15/05/2026

FRIDAY | MAY 15, 2026

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Abolish Oct 7 military tribunal, Israel told

LONDON: The British parliamentary sleaze watchdog will investigate hard-right politician Nigel Farage’s non-disclosure of a £5 million (RM26.6 million) gift from a billionaire donor to his party. The investigation comes as the parliament has tightened rules on political donations and after Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party scored massive gains in local elections. The parliament standards commissioner investigation concerns a gift from Thailand-based aviation entrepreneur and crypto investor Christopher Harborne, who last year donated £12 million to Reform UK. Farage and Reform UK told British media that he did not declare the £5 million because it was a personal gift to pay for his personal security, which Harborne corroborated. The probe has been launched by Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, who investigates alleged breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct and registers. The Telegraph reported the opposition Conservative Party had referred Farage to the watchdog. If Farage is found to have breached rules, he could face punishments, including suspension from the House of Commons. A Reform spokesman said Farage “has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken”. Farage was in touch with the commissioner and“we look forward to this being put to bed once and for all”. – Reuters Farage faces probe over £5m donor gift WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said crisis-hit Cuba’s leadership must change as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million (RM393 million) in aid if the island agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65% of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions but Rubio said the system was to blame. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Air Force One. “We’ll give them a chance. But I don’t think it’s going to happen. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime.” Trump, who since the start of the year has deposed Venezuela’s leftist leader but seen less success in a war on Iran, has mused that Cuba could be next and that the United States could take over the island 145km off Florida. Rubio said last week after talks at the Vatican that Cuba had rejected a US offer for US$100 million in assistance, an assertion denied by Havana. The State Department publicly renewed the proposal on Wednesday, a week after new US sanctions targeted key actors in Cuba’s state controlled economy and their foreign partners. – AFP US offers Cuba US$100m aid

GENEVA: The UN rights chief on Wednesday called on Israel to repeal a newly established special military tribunal to try Palestinians accused of taking part in the Oct 7 attacks. Israel’s parliament passed a law establishing the tribunal on Monday, with the authority to hand down the death penalty. The special court is set to try attackers captured during or after the onslaught. It will also try those suspected of holding or abusing hostages in Gaza. According to Israeli media, about 400 suspects are expected to stand trial before the court. “There must be full accountability for these horrific attacks, but this cannot be achieved through trials that fall short of international standards,” said Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “This law must be overturned. “This law will inevitably institutionalise one-sided justice and discrimination against Palestinians, which cannot be in anyone’s interest and runs counter to international human rights law.” In a statement sent to AFP, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva said Turk’s office should

the wake of the Gaza war. During a three-day conference, the movement will vote on the central committee, its highest leadership body, even as analysts warn of Fatah’s diminishing legitimacy in the face of endemic corruption and its lack of progress on Palestinian statehood, especially amid an intensified Israeli settlement drive. The committee is expected to play a key role in the post-Abbas era, with some wondering whether the 90-year old leader might finally step down after more than two decades at the helm, despite the lack of a clear heir apparent. Fatah has historically been the main component of the PLO, which includes most Palestinian factions but excludes Hamas and Islamic Jihad. – AFP

o UN rights chief warns of one-sided justice

concentrate on categorising Hamas as a terrorist group and “cease blaming Israel for seeking justice for victims”. The mission said Israel was using a military court because of the “nature and magnitude of the offences” and the volume of evidence. “The law does not alter substantive criminal law, create new offences or penalties, establish retroactive criminal liability, or impose a mandatory death sentence,” the mission said. The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians,

according to an AFP tally based on official data, making it the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Gunmen also took 251 people hostage, including 44 who were already dead. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 72,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. In Ramallah, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement is due to elect a new central committee for the first time in 10 years, as it faces challenges in

Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building damaged during Russian missile and drone strike in Kyiv. – REUTERSPIC

One dead, 31 hurt in Russian strikes on Kyiv actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end. later reported 31 people, including a child, had been wounded in strikes across the Kyiv region.

resumed after Russia ended a three day ceasefire with Ukraine on Tuesday. Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities for more than four years, but it usually launches large-scale drone and missile attacks at night. One day earlier, a barrage of “at least 800 Russian drones” targeting mainly western Ukraine killed six people and wounded dozens of others. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has spurred the worst conflict in Europe since World War II, killing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing millions more. – AFP

KYIV: Russian strikes on Kyiv killed one person and wounded at least 31 others, city authorities said yesterday, as Moscow ramped up attacks on Ukraine following a short-lived ceasefire. AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens wailing before a series of loud explosions that lasted throughout the night, spurring residents of the capital to seek shelter in metro stations. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles in the attack that homed in on targets mainly in Kyiv. “These are definitely not the

“It is important that partners do not remain silent about this strike,” he wrote on social media, warning that more people could be trapped under the rubble at strike sites. The Ukrainian president said more than 20 locations in Kyiv had been damaged, including residential buildings, a school, a vet and other civilian infrastructure. Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said one person was killed and 16 others were wounded in the barrage on the city. Ukraine’s state emergency service

Military authorities said the strikes hit six districts of the capital and six more in the surrounding region. At daybreak, AFP journalists saw rescue workers searching for survivors in the rubble of destroyed buildings in Kyiv. Rescuers were seen hauling a wounded person from a partially collapsed residential building. Ukraine’s emergency service said those search and rescue operations were ongoing. Strikes from both Moscow and Kyiv