WORLD BRIEFING: May 21, 2024

The Biden administration on Monday forcefully denounced efforts by the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli officials and Hamas leaders, saying the court’s efforts put the terrorist organization and a top US ally on equivalent footing. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday that the international tribunal is seeking arrest warrants for officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their respective roles in the October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead. The prosecution team is also seeking warrants for Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, along with top Hamas leaders, Khan said. In a statement Monday, Biden called the ICC’s efforts “outrageous.” “Let me be clear,” the president said in the statement, “whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.” - CNN

Four people were wounded and a transport infrastructure facility was damaged in a series of drone strikes on Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv early on May 21, regional officials reported. “Regarding the morning attack, the target was a transport infrastructure facility,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram. Governor Oleh Synyehubov also saidon Telegram that an infrastructure facility had been damaged, and added that debris from fallen drones damaged several private houses in Ukraine's second-largest city. Earlier a general air-raid alert was declared for the whole territory of Ukraine -RFE/RL

Colombian guerrilla fighters killed two police officers and two other people Monday in separate gun and bomb attacks that injured at least seven in the country's troubled southwest, officials said. Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez pinned an attack in the town of Morales, in the Cauca department, on Central General Staff (EMC) rebels who had rejected a peace deal the FARC Marxist guerrilla group signed with the government in 2016. EMC militants opened fire and set off cylinder bombs at a police station in Morales, killing two officers and two other people in the prison holding cells in what Velasquez labeled a "terrorist attack." - VOA

One person has been killed and several others injured on a Singapore Airlines flight from London that was hit by severe turbulence. The Singapore-bound Boeing 777-300ER was diverted to Bangkok and landed at 15:45 local (08:00 GMT). Flight SQ 321 was carrying a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew, the airline said in a statement. “Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," it said. The airline added that it was working with Thai authorities to provide medical assistance to passengers, and was sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed. - BBC

Hong Kong’s education authorities have urged four schools to bolster their national security education curricula, including two institutions for special needs students. The government reports have been prepared by the Education Bureau under the School Development and Accountability (SDA) framework since the 2003-2004 school year. In all, reports on ten schools were published. - HKFP