Headlines: 18-24 May 2026

Sunday, 24 May 2026

Fox News: Trump gives Iran '5 to 7 days' to strike nuclear deal, Tehran insists it doesn't want bomb (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Iran war updates: Trump instructs negotiators 'not to rush into a deal' (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Nine individuals have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Bahrain for their alleged involvement in what officials labelled "hostile and terrorist acts" in collaboration with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

Trump touts Iran breakthrough but details remain unclear (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Iran ready to relinquish enriched uranium amid advancing Trump deal, New York Times reports (LINK) — ground.news: 110 media reports (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Hezbollah chief rejects Israel talks, warns disarmament 'unacceptable' (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Ukraine says it hit Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal on Black Sea (LINK) — ground.news: media reports (LINK) — 23 May 2026

Suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo pass 900 as health workers face attacks and shortages (LINK) — 24 May 2026

— Guardian: There have been arson attacks on Ebola treatment centres in the country's east — two centres in two towns were hit last week, exposing the anger in a region beset by violence linked to armed rebel groups, the displacement of a large number of people, the failure of local government and international aid cuts that experts say have stripped health facilities in vulnerable communities. The World Health Organization has said the outbreak now poses a "very high" risk for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.

Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at party supporters and officials who had been holed up inside for three days (LINK) — 24 May 2026

— AP: Among those inside the building was Ozgur Ozel, elected as party chairperson in November 2023 but dismissed by [a] court ruling. A video from inside his office at the start of the raid shows him being served the court order removing him, which he promptly ripped up.

Heatstroke kills 16 in India's southern state of Telangana as temperatures climb (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Venezuela: inmates of the Barinas Judicial Detention Center in west take to prison roof to protest shootings, abuse (LINK) — ground.news: 29 media reports (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Bystander in serious condition after fatal shooting near White House checkpoint: police said 21-year-old Nasire Best, of Dundalk, Maryland, started shooting toward a White House security checkpoint when Secret Service officers returned fire and killed him. President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time of the shooting. It was the third shooting near the president in the past month (LINK) — 24 May 2026

DW: New Chinese surveillance leaves foreigners nowhere to hide: from from ski resort facial recognition to seats on a train, the system can track anyone and compile a "holistic profile" (LINK) — 24 May 2026

We were wrong about fasting, massive study finds: no meaningful difference in cognitive performance between people who were fasting and people having regular meals (LINK) — 24 May 2026

Saturday, 23 May 2026

WHO: 79th World Health Assembly — Daily update: 23 May 2026: adopted more than 20 decisions and 13 resolutions on health issues including stroke, liver disease, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, diagnostic imaging, emergency care, haemophilia, precision medicine and radiation (LINK) — 23 May 2026

Iran: Trump remarks on Strait of Hormuz 'inconsistent with reality' (LINK) — 23 May 2026

U.S.-Iran deal to end war will be finalized "shortly", Trump says (LINK) — 23 May 2026

Nigeria's military says troops rescued 92 people abducted by jihadi militants (LINK) — ground.news: 33 media reports (LINK) — 23 May 2026

Barron Trump as well as Donald skips Don Jr's wedding as Melania Trump keeps their distance: reports (LINK) — 23 May 2026

— Melania Trump went so far as to pointedly not invite Don Jr., Ivanka or Eric Trump to Barron's 20th birthday party in March, entertainment writer and Naughty But Nice Substack author Rob Shuter reported.

CNN: Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson's luxurious, tropical wedding weekend — (LINK)

— The wedding celebration took place at the luxe Little Pipe Cay, a hyper-exclusive 38-acre private island for the mega-wealthy that is part of the archipelago of the Bahamas. Little Pipe Cay boasts beaches, five "luxurious cottage estates" with 11 bedrooms, butler service, spa, and even a private chapel. Catering to elite clientele, the cay is accessible by "a short 30-minute seaplane or helicopter ride" from Nassau or a private flight to nearby Staniel Cay, its website says. Some of the guests stayed on another island nearby, given the private Little Pipe Cay estate only hosts 22 people, a person familiar with the details of the wedding weekend told CNN. sThe management company, LUX Hospitality, does not publicly list nightly rates for accommodations, though luxury real estate broker Amanda Lynn Estates put it at "$75,000 to $95,000 per night, varying with the seasons." The couple selected the location after previously visiting the small island in the Exuma Islands, the person familiar with the details of the weekend said.

Friday, 22 May 2026

Israeli strikes kill six Lebanese medics and 4 others in 24 hours, health ministry says (LINK) — ground.news: 47 media reports (LINK) — 22 May 2026

WHO: Ebola outbreak now third largest recorded and "spreading rapidly": cases nearing 750, deaths reported at 177 (LINK) — 22 May 2026

US green card applicants will now have to return to home countries to apply, DHS says, in a move criticized by aid groups, policy analysts and immigration attorneys (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Colombian army deploys hundreds of soldiers in country's southwest after indigenous land dispute leaves 7 dead (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Judge dismisses charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the Trump administration deported to El Salvador last year despite a judge's order barring his removal to the country, saying now-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spurred a 'tainted investigation' (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Trump Media moves to sell Bitcoin as losses reach $455 million (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Petition lodged in Switzerland against Starlink antennas (LINK) — 22 May 2026

— Opponents have submitted a petition with 14,550 signatures in Bern urging the Swiss government to stop the project to build 40 Starlink satellite antennas in Leuk, canton Valais.

WHO: almost 50% of preventable cancers linked to two lifestyle habits (LINK) — 22 May 2026

— Science Alert: According to a recent analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a third of all cancer cases globally are preventable. Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers make up nearly half of those cases. The analysis found that in 2022, there were nearly 19 million new cases of cancer. Roughly 38 percent of those diagnoses were related to 30 changeable risk factors. The analysis found that in 2022, there were nearly 19 million new cases of cancer. Roughly 38 percent of those diagnoses were related to 30 changeable risk factors. Air pollution also plays a role. According to the researchers' estimates, smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol account for almost half (around 48 percent) of all cases of preventable cancer.

Bigger than ever: WUF13 ends with global call for action (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Sidelined Tulsi Gabbard resigns as US director of national intelligence from 30 June: husband, Abraham, "has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer". (LINK) — 22 May 2026

US releases second batch of declassified files (222) on alleged UFO sightings, detailing reports of 'green orbs', 'discs' and 'fireballs': One 116-page file details 209 sightings near a top-secret military facility in Sandia, New Mexico, between 1948 and 1950 (LINK) — ground.news: 280 media reports (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Scientists discover simple way to relieve knee arthritis pain without pills or surgery: turning toes slightly inward or outward when walking (LINK) — 22 May 2026

Scientists may have finally cracked why 90% of humans are right-handed — and the answer has nothing to do with our hands, it has to do with our legs (LINK) — 22 May 2026

— Space Daily: An Oxford team's approach was to test all the major hypotheses simultaneously against data from 41 different species, looking for which combination of factors actually explained the cross-species pattern in which humans are the extreme outlier. No single factor explained the pattern. No other primate species shows population-level handedness anywhere close to this scale. Chimpanzees, our closest relatives, show only mild handedness preferences, and the preferences are roughly evenly split between left and right across the population.

— The Oxford team found that two factors together accounted for the human anomaly. The first factor was brain size, specifically the dramatic expansion of brain size that occurred in the human lineage over the last several million years. The second factor was the ratio between arm length and leg length, which is a standard anatomical marker of bipedal locomotion. The 90 percent right-handedness figure was what their model predicted for an animal with our specific combination of brain size and bipedal commitment. The other primates, with smaller brains and more arboreal locomotion, were predicted by the model to have weaker handedness preferences, which is what the data show. The proposal is that bipedalism freed the hands from the task of locomotion. The specialization could include, among other things, the development of strong handedness, in which one hand becomes the dedicated tool-using and fine-manipulation hand while the other becomes the assisting hand.

Thursday, 21 May 2026

Ukraine, Zelensky: 'Russian intelligence headquarters in Kherson hit, hundreds killed or injured' (LINK) — 21 May 2026

US planning to threaten to revoke visas of Palestinian delegation if its envoy seeks vice presidency of the General Assembly (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Land mine kills 3 children in Syria's Idlib; 4 more wounded (LINK) — ground.news: 14 media reports (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Tanzanian top police official Faustine Mafwele sanctioned by US for alleged human rights abuses (LINK) — ground.news: 26 media reports (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Air France and Airbus found guilty of involuntary homicide over 2009 plane crash that killed all 228 people on board on flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris: crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after stalling during a storm (LINK) — 21 May 2026

— The Paris Court of Appeal noted in its release that there were 12 crew members and 216 passengers on board, with France 24 reporting that the death toll included 72 French nationals and 58 Brazilians.

Germany's Merz pitches 'associate' EU membership for Ukraine: interim EU membership without voting rights (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Turkiye shutters liberal private university Istanbul Bilgi seized in criminal probe (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Ex-cop jailed for posting Charlie Kirk meme wins $835k settlement (LINK) — 21 May 2026

— Alongside a photo of the president, the meme included the quote "we have to get over it" and noted that Trump had made that remark "on the Perry High School mass shooting one day after." He wrote, "This seems relevant today." Two people were killed and six injured during the 2025 shooting in Perry, Iowa.

Spotify and Universal sign musical licensing deal for AI covers and remixes: the label's roster includes Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Drake and Billie Eilish, though that does not imply any of them have agreed to participate (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Civil engineering professor Moussa Leblouba from the University of Sharjah (UAE)'s invention of a vibration-dissipation device could save a building in the event of an earthquake (LINK) — 21 May 2026

USA Today: Trump's $1.776 billion settlement fund is ripe for abuse: The fund will be administered by a five-person panel appointed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose members can ultimately be removed by President Trump himself (LINK) — 21s May 2026

Meta lays off thousands of employees to offset AI investments: 8,000 staffers reportedly affected, around 10% of the company (LINK) — 21 May 2026

Musk declares himself CEO for life (LINK) — 21 May 2026

CBS ends The Late Show after 33 years: 11 years host, Stephen Colbert weighs next move: Filmmaker Peter Jackson announced on March 25 that Colbert is co-writing a script for a new 'The Lord of the Rings' movie adapting six early chapters from J.R.R. Tolkien's first book (LINK) — ground.news: 15 media reports (LINK) — 21 May 2026

ZeroHedge: Colbert blames Trump, but massive profit losses killed his show: "from 2019 to 2025 The Late Show lost approximately 25% of its peak viewership" — (LINK)

Townhall: the numbers that ended The Late Show: $100m budget, $40m loss, 2.7m viewers — (LINK)

turi2 (German): Stephen Colbert reaches record rating with the final Late Show: 6.74m viewers — (LINK)

Wednesday, 20 May 2026

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention temporarily bans travel to the U.S. for people without American passports who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past three weeks: A flight bound for Detroit was diverted to Canada over Ebola fears after a passenger from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) "incorrectly" boarded the plane (LINK) — 20 May 2026

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Wednesday that 51 Ebola cases had been confirmed in DRC's northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, "although we know the scale of the epidemic is much larger." He said Uganda has also reported two confirmed cases in the capital, Kampala. "Beyond the confirmed cases, there are almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths," he said. "We expect those numbers to keep increasing." There is a low risk of the outbreak spreading globally, he added, but a high risk of it spreading nationally and regionally in DRC and Uganda.

Former Cuban president Raúl Castro indicted in US over 1996 fatal downing of two planes (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Surrounded by the EU, neutral Switzerland is investing heavily in drones (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Ex-DoJ prosecutor charged with sending sealed Jack Smith Trump report to personal email: Carmen Mercedes Lineberger accused of hiding files related to Trump documents investigation as bundt cake recipe (LINK) — 20 May 2026

U.S. crude oil falls below $100 per barrel after Trump says Iran talks in final stages (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Ballroom won't be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request: multiple Republican senators objected to sending taxpayer dollars to the president's East Wing revamp (LINK) — 20 May 2026

What will happen in crypto if the Clarity Act passes (LINK) — 20 May 2026

— Tokens whose value derives from a sufficiently decentralized blockchain qualify as commodities, while tokens sold through investment contracts to fund development qualify as securities. The SEC and CFTC issued joint interpretive guidance on March 17, classifying Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and 12 other crypto assets as digital commodities. Under the bill, exchanges and brokers that handle digital commodities must register with the CFTC.

— The Clarity Act also addresses the $323 billion stablecoin market. Passive yield on stablecoin balances is banned under the bill's current formulation, meaning crypto platforms can no longer offer interest-like returns for holding dollar-backed stablecoins. But the bill includes a compromise that preserves activity-based rewards for stablecoin capital tied to transactions, payments, staking, or liquidity provision.

Meta lays off 8,000 employees in shift toward AI (LINK) — 20 May 2026

NASA astronauts study cancer and cartilage treatments aboard the ISS as spacewalks near (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Thousands of passengers stranded as airlines cancel European flights: Ryanair and British Airways hit by 'major disruption' (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Alibaba unveils AI model after China bans Nvidia chip during Trump visit (LINK) — 20 May 2026

Vaccine to tackle Ebola outbreak will take six to nine months, says WHO, as the number of suspected cases rose to 600 (LINK) — 20 May 2026

World has 6 months to avert major food crisis, says FAO as Hormuz struggle drags on (LINK) — 20 May 2026

UN backs historic climate crisis ruling by 141-8, despite US attempts to stop resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change (LINK) — 20 May 2026

— US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia — some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters — opposed the measure.

Mother Jones: US foreign aid cuts are threatening the survival of the world's most vulnerable populations (LINK) — 20 May 2026

What will happen in crypto if the Clarity Act passes (LINK) — 20 May 2026

— Tokens whose value derives from a sufficiently decentralized blockchain qualify as commodities, while tokens sold through investment contracts to fund development qualify as securities. The SEC and CFTC issued joint interpretive guidance on March 17, classifying Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and 12 other crypto assets as digital commodities. Under the bill, exchanges and brokers that handle digital commodities must register with the CFTC.

— The Clarity Act also addresses the $323 billion stablecoin market. Passive yield on stablecoin balances is banned under the bill's current formulation, meaning crypto platforms can no longer offer interest-like returns for holding dollar-backed stablecoins. But the bill includes a compromise that preserves activity-based rewards for stablecoin capital tied to transactions, payments, staking, or liquidity provision.

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

WHO chief "deeply concerned about the scale and speed" of Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda that has resulted in a spike in deaths — to at least 130 — and more than 500 suspected cases (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— The outbreak is complicated by the rare strain of the disease, known as Bundibugyo, that standard field tests often miss and for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of emerging cases in urban areas, including reports of cases in Uganda's capital, Kampala, and Goma, a crossroads city in Congo that borders Rwanda. The Intercept: Experts say Trump administration policies — like dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development and withdrawing from WHO — have further undermined global health security and negatively impacted the response to the outbreak.

WHO honours four global health leaders for lifetime contributions to public health: Dr Tore Godal, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, Dr Mike Ryan, and Dr Heba Elsewedy (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Russian overnight attack damages 25 homes in Kharkiv, hits Izmail port infrastructure (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Al Jazeera: Russian strike damages Ukraine Danube port as Moscow intercepts drones (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— A Russian attack has damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's Danube River port city of Izmail, a vital grain-export hub, while Russian authorities said they had downed four Ukrainian drones headed towards Moscow, as peace efforts remain stalled and both sides continue reciprocal attacks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushes for 'leaner' UN in call with Guterres (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— Rubio advanced President Donald Trump's vision for a "back-to-basics" United Nations that is "leaner and more accountable," including supporting a candidate proposed by Washington to lead the UN World Food Programme. Rubio stated that new leadership would bring "greater transparency and results-oriented management" while preserving the United States' "historic commitment to global food security." Rubio also discussed halting Iran's "unlawful mining and tolling of the Strait of Hormuz", claiming a draft UN Security Council resolution has "overwhelming support". The two leaders additionally reviewed coordinated US responses to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

US President Trump, family granted immunity from pending tax audits (LINK) — 19 May 2026

GOOGLE: Partnering with UNICEF to support innovation in education across the globe: initiative will support education innovation for millions of students across Brazil, India, Pakistan and Kenya (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— "By responsibly integrating AI powered tools to help accelerate progress and reimagine learning, we are pairing Google's technology with UNICEF's deep expertise in building education systems to ensure every student has the tools they need to succeed. Over the next three years, UNICEF will work with local communities to build localized, scalable solutions that meet the needs of learners — from training teachers to use Gemini and NotebookLM for personalized instruction, to using ReadAlong to support learners foundational reading fluency and comprehension through guided practice."

UN Habitat: From favelas to informal settlements, new UN report points to housing solutions that work (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Wave of recent high-profile departures at the Ethereum Foundation has reignited longstanding questions from community members about what is going on inside the crypto currency organization (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Opposition leaders in the Bahamas demand probe after US ties politician to drug trafficking case (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— Suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida was allegedly found with roughly $30,000, according to a U.S. federal agent. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago.

Deep in Ethiopia's badlands, scientists found 2.8-million-year-old fossil teeth that don't fit any known humanoid species (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— An international team reports that the teeth belong to two different types of early human ancestors that lived in the same place at the same time. One is an early member of the genus Homo, the lineage that leads to modern humans. The other is a previously unknown species of Australopithecus, a group of upright-walking hominins with ape-sized brains. The Ledi-Geraru australopith does not match any known species. Its molars are broad and squared off rather than tapered toward the back. They lack the distinctive outer contour seen in Australopithecus afarensis, the species of the famous Lucy skeleton. The canine tooth wears down from the tip rather than along a slanted groove, which is how A. afarensis canines typically erode. The study notes that as many as four hominin species may have shared eastern Africa between 3.0 and 2.5 million years ago.

— "This new research shows that the image many of us have in our minds of an ape to a Neanderthal to a modern human is not correct," said Kaye Reed, a paleoecologist at Arizona State University who has co-directed the Ledi-Geraru Research Project since 2002. "Human evolution is not linear, it's a bushy tree."

Google's Gemini Spark is the first AI agent built for people who don't know what an AI agent is (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Starbucks Korea CEO fired after 'Tank Day' promo evokes brutal 1980 crackdown on democracy (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Nigeria and U.S. forces announce they killed over 20 Islamic State group militants in weekend offensive (LINK) — ground.news: 53 media reports (LINK) — 19 May 2026

We tested the Trump Mobile phone. It was 9 months late and no longer 'Made in the USA'. The phone comes pre-loaded with Truth Social and bears an American flag on the back with 11 stripes (LINK) — 19 May 2026

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh to visit Geneva on 19 May, two days after Meghan Markle. The information about Sophie's trip to Switzerland has been kept to a minimum (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— Megan, the Duchess of Sussex, appeared at Place des Nations in Geneva on 17 May for the inauguration of The Lost Screen Memorial, a striking tribute honouring young lives lost to online dangers.

Monday, 18 May 2026

WHO: World Health Assembly (WHA79) opens in Geneva, Switzerland, with the election of Dr Víctor Elías Atallah Lajam of the Dominican Republic as the President (LINK) — 18 May 2026

UN: Housing crisis takes centre stage at World Urban Forum in Baku (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Trump says attack on Iran held off upon Gulf states' request (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Iran says it responded to 'excessive' US proposal, after Trump warns 'clock ticking' (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Strategists see European oil shortages within weeks as inventories are depleted (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Scott Bessent issues 30-day Russian oil license to 'stabilize' crude market, move will reroute oil to 'countries most in need' (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Iran reportedly launches Bitcoin-based shipping insurance for Hormuz passage (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Israel says it killed the leader of Hamas' military wing, one of the architects of Oct. 7 attacks, in Gaza City air strike on 15 May (LINK) — ground.news: 346 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— Known as the 'Ghost of al-Qassam', Haddad assumed leadership of the militant group's military wing after his predecessor, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed. Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas's armed wing and considered an architect of the attack, was also killed during the war.

Netanyahu says Israel 'very close' to eliminating Oct 7 attack masterminds — (LINK)

Bessent grants a 30-day extension for Russian oil in tankers as Iran war squeezes supply (LINK) — ground.news: 101 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Global scramble to contain new Ebola outbreak as US looks to relocate 'small number' of citizens affected (LINK) — 18 May 2026

US: Trump administration unveils $1.7bn fund to compensate his allies who allege they were unfairly investigated by the Biden administration as he drops tax lawsuit (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— BBC: Democrats criticised the settlement as a "slush fund" paid out of taxpayer money for Trump and his cronies from a federal agency overseen by him. The lawsuit's plaintiffs, which include Trump's elder sons and the Trump Organization, will receive an apology, but no monetary compensation, the department said.

US sanctions 9 senior Cuban officials as tensions escalate: Cuba warns of 'bloodbath' (LINK) — ground.news: 29 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

World Health Assembly rejects Taiwan-related proposal (Taiwan's participation as an observer) for tenth consecutive year (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Trump administration ends civil, criminal cases against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani over alleged violations of Iran-related sanctions tied to LPG imports after $10 billion investment promise (LINK) — ground.news: 86 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

US: Judges toss charges against 9 over Wyoming Attorney Darin Smith's 'deeply concerning' misconduct in native American cases (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Elon Musk loses court battle against Sam Altman and OpenAI after 3-week trial (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in 2024, alleging they violated their promise to keep the AI company a nonprofit. The jury found that Musk's claims were filed outside of the statute of limitations.

An entire "local newspaper" just shut down when all its reporters were busted as AI fakes (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Bitcoin price falls below $77,000 as US-Iran war trigger $500m liquidations (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Fox News has claimed for months that Iran's military had been destroyed. New reporting says US intelligence agencies have concluded otherwise (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Three adults killed and two teen suspects dead in shooting at San Diego Islamic Center, police say (LINK) — ground.news: 305 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— The teenagers, 17 and 19, were found dead in a vehicle nearby of gunshot wounds that appeared to be self-inflicted. A security guard who was killed apparently helped prevent deaths.Police said the guard "played a pivotal role in assisting from this being much worse."

A new Swatch model is introduced, the Royal Pop pocket watch, a collaboration with Audemars Piguet's luxury timepieces, and a case study in overexcited 'drop culture' plays out (LINK) — 19 May 2026

— Tne "bioceramic" timekeeper retails for around $400 but resells for thousands of dollars.

Alibaba selling high-powered laser guns (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Guardian: list of things Zohran Mamdani has done in just four months: cartoons (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Pollock sells for $181m at Christie's S.I. Newhouse auction (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— Brancusi's bronze Danaïde also set an artist record at $107.6 million as the late media mogul's 16-work collection smashed expectations. According to ARTnews, the sale makes it the fourth most expensive work ever sold at auction. The previous auction record for the abstract expressionist painter was US$61.2 million, set in 2021. Other works by him have been sold privately for up to US$200 million.

AI-generated fake citations are flooding scientific literature across publications, scientists warn: pattern of researchers using AI yet failing to fact-check the output (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Overfishing hits 11 of 12 Bahamian seafood staples, 73 years of catch data show: Nassau grouper and yellowfin grouper are classified as "grossly overfished" (LINK) — 18 May 2026

— Only the dolphinfish, the mahi mahi of beach-hotel menus and offshore recreational trips, is classified as healthy. Queen conch, Caribbean spiny lobster, hogfish, black grouper, rock hind and wahoo are "overfished". Lane snapper, mutton snapper and gray snapper are "slightly overfished".

Travellers are using AI to plan better trips and find cheaper flights: however, many travelers (about half) still turn to traditional travel websites for verification and booking decisions. (LINK) — 18 May 2026

Humanity's oldest known cave art has been discovered in Sulawesi, Indonesia (LINK) — 18 May 2026