Ukraine managed to wrangle some more favorable terms out of the United States before signing the long-awaited minerals deal on Wednesday.

The agreement on natural resources was finally struck late on Wednesday, after weeks of tense bargaining that at times turned sour and temporarily halted Washington’s aid to Ukraine.

Kyiv eventually convinced US President Donald Trump to drop some of his key demands but failed to make American security guarantees part of the agreement.

Ukrainian officials touted the final accord as an equal partnership between Kyiv and Washington – a notable shift from some of the earlier drafts which were described by Ukraine’s leader President Volodymyr Zelensky as the US asking him to “sell my country.”

What’s in the deal?

Aid: Crucially, the deal does not call for Kyiv to reimburse the US for the aid it has already received – a key concession from Trump who has long framed the agreement as Ukraine “paying back” the US.

Washington initially demanded a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid it has already provided to Kyiv. When Zelensky rejected that idea, Trump called him “a dictator.”

Instead, the agreement that was inked on Wednesday says that future American military assistance to Ukraine will count as part of the US investment into a joint reconstruction investment fund that will be used to pour money into Ukraine’s natural resources.

Natural resources: The deal gives the US preferential rights to mineral extraction in Ukraine and states that Kyiv will have the final say in what and where is being mined. Ukraine will also retain the ownership of the subsoil.

“All resources on our territory and in our territorial waters belong to Ukraine. It is the Ukrainian state that determines where and what to extract,” said Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who signed the deal on behalf her country.

And although Trump has referred to the agreement as a “rare earth” deal, the accord signed on Wednesday goes well beyond that by including other natural resources such as oil, natural gas, gold and copper.

The tone: In a win for Ukraine, the deal also adopts a strong language on the war with Russia itself. It points at Moscow as the aggressor in the conflict, diverging from some of Trump’s previous false statements about Ukraine and Zelensky being responsible for the war.

The deal also spells out the goal of the agreement as “a peaceful, sovereign and resilient Ukraine” – a notable step away from Trump saying earlier this year that, “Ukraine may be Russia some day.”

EU guarantees: It also keeps the door open for Ukraine’s potential future membership in the European Union, saying that investment needs to be made in accordance with Ukraine’s obligations as an EU candidate state. It adds that if Ukraine was to join the bloc in the future, this deal would be renegotiated “in good faith.”

A boost for the US: But the terms of the agreement also show the US has secured a host of advantages for itself.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized it as a “historic economic partnership,” saying in a statement that it “signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

It also says that if a conflict arises between the wording of the agreement and Ukraine’s law, the deal will have a legal precedent.

What is missing from the deal?

Security questions: Ukraine has dropped its key demand that the US provides security guarantees as part of this agreement. It was this demand that ultimately led to the shouty meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office in February.

Trump then refused to provide security guarantees, saying he wanted Ukraine to sign the agreement first and talk about guarantees later.

At the time, Zelensky refused, but Ukrainian officials have since indicated that they believe that US investment and the presence of American companies in Ukraine will make Washington more interested in Ukraine’s security.

Exclusive access for the US: While it ensures the US receives preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral riches, the deal doesn’t guarantee any exclusive rights.

Existing resources: The deal is limited to new projects, which means the US and Ukraine will have to invest in order to see profits. Existing mining operations that are already generating revenue for the Ukrainian government are excluded.

How does it play into the peace process?

The Ukrainian government has in the past made the argument that its mineral deposits are one of the reasons the West should support Ukraine – to prevent these strategically important resources from falling into Russian hands.

Experts agree with that idea. Liam Peach and Hamad Hussain, economists at Capital Economics, wrote in an analyst note on Thursday that the agreement “provides some reassurance that the Trump administration is not planning on abandoning Ukraine altogether” because it establishes US economic interests in Ukraine.

Why are the minerals so important?

Materials such as graphite, lithium, uranium and the 17 chemical elements known as rare earths are critical for economic growth and national security.

They are essential to the production of electronics, clean energy technology, including wind turbines, energy networks and electric vehicles, as well as some weapons systems.

China has long dominated the global production of rare earth minerals and other strategically important materials, leaving Western countries desperate for other alternative sources – including Ukraine.

The US largely depends on imports for the minerals it needs. Of the 50 minerals classed as critical, the US was entirely dependent on imports of 12 and more than 50% dependent on imports of a further 16, according to the United States Geological Survey, a government agency.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has deposits of 22 of these 50 critical materials, according to the Ukrainian government.

The country has some of the world’s largest deposits of graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium and uranium, all of which are classed by the US as critical minerals. Some of these reserves are in areas that are currently under Russian occupation.

State prosecutors in Thailand announced Thursday that they don’t intend to press charges against an American academic arrested for royal defamation, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The arrest last month of Paul Chambers, a political science lecturer at Naresuan University in the northern province of Phitsanulok, had drawn concern from the academic community, especially from Asian studies scholars around the world, as well as the US government

The decision not to prosecute the 58-year-old Oklahoma native doesn’t immediately clear him of the charge of insulting the monarchy— also known as “lèse majesté” — or a related charge of violating the Computer Crime Act, which covers online activities.

The announcement said that the Phitsanulok provincial prosecutor will request the provincial court to drop the charges and forward the case file and nonprosecution order to the commissioner of Provincial Police Region 6, covering Phitsanulok, who may review and contest the decision.

Chambers, a 58-year-old Oklahoma native with a doctorate in political science from Northern Illinois University, was arrested in early April on a complaint made by the northern regional office of the army’s Internal Security Operations Command.

He has studied the power and influence of the Thai military, which plays a major role in politics. It has staged 13 coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, most recently 11 years ago.

The army’s Internal Security Operations Command told a parliamentary inquiry that it filed the complaint based on a Facebook post that translated words from a website operated by ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, a think tank in Singapore, about a webinar on Thai politics that included Chambers as a participant.

Chambers’ supporters said that the blurb for the webinar, which was cited in his charge sheet as evidence, wasn’t written by him.

He had been jailed in April for two nights after reporting himself to the Phitsanulok police, and then granted release on bail, with several conditions, including wearing an ankle monitor. A court on Tuesday allowed him to take off the device.

Chambers’ visa was revoked at the time of his arrest on the basis of an immigration law barring entry to foreigners who are deemed likely to engage in activities contrary to public order or good morals, prostitution, people smuggling and drug trafficking. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the revocation will stand.

“This case reinforces our longstanding concerns about the use of lèse majesté laws in Thailand,” a US State Department statement said after Chambers’ arrest. ”We continue to urge Thai authorities to respect freedom of expression and to ensure that laws are not used to stifle permitted expression.”

Thailand’s lèse majesté law calls for three to 15 years imprisonment for anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir apparent or the regent. Critics say it’s among the harshest such laws anywhere and also has been used to punish critics of the government and the military.

The monarchy has long been considered a pillar of Thai society and criticizing it used to be strictly taboo. Conservative Thais, especially in the military and courts, still consider it untouchable.

However, public debate on the topic has grown louder in the past decade, particularly among young people, and student-led pro-democracy protests starting in 2020 began openly criticizing the institution.

That led to vigorous prosecutions under the previously little-used law. The legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has said that since early 2020, more than 270 people — many of them student activists — have been charged with violating the law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that defeating Israel’s enemies is more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

While the prime minister acknowledged that freeing the 59 remaining hostages is a “very important goal,” he described Israel’s fight against its enemies as the “supreme objective” of the war.

“We have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “That is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.”

Netanyahu’s remarks, which came on Israel’s Independence Day, mark the first time that the prime minister has explicitly described returning the hostages as a secondary goal of the war. He has previously described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel’s war in Gaza.

His comments drew a backlash from representatives of hostage families.

“Prime minister, the return of the hostages is not ‘less’ important – it is the supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “The families of the hostages are concerned.”

Netanyahu’s comments put him at odds with the majority of the Israeli public, which overwhelmingly supports a deal to release all the hostages and end the war in Gaza, according to recent opinion polls.

But it puts the prime minister in the company of Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who recently made similar comments.

“We need to tell the truth – bringing back the hostages is not the most important goal. It is, of course, a very, very, very, very important goal,” Smotrich said last week. “But anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another October 7 must understand that in Gaza, there can’t be a situation where Hamas remains present and intact.”

Members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition have been pushing the prime minister to continue fighting. Senior Israeli officials have warned for weeks that the military will intensify its operations in Gaza if there is no ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Israel says its bombardment of Gaza, coupled with a two-month total blockade, is an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in ceasefire negotiations. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and said it cannot continue to rule the enclave.

Pressure mounts on Netanyahu

This is the second time this week that Netanyahu has faced backlash from the families of hostages. On Monday, his wife Sara was overheard on a microphone saying that “fewer” than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza. The remark outraged families and prompted demands for clarity on what the government knows about their loved ones’ fate, as well as questions on why the prime minister’s wife has sensitive information about their loved ones that they do not.

“You sowed indescribable panic in the hearts of the families of the hostages – families already living in agonizing uncertainty,” the forum said in a statement. “If there is intelligence or new information regarding the condition of our loved ones, we demand full disclosure.”

Israel has publicly said in recent weeks that it believes up to 24 of the 59 remaining hostages are still alive. Sara Netanyahu’s claim appears to be an indication that the government may have information that some of the 24 hostages have died.

Pressure has also been mounting on Netanyahu from military reservists who have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to the war, with several public letters saying that the Gaza war mainly serves the political and personal interests of officials, not the country’s security interests.

Hip hop Irish trio Kneecap is being investigated by UK counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for politicians to be killed and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

It comes after the group, who are vocal critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, came under fire for their pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel messaging at the Coachella music festival last month.

The British police investigation follows widespread criticism of the band’s alleged comments, which led to several of their upcoming gigs being canceled. Some lawmakers are also calling for Glastonbury organizers to drop Kneecap from next month’s festival line-up.

Meanwhile, dozens of musicians and artists have signed an open letter supporting the group’s right to freedom of expression.

In recent days, footage has been circulating online that appears to show one of the group’s members shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” in November last year. Separately, video from November 2023 appeared to show one member of the group, who are from Northern Ireland, saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Tory is another word for Conservative, and MP is an abbreviation of Member of Parliament. In the past decade, two British MPs – Jo Cox and David Amess – have been murdered.

Kneecap has apologized to the families of Cox and Amess. It said it has never supported Hamas or Hezbollah and that the footage circulating online has been “deliberately taken out of all context” as part of a “smear campaign” following their criticism of Israel and the United States in regards to the war in Gaza.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement Thursday that it was aware of the footage and that counter-terrorism officers are investigating.

“Both videos were referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos,” the police statement said.

Backlash

Katie Amess, daughter of Conservative lawmaker David Amess, who was fatally stabbed in a 2021 attack while meeting with his constituents, has called Kneecap’s rhetoric “abhorrent.”

“(It) poses a direct threat to the safety and well-being of elected officials and the democratic institutions they represent,” she said in a statement provided to the PA Media news agency.

Amess commended the action taken by law enforcement and called for those who incite “violence and hatred” to be held accountable.

“As a society, we must stand united against all forms of extremism and ensure that our public spaces, including artistic and cultural venues, are not exploited to propagate messages of hate,” Amess said.

Both videos have been widely circulated online in wake of the band’s Coachella set, where they led the crowd to chant “Free Free Palestine,” criticized Israel’s campaign in Gaza – which has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to the ministry of health there – and also criticized US support for the war.

Brendan Cox, whose wife was stabbed and shot to death in 2016 by a far-right extremist while meeting with her constituents, told Sky News that the band’s apology was “not enough.”

“What’s clear (about the video) is that it wasn’t a joke, that it wasn’t out of context, that it was incitement to violence against members of parliament,” he said. Cox added that Kneecap’s comments “overstepped the mark in a frankly grotesque way,” putting them on the “wrong side of people who might agree with them” on issues, such as Gaza and Northern Ireland.

Since the videos emerged, a string of the band’s scheduled performances have been canceled.

The group said on X that it would not be performing at Hurricane or Southside Festival this year – two of Germany’s biggest music festivals – and announced three concerts in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne instead, which have since been canceled too.

Another concert scheduled to take place at the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England, has been canceled.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch told ITV News Wednesday she believes the band should be prosecuted for incitement. “There are people in jail for saying things that are not as bad as what Kneecap have said… they’ve been avoiding justice for far too long,” she told the broadcaster.

Band’s supporters

Others have come out in support of the group, with several artists signing an open letter calling out the “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” the band.

“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people,” read the letter, which was signed by musicians including Pulp, Paul Weller and Massive Attack.

“Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story,” wrote the band on X, echoing a separate statement of support from Massive Attack.

Kneecap’s manager, Daniel Lambert, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ Tuesday that the controversy “has nothing to do with Kneecap… it’s about telling the next young band… that you cannot speak about Palestine.”

A Gaza “freedom flotilla” says one of its vessels is on fire and has issued an SOS, after what it claimed was a drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters.

Acar said the ship had “sent out SOS calls to the surrounding countries, including Malta” and that a “small boat” from Southern Cyprus had been sent. She added she had been able to contact crew members after the SOS signal was sent out.

Video the coalition posted on its X account appeared to show a fire burning on a ship, as well as smoke. The sound of two loud explosions can also be heard in a separate video clip.

“Our vessel is 17 kilometers off the shores of Malta right now in international waters, and they have been subjected to a drone attack twice,” said Acar, adding that the generators at the front of the vessel were the apparent target.

“This boat, however, is not providing electricity that is needed on the vessel right now,” she said, saying the coalition was not able to contact the burning vessel.

“We have 30 international human rights activists on that vessel at this very moment on a vessel that is sinking,” said Acar.

The flotilla did not accuse any party of being behind the claimed drone attack.

Marine traffic websites list the ship Conscience as flying under Palau flag and show it was located off the eastern coast of Malta on Friday morning.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition describes itself on its website as an international network of pro-Palestinian activists working to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave by taking direct, non-violent action.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The hard-right party Reform UK led by Nigel Farage won a seat in Parliament by a handful of votes and looked set to make more gains in results Friday from local elections the party hopes will show it is a major player in British politics.

Reform’s Sarah Pochin was declared winner of the seat of Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by six votes after a recount, defeating Labour candidate Karen Shore.

Labour easily won the district in last year’s national election, but its lawmaker, Mike Amesbury, was forced to quit after he was convicted of punching a constituent in a drunken rage.

Although Reform’s victory was one of the narrowest in British history, Farage said “it’s a very, very big moment indeed” for politics.

The local elections Thursday in many areas of England were a test of feeling about Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left Labour government, 10 months after it was elected in a landslide. Both Labour and the main opposition Conservative Party braced for losses in the midterm poll.

The Runcorn victory gives Reform, which got about 14% of the vote in last year’s national election, five of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. National polls now suggest its support equals or surpasses that of Labour and the Conservatives, and it hopes to displace the Conservatives as the country’s main party on the right before the next national election, due by 2029.

Farage’s party was on course, with partial results in, to win the newly created mayoralty of the Greater Lincolnshire region of east-central England. Labour retained three other mayoralties.

Reform hopes to scoop up hundreds of municipal seats in the elections that are deciding 1,600 seats on 23 local councils, six mayoralties and one seat in Parliament. Ballots in most of those contests are being counted Friday.

A majority of the local seats being contested were held by the Conservatives, whose leader Kemi Badenoch could face revolt if the party does very badly.

Badenoch acknowledged that the results could be “very difficult” for the Tories. The party did extremely well when these areas were last contested in 2021, a time when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government enjoyed a surge in popularity due to the Covid-19 vaccine program.

Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the Conservatives and Reform are in “a fight for the soul of the right wing of UK politics.” He said Farage’s “populist radical right insurgency” also poses a threat to Labour, targeting working-class voters with pledges to curb immigration, create jobs and cut government waste.

The centrist Liberal Democrats also hope to build on their success in winning more affluent, socially liberal voters away from the Conservatives.

The United States is stepping up pressure on India and Pakistan to avoid conflict in Kashmir after a tourist massacre in an Indian-administered area of the divided territory last week.

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Washington hopes Pakistan will help hunt down the militants behind the attack, who are based in Pakistan-controlled territory.

And Vance urged India, which has accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, to act with restraint so tensions do not explode into a war between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

“Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they’re responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with.”

Vance’s comments echoed those of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Wednesday spoke with top Pakistani and Indian officials and called on the two rivals to work with each other to “de-escalate tensions,” according to State Department readouts of the two calls.

Rubio “expressed his sorrow for the lives lost in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism,” in his call with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

In his call with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Rubio “spoke of the need to condemn the terror attack on April 22,” and urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in the investigation.

“Both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence,” the readout said.

Fears of a broader conflict increased earlier this week when Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said his country had “credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours.”

That timeframe has now passed.

Militants on April 22 massacred 26 civilians, the vast majority tourists, in the mountainous town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, a rampage that has sparked widespread outrage.

India and Pakistan have since engaged in tit-for-tat hostilities.

India closed its airspace to commercial flights from Pakistan on Tuesday, matching Islamabad’s ban on flights from India, which was imposed last week in response to New Delhi’s cancelation of visas for Pakistani nationals and suspension of a key water sharing treaty.

This week, New Delhi and Islamabad have both been flexing their military might.

Two days earlier, India’s navy said it had carried out test missile strikes to “revalidate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems and crew for long range precision offensive strike.”

Tensions have also been simmering along the de facto border, the Line of Control, in Kashmir, and gunfire was exchanged along the disputed border for seven straight nights.

A history of conflict

Kashmir, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, is controlled in part by India and Pakistan but both countries claim it in its entirety.

The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that has been divided since their independence from Britain nearly 80 years ago.

India conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan in 2019 following a major insurgent attack on paramilitary personnel inside Indian-administered Kashmir. It was the first such incursion into Pakistan’s territory since a 1971 war between the two neighbors.

The latest attack on tourists in Kashmir has sparked fears that India might respond in a similar way.

Conditions may be ripe for greater conflict now than was seen in 2019, according to Steven Honig and Natalie Caloca, researchers at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Writing on the CFR website, the two said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “made the transformation and stabilization of Kashmir a central pillar of his legacy”

They said Modi was hurt politically by the 2019 attacks inside Indian-administer Kashmir and will likely feel pressure to be more assertive with New Delhi’s response this time.

Military numbers favor India

Both countries are heavily armed, though in any conventional conflict, India holds a large advantage.

The Indian defense budget is more than nine times Pakistan’s, according to the “Military Balance 2025” from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

That budget supports an active-duty Indian force of almost 1.5 million personnel, compared to just 660,000 for Pakistan.

On the ground, India’s 1.2 million force army has 3,750 main battle tanks and more than 10,000 artillery pieces, while Pakistan’s tank force is only two-thirds of India’s and Islamabad has fewer than half of the artillery pieces in New Delhi’s arsenal.

At sea, the Indian navy’s advantage is overwhelming. It has two aircraft carriers, 12 guided-missile destroyers, 11 guided-missile frigates and 16 attack submarines.

Pakistan has no carriers and no guided-missile destroyers, with 11 smaller guided-missile frigates being the backbone of its naval fleet. It also has only half the number of subs that India fields.

Both air forces rely heavily on older Soviet-era aircraft, including MiG-21s in India and the Chinese equivalent – the J-7 – in Pakistan.

While overall numbers of air-to-air fighter jets and ground-attack aircraft sway heavily in India’s favor, both militaries have been making recent efforts to update their air forces with modern fourth-generation aircraft.

India has been investing in multirole French-made Rafale jets, with 36 now in service, according to the Military Balance.

Pakistan has been adding Chinese J-10 multirole jets, with more than 20 now in its fleet.

Though Pakistan still has dozens of US-made F-16 fighters, the backbone of its fleet has become the JF-17, a joint project with China that came online in the early 2000s. About 150 are in service.

Despite acquiring the Rafales from France, Russian-made aircraft still play a significant role in India’s air fleet. More than 100 MiG-29 fighters are in service with the air force and navy combined. And more than 260 Su-30 ground attack jets bolster India’s force.

The rivals are closer in capabilities when it comes to nuclear forces – with around five dozen surface-to-surface launchers each – though India has longer range ballistic missiles than Pakistan.

India also has two nuclear-capable submarines while Pakistan has none.

Mo Abudu has a vision for Africa’s creative economy, and the next stage will start in an old lecture hall in South London. The Nigerian media mogul plans to turn the building into a hub for Nigerian food, culture and cinema.

Abudu first found fame in 2006 as the host of the Nigerian talk show “Moments with Mo,” before starting pan-African network EbonyLife TV in 2013, and EbonyLife Films in 2014. In 2019, she launched EbonyLife Place in Lagos, Nigeria, the twin of her new cultural hub, EbonyLife Place London.

Setting up in London was an obvious step for Abudu, who was born there and moved to Nigeria when she was seven to live with her grandmother. Her father died when she was 11, and she returned to the UK, moving back to Nigeria when she was 30.

Abudu had a successful career in HR, but, as she entered her fifth decade, she realized she wanted something different. “I woke up at age 40 and I said, ‘I’m done,’” recalled Abudu.

Her friends thought she was having a midlife crisis, but Abudu says that she had just been too scared to switch careers earlier. The fear is still with her now with her London venture, she says, but her attitude has changed.

“You may be scared and afraid of doing it, but you’re going to have to just be bold and do it anyway.”

A film fund for African storytellers

Now, Abudu sees opportunity for Nigerian films in the UK – but only if they are given the right opportunities.

“Our films are traveling across the continent but they’re not really traveling to the UK for theatrical releases simply because we don’t have the cinemas here that are ready to take those films on,” Abudu said.

She is intent on making African cinema a business that can deliver returns, and says capacity building is central to that vision. Abudu developed the $50 million Afro Film Fund alongside actor Idris Elba. It will open at the end of 2025 and Abudu believes it can fill some of the gaps in the African creative economy, part of her vision of “completing the value chain” of African cinema.

“We’re training, you’re getting funding, your film is getting distributed, you’re monetizing,” she said.

Monetization is the ultimate aim in Abudu’s development of the media ecosystem. “If we don’t build it, we can’t scale the industry,” she said. “If we can’t scale the industry, we can’t monetize.”

Abudu turned 60 last year and, by all measures, seems to be only speeding up. By the end of this year EbonyLife Place London, the streaming platform EbonyLife ON, and the Afro Film Fund will all have launched. She was named as one of TIME’s 100 most influential people this year.

Elba, who worked with Abudu worked on the short film “Dust to Dreams” and is currently developing a feature film with her, penned her biography for TIME, writing: “She wastes no time. She has an infectious, can-do attitude and the tenacity to overcome any obstacle in her way.”

Despite her focus on the business of media, Abudu believes deeply in the need for more African representation in films and television outside of the continent. “It is time for us to wake up and realize that we need to push out,” she said.

“We have to tell our own stories,” she added. “We have that responsibility to tell them and, as we tell them, they must travel.”

British comedian and actor Russell Brand arrived at court on Friday after he was charged last month with rape and sexual assault.

London’s Metropolitan Police charged Brand, 49, with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, and one count of oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault. The charges relate to four separate women.

The alleged incidents took place between 1999 and 2005. He has denied the allegations.

The hearing will take place at Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London.

The Metropolitan Police described Brand as living in southern England when announcing the charges in April. However British news agency PA Media has reported that he is now understood to live in the United States.

Detectives began investigating the comedian, who more recently has repositioned himself as a social commentator, in September 2023 after receiving allegations following a joint investigation led by three British media outlets – The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s “Dispatches.”

According to the Metropolitan Police, it is alleged that one woman was raped in 1999 in Bournemouth, southern England; one woman was indecently assaulted in London’s Westminster area in 2001; a woman was orally raped and sexually assaulted in Westminster in 2004; and a woman was sexually assaulted between 2004 and 2005, also in Westminster.

Brand has appeared in numerous Hollywood films and hosted radio and TV shows in the UK. He was married to US pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.