Britain faces "the most dangerous" years since the end of the Cold War, with an "axis of authoritarian states" colluding against the West, Rishi Sunak has warned.

The UK and its allies must belatedly acknowledge the growing collusion among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, Rishi Sunak said during a speech yesterday.

MPs warned last month that the UK and other Western governments needed to devise a strategy to deal with this increasingly "coordinated and assertive axis", said the i news site – or face World War Three.

What are the Crink nations?
The acronym Crink (China-Russia-Iran-North Korea) was coined last year by Peter Van Praagh, president of the Halifax International Security forum in Washington, following the Hamas attacks in October.

It is "increasingly common" in the US to view the Crink countries as part of "one big narrative", said Adam Taylor in The Washington Post, yet they differ starkly in ideology. The coalition is better understood as a "marriage of convenience" – and desperation.

How are China, Russia and Iran working together?
The four countries provide weaponry and oil for each other to "evade sanctions imposed by the West", said the i news site. Experts say they are working "more closely together" in the background of conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa.

At the heart of this geopolitical maelstrom lies China's "increasingly assertive global posture". Its deepening relationship with Iran and Russia can be understood through the lens of its "burgeoning superpower rivalry" with the US.

What is North Korea's role? 
Perhaps the most unpredictable of the Crink nations, North Korea is taking advantage of the fragmenting international order to ramp up pressure on the US and South Korea.

Alongside its military development over the past few years, North Korea has been "chumming up to Russia and remaining on the right side of China", said The Times's Asia editor Richard Lloyd Parry. 

What is the Crink end goal? 
The target of the Crink coalition is not the overthrow of a "rules-based international order", said Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic, but rather of the "American-led world order" of the past 75 years. To achieve their goals, the major Crink players are "increasingly willing to use open violence" and to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.

With the line-up including Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" and the much-anticipated "Mad Max" sequel "Furiosa", the 77th Cannes Film Festival has been billed the "most mouth-watering in years" for cinephiles.

But off-screen, "darker plotlines abound, reflecting a backdrop of turmoil both in France and abroad", said France 24.

France's #MeToo moment
The sword of Damocles hovering over the run-up to Cannes 2024 has been the rumoured circulation of a "secret list" of alleged abusers in the French film industry, said The Guardian. The list has been "described as 'explosive'", and Cannes organisers have "set up a crisis management team" in case the names are published during the festival.

Festival organisers have attempted to tread the fine line of maintaining focus on the artistic programme without appearing to silence the conversation.

French actor Judith Godreche, who earlier this year accused two directors of raping her as a teenager, will be premiering her #MeToo-inspired short film "Moi Aussi" at Cannes. This year's jury is chaired by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig, and includes Eva Green, "one of the more prominent actors to have accused Harvey Weinstein of making inappropriate advances" said The Guardian.

Lights, camera, strike
"Labour unrest is also on the horizon," said Variety. A collective representing hundreds of festival employees is calling for strike action to protest upcoming changes to French labour laws "that will see their unemployment indemnities slashed by more than half".

At a pre-opening cocktail party for festival staff, attendees clapped and cheered the group's leader, while members of the collective distributed stickers and badges.

Cannes vs. Iran
This year's film line-up will include the premiere of "The Seeds of the Sacred Fig" by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof. He fled his home country for Europe last week after an appeals court upheld a verdict sentencing him to eight years in prison and flogging for "crimes against national security" related to his movies and documentaries.

Rasoulof's departure from Iran has "spurred speculation" that the director will attend the premiere in person, said France 24 – "potentially setting the stage for an unprecedented showdown with the Islamic Republic", which has exerted pressure on festival organisers to cancel the screening.

Holidaymakers are increasingly on the lookout for "alternatives to more obvious holiday hotspots", opting for "step-sibling" destinations that offer a similar experience, according to the latest British Airways Travel Trends Report.

A total of 31% of UK consumers said they would opt for "lesser-known alternative locations", as travellers become more mindful about their environmental impact, as well as looking for places that might offer better value.

Dubai, for example, welcomed over a million UK tourists last year, but has a neighbouring "smaller substitute", said The Sun. The northernmost emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, usually referred to as "RAK", often "flies under the radar when people think of the United Arab Emirates", but is a great – and cheaper – alternative to Dubai.

Another luxury travel favourite is the Maldives, where "a stilted, over-water hideaway is the first thing many people picture", said The Independent. There are other options for "over-water opulence", with stays offering the same sense of "serenity and luxury". The "pint-sized Belizean island" of Cayo Espanto has seven sea villas, while in the Banyan Tree Mayakoba Resort in Mexico's Playa del Carmen, the villas are set on "wildlife-filled waterways".

Closer to home, Europe has several destination doppelgangers for a "fraction of the price", said The Telegraph. Instead of "crowded favourites", head instead to "stunning secret seaside spots" in Eastern Europe, which can net serious savings. Among the recommendations are Albania's "very own 'Ionian Pearl'", the Ksamil Islands (pictured above) and the "mesmerising emerald pool" of Kravica Waterfalls in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Farewell Nadhim Zahawi, you won't be missed
Sam Leith in The Spectator
Nadhim Zahawi's "latest" resignation letter, says Sam Leith, was "one of the all-time classics of the genre: unctuous, preening and pretentious". Announcing his decision to quit as a Tory MP, the former chancellor even "showily quoted" Shakespeare, to demonstrate "what a classy fellow he is". Yet as he prepares for a new role as chair of the Barclay family's online retailer Very Group, the image evoked is of a "backstreet spiv opening his trenchcoat to offer passers-by" a selection of "hooky pocketwatches".

As Europe's power shrinks, its fear is growing – and the result is huge mistakes
Nathalie Tocci in The Guardian
In this "post-post-cold war era", the world has "changed direction", writes Nathalie Tocci, and the European Union "may not survive" unless it adapts. This realisation is "triggering deep anxiety in Europe, if not outright fear". But it is fear, about a Russian victory in Ukraine, and about migrants, Gaza and Donald Trump, that is shaping the bloc's "poor choices at home and abroad".

Fat people are costing us all billions. It's time to get tough
William Sitwell in The Telegraph
Obesity "hampers economic growth", because "obese workers are twice as likely to take time off sick", says William Sitwell. Which means "it's no longer just their problem", it's "our problem too, because it's our country and our economy". "We need to fix this", and the route is "through schools". Making "learning about food" as much a part of the school day "as a maths lesson" would be "the greatest social leveller of the 21st century".