Two people were killed and tens of thousands of residents were affected by record-breaking floods that occurred in New South Wales. As emergency teams continue their rescue efforts, authorities warn of additional rain and potentially life-threatening flash floods.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli-caused attacks on Gaza since dawn, according to medical sources, as limited humanitarian aid has flowed into the Palestinian territory since Israel lifted its total blockade.
At least 51 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday, according to medical sources, including 25 in Gaza City and northern Strip areas.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, an Israeli attack that targeted an area housing displaced people in the al-Baraka neighborhood of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza claimed the lives of at least 10 people, including nine members of the same family.
In the as-Saftawi neighborhood of northwest Gaza, an Israeli bombing that targeted the Bakhit family home killed five people, according to Wafa.
A tank shell struck an Al-Awda Hospital’s medical warehouse in Beit Lahiya, setting it on fire, according to the health ministry, on the northern edge of the enclave.
According to the report, rescuers had spent hours trying to put out the fires.
According to doctors, tanks are stationed outside the hospital, effectively preventing access.
The UN reported on Thursday that the attacks occurred as aid organizations collected humanitarian supplies from about 90 trucks that have flown into Gaza since Israel’s restrictions on goods began earlier this week.
The UN Humanitarian Agency, according to Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for OCHA, had food, wheat flour, and medicine in the trucks that entered.
Insecurity, the risk of looting, and coordination issues with Israeli authorities present significant challenges for aid organizations in distributing the aid, Laerke said.
Late on Wednesday, the Gaza Government Media Office announced that international and local organizations had received 87 aid trucks to meet “urgent humanitarian needs.”
According to Tarek Abu Azzoum, who is a correspondent from Deir el-Balah, the food trucks “successfully off-loaded” at designated UN distribution centers on Wednesday.
He claimed that some bakeries have since resumed operations, citing Gaza’s media office.
Abu Azzoum praised the progress, noting that the supplies were still a “trickle” in comparison to the population’s needs in Gaza, where experts warn of a looming famine.
Our correspondent reported that food aid has not yet arrived in the northern region of Gaza because of security concerns, where thousands of civilians are also being under siege.
After more than 80 days of a complete blockade, the UN has been demanding that at least 500 food trucks be allowed into the territory every day. “The question is still whether Israel would allow an unconditional flow of aid to the Gaza Strip,” he said.
In the face of delays caused by concerns about looting and Israeli military restrictions and strikes, the UN announced on Wednesday that it was attempting to provide the desperately needed aid to Palestinians as quickly as possible.
After weeks of almost total isolation, where have Palestinians been frantically searching for basic supplies as a result of Israel’s blockade and fears of a long-term famine?
Half a million people in the Gaza Strip are currently starving, according to the UN, and one in five of those there are also in danger of starvation.
Pope Leo XIV called for “sufficient humanitarian aid” to be flown in and described the situation in Gaza as “worrying and painful.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement in recent days that Israel is still days away from implementing a new aid system in Gaza, which has drawn strong international condemnation.
He claimed that Israel intends to establish a “sterile zone” there that would house Hamas, where the population, which has repeatedly eluded and relocated throughout the conflict, would be moved and receive supplies.
Since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18, according to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 3, 509 people have died. Palestinian health authorities claim that at least 53 out of 655 people have died as a result of Israel’s October 2023 assault.
During a research trip in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine fisheries bureau accused the coastguard of firing water cannons and sideswiping a Filipino government vessel.
The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources criticized the Chinese coastguard’s “aggressive interference” against the Datu Sanday and a second ship during the incident on Wednesday, according to its report on Thursday.
Two Filipino ships were collecting sand samples “as part of a marine scientific research initiative” when the incident occurred close to a group of small sandbanks in the Spratly Islands, according to a Philippine statement.
The CCG vessel 21559 “was water cannoned and sideswiped the BRP Datu Sanday (MMOV 3002) twice at approximately 0913H,” putting the lives of its civilian personnel in danger.
The Philippine ship’s port bow and smokestack were harmed by “aggressive interference, dangerous maneuvers, and illegal acts,” according to a statement from the bureau.
The Bureau continued, adding that this was the first time Philippine ships were attacked close to the disputed Sandy Cay reef with water cannon.
The scientific team from the Philippines was still able to “complete its operations in Pag-Asa Cays 1, 2 and 3,” according to the statement, referring to the Sandy Cays as “the Philippines’.
The Philippine vessel “dangerously” approached its ship, according to a statement from the Chinese coastguard, which caused the collision. The Filipino vessel “illegally entered” Sany Cay, according to the statement.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed she had no idea about the incident.
The Chinese coastguard always upholds the law in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, she said.
Beijing asserts that it has sovereigny rights over almost the entire South China Sea despite a legal challenge from the international community.
In the South China Sea, China and the Philippines have engaged in numerous conflict.
A Chinese state media report claiming Sandy Cay 2 was under China’s control was condemned by the Philippines last month as “irresponsible.”
In mid-April, the country’s coastguard “implemented maritime control” over Tiexian Reef, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other areas of the South China Sea are disputed by China, which asserts its sovereignty over the region.
Islamabad, Pakistan – As Pakistan sought to defend itself against Indian missiles and drones launched at its military bases and cities in early May, it relied on an unlikely combination of assets: Chinese missiles and air defence; Chinese and United States fighter jets; and US diplomacy.
The missiles, air defence and jets helped Pakistan thwart any devastating hits on its airbases and claim it had brought down multiple Indian fighter planes – an assertion that India has neither confirmed nor denied.
The diplomacy sealed a ceasefire that Pakistan has publicly welcomed and thanked the Donald Trump administration for.
Yet, as the US has in recent years increasingly picked India over Pakistan as its principal South Asian partner, Pakistan this week worked to reassure China that Beijing remained its most coveted ally.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as foreign minister, visited Beijing earlier this week, meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on May 20 in the first high-profile overseas visit by a Pakistani leader since the ceasefire.
According to a statement from the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides discussed the fallout of the brief but intense conflict with India, the ceasefire, and Islamabad’s criticism of New Delhi’s actions.
During the meeting with Wang, Dar highlighted India’s “unilateral and illegal decision” to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a six-decade water-sharing agreement. India halted the accord following the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which left 26 people dead. Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based armed groups, an allegation Islamabad denies.
Wang, meanwhile, welcomed the ceasefire, describing it as serving the “fundamental and long-term interests of both sides [India and Pakistan]” while promoting regional peace.
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, held in-depth consultations with the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, today in Beijing.
Both sides exchanged views on evolving situation in South Asia, future trajectory of Pakistan-China… pic.twitter.com/mL03ljzyFr
Getting Wang on board was critical for Pakistan, say analysts.
With South Asia sitting on a tinderbox during the recent Pakistan-India standoff, a larger geopolitical contest loomed in the background.
Pakistan, once a key US ally, has shifted decisively into China’s orbit, relying on its northwestern neighbour heavily for economic and military support.
Meanwhile, India, long known for its non-alignment policy, has leaned closer to the US in recent years as part of a strategy to counter China’s rising influence.
Shahid Ali, an assistant professor of international relations at Lahore College for Women University, who specialises in Pakistan-China relations, said the timing and optics of Dar’s visit were significant.
“While Pakistan hoped to get China’s full diplomatic support for its conflict with India, especially regarding the suspension of the IWT, the visit also provided Dar a good opportunity to apprise China about US-led ceasefire dynamics, also reassuring them of Pakistan’s longstanding all-weather strategic partnership,” Ali told Al Jazeera.
Erum Ashraf, a UK-based scholar focused on Pakistan-China ties and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a $62bn mega project launched a decade ago – echoed this view.
She said the meeting allowed China to better understand what promises Pakistan may have made to the US and President Trump, who helped mediate the ceasefire.
“The Chinese must be concerned how Pakistan managed to gain President Trump’s support to talk of ceasefire and to even offer to resolve the matter of Kashmir between both countries. The Chinese worry how US influence in their back yard could impact their interest in the region,” she told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to China, Masood Khalid, called Beijing a “logical” first stop for Islamabad’s efforts to use diplomacy to push its narrative about the crisis with India in the aftermath of the ceasefire.
He noted that beyond the recent India-Pakistan military confrontation, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor remained a key pillar of bilateral cooperation.
“The foreign minister may apprise the Chinese side of the security steps which Pakistan has taken for Chinese nationals’ protection,” Khalid told Al Jazeera.
Indeed, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang prodded both countries to work together to create an “upgraded version of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.”
CPEC, launched in 2015 under then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the elder brother of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has been hailed as a “game-changer” for Pakistan.
It is a key component of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a huge network of roads, bridges and ports spread across nearly 100 countries that Beijing hopes will recreate the ancient Silk Road trade routes linking Europe and Asia.
However, CPEC has faced repeated delays, especially in Balochistan, where its crown jewel, the Gwadar Port, is located.
Separatist groups in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but poorest province, have long waged an armed rebellion against the state and have repeatedly hit Chinese personnel and installations, accusing them of benefitting from the province’s vast natural resources.
According to Pakistani government figures, nearly 20,000 Chinese nationals live in the country. At least 20 have been killed since 2021 in various attacks in different parts of Pakistan.
While Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry did not mention it explicitly, the Chinese statement quoted Dar as saying his country would make every effort to “ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan”.
Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia security researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, said the safety of Chinese nationals remains Beijing’s “topmost concern”.
“Even as the crisis with India heightened, the presence of a large number of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, in some ways, compelled Beijing to seek swift crisis de-escalation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Between April 22, when the Pahalgam attack occurred, and May 7, when India struck targets inside Pakistani territory, a global diplomatic effort was quietly under way to de-escalate tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations.
During this period, the US initially showed little interest in direct involvement while China, initially, also was slow to get involved.
China, which has a historically tense relationship with Delhi that suffered further after their troops clashed in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh in 2020, eventually urged restraint from both sides.
However, many observers felt China’s position was seen as lacking neutrality due to its closeness with Pakistan.
Faisal said China is likely to maintain its current “high-wire act”, acknowledging Pakistan’s security concerns while continuing to call for calm on both sides.
He added that while the US was the lead mediator for the ceasefire, Beijing double-tapped Washington by calling both Islamabad and New Delhi to dial down tensions.
“A lesson Beijing learned is that its current restrained public posturing opened up diplomatic space to engage with interlocutors in both Islamabad and New Delhi, despite the fact that the latter views its role with scepticism,” he said.
Ashraf, the UK-based academic, said India did not view China as a “neutral umpire” in its disputes with Pakistan – even though New Delhi and Beijing have in recent months tried to reset their ties, pulling troops back from contested border points and ramping up diplomatic efforts to calm tensions.
“India and China have only recently achieved a breakthrough in their strained border relations, which perhaps helps to explain China’s initial ‘hands off’ behaviour with Pakistan after Pahalgam,” she said.
But ultimately, she said, China needs to “balance a tightrope”: It doesn’t want to “upset relations with India”, but it also needs to help Pakistan enough that it doesn’t “collapse in the face of India’s attacks”.
The agreement was scheduled to be signed at a virtual ceremony with Mauritian government representatives on Thursday morning, but the injunction was issued in the last minute.
Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, two British nationals who were born at the Diego Garcia military base in Chagos and who argued that the islands should remain under British control, took action after Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe made their case in court.
The British government’s negotiations with a potential transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government were temporarily halted by High Court Judge Julian Goose.
He further stated that the defendant intends to keep the United Kingdom’s jurisdiction over the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Another court hearing is set for 10.30am (09: 30 GMT).
The two nationals’ lawyer, Michael Polak, claimed earlier this year that the government’s attempt to “give away” the islands without having them formally consulted with its residents was a continuation of their terrible treatment by the authorities in the past.
They continue to be the island people, but Polak claimed that their needs and desires are being ignored.
The Chagos Islands and Mauritius were split in 1965 by the UK, which has held control of the area since 1814, to form the British Indian Ocean Territory.
To make way for the Diego Garcia airbase on the largest island, the government evacuated about 1,500 residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the early 1970s.
The government made a draft agreement in October that would grant Mauritius access to the islands and permit the United States to keep using the Diego Garcia base for a 99-year lease.
As the two nations engaged in their first direct discussions since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia questioned Ukrainian sovereignty and undermined its president’s authority.
On May 15, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, arrived in Istanbul for the discussions that his Russian counterpart had suggested a few days earlier. His foreign and defense ministers accompanied him.
However, neither his cabinet nor Russian President Vladimir Putin showed up. He sent a junior delegation without the authority to sign a ceasefire, led by Rodion Miroshnik, the ambassador at large.
However, Russia’s sour tones threaten the Ukrainian team’s legitimacy.
According to Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, the delegation is waiting for Zelenskyy to speak out, for the hallucinogens to end, and for him to finally allow those who have been barred from negotiations for three years to sit down at the table.
On May 16, the day of the talks, Russian lead negotiator Rodion Miroshnik said, “We examined Ukrainian legislation, and we believe that Zelenskyy’s authority as the legitimate leader of the country has expired.”
He made mention of Zelenskyy’s failure to hold a presidential election the previous year. In a time of national crisis, Zelenskyy can remain in office, and the Ukrainian parliament extended Zelenskyy’s term until the end of martial law. However, Zelenskyy was portrayed as illegitimate by Russian officials by the extension.
There is a chance that legally binding agreements that have been reached and signed are disregarded, according to Miroshnik.
The day after the talks, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, declared that “the most crucial and fundamental thing for us still is who exactly will sign these documents on the Ukrainian side.”
However, it’s thought that Moscow is laying the groundwork for any compromise given Russia’s position.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, wrote, “This rhetorical campaign is part of efforts to make conditions for Russia to withdraw from any upcoming peace agreements at a time of its choosing.”
Following a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, Ukraine suggested a ceasefire.
Russia rejected both demands, instead proposing a one-million-per-mission ceasefire proposal, followed by a written submission of the proposals in writing.
Vladimir Medinsky, a member of the negotiating team and a negotiating aide, said, “We agreed that each side would outline its vision of a possible future ceasefire and lay it out in detail.”
Russia predicts that the conflict will continue in its favor.
Russian forces launched assaults in the east of Ukraine near Pokrovsk and Toretsk during the talks, taking some territory.
Russia’s largest war barrage, 273 drones, were launched on Ukraine’s cities on Saturday night.
Additionally, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed on Monday that it had taken control of both Donetsk’s Maryino and Novoolenovka settlements.
Moscow has responded to Kyiv’s request for a ceasefire by repressing talks without conditions, as it has reportedly done on Friday.
According to sources with knowledge of the proceedings, the Russian delegation demanded that the four provinces Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which Russia partially occupies, be given over in their entirety.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, asserted that all four regions that Russia invaded in 2022 were governed by Russian law.
They then addressed us with a request to join the Russian Federation after declaring themselves to be the subjects of international law following referendums. Therefore, everything is in order here from the perspective of international law, he said on Tuesday at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
According to Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs, it appeared that Russia was trying to impose yet another condition on a second round of discussions, which should lead to an agreement on Ukraine’s non-aligned status.
Putin included the four regions’ surrenders in a speech last June, as well as neutrality, an accord that will never join NATO and the European Union.
Zakharova confirmed that those delegations’ discussions still had Russian objectives as they resumed on Monday.
Following a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, Putin gave the timeline.
Russia and the Ukrainian side have agreed to work together on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty that lists a number of positions, including a potential ceasefire for a predetermined amount of time, as well as settlement principles, the signing of a potential peace agreement, and so on, according to Putin, who spoke to reporters.
Putin visited Kursk for the first time since Russian forces reclaimed it following an Ukrainian counterinvasion, calling Ukrainians Neonazis for destroying World War II monuments and “idiots” who “would come second in a contest of idiots.”
Trump urged Zelenskyy to meet with Trump.
They “touched the issue of direct contact,” Peskov said, downplaying the demand.
“It is crucial that America continues to play a role in the effort to bring peace closer. In his Tuesday evening address, Zelenskyy said, “It is America that Russia fears, and American influence can save many lives if used as a means to get Putin to end the war.”
Others were skeptical that Trump’s negotiations would lead to a positive outcome for Ukraine, though.
Bridget Brink, the US’s former ambassador to Kyiv, explained on Monday why she left her position last month.
Because the Trump administration’s policy has always been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than the aggressor, Russia, she told CBS’s Face the Nation. “I resigned from Ukraine and also from the foreign service. “Peace at any price is not peace at all,” the saying goes. It’s a form of appeasement. And, as we all know from history, appeasement only leads to more war.
Despite Ukraine’s allies’ demands for a tougher line against Russia, Europe, Canada, and Australia remain the top contenders.
On Monday, the 17th EU sanctions package became effective, limiting the movement of 189 tankers deemed to be smugglers of Russian oil and increasing the total number of tankers in force. Additionally, the EU imposed sanctions on 28 Russian judges who violated human rights and Russian arms manufacturers.
