Middle East & Iran War
US-Iran ceasefire at risk after exchange of fire in Strait of Hormuz The US said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after an attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump insists the ceasefire remains intact despite the most serious test yet to the month-long truce. Tehran accused Washington of breaching the truce, with Iran’s foreign minister saying Iranians “never bow to pressure.” — Guardian · NYT · NPR · Guardian
UAE reports drone and missile attack as ceasefire is challenged The Iran war’s shaky ceasefire was further strained as the United Arab Emirates responded to missile and drone strikes. The UAE has borne the brunt of Iranian attacks throughout the war, hardening the government’s resolve to reassess its relationships. — NPR · NYT
After 18 months of mourning, a Gaza son is found alive in an Israeli prison A Gaza family’s nightmare ended after discovering their son, believed to be dead, was alive in an Israeli prison. — Al Jazeera
Iran focus at Trump-Xi summit may delay progress on tariffs and rare earths Thanks to the Iran war, big issues for US businesses like rare earths and supply chains may take a back seat on the agenda for the Trump-Xi summit. — CNBC
Ukraine-Russia War
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of breaching Victory Day ceasefire The two sides reported responding to hundreds of drone attacks just hours into a truce covering celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. — BBC · Guardian
Ukraine may have turned tide of Russian territorial gains, says think tank The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says Moscow’s advance is slowing, as Ukraine claims Russia’s army suffered more than 35,000 casualties in April. — Al Jazeera
United Kingdom Elections
Reform UK wins 400+ council seats as Labour suffers heavy losses Nigel Farage’s Reform UK won more than 400 council races across England in early results. Farage hailed a “historic shift in British politics.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer took responsibility for Labour losing hundreds of municipal seats but insisted he would not resign, saying “I’m not going to walk away.” — NYT · NYT · Guardian
European Greens say UK’s future lies in the EU after Brexit ‘failure’ The European Green party urged the UK to consider rejoining the EU, adopting a text declaring “the United Kingdom’s future lies in the European Union” at their annual leadership meeting in Brussels. — Guardian
Health: Hantavirus Outbreak
Spain prepares for arrival of hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius An “unprecedented operation” is under way to receive, assess, and repatriate the 149 passengers and crew onboard the MV Hondius, due to arrive off Tenerife in the Canary Islands this weekend. The Dutch-flagged vessel was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde. — Guardian
Health officials race to track outbreak but predict ‘limited’ spread A Dutch flight attendant and French national were among the latest to be tested. An analysis in South Africa showed no mutations in viral samples. — NYT
Experts say hantavirus is not the next pandemic An infectious-disease doctor called it a “one-off situation,” saying “you have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” — MarketWatch
Aviation & Energy
British Airways fares to rise to offset £1.7bn fuel cost hit Parent group IAG said its annual fuel bill was now expected to be about €9bn, up from the forecast €7.1bn. IAG expects to recover 60% of additional fuel costs caused by the Iran war through “revenue and cost management.” — Guardian
US jet fuel could be used in Europe to ease possible shortages An international air body suggested wider acceptance of US-grade jet fuel could help head off supply problems. — BBC
Trump approves US oil pipeline plan rivalling Canadian project backed by Carney Ottawa wants to weaken its dependence on the US, but Washington has other ideas with an approved competing pipeline. — Bloomberg
US Politics & Society
Anger mounts after Tennessee Republicans redraw maps The Tennessee legislature eliminated the state’s one Democratic, Black-majority congressional district. Separately, the State Department said it will begin revoking passports of Americans who owe more than $2,500 in child support payments. — Guardian
White House calls Mark Hamill ‘sick’ after actor’s Trump grave post The Star Wars actor apologised and deleted a post containing an AI image of the president in a shallow grave. — BBC
Miami host committee assured ICE will not be at World Cup games Host committee chair Rodney Barreto received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would steer clear of World Cup venues. — Al Jazeera
Markets & Finance
Akamai stock soars 22%+ on cloud infrastructure growth Cybersecurity and cloud computing firm Akamai reported first-quarter earnings with its cloud infrastructure business growing 40% year-on-year. — CNBC
CoreWeave stock sinks on soft revenue outlook The AI cloud company topped first-quarter revenue estimates but its second-quarter outlook trailed Wall Street expectations, and it raised the low end of its 2026 capital spending forecast. — Quartz
Coinbase swings to $394M loss as crypto prices fall The crypto exchange posted a net loss of $394 million and revenue of $1.41 billion, both missing Wall Street expectations. An AWS data center outage in Virginia also knocked Coinbase offline for nearly 7 hours. — Quartz · Quartz
Kalshi raising $1 billion as prediction markets surge The round, led by Coatue, doubles Kalshi’s valuation from 5 months ago as institutional trading volume on the platform surges. — Quartz
Economists cast doubt on Milei’s green shoots in Argentina President Milei and leading experts are at odds over whether Argentina’s economy has recovered from a recent wobble, highlighting challenges in gauging whether his shock therapy policies are working. — Bloomberg
Wall Street giants lead China-profit surge Overseas-invested securities firms collectively saw net profits from China businesses climb more than fourfold in 2025 to 2.65 billion yuan (US$390 million), fuelled by China’s lifting of capital restrictions. — SCMP
Africa & World
South Africa president faces call to resign after court ruling The Constitutional Court said MPs were wrong to block impeachment proceedings against Cyril Ramaphosa. — BBC
Botswana’s ex-President Festus Mogae dies The democrat was considered the architect of Botswana’s economic rise and a pioneer in the fight against AIDS. — DW
Three dead after volcano erupts on Indonesian island Officials had previously issued warnings on climbing the active volcano due to safety concerns. — BBC
Germans confront past with Nazi party membership lists available online As Europe commemorates the 81st anniversary of Allied victory over the Nazis, membership lists saved from destruction in 1945 are now available online, revealing the Nazi past of millions of German families. — France 24