Islamabad has blamed Afghanistan for a car bombing and ambush on a police checkpoint in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on May 10 that killed 15 officers. The government summoned Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires and delivered a “strong demarche,” claiming the evidence pointed to the attack being planned across the Durand Line—an accusation denied by Kabul. (TNH)

CIA director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials at the Interior Ministry in Havana, holding out the prospect of aid in exchange for “fundamental changes.” His arrival coincided with an outbreak of protests in Havana over electricty cuts. The government now admits it is “out of oil.”

The Trump administration has renewed a $100 million aid offer that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Havana had previously rejected. Cuba faces a deepening  humanitarian crisis following the US oil blockade imposed last January. (BBC News, NBC, PRI, TNH)

The EU-supported Libyan Coast Guard opened fire on a civilian search and rescue vessel operated by the NGO Sea-Watch on May 11. The boat had just rescued around 90 people when the coast guard fired 10-15 shots at the rescue vessel and threatened to board it and take it to Libya, according to Sea-Watch. This is not the first time the Libyan Coast Guard has attacked an NGO search and rescue vessel. (TNH)

The EU has officially invited representatives of the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate government—which the bloc does not officially recognize—to Brussels to discuss the deportation of Afghan refugees. The meeting is yet another public example of foreign governments actively deporting Afghan nationals. (TNH)

The US has announced $1.8 billion more in humanitarian cash, to be pushed through pooled funds run by the UN’s emergency aid coordination arm, OCHA. The money is on top of the $2 billion announced in December, and given mainly to big aid agencies. In announcing the new funding on May 14 in New York, Jeremy Lewin, senior official in the US State Department office now overseeing humanitarian assistance, said the money would be “focused on the places where we have a foreign policy interest,” and where it aligns with US President Donald Trump’s interests. Most of the money from the first $2 billion went to UN agencies, and it largely excluded local organizations. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher’s push to funnel donor money–including from other governments—to OCHA-run pooled funds has rankled other humanitarian leaders, though big aid groups like Save the Children have jostled for the money when it’s available. The US, still the world’s largesthumanitarian donor despite massive 2025 cuts, appears to be happy with the arrangement. “It’s something that’s going to be here to stay for us,” Lewin said. (TNH)

On May 11, the New York Times published a harrowing report by columnist Nicholas Kristof detailing a pattern of widespread sexual violence—including rape—perpetrated by Israeli soldiers, interrogators, prison guards, and settlers against Palestinians. Kristof’s article is far from the first time the abuses have come to light. A UN report last year found Israel’s use of sexual violence against Palestinian to be “systematic.” The abuses are often carried out against detainees held in Israeli prisons that the Israeli human rights group B’tselem has described as “a network of torture camps.”

Around 9,000 Palestinians are currently in Israeli detention, many of them held without charge. Kristof’s article also highlights a pattern of Israeli settlers using threats of sexual violence to force Palestinian from their land in the West Bank. The sexual violence has been met with impunity by Israeli authorities. In one high-profile case, all charges against nine Israeli reservist soldiers who were filmed sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee in July 2024 were dropped in March this year, and the military approved their return to duty last month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar are threatening to sue the New York Times over Kristof’s article. (TNH)

US District Judge Richard Leon on May 13 temporarily blocked US sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, finding that they were based solely on her encouraging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute Israeli officials.

Judge Leon made preliminary findings that President Donald Trump’s administration likely violated Albanese’s right to free speech by imposing sanctions against her. In his 26-page decision, he discussed the applicability of the First Amendment to Albanese, including an extensive discussion of the significance of free expression. He wrote:

Albanese has done nothing more than speak! It is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC’s actions–they are nothing more than her opinion… Finally, protecting the freedom of speech is “always” in the public interest… Indeed, the “proudest boast” of our First Amendment is that it protects the freedom to express even “the thought that we hate.” Enough said.

(Jurist)

Human Rights Watch reported May 14 that the armed group M23 committed human rights abuses against civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during its month-long occupation of the city of Uvira starting in December 2025, calling for a criminal investigation into these acts to ensure that all those responsible are held accountable.

The report documents human rights abuses committed between Dec. 10, 2025, days after the signing of a US-brokered peace agreement, and the M23 withdrawal on Jan. 17, 2026. It finds that M23 members, backed by Rwandan forces, perpetrated multiple grave rights violations, including killings of civilians, summary executions, rape, and enforced disappearances. (Jurist)