Julian Assange lands in Australia a free man
By Tiffany Wertheimer, BBC News
Julian Assange has landed back home in his native Australia, after a plea deal allowed him to walk free from a London prison.
There were emotional scenes at Canberra Airport, as the Wikileaks founder kissed his wife and hugged his father, his lawyers watching on, visibly moved.
"Julian needs time to recover, to get used to freedom," Stella Assange said at a news conference shortly after her husband arrived.
For the past 14 years, Assange has been in a legal battle with US officials who accused him of leaking classified documents, which they say put lives in danger.
Dutch foreign ministry calls in Israeli ambassador over ICC spying claims
Meeting disclosed after questions by Dutch MPs concerned about Guardian revelations of anti-ICC campaign
Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands was asked to “report” to the Dutch foreign affairs ministry to explain allegations of a secret surveillance and espionage campaign by Israeli spy services against the international criminal court, it has emerged.
Dutch officials asked to meet the ambassador, Modi Ephraim, to discuss concerns raised by a Guardian investigation that revealed Israeli intelligence agencies attempted over a nine-year period to undermine, influence and allegedly intimidate the ICC chief prosecutor’s office.
Kenya updates: Ruto refuses to sign tax bill after unrest
Over 20 people were killed during anti-government protests in Kenya on Tuesday, according to a doctors' association. President William Ruto has now said the controversial tax bill will be withdrawn. DW has more.
Ruto proposes spending cuts after rejecting tax bill
After confirming that he had refused to sign Kenya's 2024 finance bill due to pressure from the public, Ruto said that he would call for additional austerity measures to reduce expenses.
He said that the executive branch of the government will cut costs.
Ruto proposed that parliament, the judiciary and county governments also "undertake budget cuts and austerity to ensure we do live within our means respecting the very loud message that is coming from the people of Kenya."
The Kenyan government had aimed to impose additional levies to reduce the country's sovereign debt, which amounts to around 68% of its GDP.
ICC convicts Mali Islamist for Timbuktu war crimes
The International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted an al Qaeda-linked extremist leader of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mali, notably for abusing prisoners as the de facto chief of the Islamic police in the historic desert city of Timbuktu.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud sat stoically while the decision finding him guilty of torture and cruel treatment between 2012 and 2013 was read out.
Judges continued to read the verdict on the many other charges he faced for his alleged role in a reign of terror insurgents unleashed on Timbuktu, including rape, torture, persecution, enforced marriages and sexual slavery.
Presiding judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua said Al Hassan played a "key role" overseeing amputations and floggings as police chief when Islamic militants seized control of Timbuktu for almost a year from early 2012.
A timetable for his sentencing will be handed down soon.
Suspected N Korean hypersonic missile exploded, S Korea says
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its capital region around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It said the missile was fired toward the North’s eastern waters, but the launch ended in failure.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff later told South Korean journalists that the missile blew up as it flew over the waters of the North's eastern coastal Wonsan city. It said the fragments of the missile were scattered in the waters, up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) away from the launch site. No damages were immediately reported.
India exports rockets, explosives to Israel amid Gaza war, documents reveal
As New Delhi attempts to walk a diplomatic tightrope, documents seen by Al Jazeera and company statements suggest Israel is receiving Indian weapons as it wages war on Gaza.
In the early morning hours of May 15, the cargo vessel Borkum stopped off the Spanish coast, lingering in the waters a short distance from Cartagena. At the port, protesters waved Palestinian flags and called on authorities to inspect the ship based on suspicions that it carried weapons bound for Israel.
Leftist members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Spanish President Pedro Sánchez requesting that the ship be prevented from docking. “Allowing a ship loaded with weapons destined for Israel is to allow the transit of arms to a country currently under investigation for genocide against the Palestinian people,” the group of nine MEPs warned.
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