“A ship anchored off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates has been seized and is heading toward Iranian territorial waters, the British military said Thursday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz. … UKMTO did not name the ship and said it is investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure.” (05/14/26)
“Two people have been killed and children are among dozens wounded after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes against Ukraine overnight, officials have said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was an ‘especially difficult night for Kyiv,’ where rescuers are searching through the rubble of a residential building after a combined missile and drone attack on the capital. At least 40 people have been injured, including two children, the city’s mayor said. Some 31 of those are being treated in hospital. It marks the third day in a row Ukraine has reported deaths, as Moscow ramps up its assault after a three-day ceasefire expired on Monday.” (05/14/26)
“The Philippine Senate President says that a politician wanted by the International Court (ICC) was no longer in the Senate building where he had been taking refuge, fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody ‘war on drugs,’ has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. ‘The sergeant-at-arms has confirmed that he is no longer in the building,’ Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters on Thursday. The announcement comes a day after gunfire rang out at the Senate, where dela Rosa had been holed up. Confusion and chaos filled the legislature as people inside scrambled for cover on Wednesday, hours after dela Rosa, had appealed to his supporters on social media to mobilise and said law enforcement agents were planning on arresting him.” (05/14/26)
“The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh, clearing the way for Warsh to replace central bank head Jerome Powell when his term ends later this week. The Senate confirmed Warsh by a vote of 54 to 45. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of Warsh. The vote comes weeks after the Department of Justice moved to drop its criminal probe into Powell. Before that, Warsh had faced a bipartisan stonewall in the Senate Banking Committee over the investigation. The probe into Powell focused on alleged false testimony to Congress about an office renovation. Powell, whose term ends on Friday, called the investigation a politically motivated effort to influence interest-rate policy.” (05/13/26)
“As prominent New Hampshire Libertarian Jeremy Kauffman mounts an effort to dissolve the national Libertarian Party, he’s also dealing with a legal drama for his alleged racist behavior in a grocery store parking lot. Kauffman, 41, is scheduled for trial in July on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration stemming from an April 4 incident in which he allegedly tried to fight several people while hurling racist insults, according to Manchester Police reports. Police were called to the Elm Street Market Basket parking lot around 2 p.m. on April 4 to deal with reports that a man hit another car in the parking lot with his car, fought with several people, and then went inside the store and continued yelling.” (05/13/26)
“More than 1,700 passengers and crew members have been ordered not to leave their cruise ship while French health officials carry out tests after a likely stomach flu outbreak onboard. The cruise liner Ambition, which set sail from Belfast on 8 May, on a 14-night tour of western France and Spain, has seen dozens of cases of suspected gastroenteritis among those onboard. The vessel called at Liverpool on Saturday and cases of gastroenteritis were said to have risen after passengers boarded at that stop. There is no reason to link what looks like a stomach flu outbreak on the ship with the hantavirus cluster on the luxury MV Hondius ship, the regional health authority said.” (05/13/26)
“Moscow authorities have imposed restrictions on the publication of photos and videos showing the aftermath of ‘terrorist attacks,’ including drone strikes, the office of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday. An order appearing on the mayor’s official website, referring to the city’s ‘Anti-terrorist Commission’ said the directive was aimed at ‘preventing the dissemination of unreliable information.’ It prevents media, as well as individuals and emergency services, from publishing any pictures or videos of ‘terrorist acts, including drone attacks’ until they appear on websites of the Defence Ministry or city government. … Other parts of Russia have already imposed similar bans.” (05/13/26)
“Nickolay Mladenov, the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, said Wednesday the truce hinged on Hamas’ disarmament, a sticking point that has stalled progress on other fronts, including rebuilding the mostly destroyed enclave. The high representative for U.S. President Donald Trump’s International Board of Peace in Gaza, Mladenov, said months without progress implementing the deal benefited neither Israel nor Palestinians. He said the phased deal was paralyzed over Hamas not yet disarming, calling it ‘not negotiable.'” (05/13/26)
“In a landmark German case targeting chocolate ‘shrinkflation’, a court has found that the manufacturer of Milka’s classic Alpine Milk bar cheated consumers and broke competition law. Cutting back on the amount of chocolate while having the same kind of wrapper meant that customers were being misled, Bremen regional court ruled. The three-week court case was brought by Hamburg’s consumer protection office (VZHH), which accused manufacturer Mondelēz of deceiving consumers by cutting the weight of the ‘Alpenmilch’ bar from 100g to 90g. Reacting to the ruling Mondelēz told the BBC it was ‘taking the decision of the court seriously’ and would ‘look at it in detail now’. ” (05/13/26)
“A home invasion in Hopkins County ended in gunfire Tuesday when a homeowner fatally shot an alleged intruder, local authorities said. … investigators reviewed footage from a Ring doorbell camera that showed an individual, identified as Buck Clary, striking the glass front door of the residence while yelling. The footage reportedly showed Clary breaking a ‘portion of the glass and reaching inside the home,’ the sheriff’s office said. The homeowner then discharged a firearm through the door, striking Clary.” (05/13/26)
