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Worldnews

Thousands Set Up Street Blockades In Serbia After Crackdown On Protesters

President Aleksandar Vucic had earlier vowed many more protesters would be arrested, as 38 remain in custody. Thousands of people have set up street blockades in Serbia, where tensions are boiling over after the arrest of antigovernment protesters who clashed with police at a massive night-time rally a day earlier that demanded early elections, marking a crescendo of months-long public dissent. Protesters put up metal fences and garbage containers at various locations in the capital Belgrade late on Sunday into early Monday, also blocking a key bridge over the Sava River. Protesters in the northern city of Novi Sad pelted the offices of the ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party with eggs. Serbian media said similar protest blockades were organised in smaller cities across the country. Protesters are demanding that authorities release dozens of university students and others at the demonstration who were jailed for allegedly attacking the police or purportedly plotting to overthrow the government at Saturday’s student-led protest in Belgrade. At a news conference earlier on Sunday, Serbia’s embattled populist leader Aleksandar Vucic accused the organisers of the protest of inciting violence and attacks on police. “There will be many more arrested for attacking police … this is not the end,” Vucic said, accusing the protesters of causing “terror”. Clashes erupted after the official part of the rally ended. Police used pepper spray, batons and shields while protesters threw rocks, bottles and other objects. Critics say Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago, having served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014 and prime minister from 2014 to 2017 before becoming president, stifling democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organised crime to flourish. He denies the accusations. Saturday’s rally was one of the largest in eight sustained months of demonstrations triggered by the roof collapse at a train station in the city of Novi Sad in November that killed 16 people – a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. Following the outcry over the disaster, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned, but the governing party continued in power, with a reshuffled government and Vucic still in office. Authorities put the crowd’s size at 36,000 – well below an independent estimate by the Archive of Public Gatherings of about 140,000. During his news conference, Vucic also criticised “terrorists and those who tried to bring down the state”, singling out University of Belgrade’s head dean, Vladan Djokic, who was among the protesters. “Serbia won. You cannot destroy Serbia with violence,” said Vucic. “They consciously wanted to spur bloodshed. The time of accountability is coming.” Protesters say the current populist government is “illegitimate” and lay the responsibility for any violence on the government. Police said on Sunday that 48 officers were injured while 22 protesters sought medical help. Out of 77 people arrested, 38 remain in custody, most of whom are facing criminal charges, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic. Before Saturday’s protest, organisers had issued an “ultimatum” for Vucic to call elections – a demand he has repeatedly rejected. After the rally, organisers played a statement to the crowd calling for Serbians to “take freedom into your own hands” and giving them the “green light”. “The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the demands and prevent an escalation,” the organisers said in a statement on Instagram. On Sunday, Vucic reiterated that there would not be any national vote before the end of 2026. He has repeatedly alleged the protests are part of a foreign plot to destroy his 12-year government, without providing any evidence. More than a dozen people have been arrested in recent weeks, a crackdown that has now become routine in the face of large demonstrations. Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but Vucic’s government has nurtured close relations with Russia and China. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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AA22xA6: Atlee And Allu Arjun All Set To Revolutionize Indian Cinema With Rs 400 Crore VFX Wonder

Indian cinema is about to embark on a new age of boldness, and spearheading the movement is a daring collaboration that will defy all limits of storytelling, scope, and visual impact. Meet AA22xA6, a sci-fi action thriller featuring Allu Arjun and helmed by Atlee. The movie is already making waves in the industry well ahead of its release. With a budget for estimated VFX of a whopping ₹350 to ₹400 crores, AA22xA6 is being billed as one of the costliest visual Indian films to have ever been produced. It’s not just a film; it’s being made as an experience, one that brings together star value, technology, and storytelling in a way Indian audiences have rarely experienced before. At the helm of AA22xA6 stands director Atlee, who has made a name for himself succeeding in merging mass entertainment with high-concept drama. After the massive success of Jawan, Atlee is now being handed full creative and financial freedom by the producers to execute his vision without compromise. According to a report by film analyst Sumanth on X (formerly Twitter), the makers are allowing Atlee to go all out, a rare move in Indian filmmaking that signals their confidence in the director’s grand vision. The price tag earmarked for VFX itself, anything from ₹350 to ₹400 crores, is almost unheard of in Indian cinema. With this one step, the benchmark for what is achievable on the screen in the Indian film industry changes. Several international VFX houses have been known to join the bandwagon to work on the project, making it a global visual experience to watch out for. Joining in the buzz is Allu Arjun, fresh from the huge success of Pushpa 2: The Rule. Although his performance in Pushparaju has made him a name to reckon with, AA22xA6 promises to be much more experimental and genre-bending. Buzz is that Arjun will be seen in several different avatars, such as a fully animated version, something that few attempts at this level have been made within Indian cinema. For the fans, it means seeing their beloved star like never before, traveling parallel worlds, and even bending the laws of space and time. AA22xA6 is described as a pan-Indian sci-fi action thriller that will deal with parallel universes, a concept that has limitless scope for storytelling and visual imagination. Official details of the plot remain to be published, but early reports suggest that extensive parts of the film are being shot with the latest VFX approach, including scenes that are currently in production in Mumbai. This genre, only half-explored to date by Indian cinema, is the perfect sandbox for AA22xA6 to surprise audiences with unseen horizons, defying-gravity stunts, and emotionally overwhelming narratives set against the backdrop of space. Apart from Allu Arjun’s starring role, the film boasts of a glamorous cast of heroines. Deepika Padukone, the always-elegant beauty, has been officially announced as one of the lady leads. Raising expectations further, Mrunal Thakur has also joined the team. It is rumored that the movie will have a total of five heroines, with names such as Janhvi Kapoor and upstart Bhagyashri Borse being rumored. With this vibrant combination of seasoned actors and new talents, the movie appears set to please fans from across languages and geographies. Indian film has tried big-budget productions before, but AA22xA6 has the potential to take it to a whole new level. The amount of creative liberty given to Atlee, the humongous VFX budget, the genre-bending idea, and pan-India star casting of Deepika Padukone and Allu Arjun make it a unique blend of artistic experimentation and mass entertainment. The parallels with international franchises are inevitable, but AA22xA6 appears to be forging its own destiny. It’s not just aiming to impress with grandeur but to tell a story that justifies every pixel of its special effects, a cinematic event rather than just a movie release. While AA22xA6 is still in production, Allu Arjun’s career is soaring. With Pushpa 2: The Rule being another blockbuster to his credit, the actor is also going to feature in the planned sequel Pushpa 3: The Rampage. Apart from this, trade rumors point towards a team-up with Salaar director Prashanth Neel for a film called Ravanam, which can be another landmark moment in Arjun’s legendary career. AA22xA6 is turning out to be far more than another high-budget action movie. It’s a bold move to bring Indian cinema from the fringes into the mainstream globally, an experiment with technology and narrative, and a tribute to India’s great talent both in front of and behind the camera. Although official word on some details is yet to come, there’s one thing certain. Indian cinema is poised on the brink of a cinematic revolution, and AA22xA6 could very well be the movie to trigger it. Stay tuned; the future looks visually spectacular.

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Cubana Chiefpriests Alleged Babymama, Hellen, Writes Him A Touching Fathers Day Note

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Worldnews

Trump Reiterates Iran Nuclear Talking Points Despite Swirling Questions

US president denies multiple reports and accounts that say US strikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities. United States President Donald Trump has reiterated a vow not to allow Iran to get nuclear weapons following the end of Iran and Israel’s recent 12-day conflict, in which the US militarily intervened, and has stuck closely to his narrative as questions remain about the impact of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. On the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump repeated his claim that Iran was “weeks away” from making the weapons before Israel attacked on June 13. Nine days later, the US targeted Iran’s top three nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Both US intelligence and the United Nations nuclear watchdog have ascertained that Tehran was not building a nuclear arsenal. Iran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. While Trump has said that the sites were “obliterated” by the US bombers, in the wake of the attacks, several major news organisations, citing intelligence sources, have reported that the US strikes did not destroy the facilities. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday that it was unclear what damage had been sustained at the Fordow plant, which houses the bulk of Iran’s most highly enriched uranium needed to make a nuclear weapon. On Sunday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran could restart uranium enrichment in a matter of months, while Trump insisted over the weekend that the attacks had set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back “by decades”. According to an IAEA report last month, Iran has more than 400kg (880lb) of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the roughly 90 per cent weapons grade – which is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons. Trump told Fox News that the news outlets questioning the efficacy of the attacks he ordered and lauded were spreading “fake news”. “It’s just horrible and I could see it happening, and they [news outlets] tried to build that into a story, but then it turned out, no, it was obliterated like nobody has ever seen before and that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions at least for a period of time,” Trump said. On whether or not Iran would restart its nuclear programme following the end of the conflict, Trump said, “The last thing they want to do right now is think about nuclear.” During the attack on the sites, reports emerged that Iran had removed the enriched uranium from Fordow, but Trump claimed that was false. “It’s a very hard thing to do, plus we didn’t give them much notice because they didn’t know we were coming until just then and nobody thought we would go after that site because everybody said that site was impenetrable… it’s at the bottom of a mountain and it’s granite,” he said. “[But] the bomb went through it like butter, like it was absolute butter,” he said. Separately, Trump told Fox that US trade talks with Canada would be stopped “until such time as they drop certain taxes” after Canada pushed ahead with a new digital services tax on foreign and domestic technology companies. Regarding a trade deal with China, Trump said that while Washington, DC has a large trade deficit with Beijing, the US was currently “getting along” with China. The president added that he had found a buyer for the social media platform TikTok, by a group of “very wealthy people”, who he will reveal in about two weeks after he extended a ban on the app for the third time, for another 90 days. Follow Al Jazeera English:...