Middle East & Iran War
Uranium and Strait of Hormuz key as US-Iran ceasefire talks continue Pakistani mediators believe a permanent ceasefire is within reach between the US and Iran, but control over the Strait of Hormuz and Washington’s demand that Tehran export its stockpile of highly enriched uranium remain key stumbling blocks. Israel and Iran each fear the other is about to launch a surprise attack. Source: The Guardian
Can Venezuelan oil save India amid the Hormuz energy crisis? Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez is expected to travel to India next week to discuss oil sales as the Hormuz crisis disrupts energy supplies. Source: Al Jazeera
New alliances emerge in the Middle East — which one will ‘win’? The UAE and Israel are growing closer, while Saudi Arabia is enhancing cooperation with Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan. The new alliances represent a rift in the Gulf as approaches to the Iran war diverge. Source: DW
NATO, Russia & European Security
NATO chief welcomes US sending 5,000 troops to Poland President Trump’s announcement on Thursday night came ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Source: BBC
Trump’s ‘disappointment’ with NATO lays groundwork for key summit, Rubio says US Secretary of State Rubio said the upcoming Ankara summit will be “one of the more important” in NATO history, as leaders must respond to Trump’s “disappointment” with the alliance’s response to US operations in the Middle East. Source: The Guardian
Russia sends more nuclear warheads to Belarus Russia’s ally Belarus participated in joint nuclear drills for the first time. Analysts say the move was risky for Minsk. Source: Al Jazeera
What happened to jailed Belarus dissident Raman Pratasevich? In 2021, Belarus diverted a Ryanair plane to seize opposition journalist Raman Pratasevich. He now seemingly supports the Belarusian regime. Source: DW
Africa
Angry crowd sets Ebola hospital tents on fire in DR Congo Grieving relatives and friends of a suspected Ebola victim were prevented from taking his body for burial, triggering violence at the treatment centre. Source: BBC
Ireland’s ‘George Floyd moment’ sparks protests demanding justice for Congolese man The death of Yves Sakila, a Congolese-born man, shortly after he was restrained by security guards outside a Dublin department store has sparked calls for justice. Video clips show Sakila unresponsive after being pinned to the ground, drawing parallels to the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Source: France 24 · Al Jazeera
Americas
Gang violence kills at least 25 in Honduras Attacks by gunmen come as the government continues a drive to crack down on organised crime. Source: Al Jazeera
Spencer Pratt runs ‘Trump’s playbook’ in LA mayoral race Thirteen candidates are vying to defeat Karen Bass next month for the Los Angeles mayorship, including former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, whose social media savvy and debate skills have garnered support. Source: France 24
Progressive Democrats criticize 2024 election autopsy for silence on Gaza The Democratic party’s 192-page postmortem of the 2024 election does not mention Gaza or Joe Biden’s age. It focuses on demographics lost by Kamala Harris, including Latinos, men and rural voters. Source: The Guardian
Asia
New Taliban decree formalizes child marriage in Afghanistan, UN warns A new Afghan law requires girls to wait until puberty before seeking to get out of a marriage, and requires mediation for women seeking to escape an abusive husband. Source: NYT
An Indian bride dies — rival claims of murder and suicide set off media frenzy Twisha Sharma, a model and actor, had been married for just five months when she was found dead. Source: BBC
Japan flash PMI signals cooling economy as price index hits record high Japan’s PMI data suggests the economy is slowing while price pressures reach a new peak. Source: Seeking Alpha
Europe & UK
Turkish opposition fights court ousting of leaders in ruling boosting Erdoğan An appeal court declared Özgür Özel’s party leadership victory void, further cementing the president’s grip on power. Source: BBC
Andy Burnham vows to change Labour if elected as Makerfield MP Burnham says politics “needs a new script” and vowed to challenge the status quo, highlighting the £364 cost of a Wigan-to-London train ticket. Source: The Guardian
Cyprus election expected to shake up national politics Cyprus votes on May 24 in an election expected to weaken traditional parties and accelerate the rise of anti-establishment movements. Source: DW
Western Europe braces for unusually high May temperatures Temperatures across Portugal, Spain, France and the UK were expected to exceed 30°C on Friday and into next week, with new May records predicted. Source: The Guardian
Carlo Petrini, Slow Food movement founder, dies aged 76 The journalist who founded Slow Food in protest against the first McDonald’s in Italy died in his home town of Bra in Piedmont. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in recent years. Source: The Guardian
Technology & Business
Standard Chartered CEO apologises for ‘lower-value human capital’ remark amid AI job cuts Bill Winters faced backlash after referring to some of the nearly 8,000 staff set to lose their jobs to AI as “lower-value human capital.” He has since apologised. Source: The Guardian
Trump postpones AI executive order over China concerns The US president said he doesn’t “want to do anything to get in the way” of tech firms competing with China. Source: The Guardian
Google expanding AI-content detection tool SynthID to Search and Chrome Google says its SynthID verification tool has been used 50 million times in Gemini and is now expanding to more products as deepfakes proliferate. Source: Quartz
AI used to fake evidence that ended Korean actor’s career, police say Police are seeking an arrest warrant for a YouTuber who allegedly fabricated evidence to defame actor Kim Soo-hyun. Source: BBC
The aftermath of Trump-Xi summit: comparing US and China announcements Analysts say a comparison of the readouts issued by the US and China reveals “minor inconsistencies” on agriculture, tariffs and rare earths, though experts argue the differences are not significant. Source: NPR
Sports
Manchester United appoint Michael Carrick as permanent manager Carrick steps up from his role as interim coach to replace Ruben Amorim on a permanent basis. Source: Al Jazeera
Enhanced Games: Donald Trump Jr.-backed ‘Steroid Olympics’ happening this Sunday Olympic medallists are among 42 athletes competing in the controversial competition, which also has big product plans beyond this weekend’s event in Las Vegas. Source: CNBC