Israeli army kills Palestinian man, raids homes in occupied West Bank
Israeli forces killed a 34-year-old man in Jenin Camp, the Palestinian health ministry said. Published On 16 May 202616 May 2026 Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in a targeted attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says, as the army also storms homes amid settler attacks. The health ministry in Ramallah identified the victim of Saturday’s attack as 34-year-old Nour al-Din Kamal Hassan Fayyad, saying he was “killed by occupation forces’ fire in the Jenin camp”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The Israeli military claimed that troops fired after he tried to “infiltrate” the Jenin camp area, wherein “the soldiers are operating, and the entry is prohibited”. Since January last year, Israel has launched major military operations in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied territory. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said that Israeli operations targeting Jenin and Tulkarem camps have displaced 40,000 Palestinians. Separately on Saturday, the Wafa news agency reported that Israeli soldiers arrested a young Palestinian man after assaulting him in the Shu’fat refugee camp, northeast of Jerusalem, and another from the village of Zawata, west of Nablus. Another Palestinian was assaulted by Israeli settlers in the town of Sinjil. Israeli forces also stormed the cities of Tubas and Qalqilya, and the towns of Tammun and Zaatara, east of Bethlehem, and raided the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, Wafa reported. The Israeli settlers set fire to an agricultural room and wrote racist slogans in the town of Turmus Aya, both northeast of Ramallah. ‘Attacks must stop’ Elsewhere, a senior UN official condemned an arson attack against a mosque and several vehicles in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank. Advertisement Ramiz Alakbarov, the deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said that masked individuals set fire to the site in the village of Jibiya and drew Hebrew graffiti. “Attacks against religious sites and civilian property are unacceptable and undermine stability, human dignity, and freedom of worship,” Alakbarov said. He added that the attack comes against a backdrop of rising settler violence and intensifying attacks in the occupied West Bank that continue to endanger civilians and damage their property. “I call for an immediate and transparent investigation, and for all perpetrators to be held accountable,” he said. “These attacks must stop.” Adblock test (Why?)
Iran warns of readiness for war and economic costs as US talks falter
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Iranian leaders and TV have ramped up pressure on the US with a stream of messaging to domestic and foreign audiences.
How Thomas Massie came to represent Republican dissent in age of Trump
Since Donald Trump’s rise to the White House a decade ago, the United States president has purged his Republican Party of critics and rivals. Many politicians dropped their earlier criticism of him and earned a place in his inner circle. Others never sought re-election or retired in the middle of their term to avoid a fight with the president, who is known for personal insults and lack of tolerance for dissent. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list A few other legislators who chose to fight on were defeated by Trump-backed opponents in Republican primaries. Congressman Thomas Massie, a Kentucky libertarian, is one of the last dissidents standing. He has been a rare Republican thorn in the side of Trump since the US president’s return to power last year. Massie has voted against a key tax bill backed by the president, pushed for the release of government files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein against the White House’s wishes and vocally opposed the war on Iran and US aid to Israel. Now Massie is in a fight for his career as he faces a Trump-endorsed Republican opponent – Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL officer – and an avalanche of pro-Israel spending in next week’s congressional primary in Kentucky. The contest, however, goes beyond Trump and could be a litmus test for the faultlines emerging within the Republican base, including over military interventions and support for Israel. For Massie’s supporters, the race on May 19 is a test for everything the congressman purports to stand for: unflinching loyalty to the US Constitution, political integrity and standing up to powerful special interest groups. On Wednesday, influential right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich underscored another aspect of the contest in Kentucky – a showdown gauging the influence of podcasters who support Massie against campaign spending and traditional conservative media outlets. Advertisement “Massie’s primary is an interesting one to watch because it’ll show if podcasters and social media can drive out the vote in a material way. It’s unlimited money on the other end,” Cernovich wrote on X. “If Massie loses, every Congress member will be cowed into fear. If he wins, it’s a new media era.” Who is Massie? So how did a 55-year-old House member come to represent a political movement at an inflection point in the modern history of US politics? An engineer and inventor, Massie was born in a town in the Appalachian hills in West Virginia, near Kentucky and Ohio. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and then went on to find a company that helped pioneer virtual reality technology and registered dozens of patents. Massie married his high school sweetheart Rhonda, who died of an illness in 2024, with whom he had four children. The family moved to Kentucky in 2003, and Massie sold his firm to subsequently pursue a career in politics. He became the judge-executive of Lewis County in 2011 and successfully ran for Congress a year later to represent Kentucky’s 4th District in the house of representatives, a Republican stronghold that encompasses rural areas as well as suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. Massie quickly earned a reputation as a rebel, bucking the bipartisan orthodoxy on foreign policy as well as his own party’s consensus on many issues. In the first vote of his full term, he joined 11 other Republicans to vote against the election of then-Speaker John Boehner and the only one to back his libertarian colleague Justin Amash to take the gavel. Willingness to vote against his own party, did not earn Massie many friends on the Democratic side. In 2021, Massie sparked a huge outcry from Democrats when he posted a Christmas photo of himself and his family members holding semi-automatic rifles at a time when gun violence was on the rise. At times, his uncompromising stances have earned him near universal scorn. In 2022, Massie voted against a bill to make lynching – the extrajudicial execution of African Americans during racial segregation in the south of the US – a federal crime. “This bill expands current federal ‘hate crime’ laws. A crime is a crime, and all victims deserve equal justice. Adding enhanced penalties for ‘hate’ tends to endanger other liberties such as freedom of speech,” he wrote in a social media post explaining his vote at that time. “Lynching a person is already illegal in every state. Passing this legislation falsely implies that lynching someone does not already constitute criminal activity.” Advertisement Backing a largely symbolic vote against something as despicable as lynching, even if he opposed it, may have been the easier option. The congressman has said that he has always had that rebellious streak. “I was simultaneously the teacher’s pet and the teacher’s worst nightmare,” Massie recently told Mother Jones magazine. “I would like to think I’ve become a lot more tactful, but I still won’t tolerate a wrong answer.” Despite advocating for gun rights and small government, Massie has been able to team up with Democrats to push forward specific issues, especially opposition to military campaigns abroad. Most recently, he became a leading figure in the effort to release the Epstein files, forging a strong partnership with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna to pass a bill to compel the Justice Department to make the records public. CongressmanThomas Massie questions then-Attorney General Pam Bondi during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing February 11 [File: Tom Brenner/AP Photo] Israel and the race Massie has also sided with Democrats in rejecting the war on Iran, and he has been one of the few Republican critics of unconditional US military aid to Israel. Massie’s opponents – including pro-Israel groups and donors – are flooding the airwaves with ads against the congressman, often portraying him as not conservative enough and highlighting his vote against the tax bill. One commercial that aired earlier this month featured deep fake, artificial intelligence-generated footage of Massie holding hands with progressive Democratic congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. The ad said Massie was caught in a
Cannes Film Festival 2026: a different carpet roll-out
NewsFeed How big events shape the uprising and how the uprising shapes the big events. Cannes Film Festival 2026 mirrors today’s geopolitical, cultural and technological developments. Published On 15 May 202615 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
FA Cup final: Man City’s season a success ‘regardless of trophies’
Manchester City face Chelsea in the FA Cup final looking to add to their League Cup success and with eye on EPL title. Published On 15 May 202615 May 2026 Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City have had a successful season, whether or not they win the Premier League title or the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday. Guardiola’s side will put their attempt to catch Premier League leaders Arsenal on hold as they head to Wembley for a fourth successive FA Cup final appearance. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list City start every season with the Premier League and Champions League as their main targets, but they are on the verge of falling short in both. Knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid in March, City will be five points behind Arsenal if the Gunners beat relegated Burnley at home on Monday. Guardiola’s men can close the gap back to two points with victory at Bournemouth in their penultimate match of the season on Tuesday. But Arsenal would then still be able to guarantee their first English title since 2004 by winning at Crystal Palace on May 24. Having already won the League Cup by beating Arsenal, City have a chance for a domestic double this weekend. However, Guardiola is adamant the campaign has been positive, no matter what happens at Wembley or in the title race. “It depends on the trophies you lift. Sometimes you lift trophies and the season has been successful,” said Guardiola, who would only offer “we’ll see” when asked if Rodri would be fit to start in midfield. “Sometimes, you lift and the truth is the season has been really, really bad. “I said a few weeks ago this season has been good. Really, really good.” After starting with Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku on the bench for Wednesday’s win against Crystal Palace, Guardiola is likely to field a full-strength team against Chelsea instead of prioritising the title fight. Advertisement “It is the final of the FA Cup. The message is there are two prestigious clubs at Wembley in the FA Cup final. Our fans make an incredible effort to come down to London. It is not cheap,” he said. “We try to perform as much as possible to win. It is always the game plan.” City have lost the last two FA Cup finals against Crystal Palace and Manchester United, who they had beaten in the 2023 showpiece. “There’s excitement, of course. I hope we can do better than the last two times,” Guardiola said. “Wembley is still a special place. Everything is so nice. The pitch is extraordinary. We are desperate to perform well.” Ahead of his 24th trip to Wembley with City, Guardiola joked that he is “so disappointed” he has not had a stand named after him at the home of English football. “So many times I have been there, at least a lounge or a box or something like that. Maybe I have to go 24 more times,” he said. Guardiola has one year left on his City contract and is yet to sign a new deal amid speculation that he could end his decade at the Etihad Stadium once the current campaign is over. Asked about reports that City’s fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura and goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor are set to leave the club, Guardiola said with a smirk: “I extended the contract with them three more years,” before adding: “Nope”. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump says he discussed Taiwan arms sale with China’s Xi Jinping
NewsFeed US President Donald Trump said he discussed US arms sales to Taiwan with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during talks in Beijing. Trump also said he is considering lifting sanctions on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil. Published On 15 May 202615 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
What happens to those who say no to fighting wars?
NewsFeed On International Conscientious Objectors’ Day, Al Jazeera’s @avawarrinerr explains what it means for people who object to fighting in wars today and what happens when they do. Published On 15 May 202615 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Israel-Lebanon talks held in Washington as expiration of ceasefire nears
NewsFeed Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Washington, where the first of two days of US-mediated ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon concluded on Thursday. A ceasefire between them expires on Sunday, though Israel has killed 512 Lebanese since its implementation on April 17. Published On 15 May 202615 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
After Trump’s pledge to ‘open up’ China, low expectations for summit deal
Before arriving for his high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, United States President Donald Trump aimed to set expectations high. He said he would urge Xi to “open up” China’s economy and announced a delegation of top business executives, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, to accompany him. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list As Trump and Xi prepare to wrap up two days of meetings on Friday, the expectations for their summit’s outcome among observers generally are modest at best. While Trump and Xi are anticipated to extend the one-year pause in their trade war agreed to in South Korea in October, the expectations are for a stabilisation – not revitalisation – in ties between the world’s two largest economies, which are locked in a rivalry that spans everything from trade and artificial intelligence to the status of Taiwan. “It is important to be clear-eyed about the state of relations here,” Claire E Reade, a senior counsel at Arnold & Porter who previously worked on China at the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), told Al Jazeera. “China does not trust the US, and China wants to beat the US in what it sees as long-term global competition,” Reade said. “This limits what can be agreed.” While Trump and Xi have yet to announce the final contours of any trade agreement, the US side has flagged various business deals in the pipeline. In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News that aired on Thursday, Trump said that China would invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” in companies run by the CEOs in his delegation, without providing further details. Advertisement Trump also said that Beijing had agreed to purchase US oil and 200 Boeing aircraft. Trump administration officials have said that the sides are also discussing the establishment of a “Board of Investment” to manage investments between the countries. “A realistic ‘opening up’ of the Chinese market would likely focus first on sectors where the economic complementarity is most obvious,” Taiyi Sun, an associate professor of political science at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, told Al Jazeera. “Agricultural goods such as soybeans and beef, as well as high-value-added manufacturing products like Boeing aircraft, are natural areas for expansion because they match existing Chinese demand with American export strengths.” Sun said a “gradual” opening for US firms in sectors such as financial services could also be possible. “But those areas are politically and institutionally more sensitive inside China, so progress would likely be incremental rather than immediate,” he said. Gabriel Wildau, a senior vice president at global business advisory firm Teneo, said both sides will be seeking to address supply-chain vulnerabilities exposed by their trade war. “The Iran war has likely increased the US’s vulnerability to export controls on rare earths, given the need to rebuild the munition stocks depleted in that war,” Wildau told Al Jazeera. “Washington will therefore be willing to offer tariff relief – or at least assurances not to impose new tariffs – in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to keep rare earth exports flowing.” While Trump and Xi agreed to roll back some trade barriers at their summit in South Korea, US-Chinese business and trade remain severely constrained after a decade of tit-for-tat economic salvoes between the sides. The average US tariff on Chinese goods stood at 47.5 percent after the South Korea summit, up from 3.1 percent before Trump’s first term, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. China’s average tariff on US goods stood at 31.9 percent, up from 8.4 percent in 2018, according to the think tank. Two-way goods trade amounted to about $415bn in 2025, down sharply from its 2022 peak of $690bn. Carsten Holz, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said China has less incentive to make concessions to the US than before, amid the rise of its domestic industries. “Across many industrial sectors, PRC [People’s Republic of China] firms hold leading or controlling positions,” Holz told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “As a result, the PRC economy has little to gain from opening further to the US and is likely to only offer largely symbolic gestures.” Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, voiced similar sentiments about the limits of US leverage. “Basically, Trump expects China to buy more stuff from America and let US companies operate more freely in China,” Elms told Al Jazeera. “What is he offering?” Elms said. “Very little, largely because Trump sees the bilateral relationship as one where the US has been fair and China has not.” Reade, the former USTR official, said Xi would not agree to any measures that “harm Chinese interests in any way.” “Instead, China will potentially give the US no-cost ‘gifts,’” Reade said, suggesting such measures could include the removal of trade barriers it placed on US beef. “It may buy US goods it needs,” Reade said. “If it allows purchases of US tech products, it will only be because it needs them right now,” she added, “But this does not interfere with China’s strategic plans to eliminate dependence on US technology over the longer term.” Adblock test (Why?)
Iran war: Why the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in India matters
India is hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from BRICS nations on May 14-15 in a precursor to the 18th BRICS summit, which New Delhi will host in September. The meeting, which starts on Thursday morning, coincides with United States President Donald Trump’s three-day visit to Beijing for a state visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Here is more about the foreign ministers’ meeting, who is attending and why it matters. What is BRICS? BRICS is a grouping of major emerging economies seeking to coordinate security and economic policy in order to amplify the demands of the Global South at international organisations and on issues where the West has traditionally dominated economically and politically. The acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The organisation was called BRIC in its initial form – Brazil, Russia, India and China – when its foreign ministers began meeting in 2006, and when it held its first summit in 2009. It became BRICS when South Africa joined in 2010. In 2023, BRICS extended invitations to Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after these countries applied for membership. Saudi Arabia has yet to formally join, but the others have. An invitation was also extended to Argentina, but was turned down as President Javier Milei, elected in December 2023, had campaigned on the promise of bolstering ties with the West. Indonesia joined the group in January 2025, after its membership was approved during the summit in 2023 in Johannesburg. Advertisement The group sets priorities and holds discussions at an annual summit, which members take turns hosting. Last year, Brazil hosted the BRICS meeting and, in 2024, Russia hosted the annual meeting. This year, it is India’s turn to host. This week’s meeting in New Delhi will bring together the foreign ministers of BRICS countries, who are expected to discuss economic cooperation and coordinate their positions on key global issues. When and where is the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting? The BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, held to prepare for the 18th BRICS summit in September, will take place on Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, in New Delhi, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. On Thursday, foreign ministers are expected to arrive at 10:00am (04:30 GMT), and sessions are expected to take place throughout the day, concluding with a dinner at 7pm (01:30 GMT). On Friday, one session is expected to take place, starting at 10:00am (04:30 GMT). All of the meetings except one will take place in Bharat Mandapam, an exhibition hall and convention centre located close to the Supreme Court of India. On Thursday at 1pm (07:30 GMT), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join a joint conference call with the visiting leaders from Seva Teerth, a new administrative complex that serves as the official headquarters of the prime minister’s office. Who is attending the meeting? Foreign ministers from within and outside the BRICS group are expected to attend the meeting. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the meeting. South Africa’s Ronald Lamola and Brazil’s Mauro Vieira are also both attending. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will not attend due to Trump’s visit to Beijing. Instead, China will be represented by China’s Ambassador to India Xu Feihong, Indian media has reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has landed in New Delhi to participate. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono also arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday. It is not clear who will be representing the UAE at the BRICS meeting, even as the US-Israel war on Iran exacerbates tensions between the UAE and Iran. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends an online meeting with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and other leaders of BRICS nations, in Sochi, Russia, on September 8, 2025 [File: Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters] What’s on the agenda? The theme of this meeting is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, according to India’s Foreign Ministry. This will focus on “people-centric and holistic healthcare, with an emphasis on collaboration on pressing health challenges, including communicable and non-communicable diseases”, it added. Advertisement However, the ongoing war on Iran is likely to dominate, and discussions will set the agenda for the annual BRICS summit in September, observers say. “The Iran war is likely to cast a shadow over both the BRICS summit and the Trump-Xi meeting,” Rafael Loss, a policy fellow for defence, security and technology at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told Al Jazeera. The war on Iran entered its 76th day on Thursday, with diplomatic efforts to end the conflict hanging in the balance. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that, as well as taking part in the main BRICS sessions, Araghchi will hold separate meetings with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other officials attending the meeting. In April this year, India hosted a BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys for the Middle East and North Africa meeting in New Delhi. That gathering ended without a joint statement after Iran and the UAE clashed over how to address the US-Israeli war on Iran, with the UAE also seeing itself as a victim of Iranian aggression. Since then, tensions between Iran and the UAE have only risen, with Tehran’s war messaging increasingly targeting the UAE. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is also another point of stress within the bloc. At the April meeting, India – recently an Israeli ally – attempted to soften criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, leading to a failure within the bloc to arrive at a consensus on the subject. “The meeting in India occurs at a difficult time in which the cohesion of the BRICS confronts challenges due to the closer relations of India with the US and Israel, and the conflict in West Asia between Iran and the UAE,” Michael Dunford, emeritus professor at the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, UK, told Al Jazeera. What about Trump’s meeting with Xi at the same time? Trump landed in China on Wednesday evening