WORLD BRIEFING: May 6, 2024

Easter Sunday was violent in many parts of Ukraine as Russian forces targeted Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava and the Sloviansk Thermal Power Plant. At least one death and several injuries were reported in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the country’s second largest. In Odesa, as the faithful attended Easter resurrection services and the traditional blessing of the baskets, air raid sirens sounded at least twice. In Sumy, due to Russian drone attacks, critical infrastructure facilities are being transferred to backup power, water supply and hospitals will also be fully provided with backup power, said Drozdenko, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Points of invincibility" are also being deployed in the city, Suspilne reported

Russian forces have allegedly executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who were attempting to surrender since the beginning of December 2023, according to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. The US-based organisation called for the five analysed instances of alleged executions to be investigated as war crimes. “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its forces have committed many heinous war crimes,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW. “The summary execution - or murder - of surrendering and injured Ukrainian soldiers, gunned down in cold blood, expressly forbidden under international humanitarian law, is also included in that shameful legacy.” - Euronews

Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station's local operations on Sunday, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters. Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room, which the Al Jazeera source said was in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security. Al Jazeera said the move was a "criminal action" and the accusation that the network threatened Israeli security was a "dangerous and ridiculous lie" that put its journalists at risk. It reserved the right to "pursue every legal step”. The network has criticised Israel's military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported throughout the war. “The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel," Netanyahu posted on social media following a unanimous cabinet vote. - Reuters

Israel and Hamas remained deadlocked Sunday on how to halt nearly seven months of fighting in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than a million Palestinians from their homes. After no apparent progress was reported Sunday, the Hamas delegation left the Cairo negations with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to consult with it leadership. It said it planned to return to Cairo on Tuesday. Earlier, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that the Palestinian militant group wants a comprehensive cease-fire that would end Israeli "aggression" and guarantee Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, while Hamas frees about 100 hostages in exchange for hundreds of prisoners jailed by Israel. In a statement, Haniyeh blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "the continuation of the aggression and the expansion of the circle of conflict, and sabotaging the efforts made through the mediators and various parties" who have for weeks been unsuccessful in negotiating a cease-fire of any sort. - VOA

Thieves apparently killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday. Baja California state prosecutors released grisly details of the slayings, but have not yet officially confirmed the identification of the bodies. They said family members of the victims are viewing the bodies to see if they can be identified by sight. The corpses were decomposing after the thieves dumped them into a remote well about 50 feet (15 meters) deep, some 4 miles (6 kilometers) from where the foreigners were killed. If relatives can’t identify the bodies, further tests will be conducted. The well also contained a fourth cadaver that had been there much longer. “The probability that it’s them is very high,” said chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez, noting the corpses still appeared to be identifiable by sight. “If they say that they are not completely certain that it is their relative, we would then have to carry out genetic testing.” - AP