Author: BBC

A Paris court has acquitted director Roman Polanski of defaming a British actor who accused him of raping her when she was a teenager. In 2019, he told Paris Match magazine that Charlotte Lewis had lied about being sexually assaulted by him four decades ago.Ms Lewis, 56, brought the case against the 90-year-old filmmaker.She told the court in March that she had become the victim of a “smear campaign” that “nearly destroyed” her.Ms Lewis told the BBC she will appeal the decision.The court’s verdict relates to the charge of defamation and not to Ms Lewis’s accusation of rape against Mr…

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Two Native American tribes in South Dakota have barred its governor, Kristi Noem, from their land as she doubles down on derogatory commentary against tribal leaders and reservation life.The latest bans add to existing exclusions from four other reservations this year. Ms Noem is now banned from nearly one-fifth of state territory.It comes after the Republican cut short a disastrous national media book tour.Ms Noem was once a frontrunner to be Donald Trump’s running mate this year.Less than three months ago, she topped a poll of candidates to run as vice-president for the November election. However, a crop of recent…

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White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that the US still believed “it would be a mistake to launch a major military operation into the heart of Rafah that would put huge numbers of civilians at risk without a clear strategic gain”. “We are still working with Israel on a better way to ensure the defeat of Hamas everywhere in Gaza, including in Rafah,” he added.Qatar’s prime minister meanwhile warned on Tuesday that the Rafah operation had “sent backward” his country and Egypt’s efforts to broker a new ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.”Especially…

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Georgia’s parliament has voted through a divisive “foreign agent” law that has sparked weeks of mass street protests.However, the bill now faces a likely veto by Georgia’s president, which parliament can override by holding an additional vote.Critics previously said the bill – which they call the “Russia law” – could be used to threaten civil liberties. Thousands of people were gathered near the parliament to protest the decision.On Monday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that if authorities backed down at the bill’s third reading, Georgia would lose sovereignty and “easily share the fate of Ukraine”, without detailing what he meant.Thousands…

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