THE HAGUE, May 21 – Two people were killed and two police officers injured in a stabbing incident in Hoofddorp, a town in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands, on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from Dutch police.

The police received a report of a brawl in a house around 6:05 a.m. local time in Hoofddorp. Later, police officers found two individuals “involved in a violent incident.” Both died at the scene.

During the incident, the police fired gunshots. Two officers were injured and hospitalized for treatment.

It remains unclear exactly what happened. An investigation into the “fatal stabbing incident” is underway. Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department has opened an inquiry into the police’s use of force, a standard procedure in cases involving serious injury or death.

XINHUA

GAZA, May 21, 2025 – At least 82 Palestinians were killed and 262 others were injured in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours as a result of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the region, according to medical sources.

They confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 2023 has risen to 53,655 fatalities, with an additional 121,950 people sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.

According to the same sources, the death toll since Israel’s resumption of the genocide on March 18 after a two-month truce has also climbed to 3,509, in addition to 9,909 others injured.

WAFA

CANNES, France, May 21 – Two people died while a boat carrying some 80 migrants sailed off to reach Britain through the English Channel, the French Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea confirmed on Wednesday.

The French Maritime Rescue and Rescue Service, monitoring the boat, was notified that two people on board were unconscious and required assistance, the Prefecture said in a press release.

A French Navy vessel was involved in the rescue process, and the two unconscious passengers, along with 10 others, were retrieved from the boat.

However, when the medical team from Boulogne-sur-Mer arrived by helicopter, the two unconscious were confirmed dead, the Prefecture added.

“The remaining occupants of the boat continued their journey towards British waters under the surveillance of the Rhone (French Navy vessel),” the Prefecture added.

According to French news channel BFMTV, some 78 migrants lost their lives while trying to cross the Channel to reach Britain, an absolute record since the illegal crossing massively started in 2018.

XINHUA

QUETTA, Pakistan, May 21 – At least three children were among five people killed when a suicide bomber struck an army school bus in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, the military said on Wednesday, in an attack Pakistan blamed on Indian proxies.

Around 40 students were on the bus that was headed to an army-run school and several have sustained injuries, said Yasir Iqbal, the administrator of Khuzdar district, where the incident took place.

Pakistan’s military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif swiftly released statements condemning the violence and accusing “Indian terror proxies” of involvement in the attack. They did not share evidence linking the attack to New Delhi.

“Planners, abettors and executors of this cowardly Indian sponsored attack will be hunted down and brought to justice,” the military’s media wing said.

India’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions between India and Pakistan remain high after they agreed a ceasefire on May 10. Diplomats have warned the truce is fragile, following the most dramatic escalation of hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.

Both accuse the other of supporting militancy on each other’s soil – a charge both capitals deny. The latest military escalation, in which the two countries traded missiles, was sparked after India accused Pakistan of supporting a militant assault on tourists in the Indian portion of the contested region of Kashmir. Islamabad denies any involvement.

In Wednesday’s suicide attack in Balochistan, at least three children and two adults were killed, the army said. Local television showed the images of three girls from middle and high school grades who were killed.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which was reminiscent of one of the deadliest militant attacks in Pakistan’s history when an attack on a military school in the northern city of Peshawar in 2014 killed more than 130 children.

That attack was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an ultra-radical Islamist group.

Attacks by separatist groups in Balochistan have risen in recent years. The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militant group, blew up a railway track and took passengers from a train hostage in March, killing 31.

REUTERS

MADRID – An unidentified gunman or gunmen shot and killed former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov on Wednesday morning outside the gates of the American School in Madrid’s affluent neighborhood of Pozuelo, a source close to the investigation said.

Police received the call about the shooting at 9.15 a.m. (0715 GMT) local time, the Madrid police told Reuters, without identifying the victim.

Radio station Cadena SER said the man was taking his children to the school when he was shot.

Portnov was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovich who was ousted in 2014.

AN-REUTERS

WASHINGTON, May 21 – U.S.-gathered intelligence suggests that Israel is preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear program, CNN has reported, citing multiple U.S. officials.

The report on Tuesday also cited U.S. sources as saying that it was unclear whether Israel had made a final decision to carry out the strikes, and that within the U.S. government, there was disagreement about whether the Israeli side would ultimately decide to conduct the strikes.

The likelihood of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility “has gone up significantly in recent months,” the CNN report quoted a source familiar with the intelligence as saying. The source said that the odds would be higher if the United States reached a deal with Iran that did not remove all of the country’s uranium.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been negotiating with Iran for a diplomatic deal on its nuclear program. Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described U.S. demands on Iran’s uranium enrichment as “excessive and outrageous,” voicing doubt over the talks’ prospect.

XINHUA

MOSCOW, May 21 – Russia’s air defenses shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over various regions of the country overnight, the defense ministry said Wednesday.

“Between 8:00 p.m. on May 20 and 4:05 a.m. on May 21 Moscow time (1700-0105 GMT), on-duty air defenses intercepted and destroyed 127 fixed-wing Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles” across several Russian regions, the ministry said. In the period from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Moscow time (0100-0500 GMT), the air defenses destroyed another 32, it added.

Those drones included 53 shot down over Oryol Region, 51 over Bryansk, 37 over Kursk, and six over Moscow, according to the ministry.

XINHUA

MEXICO CITY, May 20 – Two top aides of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were shot dead after being ambushed by gunmen on a motorbike in a daytime attack in the city center on Tuesday.

The victims were the mayor’s private secretary, Ximena Guzman, and an adviser to Brugada, Jose Munoz, according to a statement from the city.

The assassinations have sent shockwaves through Mexico’s capital, widely regarded as an oasis of relative security in a country plagued by violence. Political violence has become common in many parts of Mexico, where scores of local political candidates have been assassinated in killings usually linked to drug cartels seeking to exert influence.

Initial reports indicated Guzman had been driving to work and stopped on a busy avenue in downtown Mexico City to pick up her colleague, an official at the federal prosecutor’s office said.

Munoz was approached by two gunmen on a motorbike who shot and killed him in the street. The attackers then fired at least four shots at Guzman inside the vehicle, killing her.

Authorities have not yet given a motive for the attack although security experts say it appeared to be a hit carried out by organized crime.

Mexico City’s civil security office said that a motorbike had been seized not far from attack, as well as another vehicle in the Iztacalco neighborhood, while investigators were looking into ballistic and fingerprint evidence from the scene.

“I feel very sad for the loss of Ximena and Pepe (Jose), with whom for many years we shared dreams and struggles,” a noticeably distressed Brugada said.

She thanked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her cabinet for the support and cooperation they had provided since the attack. Sheinbaum is a former mayor of Mexico City.

“It is a deplorable incident and we are going to give all the support that the mayor may need,” Sheinbaum said.

Brugada added that there would be no impunity for those responsible for the killing. She was not in the car when the attack took place, a Mexico City government official told Reuters.

Photos in local media showed a black Audi with four bullet holes in the front window and a sheet covering what appeared to be one body, while another body was covered with a white sheet on the pavement.

Police patrols taped off the area so forensic specialists could examine the scene.

“It was a harsh message sent to Clara (Brugada), undoubtedly perpetrated by drug traffickers,” said David Saucedo, a public security specialist. Groups affected by drug seizures have previously launched attacks against the capital’s authorities, he said.

In 2020 then Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch, now the federal security minister, was shot and injured in an assassination attempt that killed two of his bodyguards. That attack was blamed by him on one of the country’s most powerful drug groups, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

REUTERS

KYIV, May 21 – A Russian missile attack killed six servicemen and injured at least 10 more during training on Tuesday, Ukraine’s national guard said in a statement on Wednesday.

The national guard said an internal investigation was underway and the commander of the military unit had been suspended.

REUTERS

ISLAMABAD, May 21 – At least four students were killed and over 30 others injured when a bomb went off near a school bus in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province on Wednesday, police and government officials said.

XINHUA

Britain said on Tuesday it had sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians.

Sanctions were placed on Neria’s Farm outpost, as well as individuals residing in the outpost. Sanctions were also imposed on Nachala, Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd, Harel Libi, Daniella Weiss, and Coco’s Farm outpost.

The UK sanctioned Zohar Sabah for “involvement in threatening, perpetrating, permitting and supporting acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals.”

AN-REUTERS

MILAN, May 20 – Italian police said on Tuesday they arrested a Chinese national for alleged labour exploitation and shut down a workshop in the Milan area producing items for the fashion industry.

Checks are currently under way on the branded clothing products found in the workshop, police said, without disclosing which brands were involved.

The announcement came just days after a unit of fashion brand Valentino was put under court administration over worker abuse inside its supply chain, one of a string of cases that have tainted the image of Italy’s luxury brands.

In this latest case, Carabinieri police from the Milan labour protection unit said they closed the workshop in the northwestern suburbs of Milan on May 13.

Police identified 10 Chinese labourers who were victims of exploitation. Six of them were working off the books without proper registration and five were also illegal immigrants.

The staff were forced to work up to 90 hours a week, seven days a week, and were paid 4 euros ($4.50) an hour, Carabinieri said in a statement.

“The workers slept in rooms illegally set up inside the factory, which appeared to be a sort of dormitory with terrible
hygiene and sanitary conditions,” they said.

The police investigation was launched when a worker reported his employer for breaking his hand, causing injuries that required 45 days of treatment, after the worker demanded 10,000 euros in unpaid wages.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that make up 50%-55% of global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain has calculated.

Investigations by Italian magistrates have over the last years exposed widespread exploitation of workers in the fashion and luxury supply chain.

Milan’s court proposed a scheme in June 2024 under which luxury firms should strengthen checks on suppliers to ensure they respected labour laws.

REUTERS

GENEVA, May 20 – China will give an additional $500 million to the World Health Organization over five years, an official told the World Health Assembly on Tuesday, as the U.N. agency seeks extra funding to offset the expected loss of its top donor, the United States.

China’s Vice Premier of the State Council Liu Guozhong made the announcement in a speech in Geneva.

“The world is now facing the impacts of unilateralism and power politics bringing major challenges to global health security… Multilateralism is a sure pass to addressing difficulties,” Liu told delegates.

The WHO has already revised down its 2026-2027 budget by 21% to $4.2 billion due to its financial difficulties, caused mainly by the Trump administration’s decision.

The new budget set to be decided by the assembly on Tuesday will increase countries’ mandatory fees by 20% over the next two years and will make China the new top state donor.

It was not immediately clear if the $500 million donation from China already included that fee increase.

REUTERS

NANNING, May 20 – Four people have been confirmed dead after the body of the last missing person was found on Tuesday in a flash flood in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said.

Torrential downpours hit Longlin County of Guangxi on Saturday, resulting in the flash flood in Yancha Township. A temporary hillside shelter was swept away by the surging waters, leaving four people missing.

Local emergency response, public security, fire and health authorities promptly launched search and rescue operations after the disaster.

Three bodies were recovered on Saturday, while the body of the last missing person was retrieved at noon on Tuesday.

XINHUA

GAZA, May 20 – At least 64 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza.

Around Gaza City, 13 people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Musa bin Nusair school, east of the city, which shelters displaced people, whereas a woman and a man were killed in two separate attacks in the city, Basal told Xinhua.

In central Gaza, 13 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home belonging to the Abu Samra family in the Al-Mahatta neighborhood east of Deir al-Balah, and 15 others were killed and several more injured in an Israeli airstrike on a gas station housing displaced people west of the Nuseirat refugee camp, Basal said.

In northern Gaza, nine people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit the home of the al-Maqeed family in Jabalia, and four others were killed in an Israeli attack on the Khalifa school housing displaced people in Beit Lahia, he added.

In southern Gaza, eight people were killed in two Israeli attacks in Khan Younis, he said.

Meanwhile, Ahed Samour, director of Primary Care at the Gaza-based health authorities, said in a press statement that Gaza’s health system “is on the brink of collapse,” warning of the risk of “a health disaster in the coming months due to the shortage of basic vaccines for children.”

“Health facilities are shrinking day by day” amidst “almost non-existent” stock of medicines, out-of-stock basic items, and nonfunctional medical equipment, Samour said.

Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the expiration of the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, which have so far killed more than 3,300 people and injured over 9,350, according to the Gaza-based health authorities.

Over the weekend, Israel launched its new military campaign, dubbed Gideon’s Chariots, which it said aims to seize key parts of Gaza, push a majority of Gaza’s population further south, and resume humanitarian aid distribution under stricter Israeli oversight.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would allow the entry of a “minimal and basic” quantity of aid into Gaza to prevent “images of mass starvation.” Later, five UN aid trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing on Monday after undergoing security inspections.

On Tuesday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement that Israel is “entering a new phase (of operation), different in size and strength,” to achieve its objectives of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.

XINHUA

TEHRAN, May 20 – One person was killed and 24 others injured in two road incidents in Iran, the country’s IRIB news agency reported Tuesday.

Three police officers, all members of the highway patrol, were stationed on the northern shoulder of an intercity highway in northern Alborz province on Monday night, when a pickup truck veered off the lane due to the driver’s “carelessness and drowsiness” and crashed into them, said an IRIB report.

The three were all severely injured and immediately transferred to the hospital, and one of them, identified as Ali-Akbar Sijani, succumbed to his wounds despite efforts by the medical staff, the report added.

Later, a passenger bus carrying five Iranians and 37 Afghan nationals, which was en route to Iran’s southeastern border in Sistan and Baluchestan province, overturned early Tuesday on an intercity road in southeastern Kerman province and left 22 injured, IRIB said in a separate report.

Two of the injured were transferred to the hospital, and the rest received primary medical care at the scene, it noted, without specifying the cause of the incident.

XINHUA