Moldova eyes energy lever to topple Kremlin puppet regime in Transnistria (www.politico.eu)
For the first time, Moldova can cut an energy link to its breakaway territory. Yet doing so risks Moscow’s threats and a possible humanitarian crisis....
General Staff: Russia has lost 466,150 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022 (kyivindependent.com)
Out of the half a million troops killed I wonder how many were actually Russians? Doesn’t look like things are working out for them.
Israel agrees not to invade Rafah until consulting with US, Biden admin official says (www.usatoday.com)
Israel, US said working to prevent ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu (www.timesofisrael.com)
According to reports in several Israeli media, the United States is part of a last-ditch diplomatic effort to prevent the International Criminal Court from issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials....
Saved from her dead mother's womb, baby Sabreen was laid to rest in a mournful and sometimes angry funeral (www.nbcnews.com)
AP and Reuters journalists arrested in Russia (www.pravda.com.ua)
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal—and why it won’t go back (arstechnica.com)
It’s 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa’s celebrations are set against growing discontent (apnews.com)
Rwanda plan: Irish government wants to send asylum seekers back to UK (www.bbc.co.uk)
World Central Kitchen to resume aid in Gaza following fatal airstrike (www.bbc.com)
World Central Kitchen is to resume distributing food in Gaza, nearly a month after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli air strike....
Russia makes more gains around Avdiivka as Ukraine awaits US aid (www.theguardian.com)
Russia has consolidated recent battlefield gains in the east of Ukraine, and is attempting to break through Ukrainian defensive lines before a long-awaited package of US military assistance arrives at the frontline....
Russia detains 2 journalists on 'extremism' charges, accuses them of having worked with Navalny (kyivindependent.com)
Two Russian journalists were detained on “extremism” charges in Russia on April 28 for having allegedly worked for a group founded by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny....
Tornado in China's Guangzhou kills five and injures 33 (www.reuters.com)
Portugal says no plans to pay colonial reparations (www.dw.com)
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had called for Lisbon to find ways to compensate its former colonies, including canceling debt. The government says it has not initiated any process to that effect....
Iraq makes same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in jail (www.theguardian.com)
Amendments to anti-prostitution law also enable courts to sentence trans people to three years in prison...
Sánchez on the edge: Will Spain’s prime minister resign? (www.politico.eu)
Israel, US said working to prevent ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu (www.timesofisrael.com)
Daughter of prominent Palestinian poet killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza (www.cnn.com)
Shaima Refaat Alareer, the daughter of a prominent Palestinian poet, was killed alongside her family in an Israeli airstrike on a house west of Gaza City on Friday, according to multiple sources, four months after her father died in a similar attack....
Mexico's likely next president would be its first leader with a Jewish background and first female elected (apnews.com)
Many Ukrainian Prisoners of War Show Signs of Trauma and Sexual Violence (www.nytimes.com)
Ukraine is just beginning to understand the lasting effects of the traumas its prisoners of war experienced in Russian captivity, but it has been failing to treat them properly and returning them to duty too early, say former prisoners, officials and psychologists familiar with individual cases....
Italy can do without Russian gas, says energy minister (www.politico.eu)
Rome has no reason to oppose EU sanctions targeting Russian LNG, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin says....
Mussolini’s Hometown Can’t Figure Out How to Quit Him (www.thedailybeast.com)
Far-right AfD launches EU election campaign amid turmoil (www.euronews.com)
Germany’s far-right AfD party launched its EU election campaign amidst controversy, including the absence of its lead candidate due to an espionage-related arrest and declining poll ratings....
Biden grants clemency to crack, cocaine dealers (www.washingtontimes.com)
What could it be?
US intelligence believes Putin probably didn't order Navalny to be killed, Wall Street Journal reports (www.reuters.com)
Last month, Putin called Navalny's demise "sad" and said he had been ready to hand the jailed politician over to the West in a prisoner exchange provided Navalny never return to Russia. Navalny's allies said such talks had been under way [...] Washington had not absolved the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny's...
