza receives limited aid, but there is no distribution.
Israel has been under international pressure to halt its repressing total blockade of Gaza, which had forcibly halted any food or aid trucks entering the area since March 2.
The enclave’s already terrible humanitarian catastrophe has become even worse because of it. More than 93% of Gaza’s children, or about 930 000, are on the verge of famine, according to an assessment conducted by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
The Israeli army approved 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food, and medical supplies into Gaza on Wednesday. According to UN officials, distribution issues have prevented aid from reaching those in need.
The Karem Abu Salem border crossing and the enviable supplies that are finally being allowed into Kerem Shalom [in Arabic] are nowhere near sufficient to meet the enormous needs in Gaza. The UN chief’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said that much, much more aid needs to enter.
Aid organizations have criticized Netanyahu’s efforts as “smokescreen” as Israel’s aid is not nearly enough, according to aid organizations.
According to Pascale Coissard, the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, the Israeli government’s decision to allow a ridiculously low amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege indicates that they intend to avoid making the accusations that they are starving and that they are actually keeping them surviving.
A “pressured, obsessed, lying man”
The press conference by Netanyahu received swift criticism. His “words today” refer to the country’s long occupation of Gaza and the daily demise of soldiers, according to opposition leader Yair Lapid, who warned that the nation’s reputation would collapse and the economy would suffer severe harm.
After the news conference, Democrats party leader Yair Golan remarked, “I saw a presentation by a pressured, obsessed, lying man who takes no responsibility for anything.” We will win you in the elections very soon and send you to the pages of history, and I will sue you for defamation for the lies I spread about myself.”
Irish rap trio Kneecap have issued a statement following news that Liam O’Hanna had been charged with a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London last November. The star, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged for his actions, the Metropolitan Police said.
The Met Police said the 27-year-old band member from Belfast has been charged following an investigation by its counter terrorism command. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates ‘ Court on June 18.
Liam was charged with displaying a flag at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, North London, on November 21, “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, it said.
Liam O’Hanna has been charged with a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah (Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva)
In a post on X the band, which consists of fellow members Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaig, shared a video of Liam speaking in an RTE clip. They said: “Recorded in January and just aired on RTE tv now”.
They then quoted what Liam said in the video: “I don’t want to be 80, 90 years of age and my grandkids asking me about the Palestinian genocide? Me sitting there being like f**k, I didn’t do enough. I don’t wanna be on that side of history. If it comes down to awards or breaking America by sacrifice what you believe in, then America can go f**k itself”.
The band added: “We are clearer than ever on who we are and what we stand for. We will have a short statement soon. FREE PALESTINE”.
Previously, the rap trio had seen gigs including a performance at the Eden Project in Cornwall on July 4 cancelled after historic concert footage appeared to show a member of the group shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, and another video allegedly showing one calling for Conservative MPs to be killed.
The group has faced an investigation by counter-terrorism police after the videos, filmed in 2023 and 2024, became public.
Kneecap have apologised to the families of murdered MPs, but claimed footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”, while they also said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah, which are both banned organisations in the UK.
The trio added: “To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt”.
Campaign Against Antisemitism, which reported Kneecap to counter-terrorism police, posted on X: “We are pleased to see the police have acted swiftly. In the UK, Hamas and Hizballah are both terrorist organizations that are prohibited. The law must be upheld.
In a post on X, Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey described the action as “outrageous.”
He stated, “Genocide is looming before our eyes.” Gazan children are being starved to death. A genocidal, out-of-control Israeli regime slaughters entire families. However, British police are charging Kneecap with exposing this genocide. “Outrageous” !
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Johannesburg, South Africa – When the millionaire mining magnate-turned-president of South Africa landed in Washington to meet the billionaire real estate tycoon-turned-president of the United States, it was with a deal in mind.
Tensions have been escalating between the US and its African trade ally since Donald Trump took office this year, cut off aid to South Africa, repeated false accusations that a “white genocide” is taking place there and began welcoming Afrikaners as refugees.
At the meeting between Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House on Wednesday, the South African president began by focusing heavily on trade and investments, highlighting the two countries’ years of cooperation, in keeping with statements made by South Africa’s presidency that Ramaphosa would present a trade deal to the US.
But Trump responded with a well-prepared redirect that South African media and analysts described as an “ambush” and a move that “blindsided” Ramaphosa.
Ready with printouts of news articles about alleged white victims of killings in South Africa and a video of firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema singing Kill the Boer, Trump insisted that white farmers were being targeted and murdered – an assertion Ramaphosa politely yet firmly denied, saying criminality was a problem for all South Africans regardless of race.
The team Ramaphosa assembled to join him on his working visit – which included four white South Africans: two golf legends, the wealthiest man in the country and the agriculture minister – all reaffirmed Ramaphosa’s facts that while violence was widespread, white people were not specifically being targeted.
“We have a real safety problem in South Africa, and I don’t think anyone wants to candy-coat that,” said John Steenhuisen, the agriculture minister and a member of the Democratic Alliance party, which is part of South Africa’s governing coalition.
“Certainly, the majority of South Africa’s commercial and smallholder farmers really do want to stay in South Africa and make it work,” the minister, who is himself an Afrikaner, said. Trump claimed that “thousands” of white farmers were fleeing South Africa.
Steenhuisen added that the people in the video Trump showed were leaders of opposition minority parties and his party had joined forces with Ramaphosa “precisely to keep those people out of power”.
From second left, businessman Johann Rupert speaks next to golfers Retief Goosen and Ernie Els in the Oval Office during a meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 21, 2025. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
‘The lion’s den’
The meeting began cordially where Trump complimented South African golfers, including well-known Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who were part of the delegation. They both implored Trump for enhanced trade to uplift South Africa’s economy.
Also in the delegation was South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert, a luxury-goods mogul and an Afrikaner. He countered claims of racial persecution against the white minority, saying that while criminality was rife, Black people were more often the victims.
“We have too many deaths, but it’s across the board. It is not only white farmers,” Rupert said to Trump.
Ramaphosa kept his cool, local media and observers said, noting that the South African president chose to remain calm, patient and light-hearted even in light of Trump’s attack.
He steered talks back to trade, saying South Africa needed economic investment from its allies, and mostly sat expressionless while the video was played, occasionally stretching his neck to look at it.
Ramaphosa went into “the lion’s den” and was met with an ambush but he remained calm, South African political analyst Sanusha Naidu said.
“Ramaphosa and the delegation did not allow themselves to be baited into an emotional response. That’s critical. They made Trump feel like he had the upper hand in the meeting,” she told Al Jazeera, adding that given the narrative from Trump before Ramaphosa’s arrival, it “could have gone worse”.
When asked by a reporter whether he wanted the impasse between the US and South Africa resolved, Trump said he was open to it.
“I hope it has to be resolved. It should be resolved,” he said, adding that if it were not resolved, it would be “the end of the country”.
‘Reset’ relations
Before the two leaders met on Wednesday, Ramaphosa’s office said the aim was to “reset” relations, especially as the US is South Africa’s second largest trading partner after China.
“Whether we like it or not, we are joined at the hip, and we need to be talking to them,” the South African president said before his trip.
Christopher Isike, a political scientist at the University of Pretoria, told Al Jazeera that direct engagement between the leaders was important, given the tense relations between their countries.
“This is an opportunity for South Africa to correct misinformation peddled by President Trump and try to reset trade relations between the two countries,” he said.
Isike noted that both presidents’ backgrounds as businesspeople could provide common ground for discussing mutually advantageous deals.
“Rich friends of Ramaphosa are also rich friends of Trump, and that may have helped facilitate the meeting,” Isike added.
Common ground and level heads would be useful as the leaders continued private talks away from the media on Wednesday, observers said.
Before the visit, Ramaphosa maintained that while Trump was a dealmaker, he too was adept at making deals and even joked about the possibility of playing a round of golf with his US counterpart.
Washington, however, has criticised Pretoria for a host of matters since Trump took office. This continued in the meeting on Wednesday.
Trump focused on the white farmers, particularly Afrikaners – the descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who instituted apartheid. He alleged they are being killed because of their race despite evidence showing that attacks and killings are common across all groups in the country.
Trump also mentioned South Africa’s land reform law that allows land in the public interest to be taken without compensation in exceptional circumstances in an effort to redress apartheid injustices. Pretoria said no white land has been taken, but the US said the law unfairly targets minority white South Africans who are the majority landholders.
Despite Pretoria consistently seeking to rectify false assertions, the Trump administration has pushed ahead with a plan to take in Afrikaners as refugees. The first group arrived last week. He has also cut aid, including vital support for life-saving HIV programmes, to South Africa.
Additionally, there are worries that Trump may not attend the Group of 20 summit being held in South Africa in November and his government may not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), key US trade legislation that assists economies in sub-Saharan Africa. It expires in September.
South Africa native Elon Musk attends the meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
Trade and investments
Before Wednesday’s meetings, Ramaphosa said strengthening trade relations between the two countries was his primary motivation for travelling to Washington, DC.
“We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal, investment promotion. We invest in the United States, and they invest in us. We want to strengthen those relations. We want to consolidate relations between the two countries,” he said.
This week, South Africa’s ministers of trade and agriculture, Parks Tau and Steenhuisen, met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to present the first draft of a trade deal.
In 2024, total goods trade between the US and South Africa amounted to $20.5bn. This included $5.8bn in US exports to South Africa and $14.7bn in South African exports to the US.
However, some observers said that at the heart of the potential trade deal is what South Africa could offer billionaire and close Trump ally, Elon Musk, given his ongoing claims about obstacles he allegedly faces in operating Starlink, his satellite internet company, in the country where he was born due to its transformation laws.
These laws seek to redress past injustices that kept Black people destitute and require businesses over a certain size to have a 30 percent equity stake held by members of previously disadvantaged groups.
Speaking at the Doha Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk reiterated his assertions about laws he claimed were biased against white people despite experts explaining that most of those only seek to promote racial justice.
“All races must be on equal footing in South Africa. That is the right thing to do. Do not replace one set of racist laws with another set of racist laws, which is utterly wrong and improper,” Musk said.
“I am in an absurd situation where I was born in South Africa but cannot get a licence to operate Starlink because I am not Black,” he claimed.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, a White House official told the Reuters news agency Trump is likely to tell Ramaphosa that all US companies in South Africa should be exempt from “racial requirements”.
Opposition figure Malema’s party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), threatened legal action after news that the government was considering offering regulatory assurances to Musk’s Starlink. The EFF said the move would be unconstitutional and shows Ramaphosa is willing to compromise the country’s sovereignty to “massage the inflated ego of Musk and Trump”.
Isike said that while trade concessions would be discussed, he doubted the South African government would give up its laws to appease Musk.
“I will be surprised if Starlink gets its way by refusing to follow South African transformation laws, which require 30 percent Black ownership of a foreign company,” he said.
During his meeting with Ramaphosa, US President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article that he said is about white South Africans who had been killed [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
‘Genocide’ claims
Meanwhile, in private talks, Ramaphosa and Trump were also expected to discuss foreign policy issues, including peace prospects between Russia and Ukraine and South Africa’s support for Palestine and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Some political observers said Pretoria is in the US crosshairs partly because of its actions against the key Washington ally.
Patrick Bond, a sociology professor at the University of Johannesburg, predicted before the talks that the US might offer to retract claims of “white genocide” in exchange for South Africa dropping its case at the ICJ.
South Africa is seeking to hold Israel accountable for its assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians since October 2023. The US is Israel’s strongest ally and arms supplier.
“We are very rational when it comes to discussing global and geopolitical matters. We will put South African positions first, and our foreign policy positions will be clarified,” Ramaphosa said before the meeting.
As the Gaza genocide case against Israel continues in The Hague, US allegations of a widely discredited “white genocide” in South Africa continue to follow the country’s leadership.
Before Trump and Ramaphosa retreated to private meetings on Wednesday, a reporter asked the US president if he had decided whether genocide was being committed in South Africa. “I haven’t made up my mind,” he replied.
The unfounded claim of white genocide has “taken on a life of its own”, analyst Paolo von Schirach, president of the Global Policy Institute in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.
It will be difficult for Ramaphosa and Trump to rebound after the Oval Office “ambush”, he said.
