NEED TO KNOW

ME Renewed clashes test ceasefire: This week saw heightened tensions despite the fragile US-Iran ceasefire. US forces struck and disabled two Iranian oil tankers attempting to breach the American naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by firing missiles at US vessels, which the US said it intercepted and countered with strikes on military sites in southern Iran. Iran also launched missiles and drones toward the UAE, with injuries reported. Diplomatic efforts continue amid the fragile situation, and today, Iran announced it has sent its response to the latest US proposal for ending the war through a Pakistani mediator.

RU Putin suggests Ukraine war “coming to an end”: The Russian President also said he would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, and that his negotiating partner of choice would be Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The ex-Chancellor is a longtime personal friend of Putin’s, with deep business ties to Russian energy firms, as days after leaving office in 2005, he took a high-paying role with the Nord Stream consortium and later took positions at Gazprom and Rosneft. He is thus likely to be met with skepticism by Europe. Putin’s statements came amid a US-brokered three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine (from May 9 to 11) announced by President Trump earlier this week.

SP Hantavirus outbreak: An outbreak of Andes virus, a type of hantavirus, typically transmitted from rodents, occurred aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, which departed Argentina in early April 2026. As of today, there have been eight cases (six confirmed, two suspected), including three deaths. Cases were identified after the ship was in the South Atlantic, but some patients were evacuated earlier for treatment in South Africa, Netherlands, Switzerland, and elsewhere. The ship, carrying around 147 passengers and crew from multiple countries, anchored off Tenerife and passengers began disembarking today after all remaining aboard were screened and found asymptomatic. Repatriation to home countries is underway with health monitoring and contact tracing for exposed individuals. WHO and other relevant authorities have described the general public risk as low.

TR Turkey unveils its first ICBM: Turkey unveiled a prototype of its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the “Yildirimhan”, at the SAHA 2026 defense expo in Istanbul. The ICBM was developed by Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense R&D Center and it is reported to have a range of up to 6,000 km (potentially reaching parts of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia), speeds up to Mach 25, and a 3,000 kg payload capacity.

CH Fuel shortage warning: The Secretary-General of the Swiss commodities trade association Suissenégoce, Florence Schurch, warned this week of a "very high" risk of fuel shortages in Switzerland amid tightening global energy markets due to the ongoing Iran conflict. She also predicted a sharp global increase in food prices, although the impact on Switzerland is likely to remain less pronounced than in other countries.

US DOJ investigates suspicious oil trades: An ABC report revealed that the US Department of Justice is investigating a series of suspiciously timed oil market trades in March and April that occurred just before major announcements by President Donald Trump regarding the war in Iran. The DOJ, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is examining at least four of these trades, in which traders netted more than $2.6 billion by betting that oil prices would fall, in some cases just minutes right before they did. A Reuters analysis of exchange data also released this week suggested that in total, the well-timed market bets on falling oil prices totaled as much as $7 billion.

AI EU waters down AI rules: EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers reached a provisional deal to water down and delay key parts of the EU's AI Act, including postponing rules for high-risk AI systems, e.g. involving biometrics or related to critical infrastructure and law enforcement, to late 2027 from a previous deadline of August 2 this year. Critics argued the deal shows concessions to Big Tech, while industry insiders welcomed the move, as they hope it will ease compliance burdens and boost competitiveness, especially as the bloc is falling behind in the AI race compared to the US and Asia.

RO Romania's pro-EU government collapses after no-confidence vote: On May 5, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's centrist pro-European coalition lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote (backed by Social Democrats and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians), triggering fresh political instability less than a year after taking office. The fall comes amid economic pressures like high deficits and inflation, raising concerns about EU funds, debt ratings, and future governance.

US Consumer sentiment sours: US consumer sentiment has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded in early May, worse than 2008 and 2020, according to a University of Michigan survey released on Friday. The University’s closely watched Index of Consumer Sentiment dropped to  48.2, down 3.2% from April prior and down 7.7% from a year ago, with one-third of respondents citing gas prices as the biggest concern and another one-third also citing tariffs.

GOOD TO KNOW

UK Labour crushed in local elections as Reform UK surges

This week’s local election results delivered a heavy blow to the UK’s Labour Party. The party lost more than 1,460 council seats across the country, with particularly painful defeats in traditional strongholds. Labour lost control of numerous councils including Birmingham, Redditch, Hartlepool, and others. The elections, which took place across Scotland, Wales and 136 English local authorities were the biggest set of polls since the 2024 general election and were broadly seen as a critical test of Keir Starmer's premiership. The Tories also showed marked weakness, and lost seats to Reform, signaling that the era of the two-party system might be nearing its end in the country.

Reform UK emerged as the clear winner, gaining over 1,450 seats and taking control of multiple councils (including Essex from the Conservatives and Sunderland from Labour). The Green Party also made notable gains, picking up hundreds of seats and securing historic wins such as the mayoralty in Hackney and strong performances in London boroughs. According to the BBC's projected national share, assuming that the whole country had had the chance to vote in the local election on Thursday, Reform would have come first with 26% of the vote, followed by the Greens with 18%. The Conservatives and Labour would have amassed only 17% each, putting their joint tally at 34%, a record low.

In response, Keir Starmer took responsibility, describing the results as “really tough” and admitting the government had made “unnecessary mistakes,” however he firmly rejected calls to resign. He described his premiership as a “10-year project of renewal” and vowed to lead Labour into the next general election and serve a full second term, stating “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”

To steady his position, Starmer brought back former Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a special envoy on global finance and international cooperation (with a focus on defense, security, and EU relations) and appointed Harriet Harman as an adviser on women and girls. He is expected to deliver a major speech on Monday outlining a fresh direction.

NICE TO KNOW

US UFO files released: The Department of Defense released an initial batch of declassified unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and unidentified flying object (UFO) files, including never-before-seen videos, photos, and documents spanning decades, following President Trump's push for transparency. The 161 files are hosted on a dedicated site and include historical reports, but provide no conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial technology or alien life. More releases are expected on a rolling basis.

GR Mystery naval drone discovered on Greek island: Greek authorities investigated a Ukrainian-made unmanned surface vessel found by fishermen in a cave on the Ionian island of Lefkada. It was reportedly fitted with three detonators and officials are investigating its origins and how it reached Greek waters, with speculation it may have drifted from regional operations.

US World Cup bookings disappoint: An American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) survey found that almost 80% of hoteliers in US World Cup host cities report bookings below initial forecasts, with many hoteliers labeling it a “non-event". 65-70% of respondents across markets said visa barriers and the wider geopolitical concerns are significantly weighing on international demand.

CH Lucerne overtakes Zug as lowest tax canton: According to PwC’s 2026 corporate tax comparison, the Swiss canton of Lucerne has overtaken Zug as the country’s most attractive low-tax location for companies. Lucerne lowered its corporate tax rate to 11.66%, narrowly beating Zug’s reduced rate of 11.71%. At the other end of the spectrum, companies in Bern and Zurich face effective rates of around 20%. Overall, eight Swiss cantons lowered their corporate taxes this year, while four (Basel-Stadt, Solothurn, Jura and Schaffhausen) made slight increases.

US Ted Turner, founder of CNN, dies at 87: Turner pioneered the modern 24-hour news cycle by launching the Cable News Network in 1980, as the first dedicated rolling news channel. CNN faced intense skepticism and disdain from the industry in its early years, as many saw the 24-hour news concept as absurd and as something there was no audience for. However, the channel proved its worth by providing continuous coverage of stories like the assassination attempt on US President Reagan in 1981, the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986, as well as live rolling coverage from Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Eventually, all major networks copied the CNN model.

US Meta removes end-to-end encryption for Instagram: Meta announced it would no longer support end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for Instagram direct messages after May 8 (previously an opt-in feature). By switching off E2EE, Instagram will now be able to fully access the content of direct messages, including images, videos and voice notes. This marks a significant departure from Zuckerberg's 2019 pledge to deploy the technology across messaging on Facebook and Instagram, proclaiming that "the future is private”. The move drew criticism over privacy concerns, but also received praise from child protection groups, including the UK’s NSPCC, which has long warned that encryption could put children at risk.

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