Europe France Nearly 300.000 passengers across Europe have been affected as French air traffic controllers began a two-day strike that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights at the start of summer season to protest against understaffing and “toxic management”
Europe Kosovo Former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla Pjeter Shala appealed against the ICC Hague Trial verdict jailing him for 18 years for war crimes; the prosecution and victims’ representative insisted the sentencing was fair
Africa Sudan Widespread and systematic violations against women and girls in Sudan: conflict-related sexual violence, abductions, killings - many attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces - have been reported and condemned by independent human rights experts
Asia Qatar Free admission to Qatar Museums venues and exhibitions today 18 May and educational activities will celebrate International Museum Day; museum should evolve to remain an essential connection amid ongoing changes, actively shaping resilient communities
Europe North Macedonia The two former directors of a COVID-19 modular hospital in the city of Tetovo were given jail sentences for endangering public safety over a fire that on 8 September 2021 killed 14 patients for a lack of fire extinguishers
Oceania Palau Speaking at a panel with the advertising industry at Cairns Crocodiles - an international festival - sitting President of Palau stressed the importance of consistent campaigns as powerful tools to address climate issues with impacting results
Oceania Tuvalu At a panel with the advertising industry at Cairns Crocodiles - an international festival - the groundbreaking campaign presenting Tuvalu as first 'digital nation' has been recalled as powerful tool to address climate issues with truly impacting results
Europe Netherlands The Dutch National Theater will use new technology LiveText to improve accessibility for non-Dutch speakers or hearing impaired: the theater plans to introduce smart glasses that display real-time subtitles in 223 languages during performances
Europe Norway New, large offshore areas in the Arctic have been offered for more oil and gas exploration, as Norway seeks to pull more money out of its Oil Fund: the money, oil and gas revenues of the past 30 years, would be used mostly to cover extra aid to Ukraine
Africa Namibia 16 Namibian companies have expressed interest in contributing to establish a new national airline, announced for December 2026; a dedicated technical committee has been set up to guide the process of setting up the new national carrier
America United States Scientists are considering leaving the US as the administration shutters whole health divisions and curbs what can be studied: in a recent poll by Nature 75% of the 1.600 interviewed said they were thinking of moving elsewhere, mostly to Canada or Europe
Asia United Arab Emirates OpenAI is reportedly considering building data centers in the United Arab Emirates to greatly expand its Middle East footprint. A deal could be announced as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg
Europe Austria Thousands of people took part in the solemn ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp, an event that has been held annually since 1946 on the initiative of the survivors and their associations
Europe Vatican City Expressing hope that talks in Istanbul would open to a peace path, the Vatican is "Ready to offer spaces" for peace talks and "willing to offer good offices to facilitate meetings” while does not want “to interfere with other ongoing initiatives.”