
'Dracula': Luc Besson's visual bloodbath filled with clichés and problematic female characters
These were compounded by several allegations of sexual assault, and a rape accusation that in 2023 resulted in the case being dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Although Dogman (2023) was meant to mark the start of "a new chapter," it was a resounding failure (with a budget of €20 million and fewer than 300,000 viewers). So another rebirth was needed. Enter Dracula: the story of this eternally melancholic vampire, wounded but unshakable, which inevitably takes on the quality of a self-portrait.

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Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
US grand jury to settle Trump-Russia probe over election meddling
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the justice department to investigate allegations that political opponents of President Donald Trump manufactured intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Bondi has directed a prosecutor to submit evidence to a grand jury after referrals from the Trump administration's top intelligence official. The grand jury will consist of members of the public who will ultimately decide whether formal charges will be filed. While it is not yet clear who exactly might be the target of any grand jury activity, and what the charges would be, sources familiar with the matter told US media outlets that the allegations pertain to members of former President Barack Obama's administration. The development is likely to exacerbate concerns that the justice department is being used to achieve political ends given Trump's longstanding frustration over the investigation into Russian election interference. It has emerged at a time when the Trump administration is facing growing criticism over its handling of documents from the sex trafficking probe into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The initial, years-old investigation into Russian election interference resulted in the appointment of a special counsel, Robert Mueller, who secured multiple convictions against Trump aides and allies but did not establish proof of a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign. The inquiry shadowed much of Trump's first term in office and he has long focused his anger on senior intelligence and law enforcement officials, including ex-FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired in May 2017, and former CIA Director John Brennan. The justice department appeared to confirm an investigation into both men in an unusual statement last month but offered no details. Obama dismisses 'treason' claim Multiple special counsels, congressional committees and the justice department's own inspector general have documented a multi-pronged effort by Russia to interfere in the 2016 election on Trump's behalf. This included a hack-and-leak dump of Democratic emails and a covert social media operation aimed at swaying public opinion. Moscow has long denied attempting to interfere in US elections. The issue has come to the fore again in recent weeks with the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and other Trump allies releasing previously classified records that they hope will cast doubt on the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and prove an attempt by the Obama administration to falsely connect Trump to Russia. Gabbard last month accused Obama and his national security team of a "years-long coup and treasonous conspiracy against the American people", claiming that they had fabricated intelligence to taint Trump's election win in 2016. Shortly afterwards, the justice department announced the creation of a strike force to assess Gabbard's claims about "alleged weaponisation of the US intelligence community". Trump seized on Gabbard's comments and accused Obama of "treason." In response, a spokesperson for Obama said late last month that "these bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
LeMonde
7 hours ago
- LeMonde
The only solution for Gaza and the hostages? International pressure
New unbearable footage has been added to the months-long account of the ordeal Palestinians in Gaza have suffered. This time, the videos, released by Hamas on July 31, show two Israeli hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski. Ever since they were abducted on October 7, 2023, the two hostages have been held captive in the maze of tunnels the Islamist militia organization built to shield itself from bombardment, regardless of the cost to civilians. These latest shocking and obscene displays of the war crime that is hostage-taking follow similar images that appeared during hostage releases in January and February, which were made possible by a ceasefire at the time. They confirm that Hamas has been completely discredited since committing the barbaric attack 22 months ago, and can no longer claim to play any role in Gaza once the guns finally fall silent. The footage also serves as a reminder that, by itself, war cannot achieve the result sought by the ruling coalition in Israel: the total and definitive eradication of Hamas. Such an outcome can only be reached by opening up a political process that will delegitimize the group's bloody extremism – a fanaticism echoed by Israel's far right, notably when it contemplates ethnically cleansing the narrow strip of land, before, surely, doing the same to whole parts of the occupied West Bank. This outcome is precisely what more than 500 Israeli former senior security officials have advocated. In a statement titled "Stop the Gaza War!" published on August 4, they argued that Israel's main war goals have already been met and that the last remaining objective, freeing the remaining hostages, can "only be achieved through a deal." The end of the conflict also means ending the instrumentalization of famine against the Palestinians in Gaza, a famine of which the hostages are also victims. It would require the resumption of aid operations entrusted to United Nations agencies that have proven their competence, unlike the current improvised Israeli-American humanitarian organization, which has had a disastrous track record. Boosted by their prestige, the former senior officials did not address their appeal to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but to the president of the United States, Donald Trump. They confirmed that nothing can be expected from Israel's coalition government, which unilaterally ended the painstakingly negotiated cease-fire in January. They also said that pressure, when applied by Israel's powerful American ally, is the only way to force Netanyahu to yield. Their strong message, accompanied by a video in which a former director of Israel's security services stated that the Gaza war "stopped being a just war" and "is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity," deserves to be heard. When these figures call for the establishment of a "regional-international coalition that helps the Palestinian Authority (once reformed) to offer Gazans and all Palestinians an alternative to Hamas," they are, in their own way, supporting the joint initiative launched by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving the two-state solution. No one can be satisfied with a ceasefire that offers no diplomatic prospects. Internationalizing the Israel-Palestine conflict by mobilizing a coalition of the willing is now a necessity.

LeMonde
13 hours ago
- LeMonde
US Attorney General moves forward on Justice Department investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed that the Justice Department move forward with a probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation following the recent release of documents aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the inquiry that established that Moscow interfered on the Republican's behalf in the 2016 US presidential election. Bondi has directed a prosecutor to present evidence to a grand jury after referrals from the Trump administration's top intelligence official, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday, August 4. It was not clear which former officials might be the target of any grand jury activity, where the grand jury that might ultimately hear evidence will be located or which prosecutors − whether career employees or political appointees − might be involved in pursuing the investigation. It was also not clear what precise claims of misconduct Trump administration officials believe could form the basis of criminal charges, which a grand jury would have to sign off on for an indictment to be issued. The development is likely to heighten concerns that the Justice Department is being used to achieve political ends given longstanding grievances over the Russia investigation voiced by President Donald Trump, who has called for the jailing of perceived political adversaries, and because any criminal investigation would revisit one of the most dissected chapters of modern American political history. It is also surfacing at a time when the Trump administration is being buffeted by criticism over its handling of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. The initial, years-old investigation into Russian election interference resulted in the appointment of a special counsel, Robert Mueller, who secured multiple convictions against Trump aides and allies but did not establish proof of a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign. Multiple special counsels, congressional committees and the Justice Department's own inspector general have studied and documented a multi-pronged effort by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election on Trump's behalf, including through a hack-and-leak dump of Democratic emails and a covert social media operation aimed at sowing discord and swaying public opinion. But that conclusion has been aggressively challenged in recent weeks as Trump's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and other allies have released previously classified records that they hope will cast doubt on the extent of Russian interference and establish an Obama administration effort to falsely link Trump to Russia. In one batch of documents released last month, Gabbard disclosed emails showing that senior Obama administration officials were aware in 2016 that Russians had not hacked state election systems to manipulate the votes in Trump's favor. But President Barack Obama's administration never alleged that votes were tampered with and had instead detailed other forms of election interference and foreign influence.