Russian defence minister and long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu replaced: President Vladimir Putin cites rising military spending and the need for innovation — ground.news: 256 media reports — 12 May 2024 (LINK)

Kuwait forms new government headed by former oil minister Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah: two days after emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmed al-Sabah dissolved the parliament elected only weeks earlier, and he and the new government assumed some of the assembly’s powers. Sheikh Meshal on 10 May dissolved the most powerful elected legislature in the Gulf and suspended articles of the constitution, citing “interference” by lawmakers — ground.news main source: Reuters, 19 media reports — 12 May 2024 (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: Trump, taxes, immigrants and the cowboy myth — substack — 12 May 2024 (LINK)

Sherpa guide Kami Rita scales Mount Everest for 29th time, extending his own record again — ground.news: 48 media reports — 12 May 2024 (LINK)

Scientists explain how blood types differ in impact — thebrighterside.news — 12 May 2024 (LINK)

Israel orders new evacuations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah as it prepares to expand operations — ground.news: 207 media reports — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Flash floods in northern Afghanistan killed more than 300 people, WPF says — cbsnews — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Mag. 3.7 earthquake felt at Entremont, 21 km south of Sion, Switzerland, on 9 May 2024, at 11:25 pm: could be felt in Lausanne — volcanodiscovery.com — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

An unusually strong solar storm hitting Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. this weekend and potentially disrupt power and communications — AP — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Gunmen kidnap more than 100 in attack on villages in northwest Nigeria — ground.news: 11 media reports — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Political turmoil in Kuwait as emir dissolves parliament — Al Jazeera — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

A top Cambodian opposition politician is charged with inciting disorder for criticizing government — ground.news: 16 media reports — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Europol dismantles crypto crime network in Cyprus — cryptotimes — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision: first non-binary artist to win Eurovision. Croatia, which led the public vote, came second with a raucous party anthem — BBC — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

Every Trump 'prediction' about Biden was wrong — crooksandliars.com — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

First person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant dies nearly 2 months later — AP — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

— In a statement, Rick Slayman’s family thanked his doctors. “Their enormous efforts leading the xenotransplant gave our family seven more weeks with Rick." They said Slayman underwent the surgery in part to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.

Beach with the clearest waters in North America: Half Moon Beach on Little San Salvador Island, a private island owned by the Carnival cruise brand, in the Bahamas: but, a lack of fish to spot when snorkeling — travelandleisure.com — 11 May 2024 (LINK)

— Clearest water in the entire world: Prassa Beach, on the island of Kimolos, in Greece.

UN General Assembly supports Palestinian bid for membership with 143 votes out of 193, despite US opposition. Nine nations, including the US and Israel, voted against the text, while 25 abstained. — ground.news: 148 media reports — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza — BBC — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

More than 100,000 people have fled Gaza's Rafah with critical shortages of food and fuel: UNOCHA official — ground.news: 56 media reports — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

These are the 2 most common symptoms of the new FLiRT COVID variant doctors are seeing right now: fever and cough, plus fatigue — parade — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

China's military monitored and expelled USS Halsey from Paracel Islands' waters in the South China Sea, according to the Southern Theater Command of the PLA — ground.news: 14 media reports — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

Suspected pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden raises concerns about growing Somali piracy — ground.news: 7 media reports — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

Peru authorities investigate president as brother arrested: inquiry into influence peddling and illicit enrichment related to expensive jewelry and Rolex watches acquired despite her modest salary — ground.news: 32 media reports — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

Steve Bannon loses after federal appeals court upholds his conviction — boingboing.net — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

QAnon conspiracy theories are surging on Elon Musk's X — mashable — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

Fox News opinion: NY v Trump: How Stormy Daniels self-destructed under a devastating cross-examination: Stormy Daniels is only casually acquainted with the concept of truth. She massages it or offends it whenever it suits her — foxnews — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

Renewables covered 95% of Portugal's power needs last month — euronews — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

15 clever ways people make money using AI — parentportfolio.com — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

20 things you didn't know the Bible prohibits: e.g. picking fallen grapes, tattoos, home ownership, ripped jeans, short hair, shaving, pawed animals, eagles — travelwithme247blog — 10 May 2024 (LINK)

UNRWA says Israeli crowds set fire at East Jerusalem headquarters twice: office shuttered — ground.news: 27 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Slovenia to recognize Palestinian State by mid-June, hopes other countries will follow — ground.news: 20 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Argentine workers launch general strike against Milei reforms, austerity — ground.news: 64 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging — ground.news main source: AP, 76 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Two behind the doomsday seed vault in the Arctic win World Food Prize — ground.news: 26 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

2 COVID variants called 'FLiRT' are making the rounds: FLiRT has some concerning features, including the fact that it has the ability to cause changes in the spike protein, which plays a role in helping COVID-19 colonize the body and make people sick. Current vaccines and immunity from prior COVID-19 infection only provides partial protection — pennlive.com — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Musk's X Corp loses lawsuit against Israeli data-scraping company: may have profound implications for copying — ground.news: 11 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Future of contract fixers stirred debate on 2 May at inaugural Geneva Dry conference designed to be annual summit for the global dry bulk shipping community, shipping’s largest sector — splash247 — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

— With close to 600 delegates from 48 nations, 51 sponsors, and nine exhibitors, the show brought together every rung of the commodities shipping supply chain for the first time — (LINK)

Miss Teen USA resigns days after Miss USA steps down — yahoo — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Groundbreaking research reveals the hidden cause of Parkinson's disease: "For the first time, we can show that mitochondria, the vital energy producers within brain cells, particularly neurons, undergo damage, leading to disruptions in mitochondrial DNA. This initiates and spreads the disease like a wildfire through the brain" — thebrighterside.news — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

— Described as a "chronic ailment" disrupting the central nervous system, Parkinson's impacts over 10 million individuals worldwide.

Civilian casualties rise in Myanmar's civil war as resistance forces tighten noose around military — ground.news main source: AP, 18 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Chad's military ruler declared winner of presidential election, while opposition disputes the result — ground.news: 54 media reports — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Human rights, climate change, and the role of Geneva: Profiles of nearly 30 Geneva-based stakeholders that advance the work on human rights and climate change — genevaenvironmentnetwork — 9 May 2024 (LINK)

Unusual floods in eastern Congo causing hardship to almost half a million people, WFP says — ground.news: 8 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

Biden says for first time he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah — CNN — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

Over 76% of world’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target to at least 2C: Guardian survey — ground.news main source: Guardian, 7 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds — Guardian — (LINK)

Ember think tank: renewable power reaches record 30% of global electricity: mainly hydro — ground.news: 51 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

'They tortured us': Rohingya survivors of fatal capsize say captain raped girls, purposely sank boat: 67 passengers, including 28 children, lost their lives — ground.news main source: AP, 17 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

— His approval was 39.8% in February, compared to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's historically low approval rating during the same period, at 37.4%.

Transitional council in Haiti embraces changes to rotate presidency following turmoil as gang violence grips country — ground.news main source: AP, 24 media reports — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

UNESCAP Forum focused on making feminist finance a reality for Asia and the Pacific — eurasiareview — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

— "Advancing economic equality for women could add as much as $4.5 trillion — a 12% increase — to the region's GDP annually by 2025."

— "According to the recently published ESCAP report Financial Resilience, Inclusion and Entrepreneurship: Is Asia and the Pacific close to Gender Parity?, while there has been progress towards this goal, findings indicate a clear disparity from country to country, and the persistence of discriminatory norms and practices, which continue to constrain uptake and usage of financial services and access to finance among women."

— In a pitching competition the winning start-up was BillionCarbon, an innovative solution which works to decarbonize the food supply chain through nutrient mining from food waste to convert to micro-nutrient rich liquid bio-fertilizer concentrate and insect protein. During the closing session, the founder was awarded a seed grant of $5,000 from ESCAP through a partnership with Accelerating Asia and funded by Global Affairs Canada.

— In another key moment during the closing session, investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from around the world came together to sign a landmark gender equity pledge promoted by ESCAP and FDI Center to harness the potential of gender-responsive foreign direct investment as a catalyst for women's empowerment.

US paused weapons delivery to Israel over Rafah offensive concerns — Al Jazeera — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt — ground.news: 234 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Netanyahu agrees to reopen Gaza crossing for humanitarian aid, White House says — ground.news: 7 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

US completes building $320m humanitarian pier off Gaza coast but is unable to move it due to unsafe weather conditions — ground.news: 15 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

EU reaches deal on using profits from Russia's frozen assets for Ukraine: 10% of the windfall profits will fund non-lethal aid to assuage EU member states that do not wish to fund arms — The Guardian UK ● — 8 May 2024 (LINK)

Two Ukrainians detained over alleged plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelenskyy — AP, euronews — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Putin inaugurated for record fifth term, prolonging his more than two decades in power — ground.news: 162 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

India arrests four for duping young men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine — ground.news: 41 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

AstraZeneca set to withdraw COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria globally — ground.news: 56 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

— No longer manufactured or supplied. AstraZeneca acknowledged earlier this year that the vaccine causes side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts, prompting the withdrawal.

After years of scandal, Boy Scouts of America changes its name to Scouting America — NPR — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: The Trump hush money trial — marketwatch — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

— Witnesses established that Trump micromanaged his finances, making it hard to believe he didn't know about the scheme. Analyst: "It's rare to see folks put the key to a criminal conspiracy in writing."

US, UK police identify and charge Russian leader of LockBit ransomware gang — ground.news: 25 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Missouri man says he strangled hospitalized wife to death because he couldn't afford her medical bills — fox news — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Switzerland records 600 MW of subsidized photovoltaic projects in Q1 — pv-magazine — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Body of 6th person killed in Baltimore bridge collapse has been recovered, believed last, authorities say — CNN — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Swiss Army Knife maker developing new version — without the knife — ground.news: 13 media reports — 7 May 2024 (LINK)

Last-minute candidate José Raúl Mulino heads to victory in Panama’s presidential election: seen as puppet of ex-president barred from running over money laundering conviction — ground.news: 73 media reports — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

Scientists create vaccine with potential to protect against future coronaviruses — The Guardian UK ● — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

The New York Times and The Washington Post were awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for work in 2023 that dealt with everything from the war in Gaza to gun violence, and The Associated Press won in the feature photography category for coverage of global migration to the U.S. — AP — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

— The prestigious public service award went to ProPublica for reporting that "pierced the thick wall of secrecy" around the U.S. Supreme Court to show how billionaires gave expensive gifts to justices and paid for luxury travel.

— The Post's David E. Hoffman won in editorial writing for a "compelling and well-researched" series on how authoritarian regimes repress dissent in the digital age. Its third award went to contributor Vladimir Kara-Murza, for commentaries written from a Russian prison cell.

Donald Trump hush money trial live updates: judge again holds Trump in contempt — newsweek — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

The Father of the 15-minute city on its impact and limitations — bloomberg — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

Huge floods in Houston cause massive financial damage — climatecrisis247 — 6 May 2024 (LINK)

— Flood levels only matched by those from the largest hurricanes have destroyed parts of Houston. The economy has been disrupted, and the infrastructure damage will likely spread into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Nine inches of rain fell in a period of a few hours.