● Israeli military says it has begun extensive ground operations throughout northern and southern Gaza as part of its “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”.
● The relentless bombarding of Gaza has killed at least 135 Palestinians and rendered all the public hospitals in northern Gaza out of service, says the Health Ministry.
● The Israeli strikes come as it resumes ceasefire talks with Hamas in Qatar.
● Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,339 Palestinians and wounded 121,034, according to the Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
● An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

■ Whole bloodlines erased: ‘Israel’ escalates Gaza slaughter (Al Mayadeen)
■ Children among 132 Palestinians killed in Israeli barrage across Gaza (Al Jazeera)

Right-wing EU critic George Simion is running against pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan in the second round | Romanian voters returned to the polls on Sunday, May 18 for the second round of a presidential election rerun following a court-annulled vote last year. The runoff is between George Simion, a critic of Brussels who has been banned from entering Ukraine, and Nicusor Dan, the pro-EU mayor of the capital, Bucharest. ● Around 19,000 polling stations have opened across Romania for the second round of the election. Voting began at 7am local time (4am GMT) and is scheduled to end at 9pm, with exit polls expected soon after. ● George Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), came in first in the initial round earlier this month with 40.96% of the vote – nearly 20 percentage points ahead of Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who came in second. Recent polls, however, show a tighter race, with one reporting a tie and another giving Dan a narrow lead.

■ Presidential frontrunner accuses EU candidate of vote rigging (RT)

All enemies of Russia that issue negotiating ultimatums should remember a simple thing: peace negotiations alone do not always lead to the end of hostilities.

Unsuccessful negotiations can lead to the onset of a more terrible stage of the war with new weapons and participants.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) May 17, 2025

Simplicius | The long awaited Istanbul negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place, and though I have complained of the ‘sideshow’ nature of these distractions, today’s session is worth mentioning for what it revealed about Russia’s stance. | Firstly, it must be said outright that all doomers who claimed Russia was capitulating, and that Putin was again being ‘led by the nose’ toward a Minsk-3-style disaster were proven wrong. By all accounts, the Russian team was even firmer than expected on the chief demands. ■ Let’s also mention that Ukraine had already admitted their only goal in the negotiations was to push for a truce or ceasefire with Russia, as it has now become the common agenda between Zelensky and Europe to force Russia into a 30-day ceasefire. This would be pushed into indefinite status so that European troops can be injected into theater and the conflict frozen for good, while Ukraine is pumped up to the gills with more lethal aid.

■ Medvedev issues warning about peace talks (RT)
■ Russia, Ukraine held talks, agreeing to swap captives and meet again. Here’s what we know (TASS)
✅ The Ball’s In Trump’s Court After The Latest Istanbul Talks (Andrew Korybko)

Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | Turkish researchers said the results of their study justify “further investigations into the vaccines’ effects on human ovarian reserve.” Experts said the study’s findings have “profound” implications for global fertility rates. | COVID-19 vaccines decreased the number of primordial follicles — “the foundation of fertility” — in female rats by up to 60%, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Vaccines. The authors said their results justify...

💬...“further investigations into the vaccines’ effects on human ovarian reserve.” ● “If these findings indeed apply to humans, the implications for global fertility rates are profound,” wrote epidemiologist Nic Hulscher on Substack. ● He added: “This kind of damage — to a woman’s lifelong egg supply — is biologically irreversible. The loss of primordial follicles is permanent — they do not regenerate. If this applies to humans, it means early menopause, infertility, and plummeting birth rates.”

Dr. Margaret Christensen, a trained gynecologist, clinical educator and co-founder of the Carpathia Collaborative, said the study matches outcomes she’s seen in patients at her practice.

The Cradle Contributor | Syria's interim President Ahmad Sharaa’s rise is less a redemption arc than a calculated western project – with France seeking to outmaneuver Russia and reclaim its colonial stake in Syria | Just a week before his landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump in Riyadh – the first encounter between American and Syrian leaders in 25 years – Syria's self-appointed transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, arrived in Paris. ■ Sharaa's visit to the French capital, his first to a western nation since assuming power, was meticulously orchestrated. France extended a cautious welcome, limiting reception protocols and refraining from high-level state honors, signaling its intent to assert influence over the Syrian file without fully legitimizing a leader still listed on international terrorism watchlists. ■ The visit, which required a UN-sanctioned waiver of travel bans for Sharaa and his delegation, culminated in a carefully managed meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. Macron’s press conference afterward struck a sharp tone, insisting that meaningful changes in the Syrian file remain a prerequisite for international engagement. ■ France’s calculated hospitality reinforced its ambitions to reclaim influence in Syria. For Sharaa, the trip was a strategic move to project international legitimacy and bury the hardline legacy of his past, including leadership ties to both Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

US president demands, referring to contracts for Active Social Engineering and Large Scale Social Deception | Department of Defense (DoD) contracts with the Thomson Reuters news agency to develop automated defenses against social engineering attacks were railed against Thursday by President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk. “Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for ‘large scale social deception,’” Musk wrote on X. “They’re a total scam.” Many, including Musk, were in outrage at the contracts awarded to Reuters that were labeled as Active Social Engineering and Large Scale Social Deception (LSD) in DoD contracts.