Good morning.
The US may suspend the sale of more weapons systems to Israel if it proceeds with a ground offensive in Rafah, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said.
The US has already paused the shipment of 3,500, 2,000lb and 500lb high-payload bombs amid concerns over the scale of civilian casualties in Israel’s war in Gaza. Blinken highlighted the “horrible loss of life of innocent civilians” in some of the Biden administration’s strongest rhetoric so far. More than 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began.
Speaking to NBC and CBS News, Blinken said Joe Biden remained committed to helping Israel defend itself, with the US only presently withholding high-payload bombs. But he warned that could expand if Israel launched a full-scale attack on the southern city where more than 1.2 million Palestinians have sheltered.
What is the latest on the humanitarian situation? Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday morning that its health system could collapse in a “few hours”.
Rise of drug-resistant superbugs could make Covid pandemic look ‘minor’, expert warns
The growing global threat posed by superbugs resistant to existing drugs will make the Covid pandemic “look minor”, the UK’s special envoy on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Prof Dame Sally Davies, has warned.
Davies said the immediate threat is “more acute” than climate change, while noting that the two crises are interlinked. She described what the world would like if the problem was not tackled within a decade: “It looks like a lot of people with untreatable infections, and we would have to move to isolating people who were untreatable in order not to infect their families and communities. So it’s a really disastrous picture. It would make some of Covid look minor,” said Davies, whose goddaughter died of an infection that could not be treated two years ago.
Is AMR already here? Yes. Drug-resistant infections already kill at least 1.2 million people a year, and one in five AMR deaths is in a child aged under five, usually in sub-Saharan Africa.
How are the climate crisis and AMR connected? Davies pointed to the way displacement, flooding and lack of clean water spread infection.
Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen expected to testify in hush-money trial
Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial enters its 16th day on Monday with his former fixer Michael Cohen expected to testify as a witness for the prosecution.
Cohen is central to the case – he is accused of making a $130,000 payment to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election in order to buy her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Prosecutors allege that Trump’s repayment of Cohen in 2017 was criminal because it was labellled as legal expenses.
Cohen’s testimony will follow nearly two days of explosive testimony from Daniels, in which she testified that she and Trump had sex after a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
How many more prosecution witnesses can we expect? Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said his team expected to call two more, and that it “was entirely possible” it could rest its case by the end of this week.
In other news …
At least 41 people have been killed after heavy rain triggered flash floods and cold lava mudslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island. A further 17 people are missing.
Vladimir Putin has removed his longstanding ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister. It is the biggest change to Russia’s military order since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Stranded child refugees are relying on people smugglers to reach the UK to reunite with their parents, due to delays in government family reunion processes, according to a report.
Stat of the day: there have been more than 150 mass shootings in the US in 2024
There have been 156 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines the term as a shooting in which four or more victims are killed or wounded. On Saturday night, three people were killed and at least 12 were injured in a shooting at a May Day party in south Alabama.
Don’t miss this: Riot grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna on male violence, Lyme disease and how ‘girl power’ was co-opted
Following her new memoir Rebel Girl, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna opens up about how she started out in the riot grrrl scene, the impact of sexual violence and her struggle with Lyme disease, with which she was diagnosed in her 40s. How did she feel when phrases such as “girl power” went mainstream? “You know, the suit guys? They know how to make money but they don’t know how to make art. I’m not gonna stop making stuff and they can rip it off all they want,” she responds.
Climate check: Banks have given nearly $7tn to fossil fuel industry since Paris deal – report
The world’s top banks have given nearly $7tn in funding to fossil fuel films since the 2016 Paris agreement to curb carbon emissions, according to research. While many countries pledged to limit emissions after the 2016 talks, the report shows private interests kept funding oil, gas and coal companies. One hundred and ninety-six countries signed a deal to limit global heating to a maximum of 2C above preindustrial levels; last week, a Guardian survey showed 80% of top climate scientists believe we will hit at least 2.5C.
Last Thing: Cannes goes canine crazy
Palm Dog, an awards ceremony for “canine excellence on the big screen” has been running since 2001, when it was set up by journalist Toby Rose. But lately, canines appear to be serving as a bridge in the polarized world of French cinema, with Rose saying there has been a “huge uptick in dog roles” at Cannes festival; at least seven are in the running for the top prize this year.
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