“Spain has granted permission for a luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and anchored off the coast of Cape Verde to sail to the Canary Islands. Spain’s Ministry of Health said in a statement late on Tuesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) had explained that Cape Verde in West Africa was unable to receive the 147 crew and passengers of the MV Hondius. ‘The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities,’ it said. ‘Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are also several Spanish citizens.’ … A Dutch couple and a German national have died of the rare disease, which is usually spread from infected rodents through urine, droppings and saliva, on board the ship in early April. A British national, who was evacuated from the ship, is in intensive care in South Africa, officials said.” (05/06/26)
“Donald Trump announced he is pausing ‘Project Freedom,’ the US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the strait of Hormuz, so he can finalise a deal with Iran, but added that his blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. Trump’s abrupt change of plan was declared in a social media post, saying he was pausing the effort for ‘a short period’ to give space for US efforts to finalise a settlement with Iran to end the war. … Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, signalled Iran has yet to fully respond to the US attempt to reopen the waterway. … Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, said in a statement that its risk assessment ‘remains unchanged’ and that transits through the strait ‘are for the moment not possible for our ships.'” (05/06/26)
“Russian drone and missile attacks have killed at least 27 people in Ukraine, officials said, days before a two-day unilateral ceasefire by Moscow was due to take effect. Ukrainian officials said Russian glide bombs killed at least 12 people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, hitting a car repair shop and residential buildings …. Further northeast, six people were killed, and 12 others were wounded in the city of Kramatorsk, the last hub under Ukraine’s control in the embattled Donetsk region. Four more people were killed in the city of Dnipro. Russian strikes also hit Ukrainian state-run gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions overnight, killing three employees and two rescue workers, according to Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Naftogaz.” (05/06/26)
“Indiana Senate Republicans who opposed congressional redistricting were largely defeated during Tuesday’s primary election, with only one race so far called for an incumbent after President Donald Trump’s call to oust them. The results come after months of political threats, and an estimated $9 million in spending to back primary challengers against the incumbents. … In November, Trump vowed that any Republican who voted against redrawing the state’s congressional boundaries, ‘potentially having an impact on America itself, should be PRIMARIED.’ In spite of Trump’s threats, Indiana Senate Republicans rebuffed him, siding with Senate Democrats to kill the redistricting bill 31-19.” (05/05/26)
“Romania’s pro-European coalition collapsed Tuesday after lawmakers voted against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, less than a year after he was sworn in, triggering fresh turmoil in the European country. The no-confidence vote was a blow to Bolojan, who came to power with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-communist history. The leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD, and the hard-right opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR, jointly submitted the motion to Parliament on April 28. PSD withdrew from the coalition last month. On Tuesday, 281 lawmakers voted in favor and four voted against. Lawmakers from Bolojan’s center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, and coalition partners, Save Romania Union party and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party, abstained.” (05/05/26)
“An off-duty Secret Service officer was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida, at around midnight Monday and charged with indecent exposure after allegedly masturbating in a hotel hallway, according to a police affidavit. The officer, identified in the arrest record as John Spillman, 33, was placed on administrative leave, Richard Macauley, the chief of the Secret Service’s uniformed division, said in a statement obtained by NBC station WTVJ. … According to the arrest affidavit, law enforcement officers responded to the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport and Convention Center and allegedly found Spillman naked and masturbating at the end of a hallway. A guest on the same floor told the officers that the suspect had followed her from the hotel lobby ‘and they immediately entered their room because she was in fear for their lives,’ the affidavit said. Hotel security also alleged they saw the suspect masturbating, it said.” (05/05/26)
“Portuguese law enforcement officials investigating cases of alleged torture at two central Lisbon precincts detained 15 police officers on Tuesday, raising the total number of those charged or arrested to 25, police and prosecutors said. In January, prosecutors charged two officers with torturing vagrants and migrants and then sharing images of their acts in an online chat with dozens of other officers, triggering a broader inquiry. The two are awaiting trial, accused of torture, acts of cruelty and abuse of power, according to the indictment. One also faces charges of rape, robbery and forgery. Another seven people were detained in March. Police confirmed Tuesday’s detentions that also included one civilian but would not say whether those held were suspected of carrying out torture themselves or of failing to report abuse they had witnessed in person or in shared videos.” (05/05/26)
“An Israeli court on Tuesday extended the [caging] of two foreign activists [abducted] from a Gaza-bound flotilla by six days, a lawyer representing them said. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon for their second hearing, after being brought to Israel for questioning last week. … The two, held in a prison in Ashkelon, were among dozens of activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece early on Thursday. The other [abducted] activists were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released.” (05/05/26)
“Cornell University’s president has blasted a group of radical students for hurling abuse and holding him hostage in his own car following an Israel-Palestine debate series at the Ivy League school. The group of rabble-rousers filmed themselves swarming Michael Kotlikoff and trailing him to his vehicle as he was trying to leave the event at the Ithaca, New York, campus last Thursday. Kotlikoff accused the group — who he said have become notorious for spewing verbal and online abuse toward Cornell staffers in the past – of surrounding his car, banging on the windows and blocking him from leaving. The school prez spoke out after the students posted footage on social media of Kotlikoff apparently backing into the group amid the parking lot chaos.” (05/05/26)
“Tech giants Microsoft, Google and xAI say they will allow the United States federal government access to their new artificial intelligence models for national security testing. The Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at the Department of Commerce announced the agreement on Tuesday amid increasing concerns about the capabilities that Anthropic’s newly unveiled Mythos model could give hackers. Under the new agreement, the US government will be allowed to evaluate the models before deployment and conduct research to assess their capabilities and security risks.” (05/05/26)
