“An Iranian businessman has died as a result of being beaten while under arrest, human rights group the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation reported. The report states that Hesam Alaeedin went to the security authorities to follow up on the status of his detained brother. The rights group added that Alaeddin’s brother had been accused of using Starlink equipment to access the internet, and that he too had been subjected to violence by security agents. … Iranian authorities cut off access to the internet 64 days ago, coinciding with the United States and Israeli military attack. … Iranian officials have warned that owners and users of Starlink equipment face legal action.” (05/02/26)
“Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe. HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was ‘greatly relieved’ by the arrest, and would provide a further updates as verified details come in. The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.” (05/03/26)
“Two members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party in the north-western Sinaloa state said they would temporarily step down from their posts after the United States charged them and eight other politicians and security officers with drug trafficking. The bombshell indictment against the 10 has shaken Mexico’s political establishment. In a short video announcement at midnight on Friday, Gov Rubén Rocha Moya, the highest-ranking official named in the indictment, denied accusations that he protected the Sinaloa cartel and helped it smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the US in exchange for political support and millions of dollars in bribes. … Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán named in the indictment, also said he would take leave and denied the charges.” (05/03/26)
“The United States has issued a warning to shipping firms that they risk sanctions if they make payments to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The alert, released by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), emphasised that US persons and entities are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Iranian government bodies. It also warned non-US entities that they could face sanctions repercussions if they settle payments to Iran.” (05/03/26)
“Spain has demanded the release of a citizen who was arrested during a raid on a flotilla headed for Gaza and taken to Israel, calling it an abduction. Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Catalan radio station RAC1 on Saturday that he was concerned about the ‘illegal detention’ of Saif Abukeshek, and called for him to be ‘released immediately.’ … [Israeli pirates] stormed 22 of the flotilla boats attempting to deliver aid to Gaza while they were in international waters, hundreds of miles from the strip. Drones and communications-jamming technology were used. They [abducted] 175 of those on board and took them to Greece, except for Abukeshek and Avila.” (05/02/26)
“Somali pirates have hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, according to multiple Somali security officials that spoke with the BBC. The Yemeni coastguard earlier said the tanker MT Eureka had been hijacked and was headed towards Somalia. Sources said it was overrun by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, near the port of Qana. The pirates departed a remote coastal area near the seaside town of Qandala, which sits on the Gulf of Aden, according to three separate security officials from the semi-autonomous Puntland region who spoke with the BBC. It marks the second hijacking of an oil tanker in the area in a 10-day period, following the hijacking of Honor 25 by Somali pirates on April 22. Honor 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Mogadishu.” (05/02/26)
“U.S. First Lady Melania Trump was instrumental in securing the return of at least 26 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia over the past several months, Ukraine’s top human rights official said. Speaking at a Bring Kids Back event in Kyiv on Thursday, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukraine Parliament’s Human Rights Commissioner, said Trump had become an important ally in negotiating with Moscow to return children to their families from Russia and regions under Russian control. … According to Ukraine Government data, 20,570 children had been deported or forcibly displaced from Ukraine by Russia, as of May 1, of whom only 2,126 have been returned.” (05/01/26)
“Two makers of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to block an appellate court ruling that cut off mail-order access to the drug just a day earlier, in what was the biggest jolt to abortion policy in the U.S. since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Danco Laboratories asked the high court for an emergency pause on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, saying the appellate ruling ‘injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions.’ GenBioPro, which makes a generic version of mifepristone, made a similar request.” [editor’s note: While this pill does work a bit further along than Plan B, it is useless if not taken in the early part of first trimester; it is not a late term procedure and should not be anyone’s business – SAT](05/02/26)
“A metro homeowner shot an alleged intruder Friday night and sent the suspect to the hospital, according to police. … Officials said it appeared to be a first-degree burglary, possibly turned self-defense. … The homeowner was not injured in the situation, per police.” (05/02/26)
“President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, effectively ending the partial government shutdown that began in February. The U.S. House had approved the measure hours earlier following White House warnings that emergency funding for DHS would run out as soon as Friday. The funding bill’s passage comes after more than a month of House Republican opposition to the plan, which advanced unanimously out of the Senate in late March.” (04/30/26)
