“A bomb exploded outside a Defense Ministry building in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding about a dozen other people, the ministry and state media reported. … The ministry said the blast occurred outside a building linked to the Defense Ministry but gave no further details. … There was no immediate claim of responsibility but such attacks in the past have been blamed on the Islamic State group.” (05/19/26)
“After a resounding loss Monday in his $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, Elon Musk took to his own social media network, X, to air out his grievances with the judge presiding over the case. On Monday, a jury unanimously ruled that Musk had missed his chance to sue, deciding that the statute of limitations had passed by the time the world’s richest man accused OpenAI executives of illegally turning the nonprofit into a for-profit company. … ‘This illustrates why the ruling by the terrible activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf, creates such a terrible precedent,’ Musk wrote. ‘She just handed out a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years!’ Musk vowed to appeal the ruling in a separate post that remains on the social media network.” (05/18/26)
“Twenty-six more suspected Ebola deaths were recorded in 24 hours in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday, and the head of the World Health Organization expressed deep concern about the outbreak’s spread. The new deaths bring to 131 the fatalities associated with the outbreak in eastern DRC. There have been 516 suspected cases and 33 confirmed cases in DRC, according to a daily bulletin published by health authorities, and two confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday, the first time a WHO chief has done so before convening an emergency committee.” (05/19/26)
“The drones that targeted the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant all came from Iraq, the country’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, likely signaling that Iranian-backed Shiite militias launched the assault. Such militias launched repeated drone attacks targeting Gulf Arab states after Israel and the United States began their war against Iran back on Feb. 28. Militias in the past have provided Iran a means by which to deflect blame over such attacks. There were no reported injuries or radiological release at Barakah after the attack, which Emirati officials said hit a generator on the facility’s perimeter. The UAE, which has hosted air defenses and personnel from Israel, recently accused Iran of launching drone and missile attacks even after its ceasefire with the U.S. began April 8.” (05/19/26)
“A federal judge in New York has banned US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting immigrants in or around three federal courthouses in lower Manhattan, where vigorous confrontations have played out since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency. Under an order issued on Monday by P Kevin Castel, a US district judge, federal agents are no longer allowed to make arrests of immigrants except under exceptional circumstances at the sites where hearings are held before immigration judges. Castel’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road NY and other groups.” (05/19/26)
“The US Department of Justice has dropped criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and some officials of his firm, days after he agreed to settle a separate civil case. Adani Enterprises, his group’s flagship firm, also agreed to pay $275m (£205m) to the US Treasury to settle a separate investigation into alleged violations of sanctions on Iran. Sources told the BBC that the Adani Group has now resolved all three legal cases against it in the US. This will pave the way for Adani to travel to the US without risk of legal proceedings. Media reports say the dropped charges reflect a broader move away from prosecuting foreign bribery cases under Donald Trump’s administration. Adani, 63, is one of the world’s richest people, worth $82bn according to Forbes. His Adani Group is one of India’s largest business conglomerates with interests in sectors including energy, ports and airports.” (05/19/26)
“Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is under investigation over alleged influence peddling and related crimes in the bailout of an airline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The High Court said on Tuesday that Zapatero’s office in Madrid was searched along with three other premises. The socialist, who governed Spain from 2004 to 2011, was summoned to testify on June 2. The investigation is tied to the 2021 state rescue of Plus Ultra, which received 53 million euros ($62m) through the state holding company SEPI during the pandemic. The case escalated in late December after several arrests, including businessman Julio Martinez Martinez, known as Julito, who is considered key to understanding the links between Plus Ultra and Zapatero.” (05/19/26)
“A biotech company that aims to resurrect lost creatures said Tuesday it has hatched live chicks in an artificial environment — a development that was met with mixed reviews from scientists and critics of its de-extinction mission. Twenty-six baby chickens — ranging from a few days to several months old — were born from a 3D printed lattice structure that mimics an eggshell, according to Colossal Biosciences. Colossal previously announced it had genetically engineered living animals to resemble extinct species, including mice with long hair like the woolly mammoth and wolf pups that take after dire wolves. Colossal’s CEO Ben Lamm said the artificial egg technology could one day be scaled up to genetically tweak living birds to resemble New Zealand’s extinct South Island giant moa, whose eggs are 80 times the size of a chicken’s and would be difficult for any modern bird to lay.’ Lamm said.” (05/19/26)
“Prosecutors in Minnesota on Monday charged a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with assault in connection with the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis in January during US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city. Christian Castro, 53, was charged with four felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanour of falsely reporting a crime, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told a press conference. Castro was the second federal agent to be charged by Minneapolis officials in connection with Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, during which Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg, and two US citizens were [murdered] by federal agents.” (05/19/26)
“Surrey Police says it is investigating two separate allegations of ‘non-recent child sexual abuse’ following the US release of the files related to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The force says that one relates to locations in Surrey and Berkshire in the mid 1990s to 2000. The other relates to the mid to late 1980s in west Surrey. No arrests have been made, it added. In a statement, police said it took ‘all reports of sexual offending seriously and will work to identify any reasonable lines of enquiry to verify information or establish corroborating evidence.’ In February, Surrey Police said it was seeking information on an allegation of human trafficking and sexual assault dating back to the mid-1990s. It said it has become aware of a redacted report which alleged ‘non-recent human trafficking and sexual assaults on a minor in Virginia Water, Surrey between 1994-1996.'” (05/19/26)
