British teenager behind GTA 6 hack receives indefinite hospital order (www.theguardian.com)
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in recent history, experts say (apnews.com)
Japan to test technology to destroy asteroid set to collide with Earth (www.scmp.com)
Hong Kong holds 'patriots only' local elections after shutting out opposition (www.france24.com)
Putin betrayed us, say wives and mothers of Russian soldiers (www.telegraph.co.uk)
North Korea says its new spy satellite photographed White House, Pentagon (www.reuters.com)
After decades of satellite surveillance by foreign governments and analysts, North Korea has sent its first spy satellite on a global orbit with a message to the world: we can watch you too.
South Korea: Man gets 14-month jail term for praising North in poem (www.bbc.com)
Ethiopian Airlines is buying the plane model that killed 346 people (qz.com)
The airline plans to purchase 41 more Boeing 737-8 Max planes...
Macron calls on Israel to stop killing Gaza's women and babies (www.bbc.com)
New Zealand shifts right as voters punish ruling party (www.cnn.com)
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has conceded his Labour party lost Saturday’s election, as voters punished the government and took the country rightwards nine months after his predecessor Jacinda Ardern suddenly resigned....
After years of brutal repression, China's Communist Party tries to turn Xinjiang into a tourism hotspot (www.abc.net.au)
Trade between Russia and China is booming so much that shipping containers are ‘piling up’ (www.cnn.com)
Shipping containers from China are “piling up” in Russia amid a surge of Chinese goods flowing into the country as trade soars, a new analysis has found....
Nearly five decades after the fall of Saigon, U.S. will help Vietnam boost its military capabilities (www.cnbc.com)
Young Women in Afghanistan on the Taliban: "Your Arrival Transformed My Dreams into Nightmares" (www.spiegel.de)
The lives of Kobra, Najia, Madina, Sonya and Zahra looked as though they were just getting started two years ago. When the Taliban captured the Afghan capital of Kabul, they were about to finish school, working towards a university degree or beginning a career. Suddenly, though, their lives changed dramatically....
JD Vance pick adds to European fears over Trump presidency (www.bbc.com)
European politicians and diplomats had already prepared for changes to their relationship with the US in the event of a second Donald Trump presidency....
Israeli weapons packed with shrapnel causing devastating injuries to children in Gaza, doctors say (www.theguardian.com)
Pope told by student to stop using anti-LGBTQ language (www.bbc.com)
Pope Francis has been told by a Filipino Catholic university student to “stop using offensive language” against LGBTQ people....
Thousands demonstrate against far right across France (www.lemonde.fr)
Paris police said 3,000 people gathered in Paris on Monday evening, at a demonstration against the far right, which made historic gains in the European elections on Sunday. Other gatherings took place around the country....
‘People ask me to use another door’: MEPs on bias, whiteness and rise of far right (www.theguardian.com)
From being repeatedly asked for ID to feeling threatened by harmful rhetoric, politicians say lack of diversity is undermining work of EU...
Exclusive: Putin wants Ukraine ceasefire on current frontlines (www.reuters.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond....
Helicopter carrying Iran's President Raisi crashes, search under way (www.reuters.com)
DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident....
EU restates readiness to launch trade war with China over cheap imports (www.theguardian.com)
The European Commission chief said she was “convinced that if the competition is fair” from China, then Europe “will have thriving durable economies”. But she said the “imbalances” caused by state support for Chinese industry leading to cut-cost products threatened jobs in Europe, and that was “a matter of great...
Why Donald Trump ‘hates Ukraine’: The once and possibly future U.S. president blames the country for his political woes (www.politico.eu)
Donald Trump doesn’t easily forgive or forget....