UK will become dangerous under Keir Starmer, Says Rishi Sunak: vows to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP (www.arktrek.shop)
American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life (theintercept.com)
Upward of 20 American doctors are trapped in Gaza as a result of Israel’s post-invasion closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to sources with knowledge of the plight of two ill-fated medical missions....
Trapped in Rafah, U.S. medical volunteers say they can't save lives and can't evacuate (www.npr.org)
Thirsty in paradise: Water crises are a growing problem across the Caribbean islands (theconversation.com)
Gaza ministry revises down figures for women and children confirmed killed (www.theguardian.com)
Gaza’s Hamas-run ministry of health has revised down figures for the number of women and children confirmed killed in the conflict in the coastal strip....
‘What use is this court if it can’t stop the war?’ Gazans react to ICJ ruling (www.972mag.com)
Far right cries censorship after exclusion from EU election debate (www.politico.eu)
European Broadcasting Union says Anders Vistisen cannot debate because the far right does not endorse the Spitzenkandidat system....
French campaign urges men: 'Drive like a woman!' (www.dw.com)
There is a perception in society that men are safer drivers than women, according to the Victims and Citizens association. But French road accident statistics suggest otherwise....
Russia's new Kharkiv offensive pushes Vovchansk to the brink of annihilation (kyivindependent.com)
Vovchansk is ground zero of Russia’s new offensive into Kharkiv Oblast, the first time a serious push has been made to take territory across the border since the area was liberated from Russian occupation in Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive in September 2022....
UN says Gaza death toll still over 35,000 but not all bodies identified (www.reuters.com)
UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA, May 13 (Reuters) - The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the Israel-Hamas war is still more than 35,000, but the enclave’s Ministry of Health has updated its breakdown of the fatalities, the United Nations said on Monday after Israel questioned a sudden change in numbers....
Israel deepens offensive in Rafah and re-enters northern areas of Gaza (www.theguardian.com)
Israeli troops have continued their offensives across Gaza, deploying tank fire, artillery bombardment and airstrikes against Hamas militants in the most intensive round of fighting for weeks....
'Like the war's first days': Israel unleashes heaviest Gaza bombing in months (www.middleeasteye.net)
The Israeli military has launched a new wave of attacks across the Gaza Strip, similar in intensity to the peak of its seven-month war on the besieged Palestinian enclave....
Russian forces push deeper into northern Ukraine (www.bangkokpost.com)
In the past three days, Russian troops, backed by fighter jets, artillery and lethal drones, have poured across Ukraine’s northeastern border and seized at least nine villages and settlements, and more territory per day than at almost any other point in the war, save the very beginning.
Secret Hamas Files Show How It Spied on Everyday Palestinians (www.nytimes.com)
The Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has for years overseen a secret police force in Gaza that conducted surveillance on everyday Palestinians and built files on young people, journalists and those who questioned the government, according to intelligence officials and a trove of internal documents reviewed by The New York Times....
3 Dead, 59 Injured After Huge Billboard Falls During Mumbai Dust Storm (www.ndtv.com)
Corporate real estate is on a 'cliff edge' as firms race to rethink communal spaces (www.bbc.com)
As more employees work from home in the hybrid-work era, many companies are finding they need smaller offices. Compared to pre-pandemic floorplans designed to house as many workers as possible, more businesses are looking towards more compact but higher-quality spaces for the future....
Georgia protests: Riot police face off against foreign influence bill demonstrators (www.bbc.com)
Protests in Georgia have continued in a last-ditch effort to prevent the passing of a controversial law....
Furious Brussels wants answers over ban on EU flags at Eurovision (www.euronews.com)
The European Commission has expressed anger over a ban on EU flags at the Eurovision Song Contest and demands explanations....
Thousands told to evacuate due to British Columbia, Canada wildfire (www.bbc.com)
Thousands of Canadians have been ordered to leave their homes in Fort Nelson, British Columbia due to the threat of a wildfire....
German court upholds AfD 'suspected' extremist status (www.dw.com)
The designation could allow Germany’s intelligence agency to surveil and investigate members of the far-right party. The AfD says it plans to appeal the ruling....
Parents of over 900 Israeli soldiers urge IDF to call off ‘death trap’ Rafah attack (www.theguardian.com)
Letter sent to defence minister and IDF chief says assault on city ‘appears to be nothing short of recklessness’...
Amnesty: Repression against Chinese students abroad grows (www.dw.com)
Students from China and Hong Kong living in Europe and North America are being repressed by the government in Beijing, according to a new Amnesty International report. Students in Germany have also been affected....
David Cameron urges BBC to describe Hamas as terrorist organisation (www.theguardian.com)
Foreign secretary’s call comes after group releases video of British-Israeli hostage it says died after being wounded in Israeli airstrike...
When the water runs dry: Why France is freaking out over a tiny Swiss dam (www.politico.eu)
Water-rich Switzerland controls Western Europe’s taps — and wants it to stay that way. Its drought-ridden neighbors are getting nervous....