The few dozen demonstrators strode through the US Senate halls, taking their angry message door to door — part of growing grassroots protests against sweeping cuts to the government workforce led by billionaire Elon Musk. Trailed by security personnel warning them not to block the busy halls, the federal workers filed into the offices of multiple Republican senators, including majority leader John Thune, to voice their distress.”The goal is to make ourselves heard,” said Steve, 33, who like many federal workers and contractors unsure about their futures, asked not to use his whole name for fear of reprisal.”We brought up examples of how people are directly impacted by the dismantling of agencies,” Steve said.Musk’s unprecedented onslaught against the US civil service in the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second administration has upended entire agencies, leaving career government workers confused and bitter.”Everybody is feeling the pain,” Steve said. Some of the senators seemed “receptive” at first, but when asked what they’d do to help, “it’s crickets.”Trump’s shock-and-awe approach, backed by an avalanche of executive orders seeking to put his hard-right stamp on every facet of government, has not seen anything like the kind of mass public protests seen at the start of his first term in 2017. But resistance is emerging among current and former federal worker, who are responding with demonstrations, media campaigns, high-profile resignations and lawsuits.”It’s very grassroots,” said Vera Zlidar, a furloughed contractor for the USAID agency, which has been gutted in Musk’s campaign.”The work that we do touches so many facets of people’s lives,” she said. Social media pages, message boards and websites have proliferated with thousands of followers, aimed at mobilizing resistance, as well as sharing how the cuts will impact everyday Americans.The Senate protests vary in size but have turned into a daily event.”We have to save ourselves,” said one federal worker and protest organizer, again asking not to be identified.- Resignations  -Some federal workers have protested by resigning.This week, roughly a third of technology staffers at Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) quit, saying that they would not work in a way that puts the country at risk.Before the approximately 20 staffers left DOGE, federal employees had created a website called “We Are the Builders” to share stories of the impact of DOGE actions, arguing that it was crippling agencies’ abilities to provide crucial services. Part of the group’s logo is a spoon — a symbol now used by federal workers to protest Musk’s cuts, referencing an email from the tech entrepreneur’s team titled “Fork in the Road,” in which government employees were given an offer to leave with eight months’ pay or risk being fired in future.US media reported instances of federal workers flooding work message groups with spoon emojis to troll Musk lieutenants or adding the cutlery symbol to their work online profiles.  Dozens of lawsuits have also sprouted against Musk’s threats or demands, with mixed results. The largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), has vowed to challenge and unlawful terminations, calling Musk “unhinged.” – ‘Superpower’ -Republican congress members, who control both the House and the Senate, are unanimously loyal to Trump. However, tension over Musk’s rampage is growing in areas of the party.And a February Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed dislike of Musk’s approach to shrinking the federal work force.But Musk and the White House have been unmoved. The richest person on Earth has posted a slew of messages on his X platform disparaging federal works and sharing polls by his own America PAC — a political action committee he founded to support Trump — saying DOGE “is one of the most popular parts” of the president’s agenda.The protester organizer said pressure is bound to grow as more agencies come under Musk’s knife and thousands of out-of-work civil servants find themselves ejected.”Free time is their superpower,” the organizer said.

Take New York’s B train south to the end of the line and you’ll step into the post-Soviet enclave Brighton Beach, whose charms include vodka-soaked nightlife and a local uniform of fur and tracksuits.Transfer to the Q for a few more stops and you’re in Coney Island, Brighton Beach’s carnivalesque cousin with a 100-year-old wooden roller coaster and colorful boardwalk that forms the people’s playground.The eccentric, oceanside South Brooklyn neighborhoods play starring roles in the modern Cinderella romp “Anora” — an indie film that is tipped for success at the Oscars on Sunday.The movie showcases areas that feature less often on the lengthy filmography of a city well-accustomed to close-ups.Brighton Beach and Coney Island backdrop the chaotic overnight search for Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), a Russian oligarch’s son who flees his father’s blundering Eastern European henchmen after his whirlwind marriage to the film’s titular sex worker (Mikey Madison).Anora, nicknamed Ani, lives under the rumbling elevated train that snakes into Brighton Beach, which since the mid-1970s has been a haven to immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus.It’s a community where pelmeni and vareniki dumplings are menu standards, and savvy shoppers can scoop caviar for a steal.Director Sean Baker “really wanted to sort of uncover this microcosm of a world that still exists there… this neighborhood of people that speaks a certain language and has a certain culture that they preserved,” the film’s locations manager Ross Brodar told AFP.”There’s so much gentrification in the city,” the native New Yorker continued, but in “this enclave, you still have, like, heavy-duty Russians.””You can get a bowl of borscht and you feel like you could be in Moscow,” said Brodar, who also has a small role in the film as a security guard. “I think that’s what everyone loves about it.”- ‘Love letter’ -Part of Brighton Beach’s charisma stems from its aura of grumpiness — residents tolerate outsiders, but earning the trust to shoot a film is no small feat.To secure locations, Brodar worked with a Russian-speaking fixer to forge relationships with local business owners.He said he wanted to show them “I wasn’t trying to exploit the situation, I was trying to bring something to it.””One of my big tag lines was, ‘This is a love letter to Brighton Beach.'”It helped that Yura Borisov, a major Russian movie star, was among the cast members — when locals recognized him on board, the project gained street cred, Brodar said.That didn’t mean everything always went smoothly, especially as many of the scenes included not extras but real people going about their daily business.Brodar described one night shooting a scene at the boardwalk classic Tatiana Grill, during the hunt for Ivan — and the patience of diners began to wear thin as the film takes dragged on.”One guy literally was like, ‘If you don’t get out of here, I’m going to stab one of you’,” Brodar said.- ‘Authentic’ -Just over the border of Brighton Beach in Coney Island stands a billboard from the film’s team thanking the community for allowing them in.A stone’s throw away sits William’s Candy, a more than 80-year-old shop whose windows entice shoppers with cotton candy and just about every treat imaginable coated in chocolate.The colorful store appears in the film, including in an infamous scene where Borisov’s character Igor smashes it up, sending gumballs flying.Billy O’Brien, 74, plays the shop’s manager: Baker recruited the native Coney Islander — who works out back as a parking attendant, and also helps out at the store — to play the part.”I was just hanging out. They were like, ‘Want to be in the movie?’ and I was like, fine,” O’Brien told AFP. “Everybody had a good time doin’ it.”He’s become one of the film’s beloved characters, but still hasn’t seen it: “Why would I want to see myself?” he laughed. “I know what I look like.”The shop’s real-life manager, Peter Agrapides, said Baker’s decision to cast O’Brien, thick accent and all, helps make the film feel “authentic.””Billy is a Coney Island person. All his life he’s lived here. He’s worked on the rides,” Agrapides said. “They focused on the neighborhood — it’s good for Brooklyn.”Agrapides never imagined, though, that his shop would appear in an Oscar-nominated film.”Anora” has already won the Cannes festival’s Palme d’Or and a smattering of prizes from Hollywood’s directors, producers, writers and critics.The film achieved a level of global success Brodar hadn’t envisioned either, although “I knew it was special,” he said. “The cast was so unique, and it was funny as hell.””There was a lot of love that went into making that movie.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Donald Trump on Thursday to plead for a US backstop to any Ukraine ceasefire, insisting it would be the only way to stop Russia’s Vladimir Putin from invading again.Starmer arrived in Washington late Wednesday to build on a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, amid growing concerns in Europe that the US leader is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Putin.London and Paris are spearheading proposals to send a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine if Trump’s shock decision to pursue talks with Russia’s president brings a deal to end the war.But they are calling for US security guarantees in return, amid spiraling concerns in Europe that Trump is taking Russia’s side and will sever the decades-old transatlantic alliance.”The security guarantee has to be sufficient to deter Putin,” Starmer told reporters on the plane to Washington.”If there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give him the opportunity to wait and to come again, because his ambition in relation to Ukraine is pretty obvious.” The Europeans are seeking possible US contributions like air cover, intelligence and logistics to support any troops sent to monitor a ceasefire.The Oval Office meeting promises to be a clash of styles between the mild-mannered Labour leader, a former human rights lawyer, and the brash Republican tycoon.Starmer, who will also hold a joint press conference with the US president, has pitched himself as a “bridge” between Trump and Europe on Ukraine.The British premier also comes bearing a gift for Trump.His announcement Tuesday that UK defense spending will rise to 2.5 percent by 2027 was particularly aimed at the American leader, who has regularly badgered European countries to pay more towards NATO.- ‘Nice guy’ -Starmer will meanwhile be hoping to avoid sweeping tariffs that Trump has promised to slap on the European Union.But like Macron on Monday, he will have his work cut out to persuade Trump on Ukraine.Last week Trump called Starmer a “very nice guy” — but complained that he and Macron had done “nothing” to end the war in Ukraine.The US president stunned allies when he began negotiations with Russia, without including Ukraine or its European allies.Concerns deepened when Trump attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” and echoed Moscow talking points blaming Kyiv for Russia’s February 2022 invasion.Despite that, there have been growing signs of movement on a deal to end more than three years of bloody fighting.Zelensky is due at the White House on Friday to sign a deal giving Washington access to Ukraine’s rare minerals, which Trump has demanded as payback for US military aid.The Ukrainian president is hoping the deal will provide a guarantee of future US support.Starmer is then hosting Zelensky, Macron and other European leaders in Britain on Sunday as momentum grows.With Britain and France proposing peacekeepers, the shape of a possible deal has begun to emerge — but now it will be up to Moscow and Washington to seal it.Trump has appeared cool on US support for any backstop.”I hope we have that problem where we can worry about peacekeeping. We’ve got to get there first,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

Panama’s attorney general said Wednesday that concession granted to a Hong Kong-based firm to operate ports on either end of the Panama Canal should be scrapped for being “unconstitutional.”The contract held by CK Hutchison Holdings, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has been at the root of US President Donald Trump’s concerns for Chinese influence over the waterway.The Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, manages two of the canal’s five ports, an arrangement in place since 1997 via a concession from the Panama government. Last week, Panama’s Supreme Court agreed to consider a request filed by a lawyer to nullify the contract — the second such challenge before it.On Wednesday, Attorney General Luis Carlos Gomez filed a submission in support of the suits and asking the court to find the contract “unconstitutional” for “improperly agreeing to transfer exclusive rights of the Panamanian State.”Panama Ports Company manages the ports of Cristobal on the canal’s Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side. The arrangement was renewed in 2021 for 25 years.The plaintiffs in the case argue that the company benefited from undue tax breaks and other benefits.The legal challenge came after Trump threatened to take back the canal — built by the United States and handed over to Panama in 1999 — claiming China was effectively “operating” the vital waterway. Following Trump’s charges, Panama also announced it would audit the Panama Ports Company. CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.