1. U.S. posts hefty bounty on key IS figures

    The U.S. Government on May 5 announced a US$20 million reward for information related to four senior members of the Islamic State (IS) group.

    The State Department is seeking tips* that could lead to the arrest of Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili and Tariq Bin-al-Tahar Bin al Falih al-Awni al-Harzi.

    2. Austria files complaint against spying

    Austria has filed a legal complaint over suspicions that Germany’s BND intelligence* agency and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) might have spied on its authorities and firms, the interior minister said on May 5.

    “Austria demands clarification,” Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said, following German media reports about such activities. He added that Austria’s security authorities were in contact with their German counterparts.

    “Today we have filed a legal complaint with the prosecutor’s office,” she said, “against an unknown entity due to secret intelligence services to Austria’s disadvantage.”

    3. U.S. allows 1st ferry services to Cuba

    The United States authorized commercial ferry* services to Cuba for the first time in more than a half-century on May 5, another major step in improving relations between the two countries.

    In what was hailed by ferry operators as “a historical event,” the U.S. Treasury lifted a decades-old ban and some Florida companies said they had been licensed to launch boat services to the island.

    The move potentially opens a new path for the hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars in goods that travel between Florida and Havana each year.

    4. Family raises 13 bears in backyard

    Johnny Welde III only needs the bare necessities in life — the 13 bears that live in his backyard.

    While most families spend their days walking the dog or feeding the cat, the Welde family has been rolling around their Florida estate — dubbed Bearadise Ranch — for generations.

    The Welde family first brought bears into their ranks 89 years ago. Three generations later, nothing has slowed down. Johnny III has continued to train their brood of 13 for the silver screen.

    5. Mubarak, sons get 3 years in prison

    A Cairo court sentenced Egypt’s deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in prison on corruption charges on Saturday.

    The case — dubbed the “presidential palaces” affair by Egyptian media — was a retrial*, charging that Mubarak and his sons embezzled* millions of dollars’ worth of state funds over the course of a decade. They were also charged with diverting money meant to pay for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces to instead upgrade their private residences.

    Mubarak had originally been sentenced to three years over the matter, and his sons to four, but they later appealed*, sparking the retrial.

    6. Russia marks 70 years since WWII victory

    Russia marked 70 years since the victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday with a spectacular parade in Moscow featuring some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles and 150 planes and helicopters.

    Presidents, including China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Pranab Mukherjee and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, joined their Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow’s Red Square for the parade.

    Many Western leaders chose to skip the event, however, in protest of Russia’s alleged military involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.(SD-Agencies)