“Hungary’s parliament on Wednesday approved legislation to maintain the country’s membership in the International Criminal Court, reversing a 2025 decision made by the government of Viktor Orban. Orban’s government decided to withdraw from the ICC, saying the court had become ‘political.’ Current Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who ousted Orban in parliamentary elections last month, pledged to halt the withdrawal process and keep Hungary in the ICC. The International Criminal Court was set up more than two decades ago to prosecute those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Orban’s government announced the withdrawal in April 2025, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary for a state visit in a rare trip abroad in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant.” (05/27/26)
“Masses of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia threw pebbles at a large pillar in a symbolic ritual on Wednesday, one of the final days of the Hajj as Muslims around the world started celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Pilgrims in Mina, Saudi Arabia, chanted ‘Allahu akbar’ (God is great) while throwing pebbles in a ritual seen as a symbolic stoning of the devil. The act is also seen as a symbol of rejecting evil and a commemoration of the Prophet Ibrahim’s rejection of temptation when the devil tried to dissuade him from submitting to God’s will. Large crowds of pilgrims moved through the sprawling Jamarat complex after arriving from Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles overnight following a day of worship and prayer at Arafat on Tuesday.” (05/27/26)
“The U.S. military has [murdered] another person in its latest strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Trump administration’s deadly crackdown on alleged narcotics trafficking in international waters. The Tuesday strike was the 58th publicly disclosed by U.S. Southern Command in President Donald Trump’s monthslong campaign, which has now [murdered] at least 194 people.” (05/27/26)
“Italy’s highest court has ruled a five-star Dolomites hotel was acting lawfully when it refused to provide tap water to a tourist. The woman from Rome unsuccessfully argued that ‘water is a natural resource and a universal human right’ after a waiter only offered her €7 (£6) bottled mineral water at the restaurant of the five-star Hotel Sassongher in Corvara during the 2019 ski season. The Italian Supreme Court denied her request for €2,700 to compensate her for emotional distress and economic damage, Italian media reports. Silvio Belardi, the lawyer representing the hotel, told the Corriere Alto Adige newspaper that the court held that ‘there is no obligation to supply tap water.’ The lawyer later told the BBC the case had been rejected first by a court in Rome, then by an appeals court and now the Court of Cassation, where the judges ruled in the hotel’s favour.” (05/27/26)
“Israel says it has killed Mohammed Odeh, the leader of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, in an air strike in the northern part of the strip, as a fragile ‘ceasefire’ comes under growing strain. Israeli authorities said on Wednesday that Odeh was killed in an attack the previous day in Gaza City. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group. Odeh, a former Hamas intelligence chief, reportedly succeeded Izz al-Din al-Haddad as the head of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, after the latter was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month, although Hamas did not officially confirm the appointment.” (05/27/26)
“Puerto Rico’s governor announced a state of emergency Wednesday to fight a surge in coastal erosion along the U.S. territory ’s north coast. Gov. Jenniffer González said the executive order would allow her administration to accelerate projects to protect natural resources and vulnerable coastal communities. The government said in a statement that rising sea levels, storm surges and other factors have intensified coastal erosion in Puerto Rico. González pledged to help northern towns including Loiza, where people have been evacuated and chunks of asphalt from coastal roads have tumbled into the ocean following heavy swells. The order was signed just days before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The cost of the projects has not yet been determined.” (05/27/26)
“A Hyde Park man living in fear because his house had been broken into before opened fire on a home intruder early Tuesday morning, police said. … Officers arrived to find the suspect — later identified as Simeon Pratcher — laying ‘face down’ in one of the home’s bedrooms, police said. … The homeowner told investigators that he was in his living room when he heard someone entering his home. He went to one of his bedrooms and saw an intruder in the doorframe, leading the homeowner to fire two shots, MPD said. No one was struck by the gunfire. The homeowner told MPD that his home had been broken into three times, adding that he felt like he ‘had to protect himself.'” (05/26/26)
“Republican primary voters on Tuesday rejected U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of the Senate’s most senior GOP members, in favor of Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. … ‘Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve every value we hold dear,’ Paxton told supporters, referring to his upcoming general election campaign against Democrat James Talarico. … Cornyn and his supporters warned that the outcome could complicate Republicans’ efforts to hold the seat in November against Talarico, a state representative from Austin.” [editor’s note: Paxton seems to think Texas Republicans hold fraud, bribery, and adultery “dear” as “values.” And he just may be right – TLK] (05/27/26)
“Air defence units in the port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied [sic] Crimea downed more than 20 Ukrainian drones early on Wednesday, with Ukraine also using Storm Shadow missiles, the city’s governor said on Telegram. There were no injuries, according to preliminary data, Mikhail Razvozhayev said, adding that a few buildings, including a regional office of the central bank and an eight-story apartment block, were damaged in the attack. Storm Shadow missiles are made by a Franco-British consortium. Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, has previously summoned the British and French ambassadors to protest Ukraine’s use of the weapons.” (05/27/26)
“President Donald Trump will meet with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had ‘largely negotiated’ a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux. As he prepares to huddle with his top aides, Trump is projecting confidence that he’s closing in on a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans. … The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran’s hardline leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened.” (05/27/26)
