Five stories to know for May 25: DOJ appeal court on Barr, Blinken in Middle East, Belarus sanctions, Wuhan lab, and Tokyo Olympics 1. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a court decision faulting former U.S. Attorney General William Barr's handling of the 2019 special counsel report on then-President Donald Trump. 2. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged Washington would rally support to rebuild Gaza as part of efforts to bolster a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. 3. Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links, furious after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist, an act one official denounced as ‘state piracy’. 4. U.S. intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology laboratory were seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, according to U.S. government sources who cautioned that there is still no proof the disease originated at the lab. 5. Top Japanese officials said they did not expect a U.S. advisory against travel to Japan due to coronavirus concerns to affect the Tokyo Olympics - less than two months away - and that U.S. support for the Games was unchanged. #DOJ #AttorneyGeneral #WilliamBarr #Trump #Democrats #Republicans #ceasefire #AntonyBlinken #Gaza #Israel #Netanyahu #Hamas #Airstrikes #Rockets #Belarus #Ryanair #EU #Sanctions #EuropeanUnion #COVID19 #coronavirus #Wuhan #Wuhanlab #Japan #Tokyo #Olympics #News #Reuters Subscribe: http://smarturl.it/reuterssubscribe Reuters brings you the latest business, finance and breaking news video from around the globe. Our reputation for accuracy and impartiality is unparalleled. Get the latest news on: http://reuters.com/ Follow Reuters on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reuters Follow Reuters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Reuters Follow Reuters on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reuters/?hl=en