Concerns mount that Belarus could be a launchpad for a new Russian offensive in Ukraine – AP News

  1. Concerns mount that Belarus could be a launchpad for a new Russian offensive in Ukraine  AP News
  2. Lukashenko Responds to Ukrainian General’s List of 500 Targets in Belarus  Kyiv Post
  3. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 26, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  4. Lukashenko responds to remarks of Ukraine's drone commander about 500 targets in Belarus: we have one target  Українська правда
  5. Lukashenko says Belarus has 'major' target in Ukraine in its sights  The Kyiv Independent
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How Iran’s military harnesses western AI – Financial Times

  1. How Iran’s military harnesses western AI  Financial Times
  2. Iran’s hackers are coordinating more closely, Israel’s top cyberdefense official says  Nextgov/FCW
  3. Iran Did Not Win the Meme War  Time Magazine
  4. AI in warfare: Report says Iran using ChatGPT and Gemini to target US, Israel with malware attack  India Today
  5. Threat Actors Linked to Iran Leverage AppDomainManager to Evade Detection  cyberpress.org
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Germany’s embattled nightlife scene welcomes plan to reclassify clubs

There is hope that a change to building regulations could resurrect music clubs, which have been hit by rising rents, social shifts and noise disputes

A move by the German government to reclassify nightclubs to distinguish them from amusement and adult entertainment facilities could give a much-needed boost to the country’s struggling nightlife, industry advocates say.

Under a fundamental change to building regulations approved by Friedrich Merz’s cabinet last week, nightclubs will be formally recognised as providing cultural and artistic value, making it more difficult for developers to evict venue operators in favour of new construction.

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Australia to buy only secondhand nuclear subs from US in major Aukus switch – as it happened

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Extra negative gearing limits could hurt market and family budgets, Labor says

Clare O’Neil has rejected calls from the Greens and others to put further limits on negative gearing access, saying the government should not interrupt “immediate arrangements”.

There’s people in the debate who want to see the government go further. I really understand that but I just think we need to step back.

Negative gearing is a very immediate impact on a household and family budget and it’s not something that governments, when they’re making tax changes, should do, to interrupt people’s immediate arrangements.

We need to land this. We’ll do that in the appropriate time given the need … This is not a political timeline. It is a policy timeline … It’s important this gets resolved speedily and that’s what the government is working towards.

I think there’s a range of things that are on the table in those conversations and I won’t speak about them in detail …

The government wants to get the right outcome here and we are not going to be driven by the politics of the moment. It’s really important we reach the right landing point for this and I think I have spoken in previous interviews this week about some of the issues we see.

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Japan seeks candid dialog, defense minister says, rejecting ‘neo-militarism’ claims – CNBC

  1. Japan seeks candid dialog, defense minister says, rejecting 'neo-militarism' claims  CNBC
  2. Japan's defence minister denies militarism and criticises China's 'huge arsenal'  BBC
  3. Japan rejects 'new militarism', accuses China of rapidly arming  Reuters
  4. Japan defence minister rebuffs claims of ‘new militarism’ levelled by China  The Guardian
  5. Japan defence minister Koizumi rejects China accusations of ‘new militarism’  Financial Times
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Israel seizes strategic castle in deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years

Experts say capture is largely symbolic, but it complicates efforts to extend the ceasefire between US and Iran

Israeli troops have captured a clifftop castle as they made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than 26 years, further shattering a nominal US-brokered ceasefire and complicating efforts to extend the separate truce between the Washington and Tehran.

After days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military had captured Beaufort Castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shaqif, which it had used as a base during its previous occupation of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.

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Authorities to introduce ‘fuel vouchers,’ restrict gasoline sales in occupied Crimea amid shortages linked to Ukrainian strikes – The Kyiv Independent

  1. Authorities to introduce 'fuel vouchers,' restrict gasoline sales in occupied Crimea amid shortages linked to Ukrainian strikes  The Kyiv Independent
  2. Fuel crisis hits occupied Crimea as Ukrainian drones restrict overland supply route  Meduza
  3. Fuel Crisis Deepens: Occupied Crimea Restricts A-95 Gasoline Sales  Kyiv Post
  4. Sevastopol authorities promised to return gasoline to gas stations  ИА Ореанда-Новости
  5. Fuel sales by coupon introduced in Sevastopol  Наша Ніва
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Locked away from the world: Inside the Western upbringing of Putin’s secret sons – ynetnews

  1. Locked away from the world: Inside the Western upbringing of Putin's secret sons  ynetnews
  2. Working For A Secret Family: The Foreigners Raising Putin's Purported Sons  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
  3. Vladimir Putin Is Busted Luring Nannies to His Secret Baby Farm  The Daily Beast
  4. Investigation finds that Putin’s foreign nannies are bound by LGBT gag clauses as they tutor his sons ‘like educated Europeans’  Meduza
  5. Western Tutors Hired for Putin’s Alleged Sons to Master European Languages  UNITED24 Media
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‘To call it a ceasefire is a joke’: Israeli soldiers share rare accounts from Gaza with AP – Politico

  1. ‘To call it a ceasefire is a joke': Israeli soldiers share rare accounts from Gaza with AP  Politico
  2. What I did in Gaza: an Israeli soldier’s reckoning  The Economist
  3. 'Ceasefire Is a Joke': Israeli Soldiers Recount Ongoing Indiscriminate Killings in Gaza  Common Dreams
  4. AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT  Ottumwa Courier
  5. 'Hezbollah Planned Hamas-Like Attacks On Israel': Israeli Commander To NDTV  NDTV
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French police arrest 780 after violent clashes as PSG fans celebrate Champions League win

Interior minister says 57 officers injured as rioters set fires and vandalise shops in about 15 cities

French police have detained 780 people involved in violent clashes in Paris and other French cities that erupted on Saturday night after Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal to win the Champions League.

The interior minister, ­Laurent Nuñez, said 57 officers were wounded, with most suffering minor injuries, as football fans set off fires and vandalised shops. One small group even tried to storm a Paris police station.

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Four more men freed from flooded Laos cave in hazardous rescue mission – The Guardian

  1. Four more men freed from flooded Laos cave in hazardous rescue mission  The Guardian
  2. ‘The best outcome’: Laos cave survivors surprise rescuers by freeing themselves  CNN
  3. Heavy rains threaten to delay search for 2 people missing in Laos cave  NBC News
  4. 5 Are Freed in Laos Cave Rescue After More Than a Week  The New York Times
  5. Rescuers free 4 men who had been trapped in a flooded Laos cave, search for 2 still missing  AP News
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