A flurry of diplomacy has eased tensions, officials said, after an incident risked triggering a wider war.

© Hadi Mizban/Associated Press

The visits by the leaders of Israel and Ukraine underscored just how deeply President Trump was enmeshed in conflicts he had promised — and failed — to end quickly.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Elsewhere, Hungary’s chief prosecutor resigns amid mounting pressure from new government; President Nawrocki vetoes civil partnerships in Poland; political rift deepens as Czech president overrules government’s budget amendment.

A scholar has an existential crisis while researching the life of a composer in the Russian director’s Italy-set 1983 masterwork

Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 film is a mysterious, imagist cine-poem about alienation and belonging, whose title means a yearning not simply for a lost time or lost place but for something, anything, else – with a profound anguished sense that the here-and-now of existence is unsatisfactory.

The movie takes something from the poetry of the director’s father Arseny Tarkovsky, which is quoted in the film. A distinguished Russian scholar is in Italy to research the life of the (fictional) Russian composer Pavel Sosnovsky who is supposed to have travelled there before being overwhelmed by homesick longing and returning to the motherland. His beautiful, flirtatious interpreter is reading Tarkovsky’s poetry in an Italian translation, and the Russian coldly tells her to throw the book away: “Poetry is untranslatable, like the whole of art.” Does he really mean that? This movie is itself, in a way, translated; it is set in Italy and co-written by Tarkovsky with the veteran Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, who worked with Fellini and Antonioni. (Like Jean-Claude Carrière, Guerra, who died in 2012, was a prolific collaborator in European cinema.)

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© Photograph: courtesy of Curzon Film

© Photograph: courtesy of Curzon Film

© Photograph: courtesy of Curzon Film

Intelligence documents that the White House released to back up President Trump’s claims about China highlight Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Elsewhere, Russia’s FSB links alleged Moscow drone plot to Slovakia; leader of Czech coalition party Motorists under fire after Prague car crash; Poland not among founding members of new European coalition to develop ballistic missile defence.

A group of 12 states sued Paramount Skydance Corp. Monday seeking to block its $110 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., alleging the blockbuster Hollywood deal would leave viewers with higher prices and fewer choices for movies and television.  Jennifer Rie, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Litigation Analyst for Antitrust joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. (Source: Bloomberg)

The South Carolina Republican was Ukraine’s most influential champion inside President Trump’s mostly “America First” political orbit.

© Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press

In an interview on Sunday, President Trump recounted his last conversation with Senator Lindsey Graham, hours before his death. Mr. Graham sounded “perfect,” he said.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Merger stokes fears over job cuts, US influence and possible BBC and Channel 4 tie-up to take on Netflix and YouTube

Only five years ago a bullish ITV was riding high, trumpeting the biggest annual advertising haul in its history, as the broadcaster pledged to become a national champion in the battle against the US streamers.

Now its chief executive, Carolyn McCall, has raised the white flag, arguing that a cut-price sale of its TV and streaming business to Sky is the only route to survival as deep-pocketed companies such as Netflix and YouTube hoover up audiences and commercial revenues.

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© Photograph: ITV/Shutterstock

© Photograph: ITV/Shutterstock

© Photograph: ITV/Shutterstock

Elsewhere, Slovakia's referendum fails over low turnout, Hungary heads for a presidential showdown, and Czechia’s double delegation to the NATO summit sparks controversy.

Oregon’s attorney general is seeking a court order for Paramount Skydance Corp. to hand over documents related to lobbying for its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and to delay closing the deal for 60 days while the state continues its antitrust probe.

Oregon’s attorney general is seeking a court order for Paramount Skydance Corp. to hand over documents related to lobbying for its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and to delay closing the deal for 60 days while the state continues its antitrust probe.

Reform UK leader confronts journalist after question about gifts from friend and convicted fraudster

• UK politics live – latest updates

Nigel Farage has said Sky News bosses face “serious consequences” in an outburst triggered by questions over fresh revelations about his finances.

The Reform UK leader has faced renewed scrutiny after the Sunday Times revealed he had received funding from his longtime ally, the convicted fraudster George Cottrell.

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© Photograph: Sky News

© Photograph: Sky News

© Photograph: Sky News

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are pivotal players at a moment when the posts of U.S. ambassador to Moscow and Kyiv are both vacant.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

Banks have lined up enough investor demand to cover most of the roughly $49 billion debt package backing Paramount Skydance Corp.’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. — long before launching the deal.

Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. could face an intervention from the UK government after the country’s culture and media secretary raised concerns over the diversity of media ownership.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said he’s waiting for a joint federal committee called “Team Telecom” to weigh in on Paramount Skydance Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. before his agency makes its own decision on the deal’s financing.

Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is on track for European Union approval, with the buyer prepared to allay concerns over film distribution flagged by the bloc’s competition chief Teresa Ribera.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the Trump administration for clearing Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., as several states mull a possible challenge to the deal.