Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court has ordered Vladimir Zelensky’s former chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, into pre-trial custody, setting bail at around $3.2 million over allegations linked to a $10 million money laundering scheme.

The ruling was delivered on Thursday on the third day of hearings in Kiev. Yermak told the court he could not afford the amount and plans to challenge the decision on appeal. Prosecutors insisted that simple electronic monitoring would be insufficient to prevent the former official from interfering with the investigation.

The case stems from a broader corruption probe conducted by the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which is focused on businessman Timur Mindich, a long-time associate of Zelensky. Mindich fled Ukraine last November shortly before investigators accused him of orchestrating a $100 million extortion network.

Investigators allege Yermak participated in a scheme that channelled illicit funds into an upscale real estate development outside Kiev. According to media reports, the project involved Mindich, Yermak, former Unity Minister Aleksey Chernyshov, and Zelensky himself.

A pattern of controversial bail payments

Several defendants linked to the Mindich investigation who remain in Ukraine have secured large bail payments under circumstances that Ukrainian media outlets describe as questionable.

Chernyshov, arrested in June 2025 on abuse-of-power charges, was released after supporters quickly assembled a $2.7 million bail package.

An investigative outlet later reported that more than half the money originated from a little-known company established only months earlier. Additional scrutiny fell on transfers made by Chernyshov’s wife, Svetlana, whose declared assets reportedly did not match the contribution. Leaked NABU surveillance materials suggested that Mindich and people connected to him secretly financed part of the payment.

Another defendant in the Mindich case, Igor Mironyuk, failed to secure release after the authorities in February confiscated nearly $2.9 million intended for his bail, citing concerns over the source of the funds.

Media reports have also highlighted the role of newly created companies in helping finance bail for several lower-level suspects allegedly tied to the Mindich network. In one case, a lawyer reportedly contributed a quarter of the six-figure bail posted for defendant Dmitry Basov.

Psychic consultant and courtroom confusion

The hearings also produced unusual revelations about Yermak, long viewed as one of the most influential figures in Zelensky’s administration. Prosecutors claimed he maintained contact with a psychic adviser who allegedly vetted candidates for senior government positions based on their birth dates.

The adviser, identified as Veronika Anikievich, also allegedly encouraged Yermak to aggressively resist corruption allegations. One message presented in court warned: “If they [Yermak’s political opponents] get power, they will act in a more serious way, and you would have neither a guarantor friend nor authority.” The court’s ruling listed Anikievich among individuals the defendant is not allowed to communicate with.

It comes out that for the past six years Ukraine was actually run by a black witch fortune teller named Veronika Fenshui. What a time to be alive. pic.twitter.com/i5FcJRo0sG

— Olga Bazova (@OlgaBazova) May 14, 2026

Yermak denied any close relationship with fortune tellers. However, journalists identified a Kiev resident with the same name whose social media profiles advertise astrological consultations and publicly express support for the former official.

The proceedings also featured an awkward exchange on Wednesday when Yermak’s attorney attempted to bolster his client’s credibility by incorrectly stating that he had served as a member of parliament. Although Yermak previously worked as an adviser to an MP, he was never elected himself and interrupted his lawyer twice to correct the claim.

Ghanaian President John Mahama has approved the immediate evacuation of 300 citizens from South Africa, following what Accra described as a fresh wave of xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals.

The West African country’s foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the distressed Ghanaians had registered with Ghana’s High Commission in Pretoria to be rescued.

“The Government of Ghana shall continue to safeguard the welfare of all Ghanaians home and abroad,” Ablakwa wrote on X on Tuesday.

The evacuation comes amid widespread concerns across the continent over escalating anti-immigrant unrest in South Africa, where protests over undocumented foreign nationals have continued to spread across parts of the country in recent weeks. Hundreds marched in Johannesburg late last month to demand tougher immigration enforcement and mass deportations, while similar actions have since been reported in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Anti-immigrant groups, including Operation Dudula, have been at the center of the controversy. A Johannesburg high court previously declared the group’s conduct at public facilities unlawful and xenophobic, barring members from harassment, hate speech, and blocking foreigners from health care, education, and housing.

In a statement on April 27, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm over alleged “xenophobic attacks and acts of harassment and intimidation” against migrants and foreign nationals in parts of South Africa. Guterres said African and international solidarity helped South Africa defeat apartheid, and that migrants have long helped shape the country’s development.

Ghana is not the only African country moving to protect its citizens. On May 3, Nigeria said it will voluntarily repatriate 130 nationals from South Africa in response to the attacks. The two West African countries have summoned South African diplomats to demand stronger protection for their citizens.

The BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting kicked off on Thursday, with host country India stressing that the group should work toward “effective and coordinated responses” to geopolitical and economic uncertainty caused by the Middle East conflicts.

The US-Israeli war against Iran and disruptions caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will take center stage in today’s discussions.

“We meet at a time of considerable flux in international relations. Ongoing conflicts, economic uncertainties, and challenges in trade, technology, and climate are shaping the global landscape. There is a growing expectation, particularly from emerging markets and developing countries, that BRICS will play a constructive and stabilizing role,” Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said ahead of a closed-door meeting.

Addressing his BRICS counterparts, Jaishankar stated that the conflict in the Middle East requires particular attention.

“Continuing tensions, risks to maritime traffic, and disruptions to energy infrastructure highlight the fragility of the situation,” he said, while also expressing concern over the situation in the wider region, noting the “humanitarian implications” of the war in Gaza and the “continuing challenges” faced by Lebanon and Syria.

My welcome remarks to #BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, 2026. #BRICSIndia2026 https://t.co/IvtYBkeQZZ

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 14, 2026

Jaishankar stressed that BRICS members should address “the increasing resort to unilateral coercive measures and sanctions,” adding that they “disproportionately affect developing countries.” 

“These unjustifiable measures cannot substitute dialogue, nor can pressure replace diplomacy,” he said.

The meeting is being held ahead of the 18th BRICS summit, which India will host in September. The stated goal of the group of major emerging economies is a more just and democratic world order in which the Global South’s demands on the economy, security, and other issues are amplified. The acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined the group in 2024; Indonesia joined in 2025.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has announced her resignation amid a government crisis caused by an incident involving Ukrainian kamikaze drones hitting an oil depot near the Russian border.

Silina announced the decision at a press briefing on Thursday. Just hours earlier, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis, a member of Silina’s liberal-conservative Unity party, stated that the prime minister has no intention of leaving office. Meanwhile, the opposition was planning a procedural maneuver to circumvent the five-day pause required under Latvian law before a request for a no-confidence vote is granted.

The crisis in the Baltic state was triggered by an incident last week in which two Ukrainian long-range kamikaze drones hit an empty oil depot near the town of Rezekne, around 40 km from the Russian border. No casualties were reported on the ground.

MP Andris Suvajevs, who leads the Progressives parliamentary faction, stated earlier in the day that the ruling coalition was certain to collapse if a no-confidence motion is put to a vote. The prime minister was expected to take part in a session of parliament, but instead invited the media to her office to announce her resignation. She blamed “political jealousy and narrow party interests” for the crisis.

Moscow has accused NATO nations of tacitly allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to conduct strikes on targets in northwestern Russia, particularly oil export terminals in Leningrad Region. Officials in several countries where incidents involving Ukrainian drones were reported since mid-March have expressed concerns with Kiev’s military planning.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said he told Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky that Helsinki regards Ukrainian aircraft entering its airspace as unacceptable. Estonian Defense Minster Hanno Pevkur said the Ukrainians should “keep their drones away from our territory [and] control their activities better.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned US President Donald Trump that a standoff over Taiwan could push the two countries into “a very dangerous situation,” describing it as the single most important issue in bilateral relations.

Xi made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with Trump at the Great Hall of the People – the first US presidential visit to China in nearly nine years. The trip is expected to revolve around the Iran war, trade disputes, AI rivalry, and tensions around Taiwan, a self-ruled island which China deems part of its sovereign territory.

“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said. “If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries may clash or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a very dangerous situation.”

Taiwan, which has been watching the summit with concern, fearful of potential concessions from Trump, pushed back, with cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee claiming that “China’s military threat is the sole source of insecurity in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”

Washington acknowledges the One China policy, but has maintained strong ties with the Taiwanese government, having approved tens of billions of dollars in arms sales over the decades. The Trump administration has been no exception, and approved an $11 billion weapons package in December.

In February, however, the New York Times reported that Washington had put on ice an even bigger arms package – valued at approximately $13 billion – ahead of the Trump-Xi summit. The US president previously acknowledged that he would discuss weapons sales with his Chinese counterpart.

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping shook hands ahead of bilateral talks in Beijing on Thursday, marking the first visit by a US president to China since 2017.

In his opening remarks, Xi said he had always believed that the two countries “have more common interests than differences.”

“A stable bilateral relationship is good for the world. China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We should be partners, not rivals. We should help each other succeed and prosper together,” Xi said through an interpreter.

The Chinese leader also congratulated Trump on the upcoming 250th anniversary of US independence, which will be celebrated in July.

Trump praised the “fantastic relationship” he said he had enjoyed with Xi during his first term in office. “We’ve gotten along when there were difficulties, we worked them out. We are going to have a fantastic future together,” he said.

Trump also told Xi that he has “such respect for the job” he has done as president. “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it’s true,” he added.

“The relationship between China and the US is going to be better than ever before,” Trump said.

On Thursday morning, Trump arrived at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the Chinese government. He and Xi greeted each other and posed for photographs before beginning bilateral talks.

The leaders inspected troops lined up in Tiananmen Square.

Trump’s trip comes amid a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel and the continuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that normally handles around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said aboard Air Force One en route to Beijing that the US would seek to persuade China to play “a more active role” in negotiations with Iran. Washington previously sanctioned Chinese refineries and satellite companies accused of aiding Tehran. China denounced the sanctions as illegal under international law and ordered domestic companies not to comply.

According to CBS News, Trump is accompanied by top business executives with a combined net worth estimated at $1 trillion. The delegation reportedly includes Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, and Meta President Dina Powell McCormick.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged member states to devote 0.25% of their GDP to aid for Ukraine, Politico Europe reported on Tuesday, citing diplomatic sources.

Rutte reportedly raised the issue during a closed door meeting of NATO ambassadors late last month. If adopted, the proposal, first floated by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last year, would effectively triple aid to Kiev to around $143 billion annually, according to NATO estimates of the allies’ combined GDP cited by Politico.

The proposal is said to be partly motivated by frustration among some countries that they are contributing more support to Ukraine than others. Several allies, including major NATO members France and Britain, reportedly oppose the initiative.

The discussions on increasing support for cash-strapped Ukraine come as the country has been rocked by another major corruption scandal allegedly involving figures close to Zelensky.

Last year, investigators uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme allegedly orchestrated by Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s longtime former business partner, who has been described in the media as his ‘wallet’. Mindich fled the country to avoid arrest, while several senior officials, including two ministers, resigned.

The US plans to persuade China to pressure Iran into making concessions in the Middle East conflict, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said ahead of a meeting between the two countries’ leaders in Beijing.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold talks on Thursday, with discussions expected to include the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the issue of Taiwan.

“It’s in their interest to resolve this,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity aboard Air Force One en route to China. “We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.” 

“Economies are melting down because of this crisis in the Strait. They’re going to be buying less Chinese product and Chinese exports are going to drop precipitously,” Rubio said.

China has condemned the war against Iran as illegal under international law. It has also dismissed US sanctions targeting Chinese refineries and satellite companies accused of aiding Iran. In response, China ordered domestic businesses to not comply with the sanctions.

The US and Israel launched the war against Iran in order to prevent the normalization of Tehran’s relations with the Gulf states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told RT India. The campaign was intended to push Arab countries closer to Israel and pressure them into abandoning support for Palestine, he added.

Iran responded to the US-Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28 by targeting US bases in the Gulf states, along with energy and port infrastructure linked to US operations. In an interview published on Wednesday, Lavrov condemned the attack on Iran as “unprovoked” and described Tehran’s response as an act of self-defense.

“I have no doubt that when plans to stir up aggression against Iran were being hatched, one of the goals was to prevent the normalization of relations between Iran and the Arab states,” Lavrov said. “Now, everything is being done to ensure that reconciliation never happens.”

“They seek to rule the world through controlling global energy supplies,” Lavrov added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he secretly traveled to the UAE at the height of the war and described the trip as “a historic breakthrough.” The UAE has denied that the visit took place.

Media outlets reported this week that Saudi Arabia and the UAE conducted covert airstrikes against Iran during the conflict. The UAE denied the claims, though Saudi Arabia neither confirmed nor denied the reports. Iranian officials have accused the Gulf states of facilitating attacks on Iranian territory and called on the US to withdraw from the region.

US President Donald Trump’s arrival in China this week is being treated as far more than another diplomatic photo opportunity. Relations between Washington and Beijing remain tense, competition between the two powers stretches across almost every domain, and yet both sides appear increasingly aware that uncontrolled confrontation would carry enormous costs. Against that backdrop, the prospect of a broader geopolitical bargain is once again entering the discussion.

According to Xiang Lanxin, visiting professor at East China Normal University and research fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, Trump isn’t approaching China in the same ideological spirit that defined the Biden administration. The atmosphere in Washington, he argues, has shifted noticeably.

He spoke to Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.  

Xiang Lanxin: The economy is undoubtedly a bargaining chip. China wants fewer restrictions, greater market access, and perhaps a reduction in barriers in the high-tech sector, that is a key priority. The mood is competitive, but judging by the mood in Washington, the Trump team is much more conciliatory than the Biden administration, even in the high-tech sector. The ‘small backyard, high fence’ approach isn’t one the current White House is keen on. They realize it won’t work, as the administration is heavily influenced by the tech industry, particularly in the fields of semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies.

There are many such people on Vice President J.D. Vance’s team. History shows that it is impossible to stop technology from spreading across borders. Otherwise, the UK would still be dominating industry today. That’s simply not possible. People in the high-tech sector understand this very well. In that sense, I believe there are some positive signs.

Fyodor Lukyanov: But in the case of the United States, are there no illusions regarding relations with China, or are some changes still possible?

Xiang Lanxin: Of course, they are possible. We might even be talking about a ‘big deal’, which is exactly what Trump wants. Of course, there is no guarantee that they will actually be able to reach one. By a ‘big deal’, the Trump administration means an agreement that goes beyond the economy and touches on geopolitics, that is, the politics of the great powers. There are two key issues Trump would like to discuss with China. The first is how to stabilize the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Stabilize, precisely, because under the Biden administration the balance was seriously disrupted. Let me remind you that Biden made four statements deviating from the principle of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan (formal recognition of the PRC’s territorial integrity while maintaining separate relations with Taipei. – Ed.). That’s why Trump is proceeding cautiously. He wants to conclude a genuine agreement. I do not know whether this will take the form of a joint statement or some other format, but it is clear that he intends to take action. For China, even limited progress on the Taiwan issue would be a significant achievement. It would mean that the US would adopt a tougher stance against Taiwanese independence. 

The only foreign policy expert Trump really listened to was Henry Kissinger. He held him in very high regard. Kissinger advised him as far back as his first term in office: if this triangle is stable from a strategic point of view, everything else is secondary, including the European Union. Kissinger didn’t attach much importance to the EU at all. Remember his famous quote, which Trump likes: ‘Which partner is the most difficult? Not a rival, but an ally.’ I think Trump will raise the subject of this triangle at some point in his dialogue with China.

Fyodor Lukyanov: China is unlikely to stand in the way of such a triangle forming.

Xiang Lanxin: Yes, this isn’t about China, but about the European Union. Its existence precludes such a scenario. Will Trump push the EU to rethink what it has done? I would say the EU has made huge miscalculations, at least since the Biden administration, in its assessments of Russia, China, as well as the international economic system and the world order.

Fyodor Lukyanov: You once mentioned ‘military Keynesianism’ as a trend that, in essence, everyone is currently embracing. The term is more of a journalistic one, but the concept is clear, stimulating economic growth through government military spending. But what might that mean today? We’re not in the 1930s…

Xiang Lanxin: No, of course not the 1930s. And that situation is unlikely to be repeated unless the three major powers enter into direct military confrontation, which, in my view, will not happen under Trump. Incidentally, he is generally right when he says that under his leadership, the war in Ukraine might not have started at all. Local conflicts are not the main issue. Rather, the point is that military spending is being used as a tool to stimulate the economy and technological development.

Many European countries, as well as Japan, are already taking advantage of this opportunity. The war in Ukraine serves as a convenient pretext, particularly for Germany, for restructuring the economy, and the military sector is provided with a perfect justification. This is likely to be what happens. But this will not necessarily lead to an arms race and military conflict, unless Moscow, Beijing and Washington, for whatever reason, lose patience and enter into direct confrontation. But then that would truly be the end of the world.

This interview was produced specifically for the program International Review (Rossiya 24), and was translated and edited by RT team

The Pentagon has raised its estimate of the cost of the Iran war to $29 billion, though the figure remains well below projections from several think tanks.

In late April, acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers in Congress that the war had cost Washington around $25 billion.

Testifying in a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Hurst revised the assessment, attributing most of the costs to US munition stockpiles used against Iran.

However, according to journalist and Security Policy Reform Institute co-founder Stephen Semler, Washington spent an estimated $71.8 billion in just the first 60 days of the war.

Expended munitions made up more than $41 billion of the total, with military operations costs and damage to US regional assets and bases accounting for most of the rest, he wrote in an article for Popular Information last week, citing military procurement data and officials’ statements.

Washington has also overstated the damage to Iran’s missile capabilities, which US President Donald Trump has claimed were largely destroyed, the New York Times wrote on Tuesday.

It has also restored 30 of 33 coastal missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, it added.

The key shipping corridor has become the focal point of a tense standoff between the US and Iran, as Washington maintains its blockade of Iranian ports, with neither side giving ground in negotiations.

Ukrainian draft officers have snatched several workers directly from construction sites, MP Georgy Mazurashu told parliament on Wednesday, calling the practice “banditry” that must be stopped.

According to the lawmaker, the press gangs are merely “chasing numbers” and forcing unwilling men into the military, which only fuels desertion.

Mazurashu described one incident in the western Ukrainian city of Chernovtsy several weeks ago, when construction workers climbed into a cradle suspended between the third and fourth floors of a building to avoid being captured.

“Five dozen busificators, some wearing balaclavas, surrounded the construction site,” the MP said Wednesday, referring to the press gangs.

The term ‘busification’ emerged in Ukraine as hundreds of videos have surfaced on social media showing military-age men being snatched off the streets, from workplaces, and from residential areas, then taken to recruitment centers in mini-buses against their will. The practice has often triggered clashes with relatives, neighbors, and passersby.

The local draft office in Chernovtsy rejected Mazurashu’s accusations, claiming that no “illegal actions” had been committed by its staff members, adding that two men had been detained for “violating the rules of military registration” at the time mentioned by the lawmaker.

The accusations came just days after the Ukrainskaya Pravda media outlet reported that the number of complaints against draft officials filed with the parliamentary commissioner for human rights had reached nearly 12,000 since February 2022.

Ukraine has faced chronic manpower shortages throughout the conflict with Russia amid high battlefield losses, extensive draft dodging, and desertion. Kiev barred nearly all adult men from leaving the country soon after it declared a general mobilization in 2022.

The recruitment drive has grown increasingly brutal over the years. Several conscripts have reportedly died shortly after arriving at draft offices.

A leaked internal campaign memo has advised French presidential hopeful Raphael Glucksmann to limit efforts to attract the poorer middle-class and focus on older, wealthier voters instead, Politico has reported.

The confidential document reportedly identified Glucksmann’s strongest potential base as moderate, pro-European left-wing voters over 50, including retirees and upper-middle-class professionals. Glucksmann is an MEP, co-founder of the center-left Place Publique party and an ally of the French Socialist Party.

The memo reportedly recommended against heavily targeting younger voters, single parents, lower-income groups and residents of immigrant-heavy areas seen as more likely to support Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the radical left La France Insoumise (“France Unbowed”).

Melenchon officially announced his presidential bid earlier this month, while Glucksmann has not yet formally declared his candidacy.

French President Emmanuel Macron cannot seek another term in 2027 under constitutional term limits. Right-wing National Rally leader Jordan Bardella currently appears to be the frontrunner, with polls consistently placing him ahead of rivals. Bardella, widely viewed as Marine Le Pen’s political heir, could become the party’s nominee if Le Pen fails to overturn a five-year ban from office following her conviction in a European Parliament funds misuse case.

Critics describe Glucksmann as a representative of France’s educated urban and technocratic elite who is disconnected from the working class. The 46-year-old politician is the son of late philosopher Andre Glucksmann and the romantic partner of prominent French journalist Lea Salame, and has described himself as coming from an “affluent” and “globalized” background.

Glucksmann was previously married to Georgian-Ukrainian politician Eka Zguladze and has been one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine. He has criticized EU leaders, including Macron, for providing what he considers “insufficient” support to Kiev.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the US-Israeli war on Iran, his office revealed on Wednesday. The visit coincides with the UAE receiving Iron Dome air defense batteries from Israel.

Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed during the visit, which took place at an undisclosed time during the conflict, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, adding that the trip “led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”

While Netanyahu’s office did not elaborate on this “breakthrough,” it is likely that some kind of military cooperation was discussed, as US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee confirmed this week that Israel had recently sent “Iron Dome batteries and personnel” to the Emirates.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry denied that Netanyahu had made an undeclared visit to the country. Relations with Israel are “not based on secrecy or covert arrangements,” the ministry added.

The extent of this cooperation was reported by the Wall Street Journal this week. According to the newspaper, the UAE secretly carried out multiple attacks on Iranian infrastructure and military sites throughout the war, including strikes on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in early April, around the time that US President Donald Trump was announcing a ceasefire and negotiations with Iran.

The UAE has not acknowledged the attacks, nor has its government commented on visits from Barnea or Netanyahu.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry said in January that it would not allow the US or Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran. However, Tehran claimed that the American jets that attacked an elementary school in Minab on the opening day of the war – killing more than 160 schoolgirls – took off from Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi. Iranian forces responded by striking Al Dhafra, as well as US infrastructure at Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.

Iran pummeled targets across the UAE with more than 2,000 missiles and drones in the following weeks, while Tehran accused the Emirates of cooperating with “hostile parties” in the war.

Britain will contribute drones, fighter jets and naval assets to a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz to “secure freedom of navigation,” Defense Secretary John Healey has announced.

The Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast – a key route for global oil and LNG supplies – has been central to Middle East tensions since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February. Maritime traffic through the waterway has been heavily disrupted, with Washington and Tehran accusing each other of violating a fragile ceasefire reached in April. 

Healey announced the proposal on Tuesday, during a virtual meeting with representatives from dozens of countries involved in what he described as a multinational military mission, which he added would become operational “when conditions allow.” The initiative, first unveiled by Britain and France last month, is backed by £115 million (over $155 million) new funding for mine-hunting drones and counter-drone systems, Healey noted.

More than 1,000 British military personnel are already deployed across the Middle East, according to the Defense Ministry. London said the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is en route to the region, while another British vessel, the RFA Lyme Bay, could also be deployed.

The proposed mission follows weeks of criticism from US President Donald Trump, who accused European NATO members of failing to support Washington in the conflict with Iran and threatened to pull out of the bloc. Trump aaaahas accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being a fair-weather friend, suggesting he could reconsider last year’s trade deal with London.

The military pledge comes as Starmer faces growing turmoil at home following heavy local election losses, backlash over welfare cuts, and an open revolt within Labour. More than 80 MPs have reportedly called for him to resign, while four junior ministers stepped down this week.

Washington and Tehran remain far apart on a potential peace deal, with the ceasefire strained by clashes and Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports. The standoff has fueled fears of renewed hostilities.

Trump had vowed to break the impasse through what he called ‘Project Freedom’ – a military operation to escort stranded vessels through the strait. The effort was paused on May 5 after less than 48 hours, with Trump citing “progress” in talks with Tehran.

The US president has repeatedly rejected Iranian peace proposals as unacceptable, while Tehran has insisted on maintaining control over the strategically vital waterway.

On May 12, 2026, Russia carried out the second successful launch of its newest heavy liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat. The launch marked another major milestone in the flight-testing program for Russia’s next-generation strategic missile system. Following the test, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the first regiment equipped with Sarmat ICBMs would officially enter combat duty by the end of 2026.

A ballistic missile of this class is being developed in modern Russia for the first time. The Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-era Voevoda missiles, which until now have remained the most powerful ICBMs ever deployed. Thanks to the immense power of its liquid-fuel rocket engines, the Sarmat is expected to carry an unprecedented payload – between 10 and 14 medium-yield thermonuclear warheads, each with an estimated yield of around 700 kilotons, or potentially up to five maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles similar to those used in the Avangard system.

Conventional ballistic warheads can be deployed together with penetration aids designed to overwhelm missile defense systems. However, maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles present an entirely different challenge. Modern missile defense systems are effectively incapable of intercepting such weapons, making the Sarmat a uniquely formidable retaliatory strike platform.

Work on the Sarmat project began in the late 2000s through a collaboration between several Russian missile design bureaus specializing in liquid-fueled rocket technology. These included the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau in Miass – traditionally focused on submarine-launched ballistic missiles – and NPO Mashinostroyenia in Reutov, which had been developing the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle for the UR-100NUTTH intercontinental missile system. Together, the two organizations brought highly complementary expertise in advanced missile engineering. From the outset, the Sarmat was envisioned as the future replacement for the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces’ aging R-36M2 Voevoda heavy ICBMs.

In 2022, Vladimir Degtyar, CEO of the Makeyev Design Bureau, announced that serial production of the fifth-generation RS-28 Sarmat ICBM had officially begun in Russia. “The missile system has already entered serial production and is fully supplied with the necessary materials and manufacturing equipment,” he stated. According to Russian officials, the new ICBM will significantly strengthen the country’s strategic deterrent capability for the next 40 to 50 years.

The Sarmat is believed to have a range of at least 12,000 kilometers while carrying roughly 10 tons of payload, including its post-boost vehicle and warheads. However, the missile is also reportedly capable of striking targets by approaching from the opposite direction – flying over the South Pole and effectively circling the globe. While such a trajectory would reduce the missile’s payload capacity, it would still allow for multiple nuclear warheads to reach their targets. The missile is also expected to achieve exceptional accuracy, with a probable circular error measured at no more than roughly 150 meters.

Preparations for deploying the first operational Sarmat missiles began back in 2023 at the missile division in Uzhur, located in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai. The process of replacing the aging Voevoda missiles with Sarmat systems is expected to continue for at least four to five years, if not longer. In addition to Uzhur, Sarmat missiles are also expected to be deployed near Dombarovsky in the Orenburg region.

In total, Russia is expected to field at least 50 hardened silo launchers for the Sarmat system, making it the most powerful and lethal component of the country’s nuclear retaliatory forces – a true weapon of retaliation. Heavy missiles of this class are specifically designed to launch even under conditions of an incoming nuclear strike on their deployment area. In theory, dozens of Sarmat missiles could leave their silos while under nuclear attack, carrying a combined total of roughly 500 warheads capable of devastating any potential adversary.

What makes these glide vehicles so difficult to defeat is their flight profile. Unlike traditional ballistic warheads, they travel along a relatively low, flattened trajectory at hypersonic speeds near the edge of the atmosphere while retaining the ability to maneuver both in altitude and direction. As a result, they are detected much later than conventional reentry vehicles and are extraordinarily difficult to intercept due to their unpredictable maneuvering. The Sarmat may be able to carry more than a dozen standard warheads, but likely no more than three to five hypersonic glide vehicles. Nevertheless, such payloads would presumably be reserved for the highest-priority strategic targets – and, according to Russian military doctrine, those targets would be struck with near certainty.

Does any other country possess missiles comparable to the Sarmat? At the moment, no. China still operates heavy liquid-fueled missiles, but those systems are generally considered technologically outdated. Once the Sarmat enters operational service, the share of modern and next-generation missiles in Russia’s nuclear arsenal will approach nearly 100%.

This stands in stark contrast to the United States’ land-based nuclear arsenal, which still relies entirely on the Minuteman III ICBM – a missile originally deployed in the 1970s and subsequently modernized several times during the 1990s and 2000s. Much of America’s ground-based strategic nuclear force is now widely seen as overdue for replacement and modernization. Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, by comparison, are poised to field what many in Moscow describe as the most powerful combat missile ever created. Without question.

Two German soldiers have been attacked outside the NATO operational headquarters in Brunssum, Netherlands, according to dpa news agency and Der Spiegel. The assailants, who are yet to be identified, reportedly shouted anti-NATO slogans.

A personal protection officer and a staff officer who were both in plain clothes were attacked in a wooded area just outside the base on Monday evening, Der Spiegel said. Both sustained light injuries but are in good condition, a spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry told journalists, adding that the ministry is treating the incident as “security-related.”

The attackers, who were wearing masks, allegedly attacked the soldiers verbally and physically while shouting slogans such as “we hate NATO” in English. The identities and motives of the assailants are still being investigated, the reports said, adding that the Dutch military police are involved.

NATO raised the security alert level to ‘Bravo’ shortly after the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran, signaling an increased risk of terrorist activities and sabotage against NATO facilities and military personnel. Soldiers were specifically instructed not to appear in uniform outside of the bases, according to Der Spiegel.

Last summer, hundreds of people took part in a protest against NATO’s increased military spending plans ahead of the bloc’s summit in The Hague. They also protested against Israel’s campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza and the Iran war.

The EU’s imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) has reached a record high this year, amid the growing energy crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to a report by a US-based energy think tank.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reports that the bloc’s imports jumped 16% year on year in January-March, with France, Spain, and Belgium accounting for most deliveries. Russia remains the EU’s second-largest LNG supplier, despite the bloc aiming to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2027, it noted.

EU countries spent €5.9 billion ($6.9 billion) on Russian pipeline gas and €6.7 billion on Russian LNG in 2025, according to the report. Russia accounted for about 13% of the EU’s combined natural gas and LNG imports in 2025, according to previous data.

IEEFA said that the rise in imports was partly driven by disruptions in global LNG markets linked to reduced maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which curtailed Qatari exports and increased the EU’s reliance on other major suppliers.

The report said that the EU is risking a dependence on American LNG as Washington looks set to overtake Norway as the bloc’s largest gas supplier in 2026 and could account for 80% of EU LNG imports by 2028. American LNG is on average the most expensive for European buyers, the report added.

The latest developments have prompted some EU politicians to step up calls to reconsider sanctions on Russia. Despite growing political pressure over energy costs, however, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has insisted the bloc will continue phasing out Russian LNG imports and expand purchases from alternative suppliers, including the US.

US President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism director has suggested that two of the president’s loudest critics – Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes – are considered potential left-wing threats by the White House.

The White House released its National Strategy for Counterterrorism last week, which labels “Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs, Legacy Islamist Terrorists, [and] Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as the three most pressing terror threats to the US.

The inclusion of “Violent Left-Wing Extremists” is no surprise, given that the strategy was released after three assassination attempts against Trump and the public execution of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, and after Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum NPSM-7 identified “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” as indicators of potential “violent and terroristic activities.”

The report makes no mention of right-wing terrorism. However, a comment by its author, Sebastian Gorka, which flew under the radar last week, suggests that some of the president’s former allies are now considered national security threats.

“I’m not sure that Nick Fuentes or Tucker Carlson are conservatives,” Gorka replied. “If you are lauding Sharia law, if you are saying that there are Muslim states that seem to be better qualitatively than America in terms of freedom and prosperity, I’m not sure that means you’re part of the conservative movement. So if you remove those individuals and you understand that they’re not conservatives, what’s left?”

Gorka’s comment implies that, stripped of their “conservative” credentials, Fuentes and Carlson are the kind of left-wing extremists that the Trump administration will target.

Nick Fuentes is a hardline nationalist and opponent of Trump, whose inflammatory comments – “Jews are running society, Women need to shut the f**k up, and Blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part.” – saw him banned from every major social media platform in 2020. He has since been reinstated on X, and his daily livestreams sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of viewers.

FUENTES: ‘Jews are running society, women need to shut the F**K UP, blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part’

PIERS: ‘Would you like to clarify what you meant there?’

FUENTES: 'That’s all true… everything I said in that clip is true’ https://t.co/sOEsOYzYF2 pic.twitter.com/I8LRLf2xug

— RT (@RT_com) December 8, 2025

Tucker Carlson is a former Fox News host and supporter of Trump, whose relationship with the president has soured in recent months over Trump’s apparent deference to Israel and the war on Iran.

What happened between Tucker Carlson and Trump?

Carlson was a vocal supporter and regular confidant of Trump during the president’s first term in office, and campaigned for his reelection in 2024. Carlson grew more critical of American support for Israel’s war in Gaza over the last two years, and publicly called on Trump not to take military action against Iran in June 2025, when Israel was waging its 12-Day War against the Islamic Republic.

Trump, who dismissed Carlson’s advice and ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, called Carlson “kooky,” but the two remained in regular contact.

However, the rift between the former Fox News host and the president reached its nadir when the US and Israel began striking Iran in late February, with Carlson calling the war “disgusting and evil,” and accusing Trump of doing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bidding by waging it.

Carlson hammered Trump for issuing a profane message to Iran on Easter Sunday, calling the president’s threat to target Iranian civilian infrastructure “vile on every level.”

“How dare you speak that way on Easter morning to the country?” Carlson said in a monologue on his podcast. “Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the f-word on Easter morning.”

Trump responded by declaring Carlson an enemy of the MAGA movement, describing him as a “flailing fool” who should “see a good psychiatrist.”

Who else has Trump fallen out with?

Trump has fallen out with several prominent right-wing media personalities over the war with Iran, including Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones. In a lengthy social media post in April, he called these figures “nut jobs” and “troublemakers” who “think it is wonderful for Iran, the number one state sponsor of terror, to have a nuclear weapon.”

“They have one thing in common, low IQs,” he claimed. “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!”

Carlson, Owens, and Nick Fuentes were all included in a top-ten list of “anti-Semite and anti-Zionist” influencers published by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs in April.

Gorka’s statement is not the first indication that Trump intends to turn the power of the state against some of his former supporters. The former head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, is currently under FBI investigation for leaking classified information, after he resigned from his position in March and publicly denounced the war on Iran.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held discussions with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Lavrov is in India to take part in the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, held under India’s chairmanship.

“This is also an occasion to review our special and privileged partnership and exchange views on global developments,” Jaishankar said ahead of a closed-door meeting with Lavrov.

Lauding the steady and sustained growth in the bilateral ties between India and Russia, Jaishankar stated that the “economic and energy dimensions have become more pronounced.” He added that the political cooperation between India and Russia is “even more valuable in an uncertain and volatile global environment.”

The two sides will also discuss regional and global issues, including the conflict in the Middle East and related uncertainties over global supply chains, the Russian Foreign Ministry said ahead of the talks.

New Delhi and Moscow have a shared interest in strengthening multipolarity, Jaishankar said, adding that the two nations will also “benefit from derisking and diversification,” referring to energy cooperation in the aftermath of the Middle East crisis.

Regarding Russian-Indian ties in defense, Lavrov noted that Russia supported India’s domestic manufacturing of weapons before it became part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Lavrov said that until February 28, the Strait of Hormuz was open to traffic, and the whole world used this waterway, which accounted for around one-fifth of all oil brought to the global markets. “Now the Americans are demanding that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened. But it was never closed. It is always important to look at what lies beneath.”

The Middle East conflict “is a direct consequence of the unprovoked aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran,” Russia has said, calling for an unconditional ceasefire.

Bangladesh will review a trade deal with the US signed by its interim government in February, a top aide to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said.

Zahed Ur Rahman, the prime minister’s adviser on information and broadcasting, told the media on Tuesday that scrapping the agreement could have implications for bilateral relations and reciprocal tariff arrangements. However, the government is ready to review and renegotiate certain provisions.

“We can revisit the agreement. We can identify the areas that are more problematic and potentially harmful to the state, and conduct an initial review within the government. I hope we can proceed towards negotiations with the US,” Zahed said.

The decision to review the pact with the US comes a day after left-leaning student organizations held a massive rally in Dhaka demanding its cancellation. 

Opponents claimed that the provisions of the pact limit Dhaka’s sovereign interests. For instance, the document reportedly says that if Bangladesh enters into a trade deal with a “non-market country” (a reference Washington uses for China and Russia), the US can terminate the pact, the Daily Star reported in February.

The deal also forces Dhaka to automatically align with US sanctions and trade wars, forfeiting its right to remain neutral in power conflicts. If Dhaka breaches its provisions, US may reinstate previously agreed tariffs. The deal provides for a tariff rate of 19% for exports to the US, lower than the 20% set in August.

Russia has stepped up border controls to prevent the potential spread of the deadly Andes hantavirus strain, the country’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has said.

The rare strain of the virus – typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings, urine or saliva – has been linked to at least three deaths connected to a Dutch-flagged cruise ship since April 11. A total of 11 infection cases, including the deaths, have been confirmed among the ship’s 147 passengers.

The outbreak was discussed during a Rospotrebnadzor video conference on Tuesday. Hantaviruses are a long- and well-studied group of natural infections, the agency said in a follow-up statement on Wednesday, adding that no outbreaks have been recorded in Russia this year.

The Andes strain is predominantly found in the New World, and is carried by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, which is indigenous to Argentina and Chile, the watchdog said. Russia’s climate is unfavorable for the virus, reducing the risk of introduction into the country.

Hantaviruses typically do not spread from human-to-human contact, except for the rare Andes strain, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Precautionary measures to take against infection include avoiding contact with rodent droppings, storing food safely and taking extra hygiene measures, such as keeping homes clean and handwashing.

After threatening to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” a few hours before the deadline he set for Iran, US President Donald Trump suddenly announced a two-week ceasefire that continues to this day, though it remains fragile. Throughout this time, the White House has been urgently pushing the narrative about an active negotiation process with Iran, which is supposedly yielding results. Washington still talks about progress and work on a framework agreement, though Tehran has accused Washington of violations and the US military remains ready to resume combat operations at any moment. 

Tehran’s skepticism is understandable: On two previous occasions, negotiations with the Trump administration only brought about an escalation of the conflict. During the hot phase of the war, Tehran publicly refuted Trump’s claims about forthcoming negotiations, labeling the reports misleading and false. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has frequently been mentioned in the Western media as a negotiator on the Iranian side, said Washington used fabricated reports of talks to manipulate the oil markets. This is difficult to dispute; indeed, as soon as Trump mentioned negotiations with Tehran, oil prices began to drop. While they didn’t return to the $72 per barrel mark seen just before the start of the conflict on February 28, they demonstrated a positive trend. 

According to Tehran, Trump’s repeated statements about negotiations serve not to initiate dialogue with Iran but rather to project an image that the White House is in control of the escalation, holds the diplomatic initiative, and if necessary, can present any interim outcome as the president’s personal success. In other words, the public emphasis on negotiations appears to be an effort to create a political exit strategy – essentially a way to emerge unscathed, even if no significant strategic breakthrough occurs. This interpretation aligns with how the Trump administration intensifies its rhetoric while simultaneously speaking of productive contact.

The international media quickly picked up on this. However, the question of who could become a mediator between Washington and Tehran is no longer a priority. Most media outlets have agreed that the talks will probably be held in Pakistan. And indeed, Islamabad mediated the ceasefire, which considerably increased Pakistan’s political weight. As a result, the focus of the discussion has shifted. Instead of wondering whether negotiations are possible, the media is preoccupied with a more practical question: Will they be held in Pakistan, and will Islamabad be an effective mediator?

In early April, reports emerged that Pakistan is one of the most probable venues for future negotiations. Around the same time, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry officially announced negotiations between Iran and the US, which were indeed held on April 11. They ended without results, while no resumption of hostilities was reported, but the US began a blockade of Iranian ports. At present, according to media reports, the US and Iran continue to exchange proposals for a final settlement specifically through Pakistani diplomatic channels. 

Pakistan’s role as a mediator in this conflict is far from coincidental. As the only Muslim nuclear power, Pakistan holds exceptional symbolic and strategic weight in the Islamic world. This status lends Islamabad additional legitimacy as a mediator in security-related matters and issues of regional balance. Moreover, Pakistan possesses a crucial asset that many other regional states lack: It can maintain working relationships with both Iran and the US. Reports from several Western media outlets indicate that Islamabad has been involved in relaying proposals, and Pakistan is being considered as a platform for further contact. Furthermore, US initiatives were communicated to Tehran through Pakistan, and Islamabad has been conducting regional consultations involving Türkiye and Egypt.

For Pakistan, this role is advantageous for several reasons. Firstly, Pakistan seeks to assert its diplomatic agency and demonstrate that it is not merely a peripheral player in South Asian politics. Secondly, Islamabad is interested in preventing regional instability at its borders, since unrest in Iran automatically elevates risks to Pakistan’s security, trade, and interfaith harmony. Thirdly, by acting as a mediator, Pakistan can enhance its image as a nation pursuing a more autonomous foreign policy than it did 15-20 years ago. Historically, it has long been viewed as a US ally and a component of the anti-India balance. However, in recent years, Pakistan has significantly diversified its international ties, strengthened relations with China, shown increased interest in cooperating with Russia, and generally aimed for greater sovereignty. This shift undoubtedly boosts its appeal for Iran, which requires a mediator that is not too closely aligned with American interests but is also not overtly antagonistic toward Washington. Nonetheless, US influence in Pakistan remains strong, meaning Islamabad can be politically acceptable to Tehran while being practically useful to America. These two factors – Islamic legitimacy and existing communication channels with Washington – position Pakistan as one of the most promising candidates for mediation in the current landscape.

Why not Oman?

Oman traditionally played the role of mediator between Iran and the US. For many years, it was viewed as the most suitable venue for sensitive US-Iran contact. It was seen as a cautious, reserved, and pragmatic mediator that didn’t overly politicize the process. In 2025, Oman again served as a platform for indirect discussions on nuclear issues between the US and Iran. However, these talks (two rounds of talks, in fact) didn’t yield any results, and Oman’s mediation efforts failed. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Oman was responsible for this failure; rather, the inconsistency of the White House, which fluctuated between pressure tactics and willingness to negotiate, ultimately empowered the hawks and the ‘war party’ in Washington to start the risky venture. Oman may have failed as a mediation platform, but it wasn’t its fault.

Nevertheless, it’s premature to count Oman out, since no one knows the result of the negotiations in Pakistan. Oman’s primary strength lies in the trust it has built with both sides and its reputation as a reliable and discreet channel for conveying messages. Even if Oman’s position as the main negotiator has weakened, it remains the most recognizable and institutionally familiar mediator. However, it is no longer the only intermediary. While Oman remains useful, it has lost its exclusivity. Consequently, other potential mediators have emerged, and for now, Pakistan has been chosen as the main venue for negotiations. 

Türkiye remains another serious contender. Its position is unique, since it is the only Muslim country in NATO and plays a significant role in the bloc. Türkiye is not a peripheral player in the Euro-Atlantic architecture; it is an independent center of power capable of navigating complex multilateral dynamics. Ankara maintains institutional access to Western capitals, has extensive experience in engaging with Iran, and boasts well-developed regional diplomacy. Reports suggest that Türkiye effectively conveys messages between the US and Iran and was considered a potential venue for contact. While Ankara hasn’t provided much commentary to the press, it has subtly mentioned the existence of a certain negotiation track.

Why is it logical for Türkiye to be a mediator in the current conflict? For Ankara, the Iran conflict is not a distant concern; it’s directly tied to its own national security. The Turkish leadership is not interested in the complete collapse of Iran, its fragmentation, or prolonged destabilization along its borders. A weakening of central authority in Iran could trigger a chain of events that Türkiye perceives as highly dangerous: Increased instability at the border, new waves of refugees, the heightened activity of Kurdish groups on both sides of the border, and an overall expansion of the area of strategic turbulence close to Turkish territory. Ankara is genuinely concerned about being drawn into conflict and about the repercussions of a weakened Iranian state, particularly as they relate to the Kurdish factor and significant migration issues. 

For these reasons, Türkiye is potentially positioned to act not just as a relayer of messages between Washington and Tehran but as a key player deeply invested in de-escalation. It wields considerable political influence, has established diplomatic channels, a regional military status, and is driven by a clear motivation to prevent the Iranian crisis from spiraling out of control. Unlike the Gulf Arab monarchies, Ankara isn’t viewed as an adversary by Tehran. Furthermore, Türkiye can engage with the US through the lens of strategic interests and the NATO framework – an advantage that neutral mediators don’t have. This positions Türkiye as one of the most pragmatic mediators available, especially if the negotiations require not just the transmission of signals but also substantial political backing. Moreover, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would certainly be pleased if the conflicting sides conclude some sort of a peace deal on Turkish soil.

Egypt was also mentioned several times as a potential negotiator. Its candidacy is more contentious compared to Türkiye or Pakistan; however, this also makes it an interesting option. Cairo has attempted to adopt a different stance compared to its Arab counterparts; it doesn’t completely align itself with the anti-Iran coalition even as it condemns Tehran’s actions, particularly those that threaten maritime safety, energy supplies, and regional stability. It’s quite possible that Egypt is already engaged in regional diplomatic consultations, advocating for an end to the conflict while maintaining close ties with the US.

The relationship between Cairo and Tehran is difficult to label as either friendly or overtly hostile. Following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in 2013, a significant ideological and political rift emerged between Egypt and Iran. Iran viewed this movement with notable sympathy and continued to maintain contact with it, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi built his legitimacy on suppressing Islamist movements. Over the years, however, regional dynamics have shifted. Cairo cautiously pursued more pragmatic engagement with nations with which it previously had strained relations, including Iran. This marked a gradual pivot towards a more flexible approach towards Tehran, though they never became real allies. 

This ambiguity could render Egypt a potentially valuable mediator. It may not be an ideal partner for Iran, but is not a discredited figure in Tehran’s eyes either. On the other hand, Egypt maintains strong ties with the US, boasts significant standing in the Arab world, and has its own interest in reducing regional tensions – especially since the conflict surrounding Iran disrupts energy markets, logistics, and jeopardizes Egyptian economic interests.

In other words, while Egypt might not be the chief architect of negotiations, it could emerge as a politically acceptable participant within a broader mediating coalition. 

Ultimately, the discussion about potential mediators demonstrates the lack of a robust negotiating mechanism and a crisis in the traditional mediation model. Trump aims to discuss negotiations as if they were already underway and under his control; Iran denies this, demonstrating its unwillingness to accept a narrative imposed by Washington. Oman remains a traditional but not exclusive mediator. Pakistan appears to be one of the most promising options due to its ties to the Islamic world, strategic significance, and established communication channels with both sides. Türkiye holds considerable political power and is interested in preventing the disintegration of the regional order. As for Egypt, its candidacy is more questionable, but it could take part in the negotiations in a multilateral format.

Most importantly, the issue of mediation boils down to the question of who can address the conflict in the Middle East through some form of diplomacy. If Trump is indeed trying to establish a public narrative for a future deal, then those who are currently fighting for a chance to become mediators are also fighting for a chance to convert the crisis into political capital. In this context, a negotiator is not merely a messenger, but someone who gains the right to shape the framework for resolving the conflict.

Saudi Arabia conducted covert strikes on Iran during the Middle East war, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Neither Riyadh nor Tehran has officially acknowledged the attacks. Reuters could not independently confirm the targets or timing of the strikes, which would mark the first known direct Saudi military action on Iranian soil.

According to the report, the Royal Saudi Air Force launched “numerous, unpublicized” attacks on Iran in late March. One unnamed official described the strikes as tit-for-tat retaliation “for when Saudi [Arabia] was hit.”

Sources told the outlet that Saudi Arabia informed Iran in advance, and that the strikes were followed by intense diplomacy and threats of further retaliation. The backchannel contact reportedly helped produce an informal de-escalation deal that brought the attacks to a halt.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United Arab Emirates also conducted covert strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks on UAE infrastructure in early April, shortly before the ceasefire announcement.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE both host major US military bases and have long relied on Washington’s security umbrella. Both countries have repeatedly come under missile and drone attacks as Iran retaliated against the US-Israeli campaign launched in late February.

The UAE adopted a more hawkish tone, condemning the strikes on its territory as a dangerous escalation and asserting its “right to respond,” as well as largely freezing public diplomacy with Iran and closing its embassy in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, however, has tried to keep the conflict from spiraling further, reportedly maintaining regular contact with Iranian officials, including Iran’s ambassador in Riyadh.

Analysts suggest that the Gulf states’ willingness to strike Iran themselves rather than relying on the US reflects growing frustration with Washington for leaving its regional partners exposed to Iranian retaliation and for lacking a long-term strategy.

”From the perspective of the Gulf states, it looks like the US is not prioritizing their security and basically threw the Gulf states under the bus,” Dania Thafer, the director of the Gulf International Forum, told the WSJ.

Tens of thousands marched through Brussels on Tuesday to protest Belgian federal reforms, rising military spending, and what demonstrators say are insufficient action on soaring energy prices. The rally comes amid an EU-wide energy crisis and rising defense budgets across the bloc.

The EU energy crisis, triggered by the bloc’s shift away from Russian oil and gas imports, has deepened in recent months due to supply chain disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict, forcing member states to pay significantly more for imported fossil fuels.

Belgium has recently increased defense spending as part of NATO commitments, moving toward the US-led military bloc’s 2% of GDP target after years of lower military budgets. Like other European NATO members, it cites what it calls the threat of Russian aggression as a key reason for its renewed military buildup – claims Moscow has dismissed as “nonsense” and baseless fearmongering.

Meanwhile, the reforms at the center of the demonstration include pension changes such as stricter retirement rules and reduced benefits, labour market reforms introducing greater flexibility and changes to employment protections, as well as adjustments to wage indexation and broader public spending cuts.

Some protesters calling for an end to the Middle East conflict were seen holding a banner reading “HALT to the WAR against IRAN.”

One sign criticizing defense spending read: “€3.6 billion for Chassis aircraft, €86.7 million less for schools in 2026 – this is not the kind of society we want,” while another showed a paper fighter jet with the message: “There goes our budget, healthcare flying away.”

Other demonstrators were seen holding banners stating, “Public education is in danger,” while placards read: “They are also stealing your pensions” and “A decent pension is not a LUX.”

Public transport across the country ran at a reduced service due to the rally, while Charleroi Airport canceled all flights scheduled for the day.

The last national rally held on March 12 over the same issues drew between 80,000 and 100,000 people to Brussels.

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola has arrived in New Delhi to join BRICS foreign ministers from May 14 to 15 for talks under India’s chairmanship, focusing on multilateral cooperation and global tensions.

The meeting, held in New Delhi, is convened under the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability (BRICS)”. BRICS Foreign Ministers will deliberate and call for enhanced efforts to de-escalate and promote a peaceful resolution of conflicts raging in different parts of the world, including the Middle East.

Lamola expressed his confidence that these high-level deliberations will further cultivate the strategic synergy between BRICS member states, BRICS partner countries, and all international partners.

”Our presence here represents a concerted effort to shape a global architecture that is as sustainable as it is equitable,” Lamola said. 

“Through principled engagement and collaborative resolve, we seek to secure a future that honors the aspirations of all nations.”

South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Professor Anil Sooklal, said that the meeting of BRICS ministers is one of the most important ministerial engagements outside of the BRICS summit.

”It gives the BRICS foreign ministers an opportunity to come together and reflect on the critical global issues as they impact the current global environment, collectively discuss them and try to see how BRICS can offer solutions and/or suggestions in addressing some of these global crises that we all find ourselves in at the moment.”

He highlighted that this includes the ongoing war in Gaza, the US-Israel situation in Lebanon and Iran, and the impact of the latter on fuel prices and supply.

“Of course, they will also discuss other global hotspots like Sudan, and also get an opportunity to perhaps get a briefing from Russia on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation, and so that’s always an important dimension of global peace and security that foreign ministers discuss, exchange views, and try to see how BRICS can positively impact all of these challenges.”

He added that it is quite a packed agenda, but very focused on the challenges and how BRICS responds to them as a platform of the Global South.

We have arrived in New Delhi, Republic of India, for the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations. This gathering, hosted under the @BricsIndia2026 Chairship, comes at a critical juncture for our global community.

We are meeting under the theme:… pic.twitter.com/aH5XoTMXae

— Minister: International Relations and Cooperation (@RonaldLamola) May 12, 2026

”In many senses, it is an opportune time for collective reflection on all of these, and perhaps see how BRICS countries can positively impact, improve, and move forward, amid these challenges, and at the same time, reflect on the corporation within BRICS itself.

”I think more so than ever, we need to reflect as BRICS countries on how we strengthen resilience in terms of the challenges to the global economy, in terms of challenges against unilateral measures being taken against many of our countries, especially in the trade sector,” Sooklal said.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa’s participation is anchored in a long-standing tradition of principled advocacy, focusing on three core imperatives:

They said that South Africa remains committed to bridging the gap between the developmental priorities of the Global South and emerging frontiers in technological, economic, and social innovation, with a view to ensuring that BRICS cooperation delivers tangible, inclusive, and sustainable socio-economic benefits for all.

First published by IOL

US President Donald Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s peace terms suggests that he will accept nothing short of surrender, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

The US and Iran remain engaged in indirect negotiations following the fragile ceasefire announced last month after weeks of military action. Trump has repeatedly dismissed Iranian proposals as unacceptable, claiming that Tehran had suffered a military defeat and must agree to American conditions to end the crisis.

“When a party directly involved in war, blockade, sanctions, and threats of force rejects Iran’s response simply because it is not a letter of surrender, it becomes obvious that the issue is not peace but the imposition of political will through intimidation and pressure,” Gharibabadi wrote on X on Tuesday, without mentioning Trump by name.

The diplomat said Tehran’s demands – including compensation for damage caused since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, guarantees against future aggression, and recognition of Iran’s sovereign rights – represent “the minimum necessary for any serious and durable arrangement under the UN Charter.”

Tehran, however, has insisted on maintaining control over the strategically vital waterway and preserving the maritime toll system introduced during the conflict as part of its defense strategy. It also insists that peaceful use of atomic energy is its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

As diplomatic efforts mediated by Pakistan stalled, the Trump administration launched a naval blockade of Iranian ports, further disrupting global energy markets.

Amid speculation that the US could resume large-scale military action, Trump warned last week that people would know the ceasefire had collapsed when they see “one big glow coming out of Iran.”

Trump’s delayed China visit underway

The US president is currently visiting China, reducing the likelihood of an immediate escalation of the Iran conflict during the trip. The visit had originally been planned for March 31 to April 2 but was postponed amid uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East.

🚨 Just in: Trump arrives in China.
Beijing has welcomed him with the red carpet.
Beijing is also flying U.S. flags as a sign of respect.
Lets hope Trump leaves his arrogance inside AF1. 🇨🇳🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HDnmAWxOT2

— James Wood 武杰士 (@commiepommie) May 13, 2026

Washington has imposed sanctions on multiple Chinese entities accused of assisting Tehran by supplying satellite imagery and weapons-related components, and by purchasing Iranian crude oil.

Beijing has pushed back on US pressure on its refining sector, invoking for the first time a domestic law prohibiting companies operating in China from complying with unilateral American sanctions. Chinese officials maintain that any sanctions not authorized by the UN Security Council are illegitimate under international law.

Spain has become the latest European nation to call for the EU to build its own army as opposed to relying on the NATO framework, citing a growing rift with the US. The idea itself, however, has split European NATO members, with many still viewing the US-led military bloc as a preferable defense mechanism.

Whatever the outcome of those debates, most NATO nations are engaged in an accelerated militarization campaign costing hundreds of billions of dollars in the long run, citing an alleged Russian “threat.”

EU army: origins story

The idea of a joint European army harks back to the early days of the Cold War, when in the early 1950s, France pushed for the European Defense Community, which would have brought France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg into a common 100,000-strong European force. The plan received US backing.

Still, under Charles de Gaulle, France was highly skeptical of NATO, seeing it as a tool for US dominance in Europe. In 1966, de Gaulle pulled France – which was struggling to cling to the remnants of its colonial empire and superpower status – out of the NATO command structure.

During the 2011 Libya intervention, it was much worse. Not only were EU powers dependent on the US doing all the heavy lifting, but the campaign also led to a European fracture. Only France and the UK coordinated the strikes with the US, while Italy was initially opposed to the intervention. Later, France and Italy worked at cross purposes, supporting different sides in the Libyan Civil War.

Some EU nations, however, have called for a standalone European army with wider authority, citing Washington’s growing unreliability and the need for strategic autonomy.

Who is in favor?

Spain has become the most recent proponent of the EU army idea. On Monday, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares made the case in an interview with Politico, saying, “We cannot be waking up every morning wondering what the US will do next … our citizens deserve better.”

In a thinly veiled allusion to US President Donald Trump, Albares stressed that the EU has to be “free of dependence,” as well as “free of coercion, whether it comes to tariffs or the use of military threat, [or] the consequences of someone else’s decisions.”

While his comments came amid a stark rift with the US over the Iran war, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for “a real European army” already in February, stressing that the bloc needs it “not in ten years’ time, but now” and pledged Madrid would contribute all necessary resources.

In Italy, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who leads the center-right Forza Italia party, has stressed that “if we want to be a peacekeeping force in the world, we need a European army,” describing it as a premise for “an effective European foreign policy.”

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, however, has been more cautious, stating that the issue is not on the agenda, adding that the bloc’s defense should be based on the cooperation of national armies.

Who is against?

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has been among the most vocal critics of the concept. In February, she described the idea of a European army as “extremely dangerous,” saying that its proponents “maybe haven’t really thought this through practically.”

In Poland, the bloc’s most aggressive defense spender at 4.7% of GDP in 2025, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called the idea “unrealistic because national armies will not merge.” However, he was more sympathetic to a brigade-sized “European legion” comprised of EU citizens or even candidate states, which could be involved in foreign operations short of a confrontation with a near-peer adversary.

In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to build “Europe’s strongest conventional army,” but has been skeptical of a bloc-wide force due to legal hurdles, arguing that the EU should “focus on the tasks that we need to accomplish now.”

As for the US, in 2018, Trump strongly opposed the idea of an EU army, dismissing it as “very insulting.” “Perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the US subsidizes greatly!” he said at the time.

What’s Spain’s beef with NATO?

Spain’s problem is not necessarily with NATO itself, but rather with the current US administration. Madrid has vehemently opposed the US-Israeli war on Iran, and refused to allow its bases to be used for attacks. Trump subsequently called Spain “a terrible ally” and threatened to cut off all trade.

The US president encountered similar problems with the rest of NATO members, slamming the bloc as a “paper tiger” and accusing it of “turning their backs on the American people.” Another point of friction was Greenland, which Trump threatened to annex, meeting strong pushback from the EU.

Militarization on the menu – regardless of the form

While European leaders could be debating whether the EU actually needs its own army as a counterbalance – or replacement – for NATO, most of them have embraced the militarization drive. In 2025, the EU unveiled the “ReArm Europe Plan — Readiness 2030” to mobilize over €800 billion ($936 billion) in defense investment despite the bloc’s sluggish economy.

View from Moscow

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has scorned the idea of the EU army, suggesting that before undertaking such an endeavor, the bloc should tackle a litany of internal problems, including refugees, energy dependence, and lagging NATO contributions.

Moscow has meanwhile condemned the EU’s record militarization, saying that the bloc is “using ostentatious Russophobia” as a pretense. It has also accused European “propaganda” of seeking to turn Russia into a “model external enemy” to divert attention from internal crises.

In addition, Russian officials have consistently rejected speculation that Moscow could attack European states as “nonsense.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for a seventh consecutive term, extending his rule of more than four decades as one of Africa’s longest serving leaders.

The 81-year-old took the oath of office Tuesday at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala after securing more than 70% of the vote in the election in January.

The ceremony was attended by diplomats and several African leaders, including Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan.

In his inauguration speech, Museveni declared a new era of “no more sleep” for the nation, focusing on wealth creation, job generation, and the elimination of corruption and complacency. He urged citizens to “wake up” and embrace economic transformation by engaging in commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services, and ICT, warning that the country “can no longer afford complacency.”

Museveni showcased a long list of achievements under his administration since 1986, backing his claims with photos as evidence, including major infrastructure projects, the restoration of peace and stability, and sustained economic growth.

Museveni became president in 1986 following the overthrow of Milton Obote’s government. He won Uganda’s first multiparty elections in 2006 and has remained in power through subsequent elections and constitutional amendments that removed presidential term limits. He is currently the world’s third-longest consecutively serving non-royal head of state, after Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema and Cameroon’s Paul Biya.

His main rival, Robert Kyagulanyi – popularly known as Bobi Wine – who secured 24.72% of the vote, rejected the results, alleging massive ballot stuffing. However, election observers, including those from the African Union and Russia, said the election was conducted in an orderly and transparent manner.

Following his victory, Museveni said he would have “embarrassed” the opposition “badly” if 10 million more of his supporters had taken part. His new term will run until 2031.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that “we might see more cases” of the deadly Andes strain of hantavirus emerge in the coming days, after an 11th case was recorded.

The virus has killed three people who left Argentina on a cruise ship last month, and infected eight others. The most recent case was confirmed by the Spanish Health Ministry on Tuesday, and involves a passenger who had been quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid after traveling on the ship.

“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks,” Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday.

Ghebreyesus thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for showing “compassion and solidarity” by allowing the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, to dock at Spain’s Canary Islands on Monday. From the Canaries, passengers were evacuated to their home countries, where authorities were urged by Tedros to keep them quarantined for 42 days.

After a long incubation period of between six and eight weeks, patients typically experience flu-like symptoms that can develop into heart problems, hypertension, and buildup of fluid in the lungs and chest cavity. The Andes strain of hantavirus has a fatality rate of around 38%.

On Saturday, Tedros stressed that “the current public health risk from hantavirus remains low,” and that the outbreak would not become “another Covid.”

The MV Hondius left Argentina carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries. So far, every confirmed case has involved someone who traveled on the ship. Twenty British nationals are in isolation in the UK, 14 Spaniards are quarantined at the military hospital in Madrid, and five French citizens are being monitored in Paris. One of them, a 65-year-old woman, developed serious symptoms and was placed on a ventilator on Tuesday, French authorities said. Twelve Dutch health workers have also been quarantined after incorrectly handling the bodily fluids of a hantavirus patient.

For decades, the Elysee Palace viewed Africa through the narrow lens of its former colonies – a cozy, if often toxic, arrangement known as ‘Francafrique’ in which language was a colonialist tool rather than a neutral medium of expression and knowledge. But as French flags are lowered and troops are ushered out of the Sahel, President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Nairobi with a different script.

Leading the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya this week, Macron brought a strategic pivot toward the Anglophone world – a cultural, and no less colonial, space usually reserved for a competitor colonialist, the UK. By courting 30 nations in a region where France has no colonial history, Paris is attempting a high-stakes rebranding. It is a move that seems to be born of necessity. As the traditional sphere of influence crumbles under the weight of anti-colonial resentment and shifting global alliances, France is betting that its future on the continent lies in the English-speaking East.

Le Figaro described the presidential outburst as a “total lack of respect.” Far-left French MP Daniele Obono characterized it as yet another instance of the “behavior of a colonialist” who cannot help himself the moment he “sets foot on the African continent.”

Even as Le Monde analyzes the pivot as a pragmatic economic necessity, the domestic narrative suggests that while the geography has changed, the ‘schoolteacher’ temperament of French diplomacy remains firmly intact. Kicked out of the front door in the Sahel, Paris is now trying to climb back through the back window, clutching the same old lecture notes.

Beyond the theatrical scolding at the podium, the summit’s primary engine was a massive financial pivot: A €23 billion ($27 billion) investment package aimed at strategic sectors such as energy, AI, and agriculture. However, the optics of this ‘new partnership’ remain contested.

While Macron spoke of an era “free of hang-ups,” Kenyan President William Ruto pointedly used the word ‘sovereignty’ eight times in his speech, insisting that the days of European dependency are over.

For Paris, this is clearly an attempt to find a new economic ‘back window’ as the front door slams shut elsewhere. With €14 billion of the funds coming from French giants such as TotalEnergies, Orange, and the shipping titan CMA CGM – which alone committed $823 million to modernize the Mombasa port – the strategy is transparent. Having lost its grip on the Sahel region and its traditional mineral extractions, France is now trying to entrench its corporations in the ‘Silicon Savannah’ and the booming English-speaking markets. It is a high-stakes gamble: Using billions in capital to buy the relevance it can no longer command through military presence or colonial-era linguistic ties.

However, this Anglophone charm offensive has already ruffled feathers in London, where the British press has characterized the new French promised billions splurge as an attempt to buy influence within the commonwealth.

The irony is sharp. While Macron uses Nairobi to preach a new era of equal partnership, he is simultaneously engaging in a modernized scramble for the continent’s most prosperous markets, effectively replacing the military boots of the Sahel with the corporate suits of the CAC 40.

For the nations of East Africa, the spectacle is clear: They are no longer just the subjects of a new Great Game, but the prize in a high-stakes competition between a rebranded France and a stagnant Britain, both of which are desperate to remain relevant in a multipolar Africa that is increasingly looking toward the East, where the influence of China and Russia continues to grow.

Similarly, the Talent Afrique-France scheme (a pilot visa program) is being criticized as a brain-drain mechanism, designed to siphon off Africa’s brightest AI and tech innovators to serve French firms rather than building local capacity. The ghost of the failed Vinci SA highway deal still haunts the relationship; Nairobi famously scrapped the lopsided project due to sovereign debt concerns, only to see the contract eventually handed to a Chinese corporate rival. For the burgeoning tech hubs of Lagos and Nairobi, Macron’s ‘equal partnership’ looks suspiciously like a rebranding of trickle-down economics: The profits are repatriated to Paris, while the continent is left to shoulder the environmental and financial debt of a corporate-led scramble.

Ultimately, the mounting resistance across the continent is not a rejection of French investment for its own sake, but a rejection of the terms under which it has historically arrived.

For Macron, the message from the Africa Forward summit is clear: The era of unilateral lecturing is over. If France wishes to remain a relevant player in this multipolar landscape, it must finally discard the ‘back window’ tactics and the ‘schoolteacher’ temperament, proving that it can exist as a partner in progress rather than a ‘competitor colonialist’ desperately clinging to a disappearing past.

India has doubled its import tariffs on gold and silver to cushion the impact of the Middle East conflict on its foreign exchange reserves.

New Delhi has imposed a 10% basic customs duty and a 5% Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on gold and silver imports, raising the effective import tax from 6% to 15%.

The move is aimed at curtailing overseas purchases and easing the pressure on its foreign exchange reserves.

This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated steps including refraining from gold purchases and reducing the use of fuel as part of an effort to minimize the economic shocks arising from the Middle East conflict.

The government is reportedly considering a host of measures including a fuel price hike and restrictions on non-essential spending to shield its foreign exchange reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves as of May 1 stood at $690 billion, a significant decline from $728 billion in February. The dollar outflows have also impacted the rupee, Asia’s worst-performing major currency, which is down 5.6% this year.

Gold demand in India, the world’s second-largest buyer, has risen amid a recent rally in prices and as returns from equities plunged over the past year.

The nation’s imports of gold totaled $72 billion in the 2026 fiscal year ending March 31, a 24% surge from a year ago. Higher imports of gold widen India’s current account deficit because India pays in foreign currency for gold.

The move reflects growing concern among policymakers over the rising import bill and shrinking forex reserves, driven mainly by energy supply disruptions as hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict fade.

India’s overall trade deficit widened to $119 billion in 2025-26, compared to $94 billion in 2024-25, mostly as a result of higher energy and fertilizer prices and rising bullion imports.

Former Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andrey Yermak, who was charged this week in a money laundering investigation, consulted a mystic while considering candidates for senior government posts, according to evidence presented by prosecutors.

Yermak – a close associate of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky – stepped down last year amid mounting scrutiny over his alleged ties to businessman Timur Mindich, who fled to Israel shortly before being accused of masterminding a large-scale embezzlement scheme at a state-owned energy company.

During a court hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors revealed details of Yermak’s reported interest in occult practices, claiming that it may have influenced staffing decisions at the highest levels of government.

According to investigators, one of his contacts appeared in messaging records under the name “Veronika Fengshui Office.” Prosecutors allege Yermak sent the birth dates of potential appointees – without naming them directly – to ask whether they were suitable for office.

According to the prosecution, Yermak sought Veronika’s opinion on candidates for the posts of prime minister, prosecutor general, health minister, and even his own deputy responsible for overseeing law enforcement agencies. Prosecutors cited the communications while arguing that Yermak should remain in pre-trial detention because of his alleged ability to influence witnesses and interfere with the investigation.

Additional details emerged during continuation of the hearings on Wednesday, when the prosecutor identified the spiritual advisor by full name and quoted some of the text messages she and Yermak allegedly exchanged. Records indicate she urged him to cling to power at any cost, which he pledged to do.

Maybe they should just get a peaceful “fortune teller.” Peace is the best magic. 🕊️ https://t.co/VePuRjaAOF

— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) May 13, 2026

Reacting to the revelations, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev mocked the Ukrainian leadership on social media, saying the Zelensky administration “should just get a peaceful ‘fortune teller,’” adding that “peace is the best magic.”

Claims of occult practices in Zelensky’s circle

Allegations of mystical beliefs within Ukraine’s leadership were previously raised by former Zelensky press secretary Yulia Mendel, who has since emerged as a vocal critic of the administration.

In January, Mendel claimed that Yermak had relied on occult rituals for years and allegedly invited practitioners from abroad to perform ceremonies involving so-called “corpse water.” She suggested that other people close to Zelensky also shared an interest in mystical practices, though she did not identify them publicly.

Opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak pointed to the accusations as evidence that senior officials connected to the project lacked ethical standards and should not be entrusted with governing the country. Zelensky is reportedly among the four co-owners of the upscale property development that Western-backed anti-corruption agencies are investigating.

From mystics to political scandal

Close relationships between political leaders and spiritual advisers have historically sparked controversy and, in some cases, major political crises.

In Russia, the influence of mystic healer Grigory Rasputin over the royal family in the early 20th century became a symbol of imperial decline and contributed to the eventual toppling of the monarchy.

More recently, the 2016 impeachment of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was linked to her relationship with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil. Choi, whose father was a controversial cult leader often dubbed the “Korean Rasputin,” was accused of exploiting her access to the presidency for personal gain.

A broad majority in the Dutch parliament has backed a motion urging the government to deny entry to American rapper Kanye West ahead of his planned concerts in early June, local broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday. The step comes as more European countries are turning their backs on the controversial artist over his past anti-Semitic comments.

The 24-time Grammy Award winner has a history of anti-Semitic controversies. Last year, he publicly praised Nazism and Adolf Hitler and marketed t-shirts featuring a swastika. Although West, also known as Ye, apologized for his actions earlier this year, his behavior has sparked widespread criticism and triggered government investigations into whether he can be barred from performing internationally.

West is scheduled to perform on June 6 and June 8 in the Dutch city of Arnhem.

In April, Arnhem mayor Ahmed Marcouch said there was no legal basis to ban him from entering or performing in the Netherlands, while Justice Minister David van Weel said the government was exploring possible legal grounds to do so, but that it would be difficult.

The Dutch parliament’s latest motion follows similar actions elsewhere in Europe. Last month, UK authorities refused West entry, leading to the cancellation of his planned Wireless Festival appearance. He also postponed a June 11 show in Marseille shortly after. In Poland, a June 19 concert at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow has been cancelled by venue representatives. FC Basel, which manages events at St. Jakob-Park, has confirmed a similar step.

The only remaining stops in West’s announced European tour are now Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

Throughout his career, West has repeatedly described his struggles with mental health and revealed that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016. In February, however, he claimed that he had been misdiagnosed and had stopped taking medication after finding out that he actually had “a case of autism.”

Kuwait has accused Iran of attempting to infiltrate the strategic Bubiyan Island after authorities arrested four men suspected of belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Bubiyan, Kuwait’s largest island, lies at the northern edge of the Gulf near the Iraqi border and is considered strategically important because of its proximity to shipping routes and northern oilfields. The island also hosts a US military base.

Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that four men were arrested after attempting to enter the country by sea and allegedly clashing with security forces, wounding a Kuwaiti soldier.

The incident took place on May 1, the ministry said, adding that the suspects were detained aboard what it described as a fishing boat chartered for “hostile actions” against Kuwait.

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry called the alleged incursion a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, demanded Iran cease “unlawful hostile acts,” and added that it had summoned Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Totoonji to deliver a formal protest note.

Iran dismissed the allegations as baseless. In a statement carried by ISNA news agency, Tehran said the Kuwaiti authorities had acted improperly against four Iranian sailors aboard the vessel Meroj Keshtezri Darya, which it said entered Kuwaiti territorial waters accidentally because of a navigational system failure during a routine patrol. Iran also accused Kuwait of exploiting the incident for political purposes and demanded consular access and the sailors’ release.

Last month, Iran said it had struck a US helicopter training center in Kuwait, along with warehouses storing helicopter equipment, and reported strikes on US HIMARS systems stationed on Bubiyan Island.

Tensions in the Gulf have surged since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran against Israel and US allies hosting American military bases in the region, while disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Russia is one of Ethiopia’s key long-term strategic partners and Moscow has consistently supported the African country during some of its most difficult periods, Ethiopian Air Force chief Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa has said. 

Speaking to RT, Merdassa said he had trained in Russia and flown Soviet and Russian-made aircraft, including the Su-27. He noted that Russian and Soviet cooperation had significantly shaped the Ethiopian Air Force through pilot training, maintenance systems, and combat tactics, adding that ties weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union but were later restored and continue to expand.   

“Russians are our strategic partners and I always used to say Russians are a very principled nation, principled government, always. They have been with us during difficult times,” Merdassa said. 

Merdassa added that cooperation between Moscow and Addis Ababa in military aviation would become “stronger and stronger” in the future, describing Russia’s aviation expertise as highly influential for Ethiopian pilots, engineers, and instructors.

Beyond military cooperation, Russia and Ethiopia have been expanding ties in numerous areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening relations between the countries during a phone call in March, according to the Kremlin. The two leaders also agreed to intensify contacts at various levels.

Bilateral trade nearly tripled year-on-year in 2025 to more than $435 million, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia Evgeny Terekhin told TASS in February, citing growth in Russian exports of fertilizers and machinery as well as rising Ethiopian coffee supplies to Russia.

It is apposite that ‘After Nations, The Making and Unmaking of a World Order’ – written by English novelist turned historian Rana Dasgupta – should be published as Donald Trump is desperately seeking to extract America from an ill-judged and calamitous war in Iran.

‘After Nations’ is an analysis of the rise and fall of the modern nation state – which Dasgupta sees as a uniquely powerful, secular political entity that first emerged in Western Europe some 300 years ago. The nation state’s theological foundation was reformation Christianity, its political philosophy was enlightenment liberalism, and its economic base was the then emerging capitalist economy.

For Dasgupta, the modern Western nation state is an intrinsically exploitative and aggressive political organization, which derived its unprecedented power from capitalist exploitation of its own citizens, and an even more brutal domination of its colonial possessions.

He views Britain and America as having been the most powerful modern nation states. Britain was the first modern nation state, and was the dominant global power from the 18th century until World War I. Thereafter, America supplanted a declining Britain, becoming the domineering global hegemon after World War II – by means of establishing a new global economic and political world order.

That American-controlled world order is now collapsing, and contemporary America and other Western nation states find themselves beset by acute internal crises that, because of their intrinsically exploitative and aggressive nature, they are incapable of resolving.

He sees this coming about as a result of an ideological transformation engendered by digital technology and the big tech companies. This radical change will involve mankind embracing “a new universal faith” based upon a “planetary godhead”; creating “a universal digital citizenship”; adopting a “digital currency”; adopting “a new digitally based planetary law”; and radically “reforming our relationship with nature.”

The final chapter the book reads like an eco-technological fable, and Dasgupta’s belief in the eventual disappearance of the nation state reveals itself to be a frankly utopian philosophical assumption, rather than a reasoned conclusion that arises from his own otherwise acute historical analysis.

The notion that the nation state as a generic political entity might disappear is, in fact, inconsistent with the historical analysis at the heart of ‘After Nations’. As that analysis makes clear, the crisis of the nation state described in the book is confined to Western liberal democratic nation states and cannot be applied to powerful contemporary illiberal nation states like China and Russia.

In fact, Dasgupta himself characterizes contemporary China and Russia as unique “transnational political entities” that possess a greater degree of political stability and resilience than Western nation states. If his analysis of the irreversible decline of America and the West is correct, then surely China and Russia are destined to become even more powerful, even if only comparatively, in the future.

And if America and other liberal democratic nation states are becoming less liberal and less democratic, might not these states also survive indefinitely, albeit in a more authoritarian, illiberal and populist form?

Leaving aside the book’s flawed final chapter, ‘After Nations’ contains a comprehensive and acute analysis of the rise and decline Britain and America as global hegemonic states.

The last historian to produce a compelling analysis of world-wide political developments over the past 300 years was Barrington Moore Jr. in his ‘Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy’, published in 1966 – coincidentally as America was embroiled in yet another disastrous war in Vietnam.  Barrington Moore Jr. viewed social democracies as being the product of unique social causes that could not be replicated – and for him, they were, therefore, political anomalies within a global world order made up of powerful illiberal nation states.

Barrington Moore Jr.’s book was written before America and the West’s decline had commenced, and ‘After Nations’ – written six decades later from a global economic perspective – is a worthy successor to it.

What, then, are the broad outlines of Dasgupta’s historical analysis, and what does the book tell us about America’s contemporary decline as a global power?  

Britain, for Dasgupta, was the first modern nation state, and he shows that it was an authoritarian, elitist, capitalist enterprise from the very beginning – ruthlessly exploiting its own displaced peasants by transforming them into a much-needed industrial proletariat, whilst at the same time plundering its vast colonial empire.

The British working class was incorporated into the autocratic British nation state as a matter of economic necessity, and the benefits grudgingly conferred on workers by the late 19th century – compulsory education, public health measures, a degree of economic prosperity, and a limited form of democracy – were also paid for by Britain’s ongoing economic exploitation of its colonial empire. This process reached its apogee in the Atlee government’s creation of the modern welfare state after World War II.

Since the 1970s, however, when manufacturing industries in Britain, America, and the West began to be relocated to the Third World – and factory workers were no longer needed, except as docile consumers – the incorporation of the working class has been reversed, and the benefits previously conferred on workers have been systematically withdrawn. Dasgupta terms this process the “downsizing of social bargains.”

Full employment has been abandoned, jobs have been casualized, union membership has declined, and worker’s wages have remained stagnant for decades. And, amidst widespread corruption, vast disparities in wealth have emerged between the elites that control and benefit from the new technologically driven global economy and those ordinary citizens who have been pauperized by it.

Conservative politicians – Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan – initially presided over this elite-controlled process, but it intensified apace under elite-beholden Labour and Democrat politicians – most notably Tony Blair and Barack Obama.

This has led to mass economic displacement, intensifying cost of living pressures, widespread political disenchantment, and the rise of populist parties – all indicia of the internal crisis that has engulfed both Britain and America, and Western nation states generally, in recent decades. Western nation states, according to Dasgupta, are now “unable to deliver the … rights, freedoms and security” that they previously provided to their citizens.

America became the world hegemonic power in the aftermath of World War II – by creating a new global economic system at Bretton Woods, and a new global political order based upon the United Nations and military alliances, the most important of which was NATO.

This new American world empire, unlike its British predecessor, was ideological rather than territorial, and it compelled weaker nation states to submit to its economic hegemony by means of military interventions – that replaced uncooperative political regimes with governments, for the most part dictatorial, that favored American economic interests.

Guatemala in 1954 was the first of these interventions – resulting in a left-wing president being deposed and replaced by a brutal pro-American dictator. America repeated this process of regime change dozens of times in the following decades – often with success, as in Chile in 1973, and sometimes unsuccessfully, as with the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

Alongside these targeted interventions, America also became involved in ‘forever wars’ in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan – all of which ended in embarrassing American defeats.

American hegemony reached its zenith after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s – but, according to Dasgupta, the American empire entered a period of decline thereafter, as China and Russia began to re-emerge as powerful nation states at the beginning of the 21st century.

And as America’s foreign policy disasters piled up globally, its internal economic and political crisis intensified – in part because American imperialism had “contaminated its own political soul” – culminating in Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016.

Dasgupta sees Trump’s rule as a more brutally aggressive and irrational version of America’s post-World War II global empire, now based upon “sheer gangsterism”. Gone is even the pretense of bringing freedom and democracy to those countries that it invades – and America’s foreign aggression now openly justifies itself in explicitly brutal and apocalyptic terms.

This was already apparent from Trump’s support for Israel’s war of destruction on Gaza – and Trump’s recent bellicose threat to “bomb Iran back to the stone age” simply confirms this change. Dasgupta reminds us that this phrase was first used by General Curtis LeMay in relation to Vietnam – but Le May was an extremist right-wing Cold War warrior, and President Lyndon Johnson would never have contemplated justifying America’s war in Vietnam in such explicitly violent and irrational terms.

Nor did previous presidents attempt to lay the Middle East to waste, dismantle NATO, destroy the global economic order that America itself had created, or threaten to invade Mexico and annex Canada and Greenland. Nor did Trump’s predecessors seek to systematically debauch and destroy liberal democratic institutions within America itself.

Dasgupta’s analysis of America’s decline is not only insightful – it is compelling.

It is now clear, however, that Trump’s attack on Iran has failed disastrously.

The resulting stalemate – which threatens to turn into another ‘forever war’ that a weakened America is militarily and politically incapable of waging – has intensified America’s internal crisis; created serious and ongoing global economic disruption; and generated tensions that threaten to break apart NATO.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently stated the obvious, namely that the war in Iran had become as “embarrassment” for America – and Trump responded by withdrawing 5,000 American troops from Germany, thereby further weakening the NATO alliance.

The war in Iran is also the first war that an American president has waged at the behest of another nation – namely Israel, which Dasgupta views as one of the most aggressive of modern nation states – in the face of near unanimous opposition from the CIA, the American military elite, and the president’s own cabinet. Not only does this highlight Trump’s irrationality, it also suggests that America no longer controls own its own foreign policy. In short, Donald Trump’s foolhardy war in Iran has made apparent America’s decline as world hegemonic power.

Anti-war activists have disrupted a Politico security forum sponsored by Lockheed Martin in Washington, DC, protesting the company’s role in supplying weapons for wars in the Middle East.

The ‘Security Summit’ held on Tuesday brought together US officials, lawmakers, defense executives, and foreign figures to discuss military priorities, Iran, cybersecurity, and AI warfare.

Politico said it aimed to “dissect the administration’s changing posture” on defense and future weapons. Critics mocked it as a war-planning shop dressed up as a security event.

Members of the anti-war group Code Pink staged a series of protests during live panels, interrupting speakers and accusing Lockheed Martin and government officials of profiting from and fueling the Middle East wars.

They blasted the forum as war profiteering wrapped in policy, saying the defense and tech companies have “blood on [their] hands,” and confronted officials over their support for US-Israeli actions against Iran.

The protesters also called for an end to the war in Gaza and the “genocide in Palestine,” with one person holding a sign reading “Lockheed Loves War.”

"THIS IS NOT ABOUT SECURITY! THIS IS ABOUT DEATH AND DESTRUCTION! THIS IS ABOUT PROFIT!"

At the Lockheed Martin-sponsored Politico "Security" Summit, CODEPINK activist Olivia DiNucci just disrupted Adam Smith, ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. pic.twitter.com/3W2Pl4KgIe

— CODEPINK (@codepink) May 12, 2026

“How dare you use the massacre of my people as a golden opportunity? How dare you, all of you war criminals in here!” one protester shouted during a panel.

“This is not about security. This is about death and destruction. They even said that the war in Iran is a golden opportunity,” another yelled as US Representative Adam Smith, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, was speaking.

"Where were you when our people were pulling their children out from under the rubble of the bombs you invited into our country?"

This morning, an Iranian-American activist confronted Reza Pahlavi for supporting for the US-Israeli war on Iran a "security" summit in D.C. pic.twitter.com/a7LvTlsjQK

— CODEPINK (@codepink) May 12, 2026

An Iranian-American activist confronted Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, over his support for the US-Israeli war against Iran. “Where were you when our people were pulling their children out from under the rubble of the bombs you invited into our country? Shame on you!”

At least four protesters were removed, according to videos shared online by Code Pink.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, receives more than $60 billion annually in Pentagon contracts and is a frequent target of anti-war protests.

Critics accuse the company of supplying weapons that cause heavy civilian casualties, including F-15 and F-35 jets, Hellfire missiles, and bunker-buster bombs used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.

Lockheed Martin has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, funneling weapons through Pentagon contracts and US aid programs. The conflict has sent the company’s production lines into overdrive, as Kiev’s Western backers empty their arsenals to keep the war machine running and then rush to refill them.

Africa can no longer be excluded from permanent representation on the UN Security Council (UNSC), African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has said.

Speaking at a ministerial meeting on UNSC reform on the sidelines of the Africa-France Summit in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday, Youssouf said the continent’s demand is not a request for special treatment but a response to a long-standing imbalance in global governance.

“Africa is not asking for a favor; Africa is demanding the correction of a historical injustice,” he said, according to an AU statement. He added that the Security Council’s “credibility and legitimacy” depend on whether it reflects the realities of the present world rather than “the geopolitical order of 1945.” 

The AU’s position is based on the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. It calls for at least two permanent African seats with all the powers held by existing permanent members, including veto rights while the veto remains, as well as five additional non-permanent seats.

The Security Council currently has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US – and ten elected members serving two-year terms. Africa, despite having 54 UN member states, has no permanent seat on the body.

Russia has also backed expanding the Security Council to include more African, Asian, and Latin American states. Moscow’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, told an African Union Committee of Ten summit in New York in September that the council should reflect the “multipolar nature of the world” rather than “the global colonial past.” Polyansky said Russia supports Africa’s push for greater representation, while warning against increasing Western representation on the council.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described Russia-India ties as “impossible to destroy.” In a wide-ranging interview with RT India’s Runjhun Sharma as part of the India, Russia and the World show, Lavrov said the complementary nature of the two countries’ economies and the decades of cooperation in the areas of defense, technology, space, culture, and now energy and manufacturing make the ties strong.

“Those who are trying to worry about the future of Russian-Indian friendship, I think they should not be worried,” Lavrov said, adding that some global powers are trying to “undermine” relations between Russia and India, but “these attempts do not achieve results.”

Lavrov was speaking to RT ahead of his trip to New Delhi for the meeting of BRICS foreign ministers which begins on Wednesday.

Regarding Russia-India ties in the energy and defense sectors, the foreign minister said that “for a long time after India gained independence, no Western country wanted to help India to develop its military,” while Russia sold India weaponry and shared technology for many kinds of weaponry to be manufactured in India.

“We started with Brahmos missiles, then Kalashnikov machine guns, and now it is also T-90 tanks being produced in India,” he said, adding that during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India last year, the countries agreed to a long-term plan for economic cooperation which includes military technical cooperation.

“Prime Minister Modi is one of the most vibrant leaders the world has ever seen. He not only has vibrant energy, he focuses it on very important goals and achievements – achieving absolute sovereignty in all spheres, be it the economy, military defense, culture, and naturally, maintaining the civilizational heritage that India has like no other,” Lavrov said.

Anti-immigration protesters set an emergency refugee shelter on fire in the Dutch town of Loosdrecht on Tuesday evening, following weeks of demonstrations against the arrival of asylum seekers.

According to NOS, an angry crowd threw firecrackers at a town hall building that the authorities said would temporarily house refugees. The incident occurred after the first group of 15 asylum seekers arrived earlier that day.

The crowd also threw objects at police officers and attempted to block firefighters from accessing the site. The fire was eventually extinguished, and several people were detained, NOS reported.

🇳🇱 More footage of Dutch protesters setting fire to a new asylum centre in Loosdrecht while blocking firefighters from reaching the area.pic.twitter.com/3diZ5cArz9 https://t.co/rW4AAjeMF7

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 13, 2026

Previous protests in Loosdrecht, a town of 8,600 people, forced the authorities to scale back plans to house 110 asylum seekers to 70.

Last month, a petition opposing the opening of the shelter, signed by 3,000 people, was submitted to the authorities. Despite protests from local residents and business owners, a court ruled in favor of allowing the vacant town hall to be used to house refugees.

Pro-immigration politicians condemned the violence, with some claiming that many of the protesters were not from Loosdrecht. Justice Minister David van Weel suggested that “groups with bad intentions” may have exploited the protests to incite violence, according to Dutch News.

Austria has said it scrambled Eurofighter Typhoons to intercept US Air Force spy planes that entered its airspace without authorization on Sunday and Monday.

According to Austrian Defense Ministry spokesman Michael Bauer, a pair of PC-12 turboprop aircraft flew over the Totes Gebirge mountains in Upper Austria on two occasions. He added that the planes turned back toward Germany after being intercepted by the Eurofighters. Bauer said the incident will be “resolved through diplomatic channels.”

Austria’s response was criticized and mocked on social media, with some commenters arguing that “nobody takes our airspace seriously.”

Last month, Austria denied US requests for overflight rights during the war against Iran, citing its longstanding neutrality.

“We are not part of Trump’s chaotic policy and must not yield an inch here,” Austrian Vice Chancellor Andrea Babler said at the time, according to Anadolu.

US President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who he described on Tuesday as “a friend” and “somebody that we get along with.” Trump added that he plans to discuss the war with Iran, which the US and Israel have accused China of supporting.

The Chinese Embassy in the US, meanwhile, outlined four red lines in relations that “must not be challenged”: Taiwan, democracy and human rights, “development paths and political systems,” and “China’s development right.” Beijing has insisted that the US must not interfere in its domestic affairs or support what it calls the “separatist” government in Taipei.

The four red lines in #China-#US relations must not be challenged. #ChinaUSRelations #ChinaDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/4kmNeEWLGH

— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) May 12, 2026

The US-Israeli war against Iran further strained relations with China after the US Treasury sanctioned a Chinese refinery for allegedly purchasing Iranian oil. Beijing responded by barring its private refineries from complying with the sanctions, which Chinese officials denounced as illegal.

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇮🇷 Reporter: What is your message to President Xi as it relates to the Iran war?

Trump: I think number one, we're going to have a long talk about it. I think he's been relatively good, to be honest with you. We've had no problem. And he's been a friend of mine.

I think… pic.twitter.com/GJGheF3Oh7

— RusWar (@ruswar) May 12, 2026

China has denied that it provides military aid to Iran and condemned the US for blacklisting Chinese satellite companies accused of supplying data to Tehran. “The Chinese government always asks Chinese companies to operate in accordance with laws and regulations. We will firmly protect Chinese businesses’ legitimate rights and interests,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday.

Iran has retained most of its missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing a classified intelligence assessment from earlier this month.

The report follows a series of publications in the US media contradicting President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran’s military was largely destroyed during the US-Israeli bombing campaign from February 28 until the ceasefire on April 8.

According to the NYT, Iran has restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, which are capable of targeting US warships and tankers passing through the narrow waterway that normally handles around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

Iran closed the route to what it described as “enemy ships” in response to US and Israeli airstrikes and has since insisted on the right to control all maritime traffic and collect tolls.

Negotiations remain stalled after the US and Iran once again rejected each other’s proposals over the weekend as unacceptable. Trump has intensified threats to resume the military campaign, with media reports saying he has been briefed on additional strike options.

The US has demanded that Iran dismantle its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Tehran has rejected, insisting that its uranium enrichment activities are solely for civilian purposes.

Iran’s peace terms include an end to Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions, reparations, and recognition of what Tehran calls its “sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz.

Nearly 12,000 complaints have been filed against draft officials in Ukraine since the conflict with Russia began in early 2022, Ukrainskaya Pravda (UP) reported on Monday, citing data provided by the parliamentary human rights commissioner.

Ukraine has been suffering from chronic manpower shortages due to its heavy battlefield losses, widespread draft dodging, and desertion. The nationwide ‘bussification’ campaign, in which draft officers ambush military-age men on the streets, at workplaces, and outside their homes, has often led to violent altercations and outrage on social media.

According to UP, the number of complaints against draft officials jumped from 514 in 2023 to 6,127 in 2025. A total of 1,657 complaints were filed in the first quarter of 2026.

The Ukrainian government lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and has introduced harsher penalties for draft dodging.

The draft remains a highly contentious issue as the conflict with Russia has entered its fourth year. Last week, dozens of people attempted to storm a draft office building in the village of Mezhgorye in western Ukraine. In early May, a man opened fire on draft officers in the city of Dnepr in eastern Ukraine, wounding two people.

Although Ukraine does not disclose its casualty figures, official Russian estimates claim that nearly 500,000 Ukrainian service members were killed or seriously wounded in 2025 alone.

The US and Israeli attack on Iran in February and their subsequent failure to achieve their objectives has already changed the strategic calculations of every major power. In some respects, it has also opened new opportunities for political dialogue. Seizing those opportunities would benefit international politics as a whole.

The Middle East has always been one of the most unstable regions in the world. Rivalries there rarely disappear; they merely evolve. States that are bitter enemies one year often find themselves entering temporary pragmatic arrangements the next. But these understandings are tactical rather than lasting. The region remains trapped in a cycle of recurring crises.

For decades, however, the instability of the Middle East was viewed as manageable. The conflicts were bloody, but they didn’t threaten the foundations of the international system itself. Even at the height of the Cold War, the region was seen by the great powers as an arena for competition rather than a place where they would risk everything.

There were two reasons for this. First, the Middle East never directly touched the vital survival interests of the major powers. The US and the USSR competed there intensely, and today the US, Russia and China all maintain important interests in the region, but none considered it worth a confrontation that could spiral into a global catastrophe. Second, no regional state possessed the capacity to impose a revolutionary political project on the wider world.

In this sense, Middle Eastern conflicts resembled a permanent wound in international politics: painful, dangerous, but ultimately containable.

Now, however, the situation has changed.

What until recently seemed unthinkable has now become reality: a regional conflict has demonstrated its capacity to undermine the foundations of global economic interdependence.

The political consequences may prove even more significant.

For decades, the United States was viewed as a power capable of imposing its will militarily almost anywhere in the world. Even after failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, many still assumed that no regional state could seriously resist overwhelming American military superiority.

That perception has now suffered another severe blow.

The overthrow of the Venezuelan government earlier this year reinforced the image of an America still capable of reshaping weaker states at will. It was against that backdrop that many observers expected Iran’s political system to collapse rapidly under pressure. Instead, the opposite occurred.

Despite devastating strikes against senior figures and constant aerial attacks, the Iranian state endured. No mass uprising materialized. The armed forces continued functioning. The country’s governing structures proved far more resilient than Washington and West Jerusalem appear to have anticipated.

This doesn’t mean Iran has emerged victorious. The long-term consequences of the conflict remain unclear, but it does mean that the old assumption of automatic American military supremacy no longer looks convincing.

For the United States, this was a war of choice rather than necessity because Iran posed no existential threat to American survival. Israel, certainly, views Tehran as a strategic danger, but Israeli and American interests are not identical, regardless of how close their alliance may be.

That distinction matters because it explains why Washington, despite all its rhetoric, has shown no willingness to escalate toward the most extreme military options. America itself understands the limits of what it is prepared to risk.

Whatever the eventual outcome of the conflict, the Iranian episode is likely to provoke reflection in Washington. At the very least, it should force a reassessment of whether American ambitions still match American capabilities.

Yet such reflection will not come easily. The US political class has spent decades operating from a position of extraordinary global dominance. This has narrowed its worldview as American elites increasingly interpret international politics primarily through the prism of domestic political assumptions and ideological preferences.

At the same time, Washington has accumulated an enormous network of commitments across the globe. Maintaining them often creates pressure for exactly the sort of risky intervention that produced the current crisis.

The conflict has also exposed China’s vulnerability to instability in distant regions on which it nevertheless depends heavily for energy supplies and trade. Chinese firms have invested massively across the Middle East, including in Iran itself. The disruption caused by the war is likely to intensify debates within China about economic security and over-dependence on vulnerable maritime routes.

In time, Beijing may begin reconsidering the balance between global economic integration and strategic self-sufficiency.

For Russia, the consequences are more complex than many assume. In the short term, Moscow has benefited economically from higher commodity prices. The conflict has also shifted some international attention away from Eastern Europe. But Russia is not necessarily interested in a complete collapse of American influence in the Middle East.

Paradoxically, a limited and constrained American presence can contribute to the broader balance of international politics. Total chaos or the destruction of all diplomatic frameworks in the region would not serve Russian interests either.

This is why the Iranian crisis matters so profoundly. It is not simply another Middle Eastern war, but rather a moment that has forced all the major powers to confront uncomfortable questions about military force, economic vulnerability, strategic overreach and the changing structure of the international system itself.

The attack on Iran was intended to demonstrate strength. Instead, it has exposed uncertainty. And in doing so, it may yet create opportunities for a more realistic and restrained dialogue between the world’s major powers.

This article was first published by the Valdai Club and edited by the RT team.

US President Donald Trump has not ruled the possibility of traveling to Russia this year to help facilitate a settlement to the Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, prior to departing for an upcoming summit in China, the US president was asked if he could visit Russia in 2026.

“I could… I will do whatever is necessary. That war… I’ve settled eight wars,” Trump said.

“That war is getting closer. Believe it or not, it’s getting closer. And we think we’re going to end up getting a settlement between Russia and Ukraine.”

A day earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to host Trump. Putin initially extended the invitation after the historic bilateral US-Russia summit in Alaska last August.

However, the subsequent Washington-backed direct talks between Moscow and Kiev have stalled.

The negotiations will remain at a standstill until Kiev pulls its troops out of Donbass, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Sunday. “Until [Ukraine] makes the step, one can hold some more rounds, dozens of rounds [of talks] but we will remain in the same spot,” he said.

Russia has maintained that any peaceful settlement is predicated on Kiev withdrawing from the remaining areas of the Donbass that are still under Ukrainian control.

Kiev exerts control over around 15-17% of Donetsk People’s Republic, Putin said in March. The Russian Defense Ministry reported fully liberating the neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic last month.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was booed and mocked during a speech on Tuesday to one of the country’s biggest trade union groups as he tried to sell his welfare cut plans.

Merz has a history of blaming Germany’s economic troubles on its people. Last August, he said that the “welfare state as we have it today can no longer be financed.” In January, he urged Germans to work more, arguing that the “productivity of our economy is not high enough.”

He told a gathering of some 400 delegates from the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) that people must pull together because “we simply failed to modernize our country.”

Boos and whistles first erupted as he spoke about the health insurance reform approved by his cabinet in April. The changes, which Merz described as “historic,” are expected to save the government €16 billion ($18.7 billion), while forcing people to pay more for drugs previously covered by insurance even as their contributions continue to rise.

The chancellor then claimed that the upcoming pension reform – expected to be unveiled this summer – was driven by “demographics and mathematics” rather than “malice on my part or on the part of the federal government.” The remarks were also met with hissing and laughter, particularly when he claimed that the reform plans were “not a threat” but a “big chance.”

Last year, Germany’s central bank warned about a looming record budget deficit, attributing the threat to higher defense spending and continued financial support for Kiev.

Merz and his cabinet continue to pursue the chancellor’s goal of turning the German army into the strongest conventional force in Europe, citing a supposed ‘Russian threat.’ Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such allegations as “nonsense.”

The Russian economy remains fundamentally strong despite contracting in the first quarter of 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak has said, citing low unemployment, rising household incomes and improving business activity as evidence that the slowdown may be temporary. 

Russia’s GDP shrank by 0.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, marking the country’s first quarterly contraction since early 2023. The slowdown followed years of rapid expansion, with the economy having grown by over 4% in 2023 and 2024 before easing to around 1% last year. 

Novak told business daily Vedomosti on Tuesday that the downturn was part of a normal economic cycle. “After a period of high growth, there is always a correction,” he said, describing the current phase as being accompanied by “structural transformation” under “unprecedented pressure from sanctions.” 

Russia has retained its position as the world’s fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity (PPP) – which adjusts for cost-of-living differences across countries – since 2021, Novak said. Manufacturing output has risen nearly 23% since 2022, he added, driven by import substitution and increased domestic production after many Western companies exited the Russian market. 

“Poverty has declined to a record low of 6.7%,” Novak said, referring to the 2025 data. He said unemployment was expected to remain at around 2.3-2.4%, among the lowest levels in the country’s modern history. 

Novak attributed the slowdown partly to labor shortages and tight monetary policy aimed at curbing inflation, but said growth was expected to return this year as price pressures ease and financial conditions gradually improve.   

Novak’s views were echoed by Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov, who told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that the economy had “held up well” despite sanctions and external pressure. The ministry expects GDP growth to reach 0.4% this year before accelerating to 1.4% in 2027, Reshetnikov said.

The looming energy crisis will inevitably force Kiev’s European backers to negotiate with Russia, Kremlin investment envoy and senior Ukraine conflict negotiator Kirill Dmitriev said on Tuesday.

The EU and UK have largely frozen contacts with Moscow after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. While the Kremlin has confirmed that a visit by envoys sent by French President Emmanuel Macron took place in February, the talks went nowhere.

“Finnish President Stubb believes that… ‘it’s time to start talking to Russia,’” Dmitriev wrote on X. “The upcoming energy crisis tsunami starting to overwhelm the EU and UK will make it inevitable.”

He was replying to a statement Stubb made in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera published on Monday.

“Yes, it’s time to start talking to Russia,” the Finnish president said. “If American policy toward Russia and Ukraine isn’t in Europe’s interests, as seems to be the case, then we must engage directly.”

Kiev’s European backers have increasingly made public statements about the need to reengage Moscow in dialogue, expressing concern about being sidelined in US-backed Russia-Ukraine talks.

However, any speculation about resuming talks is premature, until a concerted “political decision to resume dialogue” is made, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Vladimir Zelensky’s former spokesperson, Yulia Mendel, has been added to a Ukrainian state-linked ‘kill list’ for telling American journalist Tucker Carlson of rampant cocaine abuse in the corridors of power in Kiev and the desire of a corrupt elite to prolong the conflict with Russia. 

Mendel worked with Zelensky for two years during which time she says she witnessed him change from peacemaker to propagator of war. 

The list is run by the Mirotvorets website, which has been linked to Ukrainian security services and is notorious for publishing the addresses and personal details of anyone remotely deemed an enemy of the Ukrainian state, including Russian journalists, some of whom were subsequently assassinated. 

The website has accused Mendel of “humanitarian aggression against Ukraine,” spreading “narratives of Russian propaganda,” calling for Ukraine’s “capitulation,” and “indirectly taking part in information‑psychological special operations” allegedly run by Russia. 

Mirotvorets cited Mendel telling Carlson that the Ukrainian delegation at talks in Istanbul in 2022 was ready to agree to “all of Russia’s demands” in order to stop the fighting, but that Kiev was pressured by the US and UK to continue the conflict and that Zelensky is now “one of the main obstacles to peace.” It also cited Mendel’s comments that Ukraine is “on the verge of disappearing,” and showing signs of “unhealthy nationalism.” 

Russian officials have condemned the site as extremist. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has described it as a hit list targeting individuals Kiev allegedly wants to “eliminate.”

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has confirmed that her team is investigating more than 40 US-funded pathogen laboratories in Ukraine. Here’s what you need to know about the story that was written off as “Kremlin propaganda” in 2022.

In a statement to the New York Post on Tuesday, Gabbard said that her department had identified more than 120 biological laboratories in 30 countries that had been funded by the US taxpayer for decades. More than a third of these labs are located in Ukraine.

Gain of function research refers to the modification of animal viruses to increase their transmissibility in order to study their effect on humans. The ODNI is currently investigating the origins of the Covid-19 coronavirus, which Gabbard and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. maintain was created in a US-funded biolab in Wuhan, China.

Gabbard’s confirmation of US-funded biolabs in Ukraine vindicates claims made by the Russian military in the early days of the Ukraine conflict – claims that were dismissed by then-President Joe Biden’s administration as “outright lies.”

What did Russia say about biolabs in Ukraine?

As the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, Vladimir Zelensky’s government in Kiev ordered the “emergency destruction” of dangerous pathogens at multiple US-funded laboratories in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on March 6 of that year.

The ministry claimed that Kiev ordered the destruction of the samples in order to hide its role in an American biological warfare program. Documents released by the ministry included an order from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to destroy the pathogens, which included “plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases.”

Many of these laboratories were set up following the US-orchestrated ‘Maidan’ coup in 2014, and were run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) – the largest biomedical research facility administered by the US military, according to the ministry.

After reviewing thousands of pages of documents seized from labs in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov of the Russian Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces concluded in 2023 that “the US, under the guise of ensuring global biosecurity, conducted dual-use research, including the creation of biological weapons components, in close proximity to Russian borders.” Kirillov led Russia’s investigation into the labs until he was assassinated in 2024, allegedly by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

How did the US respond?

Former US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, a notorious Russia hawk, admitted under oath on March 8 that “Ukraine has biological research facilities,” which the US was helping to secure. Nuland, a driving force behind the Maidan coup, did not mention that the labs were American-run and funded.

“The United States does not own or operate any chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine, it is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention, and it does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere”

Washington went into full biolab denial mode the following day. “This is preposterous,” then White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote on social media on March 9 (she hosts one of MSNow’s most popular shows). “It’s the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine.”

However, another partial admission came from then-Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on March 10. Whereas Nuland claimed that the US was not involved in running any Ukrainian biolabs, Haines told lawmakers that “the US government provides assistance, or at least has in the past provided assistance, really in the context of biosafety, which is something that we’ve done globally with a variety of different countries.”

Nevertheless, the official policy from the White House remained one of denial. “There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States,” Biden’s ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on March 11.

In a press conference on March 21, Biden claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “back is against the wall,” and Moscow’s claims that “we, in America, have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe” are “simply not true.”

The US media largely toed this line. In the weeks following these statements, the New York Times described Russia’s story as a “baseless theory,” NPR referred to it as “a lurid and difficult to believe claim,” and The Guardian, CBS News, Bloomberg, and others all called it a “conspiracy theory.” Even on March 14, days after Nuland and Haines confirmed the labs’ existence, MSNBC ran a story on how “Ukraine’s non-existent biolabs” were a creation of “Russian propaganda.”

Were the labs making bioweapons?

Nuland and Haines admitted that the labs existed, but insisted that they carried out legitimate research. However, the line between legitimate gain-of-function research and the creation of bioweapons is blurred. Enhancing the transmissibility and lethality of viruses allows vaccines to be created, but also leaves scientists with potent pathogens that can easily be weaponized.

The Pentagon said in late 2022 that its biological research in Ukraine “focused on improving public health and agricultural safety.”

One year later, Kennedy Jr. told US journalist Tucker Carlson that this was merely a cover story, and that “we have biolabs in Ukraine because we’re developing bioweapons.”

Kennedy claimed that these facilities were creating “frightening stuff,” including genetically-engineered pathogens created with CRISPR DNA sequencing technology. This research used to be carried out in the US, but was moved abroad after some “bugs” escaped from American labs in 2014. “A lot of them went to Ukraine,” he added.

The DTRA’s biological research in Ukraine was paused in 2022, but resumed in 2023, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The program, which was previously known as ‘Joint Biological Research’, was rebranded as ‘Biological Control Research’ for the relaunch, according to documents released by the ministry.

Where are the rest of the US’ biolabs located?

As RT reported, whistleblowers in Georgia have alleged that the laboratories in that country worked on plague, tularemia, brucellosis, and various hemorrhagic fevers, and people living near one lab in Tbilisi have claimed that some of these bugs have escaped and infected locals.

In the wake of the Ukraine conflict, the US has transferred much of its biological research to Africa, the Russian Defense Ministry has alleged. According to documents published by the ministry in 2024, laboratories have been set up in 18 countries, with some Pentagon-funded facilities studying deadly pathogens such as Ebola, and carrying out pharmaceutical trials on locals.

India will host the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on May 14-15. The gathering, to be chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, is expected to focus on key geopolitical issues, including the conflict in the Middle East.

The meeting will also help lay the groundwork for the BRICS leaders’ summit scheduled for September. The ministers will outline key elements of final documents for the September summit, which India will host under its 2026 BRICS presidency.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to New Delhi for the talks, Moscow confirmed earlier. In addition to the BRICS gathering, he will hold bilateral talks with Jaishankar and other Indian officials. Preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India for the September summit are also likely to be discussed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will not attend the meeting in New Delhi due to scheduling conflicts, Beijing said earlier this week. The meeting coincides with US President Donald Trump’s expected state visit to China May 13 to 15 – his first in nearly nine years.

Iran’s Abbas Araghchi is expected to attend the New Delhi meeting, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has confirmed.

After the US and Israel launched the war against Iran in late February, Tehran has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure and oil facilities in the UAE, accusing Abu Dhabi of acting as a “hostile base” over its ties with the US and Israel. The situation in Palestine is also expected to be on the agenda, with the HT reporting that most BRICS members are against toning down the bloc’s language on Gaza.

The previous BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting was held on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025. India chaired it as the incoming BRICS chair for 2026.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared Western pressure on countries of the Global South, including India – the world’s second largest oil importer – over their trade with Russia to “neocolonial methods.”

Speaking exclusively to Runjhun Sharma, host of the show India, Russia and the World, Lavrov said on Tuesday that the ongoing Middle East crisis highlights Washington’s desire to control global energy trade flows.

“They put pressure on everyone, demanding that they should not purchase Russian oil, and this is unfair play. These are colonial, or neocolonial, methods. ‘You shouldn’t purchase cheap Russian oil. You should purchase my expensive oil, and buy expensive LNG from the US. We will rule the world by controlling global energy,” the Russian foreign minister said. He added that not all countries “cave in to such pressure.”

Lavrov noted that Moscow respects New Delhi’s position, repeatedly outlined by Indian officials – that its energy imports are dictated by national interests as well as market terms, and that New Delhi will decide from whom to buy energy and at what price.

India is the third largest producer and consumer of electricity globally, after China and the US. New Delhi imports over 85% of its crude oil requirements to meet rising domestic demand and refinery consumption. Since 2022, New Delhi has ramped up imports of Russian oil significantly and continues relying on Russian crude to meet its ⁠demand, despite continuous pressure from its Western partners.

The Indian government has stressed that it will do everything it can to ensure uninterrupted energy supply to 1.4 billion people and industries.  At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on Indians to rethink their energy use, including cutting fuel consumption by using more public transport and working from home, amid continuing uncertainty over a ceasefire in the US–Israeli campaign against Iran.

The full interview will be aired on RT on Wednesday.

Days before Europe marked the 81st anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, Berlin unveiled something unprecedented in the history of the modern Federal Republic: Its first-ever military strategy, titled ‘Responsibility for Europe.’ A country that spent decades defining itself through restraint and repentance now openly declares its ambition to build “the strongest conventional army in Europe.”

Germany insists that this transformation is merely defensive. The declared threat is Russia, the declared mission deterrence. But history teaches Europeans to pay close attention whenever Berlin starts talking about military necessity, strategic leadership, and continental responsibility.

The new doctrine is the ideological burial of postwar Germany.

Germany’s strategic revolution

For decades, German society was built upon an anti-militarist consensus. Military force was viewed with suspicion, and pacifism became a civic religion. The very idea of German military leadership in Europe was politically toxic. But in only a few years, much has changed. A growing part of German society has accepted the narrative of an imminent Russian threat and abandoned the pacifism that had been carefully cultivated since 1945.

Germany’s political and military establishment now speaks openly about ‘war readiness’ and ‘combat capability’. General Carsten Breuer, one of the central figures behind Germany’s military transformation, argues that previous conflicts such as Afghanistan were optional wars, while a future confrontation with Russia will be a ‘war of necessity’ from which Europe cannot withdraw. According to this worldview, European countries must integrate militarily in preparation for a continental war.

But Europe’s current military revival is unfolding under deeply ideological liberal elites obsessed with confrontation with Russia. And this obsession is leading the continent into a dangerous spiral.

In Berlin and other European capitals, political circles have fallen into the increasingly widespread belief that Russia could attack NATO and the EU around 2029. Whether sincerely believed or politically instrumentalized, these narratives have enormous consequences. Russia has shown no interest in invading Europe. Yet history repeatedly demonstrates how strategic paranoia and worst-case assumptions can become self-fulfilling prophecies. This is precisely what is happening in Germany.

The return of the German soldier

The most symbolic example is Lithuania. Germany’s Panzerbrigade 45, expected to reach full operational capability by 2027, represents the first permanent deployment of a German combat brigade abroad since the Bundeswehr was founded in the 1950s. Around 4,800 soldiers and civilian personnel are expected to be stationed near the Belarusian border. The brigade is explicitly designed as a permanent component of NATO’s eastern flank. Eight decades after German troops marched eastward, German armored units are once again permanently stationed in the Baltic region facing Russia.

Germany is also debating the return of compulsory military service, which was abolished in 2011. The assumption that a professional volunteer army alone can defend the country is increasingly viewed in Berlin as outdated.

Earlier this year, Germany even introduced regulations requiring men to request permission before undertaking long-term travel abroad – which was eventually suspended after public controversy erupted, as military service remains voluntary.

The direction, however, is obvious. The liberal-democratic state is psychologically preparing society for mass mobilization.

A new military axis

Germany’s transformation is not occurring in isolation. At the same time Berlin rearms, Poland is building what may soon become the largest land army in the EU. Warsaw has embarked on one of the most aggressive military expansion programs in Europe, purchasing tanks, artillery systems, fighter aircraft, and missile defenses on a massive scale.

If current trajectories continue, Central Europe will soon be home to two massive armies – German and Polish – numbering close to 1 million troops combined.

Add France’s nuclear arsenal to the equation – which is increasingly discussed as a potential umbrella for broader European defense – and an entirely new continental security architecture begins to emerge. The contours of a Paris-Berlin-Warsaw axis can already be discerned, potentially complemented by Ukraine’s battle-hardened military.

Instead of building a durable European security order that includes Russia, the EU is building one increasingly defined against Russia. This is the tragedy of the current moment.

Europe can’t exist against Russia

There is no lasting European security without Russia. This is the fundamental reality today’s European elites refuse to understand. European security is inseparable from Russian security. Geography alone guarantees it. Any attempt to isolate, contain, or permanently weaken Russia will ultimately destabilize the entire continent.

Yet the current leaders in Berlin, Paris, and Warsaw increasingly speak the language of civilizational confrontation. They behave as though Europe can achieve stability through military superiority over Russia. This is a dangerous illusion.

Europe genuinely needs renewal. It needs stronger armies, fighting spirit, and civilizational confidence. It also needs a strong, prosperous, and ambitious Germany. But strength without wisdom becomes dangerous.

The problem is not German rearmament itself, but the ideological framework guiding it. Europe’s declining liberal elites have fused military revival with an almost messianic anti-Russian worldview. Under these conditions, militarization ceases to be a stabilizing force and becomes an accelerant.

The continent is entering a new age of blocs, fear, and escalation. And once these dynamics harden, reversing them becomes extraordinarily difficult.

Eighty-one years after the fall of Hitler’s Germany, Europe once again hears German politicians speaking about military leadership and preparing for war.

This time, they insist history is on their side. Europe has heard this before.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Netflix, accusing the streaming company of illegally spying and collecting data from users and their children without their knowledge or consent.

In a statement published on Monday, Paxton characterized Netflix as “a logging company” that records and monetizes customers’ behavioral data “and occasionally streams movies.”

The lawsuit, filed in Collin County, Texas on Monday, cited past promises by Netflix executives not to exploit users’ personal data for advertising purposes.

However, despite promising privacy, the company allegedly mined information spanning customers’ viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, and application usage, according to the complaint. After building its customer base, Netflix allegedly began to sell user data to commercial data brokers, raking in billions of dollars annually, it said.

The lawsuit also focused on children’s accounts, which Netflix encouraged customers to make. The complaint alleged that the company kept users addicted using features such as autoplay and other “dark patterns” – design features that push users into actions they may not have intended, such as staying on a platform longer than intended, or agreeing to things they do not understand.

“Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions,” Paxton said.

Netflix has steadily declined in market value and share price since peaking in 2025. The company has also increasingly faced accusations of pandering and ‘woke’ bias, including from public figures such as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Last October, the billionaire called for users to “cancel Netflix for the health of your kids” in response to an animated show aimed at children seven or older featuring a trans character.

British officials should seek medical help over the latest sanctions, which target a Russian psychiatric hospital and children’s camps, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

On Monday, London added 85 individuals and entities to its Russia sanctions list, including Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 5 in Crimea, along with several orphanages, children’s health camps, boarding houses, a resort, and a youth center on the peninsula.

“When the [British PM Keir] Starmer government imposes sanctions on a psychiatric hospital, it is time for London to call in the medics,” Zakharova told the newspaper Izvestia.

The UK Foreign Office has claimed that the institutions are involved in activities deemed to destabilize Ukraine by alleged facilitation of “the forced deportation, indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children.”

Moscow has insisted that since the start of the Ukraine conflict, it has evacuated children from the combat zone and relocated them to safety until they could be reunited with their families.

UK sanctions on the institutions are mainly legal and financial measures, including asset freezes, transaction bans, and limits on professional cooperation. In practice, they are often seen as largely symbolic, as such institutions typically have little or no direct financial or operational ties with the UK.

“It is clear that they [Western nations] are experiencing a certain shortage of targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in 2023, highlighting “the illogical inclusion of various individuals and legal entities on the lists in an absurd manner.”

The targeting of medical institutions with sanctions has repeatedly drawn criticism from humanitarian organizations over unintended consequences.

In Syria, several state-run healthcare institutions were subject to US and EU sanctions over alleged links to the country’s government during the civil war, a policy approach that has also been criticized for complicating the delivery of essential medical services. In Iran, Western sanctions indirectly affecting the Tehran University of Medical Sciences Cancer Institute have been linked to shortages of essential drugs and medical equipment, while financial restrictions further limit imports of medical supplies.

The US has launched a probe into more than 120 American-funded biological labs abroad, including in Ukraine, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the New York Post on Monday.

Russia has consistently raised concerns about Pentagon-backed biological labs worldwide, particularly near its borders and in Ukraine, alleging that they are involved in bioweapons research.

Gabbard said that the move aims to halt risky virus experiments and follows President Donald Trump’s order restricting federal funding for “gain-of-function” research – studies that examine how viruses replicate and interact with human cells to increase their transmissibility.

She was referring to former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci, whom critics accuse of downplaying the theory that COVID-19 originated from a leak in a Chinese lab that had received US funding.

Gabbard said that her team will “identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what ‘research’ is being conducted” to end “dangerous gain-of-function research.” Officials from her office confirmed that the labs are in over 30 countries, including Ukraine, which allegedly hosts in excess of 40, with several funded through Pentagon programs.

A surge in global oil prices linked to energy supply disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israel war on Iran, has nearly doubled diesel costs for Indonesian fishermen. The spike has forced much of the country’s fishing fleet to remain docked according to a report by RT’s Indra Mapong.

The impact of the war in Iran is now being felt thousands of kilometers away in Indonesia, where soaring fuel prices have left much of the country’s fishing fleet stranded in port. Fishermen in Jakarta told RT, on Tuesday, that many larger vessels can no longer afford to operate. Boats, that would normally spend weeks at sea, now remain docked for months while crews lose their main source of income.

Hundreds of fishermen protested in Central Java earlier this month demanding lower diesel prices, according to media reports. Governor Ahmad Luthfi warned that rising fuel costs could disrupt fish supplies and push up inflation.

In response to the fuel crisis, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto traveled to Moscow last month for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, securing a deal for up to 150 million barrels of discounted Russian oil. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on Monday that the first shipments could arrive within one to two weeks with contracts already signed.

Watch RT’s full report below:

The indictment of Vladimir Zelensky’s closest political and personal associate, Andrey Yermak, for alleged money laundering involving a luxury housing complex is broadly viewed as a final warning from the West before potential charges against the Ukrainian leader himself.

Monday’s bombshell announcement by the Western-backed Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) is part of the agency’s ongoing investigation of businessman Timur Mindich, a fugitive nicknamed “Zelensky’s wallet” in the press, who fled to Israel last November shortly before being charged with running a $100 million embezzlement and extortion scheme at the atomic energy giant Energoatom.

Zelensky’s grip on power was weakened in the months following the initial revelations, as prosecutions and leaks to the media implicated members of his inner circle in rampant corruption.

Who is Andrey Yermak?

Yermak is a lawyer by background who entered politics in the mid-2010s as a staffer for a Ukrainian lawmaker from the Party of Regions – once led by Viktor Yanukovich, the former president ousted in the 2014 Maidan coup. Yermak was elevated to the top levels of Ukrainian power in 2019, when the newly elected President Zelensky appointed him as an adviser and later as head of his administration. 

The chief of staff became a dominant figure in Ukrainian politics. Foreign media identified Yermak as a major irritant for Western governments, as he sought to intervene in top-level negotiations and refused to ask for an interpreter despite his abysmal English.

What is Yermak suspected of?

Yermak stands accused of large-scale money laundering through a multimillion-dollar construction project to build four elite villas in one of Kiev’s most expensive suburbs. NABU’s allegations focus on a luxury property complex in Kozin – a riverside settlement of enormous mansions and summer houses.

Reportedly to accommodate Zelensky and three others, the development is being overwhelmingly funded through a criminal financial mechanism linked to Mindich’s ring, the agency has claimed. A total of six suspects have been charged.

The Dinastia (Dynasty) luxury villa project reportedly had four principal owners, identified as R1, R2, R3, and R4 in communications intercepted by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Records released by the agency point to Yermak, Mindich, and former Unity Minister Aleksey Chernyshov – who is also a leading suspect in the Energoatom investigation – as beneficiaries R2 to R4. Previous media reports have identified Zelensky as the fourth partner.

According to NABU, Dynasty was launched in late 2019 with the purchase of a 10-acre parcel of land by a company co-founded by Chernyshov, who used his wife Svetlana – who is reportedly a close personal friend of Zelensky’s wife Elena – to hide his involvement.

Since then the plot size has doubled and the equivalent of around $10 million in today’s money spent on four mansions and a common area for the partners, NABU has claimed. (Ukrainian currency has significantly depreciated against the dollar over the past several years, so the value of investment is higher.) About 10% of the funding allegedly went through regular banking channels, while the rest was dark money poured via the suspected ‘laundromat’ also used to legalize Energoatom profits. Chernyshov is suspected of giving protection to the operation.

NABU records say investor R2 issued instructions on his own future residence and was called ‘Andrey’ by an architect who was employed by both him and Mindich. Notably that portion of the report was previously published by the outlet Ukrainskaya Pravda, challenging a recent claim by a Zelensky aide that transcripts had been fabricated.

Why did NABU sit on the evidence?

The six-month delay between the indictments of Mindich and Yermak may be the result of procedural constraints, but Ukrainian politicians and media believe NABU and SAPO to be involved in a pressure campaign targeting Zelensky.

What are NABU and SAPO and who backs them?

NABU and SAPO were created after the 2014 coup under Western pressure to serve as checks on top-level government corruption in Kiev. There are two primary hypotheses in Ukraine on their assumed political goals.

One is that NABU and SAPO are basically a branch of the FBI and are used by US President Donald Trump to overcome Zelensky’s resistance to a compromise peace deal with Russia. Supporters of the theory suggest that Trump needs a political win ahead of the midterm elections in the US after failing to achieve a quick and easy victory in the war on Iran.

The American leader reportedly dislikes Zelensky personally despite his semi-complimentary description of him as the world’s best salesman. Trump also had every opportunity to be briefed on Zelensky’s involvement with Mindich ahead of the infamous shouting match in the Oval Office that shocked many Ukraine supporters in late February 2025.

The second popular explanation is that NABU and SAPO are acting on behalf of EU sponsors of Ukraine, who purportedly seek to strip real power from a corrupt and unreasonable Zelensky while maintaining Ukraine’s general anti-Russian course.

Is the noose tightening around Zelensky’s corrupt schemes?

MP Maks Buzhinsky, viewed as a Zelensky loyalist, claimed that Ukrainian elites now “rightfully believe that we are being pushed towards not peace but rather full and unconditional capitulation.” He cited the fact that the charges coincided with a highly critical interview by Zelensky’s former press secretary Yulia Mendel.

Speaking recently to American talk show host Tucker Carlson, Mendel described her former boss as a suspected cocaine addict, a war profiteer, and a leader who demanded Goebels-level propaganda from his media team to disguise lack of accomplishments. She voiced similar accusations in other interviews she gave in the past several months.

Does Zelensky have immunity from prosecution?

Zelensky’s term as president has long expired, and he retains his powers instead of transferring them to the speaker of the parliament as required by the constitution under martial law. His rule is enforced by what amounts to a semi-criminal secret police and an ever-present threat of mandatory conscription for fighting-age men.

As president, he technically can claim immunity, and the Ukrainian Constitution requires an impeachment procedure to try him for crimes. However, the basic law is more what you call guidelines than actual rules in present realities.

In other words, without mandate nor oversight, Zelensky’s leadership rests domestically on the loyalty of partisan agencies and armed thugs, and internationally on the highly selective blindness of donors who spent years pumping his ego with comparisons to Winston Churchill. Neither foundation is solid.

South African Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald has said that 2,388 correctional officials were subjected to disciplinary action during the 2025/26 financial year, including cases involving corruption and the smuggling of contraband such as cellphones and drugs.

This comes after EFF Member of Parliament (MP) Nontando Nolutshungu asked Groenewald to provide details on the progress of the department’s gang management strategy since a Portfolio Committee briefing on 4 March 2026, the funding allocated to the strategy, and measurable outcomes achieved.

She also sought information on disciplinary action against officials and plans to address perimeter security vulnerabilities at correctional facilities. In response, Groenewald said 289 officials had been suspended and 118 dismissed during the period under review.

”The officials who were subjected to disciplinary action, suspension and dismissal in the 2025/26 FY for involvement in the following: 2388 officials were involved in misconducts, 25 officials were involved in corruption, 137 officials were involved in aiding the smuggling of contraband such as cell-phones and drugs,” Groenewald said in his parliamentary reply.

Groenewald said the department had allocated R24.362 million for goods and services linked to operational matters and implementation of strategies, although no funding had been specifically allocated for the gang combating strategy itself.

The minister also presented departmental performance data showing improvements in security operations between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 financial years.

According to the data, the percentage of inmates who escaped from correctional facilities declined from 0.030% in 2023/24 to 0.029% in 2024/25 and 0.012% in 2025/26, with recorded cases dropping from 20 to 4 and remaining at 4.

Addressing infrastructure challenges, Groenewald said the department had developed a multi-year plan to strengthen perimeter security across correctional facilities.

”The DCS multi-year plan is to repair or replace damaged sections of the perimeter fence, where necessary the entire perimeter will be replaced with stronger fence, access control, surveillance, scanning technology, patrols and tighter operational discipline,” he said.

Groenewald said funded perimeter fencing and security projects would be implemented during the 2026/27 financial year at St Albans Management Area in the Eastern Cape and Durban Westville Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

First published by IOL

France is attempting to restore its influence in Africa after governments in several Sahel states pushed out French troops and scaled back ties with Paris, Kenyan lawyer and activist, professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, has told RT. 

Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Kenya and the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, the chairman and founder of the PLO Lumumba Foundation argued that Paris is presenting itself as a changed partner while, in reality, seeking to preserve its geopolitical and economic leverage on the continent.

“The reality is they [France] want to dominate African continents… the sooner Africa realizes that, the safer Africa is,” Lumumba said. 

Speaking to RT, he suggested that France’s recent diplomatic and military initiatives in East Africa were aimed at offsetting setbacks suffered in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Senegal.

The professor also dismissed Macron’s self-description as a pan-Africanist, arguing that the French president was using the language of Pan-Africanism to appeal to African audiences while continuing policies that undermine the continent’s sovereignty.

He maintained that genuine Pan-Africanism could not coexist with military pacts or economic arrangements that preserved dependence on former colonial powers.

“He’s not a pan-Africanist of any shade, but he is trying to wear the garb of Pan-Africanism as a way of confusing gullible African leaders,” Lumumba said. 

The Africa Forward summit is taking place on May 11-12 in Nairobi. The event is focused on what organizers describe as an “Africa-France partnership” and is jointly organized by Paris and Nairobi. The summit is being held for the first time in a non-Francophone African country.

“Every relationship, if it is not symbiotic, if it is not mutually beneficial, ... it is not healthy and it is not good,” Bwala added.

The Russian military has successfully test-fired the advanced RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, the commander of the Strategic Missile Troops, General Sergey Karakaev, has reported to President Vladimir Putin. The development would allow the military to equip the first missile regiment with the new weapon systems by the end of the year, Karakaev said.

The liquid-fueled heavy RS-28 Sarmat is designed to replace the world’s most powerful silo-based missile, the RS-20V Voevoda (SS-18 Satan according to NATO classification). It is believed to be to be able to carry up to ten heavy warheads with multiple re-entry capability.

According to Karakaev, the new missile system demonstrated capabilities exceeding those of its predecessor, primarily in terms of its range and payload. Its onboard systems also allow it to “securely penetrate the existing and emerging missile defense systems,” the general said.

Putin congratulated the military on the successful test, calling Sarmat “the most powerful missile system in the world.” According to the president, it is capable of delivering a payload four times bigger than that of any Western missile. It also has a range of over 35,000 kilometers and is twice as precise as its predecessor, he added.

The missile is reportedly compatible with the hypersonic glider used in another Russian missile system called Avangard. This type of warhead can approach targets in the atmosphere at high speeds while retaining maneuverability to dodge anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems. The Russian military have previously stated that the Sarmat’s range allows it to be fired from Russia at targets in the US via the South Pole, avoiding the American ABM site in Alaska.

“We were forced to think about ensuring our strategic security in a new reality,” the president said, adding that Moscow’s actions were aimed at “preserving the strategic balance of power.”

Two other advanced weapon systems are also in the final development stages: the unlimited-range cruise missile Burevestnik and the underwater Poseidon drone, both powered by miniaturized nuclear reactors, Putin stated.

The US and Iran remain miles apart on a potential peace deal, with a tentative month-old ceasefire teetering on the brink amid recurring naval skirmishes and President Donald Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports.

The continued standoff has triggered fears that Washington and Tehran could return to full-blown hostilities, exacerbating the oil shock and pressure on the global economy.

Ceasefire on ‘life support’

On Monday, Trump provided a glimpse into the dire state of diplomacy between the US and Iran, saying that “the ceasefire is on massive life support” while dismissing the recent peace proposal from Tehran as a “piece of garbage” that he said he “didn’t even finish reading.” 

Subsequently, Trump is “now more seriously considering a resumption of major combat operations,” the report says, adding the stance is shared by some of the Pentagon officials who believe the continued strikes could soften Iran’s position.

A strait too far

The Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint at the heart of the crisis, remains effectively closed. Before the war, around 3,000 vessels crossed the strait every month, carrying an estimated 20% of the world’s seaborne oil supply and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas. However, in the entire month of April, just 191 vessels made the crossing, Kpler data showed.

Naval skirmishes

Trump had promised to break the standoff with what he called ‘Project Freedom’ – a major military operation to escort stranded vessels out of the Gulf. The effort, however, lasted less than 48 hours before Trump paused it on May 5, citing “progress” in peace talks.

On May 8, the US military reported Iranian strikes as three of its destroyers were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, stating that no damage had been inflicted, and that the vessels attacked Iranian military facilities in retaliation. Earlier, it claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats in the area.

But what about the talks?

The US has reportedly proposed a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which would require Iran to impose a moratorium on uranium enrichment, surrender its estimated 440kg stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, and renounce any future nuclear weapons ambitions – something Tehran claimed to have never had. In exchange, the US would gradually lift sanctions, unfreeze billions in Iranian assets, and both sides would reopen Hormuz within 30 days.

Ready for round two?

While before launching the attacks, the US and Israel anticipated the Iranian retaliation and had formidable countermeasures in place, the fighting showed that their defense was not impermeable.

The Washington Post reported, citing satellite imagery, that the Iranian strikes had damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at 15 US military sites, including hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, radar, communications, and air-defense systems – far more than Washington had publicly acknowledged. Some of the strikes did visible damage at the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.

The hostilities put a significant strain on the US and allied arsenal of anti-air missiles. According to the US-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the American military has used up nearly half of its stockpile of Patriot interceptors and has heavily expended six other key missile stockpiles, which will take years to replenish. On top of this, in some cases, expensive interceptors were used to shoot down cheap Iranian drones.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported, citing an intelligence assessment, that Tehran retained about 75% of its mobile launchers and 70% of its missile stockpiles, contrary to the Trump administration’s claims that the Iranian military had been completely decimated.

As for Israel, already in mid-March, Semafor reported that Israel had warned Washington it was critically low on ballistic-missile interceptors, though Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denied any shortage.

India is considering a series of measures, including a fuel price hike and restrictions on non-essential spending, to shield its foreign exchange reserves from soaring oil prices linked to the Iran war, Bloomberg reports.

Top officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India on steps to cushion the damage from soaring oil prices, unnamed officials told the agency.

A fuel price hike, one of the options reportedly being considered, would be the first to be implemented since the US-Israeli war against Iran began.

The suggested measures could also include curbs on the import of gold and consumer electronics, seen as non-essential items. The authorities are also mulling temporary restrictions on non-essential overseas spending, and other steps to support the rupee.

A final decision on the measures to be adopted has not been made, according to the agency’s sources.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested steps including work-from-home and carpooling to save fuel, and urged Indians to shun foreign travel and gold purchases.

India is facing growing strain from rising oil import costs linked to the protracted war against Iran, with a mounting import bill weakening the rupee as dollar outflows intensify. The rupee is the worst performer among major Asian currencies, down 5.6% against the dollar this year.

In a big boost for the country’s Upstream Sector, rationalization of royalty under the ORD Act marks a new era for our Oil & Gas regimes by eliminating inconsistencies and driving growth in the upstream sector under the leadership of PM Sh @narendramodi Ji.

This landmark… pic.twitter.com/xb60UNyalH

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 11, 2026

India has revised its oil and gas regime by slashing the royalty burden on producers and offering new incentives for offshore and difficult-field exploration, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.

India, the world’s third-largest oil buyer, relies on imports for around 85% of its oil needs, making it vulnerable to rising energy prices and disruptions to supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Puri dismissed concerns on Tuesday about a shortage of fuel, but did not rule out a hike.

Speaking at a public event on Monday, Puri stated that India has sufficient energy reserves to manage short-term disruptions, with 60 days of oil, 60 days of LNG, and 45 days of LPG. He cautioned people not to misread the government’s message regarding energy conservation – however, he did not rule out a price hike if the disruptions related to the Iran war continue.

Israel has intensified its “brutal bombardment” of southern Lebanon, expanding evacuation orders to more villages, RT correspondent Steve Sweeney has reported from Beirut. Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 87 people in the neighboring country since Friday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Local authorities said 39 people were killed on Saturday alone after strikes hit 22 towns and villages in southern Lebanon. On Monday, Israel issued evacuation orders for several more villages, bringing the total to 84 since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect in mid-April.

More than 2,800 people, including over 100 health workers, have been killed since March 2, when Israel launched its latest military operation against Hezbollah, according to Lebanese authorities.

RT’s Sweeney reported that ambulance workers Ali Rida al-Basuli and Sharif Ahmad Krika were killed in separate strikes on their vehicles on Sunday.

In the southern Lebanese town of Saksakia, an Israeli strike killed eight members of the same family spanning three generations, including a mother, her children, and a six-month-old baby girl, according to local authorities. Lebanese media also reported that a 12-year-old girl was killed in a drone strike while trying to flee after her father had been killed.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told Al-Arabiya on Sunday that 86 villages in southern Lebanon remain under Israeli occupation, adding that the border city of Bint Jbeil had become “a copy of Gaza.”

Further US-mediated talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials are expected in Washington later this week.

Watch RT’s full report below:

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that he will not resign after the country’s top court revived impeachment proceedings linked to a long-running cash scandal at his private farm.

In a televised address on Monday, Ramaphosa said stepping down would “pre-empt a process defined by the constitution” and give credence to what he called a flawed parliamentary panel report. He also said he would seek a judicial review of the report “on an expeditious basis.” 

“Nothing in the Constitutional Court judgment compels me to resign my office,” Ramaphosa said, adding that the court had made no finding on whether he committed misconduct.

The case stems from the alleged theft of $580,000 in foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala wildlife farm in Limpopo in February 2020. Former State Security Agency chief Arthur Fraser, who made the scandal public in 2022, claimed the theft involved more than $4 million and accused Ramaphosa of covering it up. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffaloes.

An independent panel appointed by parliament found in 2022 that there may have been grounds for impeachment, including questions over whether Ramaphosa had violated the constitution or acted inconsistently with his office. The National Assembly later voted not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.

Ramaphosa has since faced calls from opposition parties, including the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters and the African Transformation Movement, to step down and face impeachment proceedings.

On Monday, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza said parliament would begin the process of establishing an impeachment committee in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

The president said on Monday that he respects the court’s ruling and “will continue to cooperate with all institutions that are mandated to deal with all these matters.”

“I have consistently maintained that I have not stolen public money, committed any crime, nor violated my oath of office,” he insisted.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has carried out covert strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks on its infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing sources.

The strikes suggest Abu Dhabi is increasingly willing to act on its own rather than rely solely on US deterrence amid growing frustration with Washington, analysts say.

According to the report, the unacknowledged strikes included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in early April, just before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in the US-Israeli campaign against Tehran. Iran said the site was hit in an enemy attack and responded with missile and drone strikes on the UAE and Kuwait – both hosting major US bases.

The WSJ did not give dates for other alleged strikes. The UAE’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment but pointed to earlier statements asserting its right to respond – including militarily – to “unprovoked Iranian aggression.”

Speculation about direct UAE involvement has circulated since mid-March, when unidentified jets and drones were reportedly filmed over Iran. Researchers said they resembled French Mirage fighters and Chinese Wing Loong drones – both used by the UAE.

“They are very strong in terms of precision strike, air defense, airborne surveillance, refueling, and logistics,” retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula told the WSJ. “If you have that capable of an air force, why would you sit back and absorb attacks from Iran without responding?”

“From the perspective of the Gulf states, it looks like the US is not prioritizing their security and basically threw the Gulf states under the bus,” Dania Thafer, director of the Gulf International Forum, told the outlet.

“If you thought you were buying American loyalty, now you’re going to think that all that an American base does is make me a target, while the US is just as likely to sell me down the river,” said retired Air Marshal Edward Stringer, former head of operations at the British Ministry of Defense.

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a former adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, last month called for US bases to be closed, arguing they are “a burden” rather than a “strategic asset.”

Speculation over who should serve as the EU’s representative in potential negotiations with Russia is meaningless as long as the bloc has not committed to diplomacy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Debates over resuming talks were reignited last week when Russian President Vladimir Putin said former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would be a suitable EU envoy.

Brussels has rejected the idea. Media reports later named outgoing German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a potential candidate. Speaking to RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Peskov called the discussions premature.

“One could read the tea leaves and list every famous name,” Peskov said. “Anyone could [take on that task]. What matters is a political decision to resume dialogue.”

Kallas rejects ‘lobbyist’ Schroeder

Western nations have sought to isolate Russia since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. While the US has abandoned the policy under the administration of President Donald Trump, Brussels maintains its position of not engaging Moscow diplomatically – though fears have grown in the EU that its concerns will be sidelined if a peace deal is reached.

“Before we discuss with Russia, we should discuss among ourselves what exactly we want to discuss with them,” Kallas said, adding that EU leaders are seeking security guarantees from Moscow. Kallas is a vocal opponent of normalizing relations with Moscow.

Putin said European governments are free to nominate any representative they want, provided that the individual has not publicly slandered Russia in the past. “We were not the ones who refused talks – they were,” he added.

SPD calls for pragmatic approach

According to Der Spiegel, the German government considers Putin’s remarks about Schroeder a “sham proposal.”

“The goal must be for Europe to have a seat at the negotiating table,” Ahmetovic told the outlet, adding that Schroeder should be “carefully considered together with our European partners rather than ruled out categorically from the outset.”

Schroeder, 82, led the SPD and served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005 before being succeeded by Christian Democratic leader Angela Merkel. Since 2022, he has been ostracized by his own party over his support for Russian-German energy cooperation.

Steinmeier, a fellow member of the SPD, is expected to step down from his largely ceremonial role as German president in early 2027. He was among the architects of the controversial Minsk II agreement – the 2015 roadmap for settling the Donbass conflict negotiated by Kiev, Berlin, Paris, and Moscow – which former Ukrainian and Western officials later admitted helped buy time for Ukraine’s military buildup.

Other names floated by the Western media as potential EU envoys for talks with Russia include Finnish President Alexander Stubb, whose country abandoned decades of military neutrality to join NATO in 2023, and Kallas, who has repeatedly ruled out negotiations as long as Putin remains in power.

The Royal Navy has allocated up to £200,000 (nearly $270,000) to redesign female officers’ ceremonial uniforms amid concerns that the buttons on the jackets were “inappropriately placed,” according to an internal document cited by The Times.

The current jacket, which is worn by women officers at ceremonial events, features four rows of two buttons, with the top row positioned at nipple level, which has repeatedly been the subject of jokes within the service. Under the redesign, all eight buttons will reportedly be moved lower on the jacket.

More than 950 female officers are expected to receive the updated uniforms in phases beginning later this year. The change has been described as a “positive step for women,” according to the document.

Some personnel, however, have questioned the decision to spend taxpayer money on what critics described as a minor cosmetic adjustment at a time when the Navy is under pressure to improve combat readiness and modernize capabilities.

“The button placement on the jacket has always been a bit of a joke within the service,” a Royal Navy source told the newspaper, calling the measure “clearly absurd” and adding that “the obvious answer would have been to simply cut off the offensive nipple buttons on the existing uniforms.” 

The document seen by The Times states that the majority of the planned cost, £185,000, would eventually be offset through reducing the number of uniforms issued in future.

The plan comes as Britain’s armed forces face mounting financial pressure and are being urged to cut spending amid a projected £28 billion ($37 billion) defense budget shortfall over the next four years. Despite the constraints, London continues to expand its military commitments abroad, particularly in support of Ukraine.

London has pledged to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, and has announced plans to provide 120,000 drones to Kiev. The drone package, described by the Ministry of Defense as the largest delivery of its kind, is backed by the UK’s wider £3 billion (about $3.8 billion) in military support for Ukraine this year.

This comes as part of the UK’s broader commitment of around £21.8 billion ($29 billion) in total support to Kiev, covering military, financial, and humanitarian assistance since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022.

South Africa has declared a national disaster after days of extreme weather battered several provinces, leaving at least ten people dead.

On Sunday, the country’s National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) said severe weather conditions that began on May 4 triggered widespread flooding, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, strong winds, and snowfall across the Western Cape, North West, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Mpumalanga provinces. 

The South African Weather Service had earlier issued an Orange Level 6 and Yellow Level 4 warning for damaging winds and rough waves affecting the Western and Northern Cape between May 10 and May 12.

Authorities say the disaster has already caused major infrastructure damage, disrupted essential services, and displaced residents in several areas.

@iolnews Rosmead Avenue in Kenilworth is underwater as the South African Weather Service issues a Level 8 warning for disruptive rainfall across Cape Town. 📷: Supplied #RosmeadAvenue #CapeTown #rainfall #SouthAfricanWeatherService ♬ оригинальный звук IOL NEWS

“As winter sets in, we are vulnerable to events which we may be able to forecast but whose actual intensity in specific locations we may not be able to predict,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, adding that the government was relying on scientific forecasting to prepare for further severe weather events and coordinate responses.

@iolnews Heavy rainfall in the Western Cape caused tree branches to fall across Hout Bay on Monday morning. 📷: Supplied #heavy #rainfall #WesternCape #tree #branches ♬ original sound - IOL NEWS

In the Western Cape, provincial authorities ordered all schools to close on Tuesday due to what officials described as “disruptive rainfall and flooding,” citing concerns for the safety of learners and staff. Schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday if conditions improve.

Pretoria has already been hit by extreme weather this year. In January, Kruger National Park, one of the continent’s largest wildlife reserves, was partially closed after heavy flooding cut off access roads and campsites, with more than 600 tourists and staff were evacuated.

Heavy rains have also hit other African countries in recent weeks. In early May, at least 18 people were killed by floods and landslides in Kenya, with mudslides displacing families and damaging homes and infrastructure across central and eastern regions of the country.

The body of one of two US soldiers who went missing during the African Lion military exercise in Morocco has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, military officials said on Sunday.

The soldier was identified as 1st Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, an Air Defense Artillery officer from Richmond, Virginia. A Moroccan military search team found his remains along the shoreline at around 8:55 AM local time on May 9, roughly one mile from where the two soldiers were believed to have entered the water, according to the army.

According to the US Army, Key was a platoon leader assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

Key and another US soldier were reported missing on May 2 near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a rugged coastal zone of cliffs, desert, and semidesert plains. The two had taken part in African Lion 26 earlier in the day, but officials said they were off duty during a recreational hike when they fell from a cliff.

The second soldier remains missing, with search efforts continuing.

The operation has involved more than 600 personnel from the US, Morocco, and partner forces, using frigates, vessels, helicopters, drones, divers, and ground teams. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) earlier said US, Moroccan, and other African Lion assets had immediately launched coordinated search-and-rescue efforts.

Fatal incidents have occurred during the exercise before. In 2012, an MV-22 Osprey crashed in a Moroccan training area during African Lion drills, killing two US marines and severely injuring two others.

Two Israeli soldiers were sentenced to several weeks in military prison for desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Last week, a photo surfaced showing a service member hugging the statue in the predominantly Christian village of Debel, near the Israeli border, and placing a cigarette in the statue’s mouth. The image sparked outrage on social media and prompted an official investigation.

On Monday, IDF spokeswoman Ariella Mazor said the soldier posing with the statue and the soldier filming him were sentenced to 21 and 14 days behind bars, respectively.

“The IDF views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” Mazor wrote on X.

The IDF expanded its operations in southern Lebanon and began striking targets in Beirut and other cities in early March after the armed group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran. A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese government, which took effect on April 16, failed to prevent renewed clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah.

Christian communities have reported a series of incidents involving religious sites and Israeli forces in recent years. In 2023, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza hit a building adjacent to the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, the enclave’s oldest Christian shrine, killing at least 18 people. In 2025, shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell damaged Gaza’s Holy Family Church, the territory’s only Catholic parish, killing three people.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s alleged drug use is “an open secret,” former spokeswoman Yulia Mendel has claimed on the Tucker Carlson Show.

Allegations of drug use first surfaced during the 2019 presidential election campaign, in which Zelensky defeated Petro Poroshenko.

Zelensky, a former actor, dismissed the claims as slander at the time, and both candidates underwent tests for alcohol and drugs.

Mendel worked for Zelensky from 2019 to 2021 and has since become highly critical of her former boss. In an interview released on Monday, Carlson asked whether Zelensky used drugs, to which Mendel replied: “This is an open secret.”

“The thing is that I’ve never seen him taking drugs. However, [while] writing my book, I met a lot of people who confirmed that they saw him taking drugs in different clubs. Only one saw him taking drugs in 2021,” she claimed. Mendel added that she learned about an alleged “supplier” from a person working at Kvartal 95 Studio, the entertainment company Zelensky co-founded in the 2000s.

Zelensky’s former press secretary alleges he urged subordinates to carry out ‘propaganda like Goebbels’

Yulia Mendel claims that after a drop in ratings in 2019, the Narcofuhrer ordered his PR team to improve his image, pointing to the effectiveness of Nazi Germany’s propaganda… pic.twitter.com/k6s7xpuE8V

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) May 12, 2026

“All these people are talking about cocaine, yes,” Mendel said, adding that before interviews, Zelensky had a habit of spending 15 minutes in the bathroom and emerging as a “different person.”

Mendel also accused Zelensky of sending critics, including journalists, to the front line as punishment.

Political opponents, including Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, have frequently accused Zelensky of abuse of power. Last year, US President Donald Trump called Zelensky – whose presidential term expired in 2024 – a dictator for refusing to call a new presidential election. Zelensky has argued that elections are prohibited under martial law and that a permanent ceasefire with Russia would be required before a new election can be held.

US President Donald Trump is considering resuming the bombing campaign against Iran as peace talks remain stalled, Axios reported on Monday, citing three US officials familiar with the matter.

On Sunday, Trump rejected Iran’s latest terms as “totally unacceptable” and said the ceasefire reached around a month ago is “on massive life support.”

According to Axios, Trump was set to meet with his national security team on Monday to discuss the next steps, including potentially resuming Project Freedom – an operation aimed at guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz – as well as restarting airstrikes and hitting the remaining 25% of targets identified by the Pentagon but not yet struck.

The Washington Post, citing a CIA assessment, reported last week that Iran retained around 75% of its pre-war mobile launchers and 70% of its missiles, and could withstand a US naval blockade for at least three to four months.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Sunday that the US has “no alternative” but to accept Tehran’s terms.

“The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it,” he wrote on X. Iranian state media described Trump’s demand to shut down the country’s nuclear sites as “a non-starter that Iran has rejected for decades.”

According to Press TV, Iran’s conditions include lifting the sanctions, reparations, and a new framework governing the Strait of Hormuz that recognizes “Iran’s sovereign control over this vital waterway.”

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is prolonging his country's conflict with Russia in order to enrich himself and his associates in his cabinet, former spokeswoman Yulia Mendel has claimed in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Mendel, Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021, launched a series of stinging allegations of corruption and drug use as Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s former influential chief of staff, was named a suspect in a money laundering case. Zelensky’s longtime former business partner, Timur Mindich, fled the country last year to avoid arrest in connection with another major corruption scandal involving energy-sector kickbacks that has seen several other close associates of the Ukrainian leader placed under suspicion.

In an episode of the Tucker Carlson Show released on Monday, Mendel described her former boss as a “dictator” who has grown “detached from reality” and employed “thousands of talking heads” to craft a favorable image both at home and abroad.

“There are a lot of people in his government who want peace. [Zelensky] is going to come up with any condition, he is going to change his positions all the time just to prolong this war and to get more money,” Mendel said, arguing that ending the conflict would be “political suicide” for Zelensky.

When Carlson suggested that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia in a war of attrition, Mendel replied: “I think it’s obvious to Zelensky, too. But he thrives on this war. Why would he end it?”

Zelensky, whose presidential term expired in 2024, has refused to hold new elections, citing martial law. The move has been criticized by both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mendel, citing an unnamed insider, claimed that secret polls commissioned by the Ukrainian government show Zelensky is “unelectable” if he runs again.

Denmark’s government has collapsed after a record poor election showing for Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. King Frederik X has now asked Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen to form a right-wing government, but little will change: every major Danish party is preparing for war with Russia.

In a statement on Friday night, Denmark’s monarch announced that he had tasked Poulsen with forming a government “that does not involve the participation” of Frederiksen’s center-left Social Democrats or Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s Moderates. The announcement came after Frederiksen tried and failed to build a government after winning a plurality – but not a majority – in general elections in March.

Frederiksen’s party won just under 22% of the vote in March, the worst result for the Social Democrats since 1903.

The election was dominated by two issues: the rising cost of living, and immigration. Poulsen’s center-right Venstre party, Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, and Rasmussen’s Moderates are all in favor of restricting inward migration, but the right-wing Danish People’s Party wants citizenships revoked, migrants deported, and “measures that will lead to Muslim net emigration from Denmark.”

Two issues that went undiscussed in the runup to the vote were Denmark’s support for Ukraine, and its historic rearmament program. Unlike in recent elections in Hungary and Bulgaria, where the frontrunners had dramatically different views on relations with Kiev and Moscow, blind support for Ukraine is apparently baked into the Danish system.

Denmark’s uniparty

During Denmark’s last general elections in 2022, Frederiksen focused her entire campaign around defense and security issues. On these, her views were indistinguishable from those of her rivals. Six months before the election, Denmark’s five main parties had signed a ‘National Compromise on Danish Security Policy’ in which they agreed to hike defense budgets, inject an additional 7 billion DKK ($1.1 billion) in emergency funding into the country’s armed forces, and end Russian energy imports.

Frederiksen and Poulsen both explicitly blamed Russia for a series of drone sightings at Danish airports and military sites in late 2025, despite months of investigation concluding that there was no credible evidence the drones ever existed. Frederiksen used the drone panic to push her rearmament program, telling the public in September that “there is primarily one country that poses a threat to Europe's security – and that is Russia… and that is why we are embarking on a historic buildup here in Denmark.”

Under Frederiksen, Denmark has given Ukraine just over €11 billion in bilateral military and economic aid. At 3.27% of its GDP, Denmark has proportionately handed Ukraine more money than any other Western country. After meeting Frederiksen in Cyprus in April, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky “noted the cross-party consensus on supporting Ukraine” in Denmark, according to a Ukrainian government statement.

More of the same

A government led by Poulsen will in all likelihood deliver more of the same. Poulsen warned in 2024 that Russia could attack NATO territory “within a three- to five-year period.” To prepare for this eventuality – which Russia has outright dismissed as “ridiculous” and a ploy by European leaders to extract more tax money from their citizenry – Poulsen has called for Denmark to increase military spending yet again, to 4% of GDP. Such an increase would put the country’s per-capita defense expenditure higher than that of the US. 

Spoke with Denmark’s Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen. Strengthening cooperation on F-16 ammunition, Patriot systems, joint defence production, and support for Ukrainian brigades. Denmark is a reliable partner delivering real results for Ukraine’s defence. Thank you for… pic.twitter.com/h8uRZfB0oX

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 6, 2026

Poulsen’s potential coalition partners include the Danish People’s Party, Liberal Alliance, and Conservatives. Of these, the Danish People’s Party is the only voice of moderation on Ukraine. Party leader Morten Messerschmidt has called for an end date to military aid to Kiev, has urged Ukraine to make territorial concessions for peace, and opposes its accession to NATO.

“Every time we spend a billion in Ukraine, that money goes from Denmark, from welfare, from whatever it is we want here,” he told Danish state broadcaster DR in 2024. Messerschmidt added that he intends to pressure whoever is in power in Copenhagen to “conduct a Ukraine policy that is based on the world of reality and not on a fantasy world.”

Will Russia’s relations with Denmark change?

It is highly unlikely that the transfer of power from Frederiksen to Poulsen will alter Moscow’s sub-zero relations with Copenhagen. Denmark currently has no ambassador to Russia, and is considered an “unfriendly” nation by the Kremlin.

“If anyone wishes to talk, we will never refuse dialogue, even though we fully realize… that reaching an agreement with the current generation of European leaders will most likely be impossible,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in January. “They have entrenched themselves too deeply in a posture of hatred towards Russia.”

At least 70 Labour MPs are demanding that Prime Minister Keir Starmer resign, Sky News reported on Monday. This comes after last week’s local elections in which the party came out as the biggest loser, relinquishing more than 1,300 council seats across the country.

In addition to dozens of lawmakers calling for Starmer to go, at least three junior members of his government have resigned from their positions, Sky News reports.

Under Labour rules, a formal leadership challenge would require backing by at least 81 party MPs, a fifth of the party’s total roster in the House of Commons. Former Foreign Secretary and Labour MP Catherine West announced that she’s gathering support to kickstart the process and elect a new leader by September.

“The results last Thursday show that the PM has failed to inspire hope,” she wrote on X. “What is best for the party and country now is for an orderly transition.”

Starmer has sunk in the approval polls since his party’s landslide victory in the 2024 general election. The decline followed deeply unpopular austerity measures, the resurfacing of the historical Pakistani rape gang scandal, and the government response to the 2024 anti-immigration protests and riots – which sparked allegations of two-tier justice after hundreds of citizens were arrested for social media posts.

Half of Britons want Starmer to step down, while only 29% want him to remain in office, according to a YouGov poll published on Monday that surveyed 4,904 UK adults.

Euroskeptic, anti-immigrant Reform UK has emerged as the biggest winner in the local elections, taking more than 1,200 local council seats across the country. “Betrayed voters have left Labour for good,” party leader Nigel Farage said on X on Monday.

Germany and Ukraine will jointly develop long-range drones, German Defense Minister Boris Pistiorius has said during an unannounced visit to Kiev. The Ukrainian military has routinely used unmanned aerial vehicles for attacks deep inside Russia that target civilians and critical infrastructure.

Moscow has accused Kiev of “terrorism” over the strikes. Last week, one attack killed five civilians in Crimea.

Berlin has emerged as Kiev’s largest single military donor after the US switched from donating weapons directly to Ukraine to selling it to Kiev’s other NATO backers which hand them over. Germany spent around €20 billion ($23.5 billion) on weapons for Ukraine from January 2022 to February 2026, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

On Monday, Pistorius claimed that further military cooperation with Kiev would be advantageous for Berlin since it has also launched its own military buildup, citing the alleged ‘Russian threat’.

According to Pistiorius, the ‘Brave Germany’ program he signed off on, along with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Federov, on Monday will focus on supporting startups capable of demonstrating “promising innovations.”

Ukraine’s most prominent drone manufacturer, Fire Point, recently found itself at the center of a corruption scandal when leaks exposed its close ties to Timur Mindich, a former business partner and longtime associate of Vladimir Zelensky. Mindich stands accused of orchestrating a $100 million graft scheme. One of the company’s top figures and its co-owner were also reportedly recorded saying that peace is “bad for business.” Prior to the scandal, the company was touted globally by Zelensky himself.

Moscow has stated that it harbors no aggressive intent toward any NATO nation and dismissed the speculation as “nonsense.” It also warned that the current German and EU leadership is transforming the bloc into “a Fourth Reich.”

Andrey Yermak, a former influential chief of staff to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, has been named a suspect in a new criminal case, according to a statement posted on Telegram by the country’s Western-backed anti-corruption agencies.

The former official is accused of being part of a criminal group that laundered 460 million hryvnias ($10 million) through an elite residential construction project.

Often described as the grey cardinal behind Zelensky, Yermak was forced out in November 2025 after the anti-corruption agencies raided his properties as part of a high-profile corruption probe. The investigation was focused on a $100 million graft scheme linked to Zelensky’s inner circle and his former business partner and close associate, Timur Mindich.

Yermak himself denied ties to corruption at the time and claimed he stepped down to avoid “creating problems” for Zelensky.

The former chief of staff now stands accused of violating Article 209 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which covers “money laundering and legalization of ill-gotten gains.” Earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian media reported that Yermak was subjected to some “investigative procedures” by the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

In December, the Ukrainian media reported that Yermak had retained influence following his resignation and was talking to Zelensky daily by phone and meeting him most evenings at his residence despite holding no formal government position.

The news comes amid another corruption scandal. Last month, Ukrainskaya Pravda released what it called leaked transcripts from surveillance recordings of Mindich and his business partners, as well as Ukrainian government officials. The files that have since become known as ‘Mindich tapes’ included a conversation Mindich had with a woman identified as Natalia, who reportedly oversaw a luxury construction project for him and Yermak. The leaks are yet to be officially verified.

In a brief statement to journalists on Monday evening, Yermak denied any involvement in the Dinastia (Dynasty) development project outside Kiev. He also denied being featured in conversations involving Mindich that were recorded by law enforcement.

Read RT's curated coverage of the ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption and graft by Zelensky's inner circle here.

A right-wing Austrian politician has demanded that the country’s Finance Ministry explain how nearly $22 billion in cash and gold was shipped to Ukraine from Austria since 2022 without triggering concerns about money laundering or regulatory oversight.

In a statement published on Sunday, Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) Secretary General Christian Hafenecker called out what he described as Vienna’s “two-class justice system” for overlooking massive payments to Kiev, while keeping a tight hold on taxpayers’ purse strings.

“We’re not talking about play money here: 1,030 registered cash and gold shipments, around €12 billion ($14 billion) plus $7.75 billion, physically transported over 1,300 kilometers into the war zone,” Hafenecker said.

“And the responsible finance minister simply tells me… ‘We know nothing, we’re not investigating anything, we haven’t collected any information.’ That’s not an answer, that’s dereliction of duty,” he added.

The politician demanded full disclosure on all cash shipments from Austria to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict, a full audit by the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, and a report by the Austrian Money Laundering Reporting Office in parliament.

Major probes by Ukraine’s Western-backed anti-graft agencies have implicated senior officials in Vladimir Zelensky’s government since last year. Two ministers and the Ukrainian leader’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, stepped down following the massive scandal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed the current leadership in Kiev, calling it a “criminal gang” sitting on “golden potties,” and interested far more in personal enrichment than in the fate of ordinary Ukrainians.

The EU could be on the verge of a new migrant crisis, with more than half a million people waiting in Libya alone to cross into Europe, Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris has said.

The bloc was first inundated by asylum seekers from the Middle East and Northern Africa during the 2015 refugee crisis, when a million migrants entered Europe, straining welfare systems and prompting tens of millions of European voters to turn to far-right political parties.

Greece remains one of the bloc’s main entry points, registering 48,771 arrivals in 2025, according to UNHCR data. According to the UN refugee agency, 7,589 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in the Mediterranean country this year as of May 3, including 5,615 by sea.

Athens has introduced a number of strict measures to stem the flow over the past years, including detention for those denied asylum. Commenting on the situation on Sunday, Plevris said Greece is “the first country to criminalize illegal residence” and will not allow those denied protection to just roam free.

He also described the situation in Libya as the biggest problem faced by his country and the EU. According to Plevris, around 550,000 people have gathered there and are now seeking to enter Europe.

In February, Plevris announced that it was working with Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark to create “return hubs” for rejected asylum seekers outside of the EU’s borders, with Africa being the preferred destination.

Libya became a key transit point for human trafficking and migration to Europe via the Mediterranean following a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 that led to the overthrow and assassination of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The EU has struggled to manage the migration crisis since 2015, with Greece, Italy, and Spain receiving the highest number of arrivals across the Mediterranean.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged his countrymen to adopt austerity measures in the wake of the Middle East conflict.

Apart from utilizing public transport, work-from-home, and carpooling in an apparent bid to save fuel, he has suggested that Indians put one of their most treasured fascinations on hold: their overwhelming fixation on gold.
Not buying the precious metal, he hinted, could cut India’s dollar outflows substantially.

Curbing gold purchases is seen as one of the key steps that would invariably have an impact on the economy of the nation of 1.4 billion people. The bet on slashing gold purchases has a sounder rationale than other steps outlined by Indian prime minister, as it is seen as a step that individuals can control directly.

The economics

India’s foreign exchange reserves as of May 1, 2026, totaled $690.7 billion, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. The forex reserve position has seen a steady decline recently from the $728 billion recorded in February.

The CAD is the gap that occurs when a country spends more foreign currency on imports, income payments, and transfers than it earns from exports and overseas receipts. Higher imports of gold widen India’s current account deficit because India pays in foreign currency for the precious metal, raising the import bill without directly boosting export earnings.

The South Asian nation’s imports of gold totaled $72 billion in FY26, a 24% surge from a year ago. A widening current account deficit will put pressure on the rupee, raise external borrowing needs, and make the economy more vulnerable to global capital outflows.

Ballooning import bill

India is the world’s second-largest gold buyer. For every ounce of imported gold, the payment is made in dollars. Of the total import bill of $775 billion, four commodities stand out for their weight. Crude, gold, vegetable oils, and fertilizers together accounted for more than a third of the country’s massive import bill.

Crude oil is the obvious leader, accounting for $134.7 billion.

That leaves Indians’ famous appetite for gold as the most obvious target for restraint. With a gold import bill of about $72 billion – nearly double the combined value of vegetable oil and fertilizer imports – curbing demand offers a clear way to bring some discipline to India’s external accounts.

It is also one of the most debated options, because gold in India is as much an emotional purchase as a financial one, with weddings driving a large share of domestic buying. Gold as an investment option has not yet sunk in for a majority of Indians.

Would curbs really matter?

Assuming a dip in gold purchases happens, how would that affect the country’s economy? If the country curtails its importing of gold by 30% to 40%, that can lead to savings of $25 billion, according to NDTV projections.

If the figure can be raised to 50%, the savings would further jump to $36 billion. In a scenario where the CAD is projected to be $84.5 billion, it would be nearly cut that figure in half. The savings can be routed to energy purchases, which in turn are essential for vital activity, including farming.

How war shapes outcomes

When a conflict like the present one in the Middle East happens, oil prices soar. This is a direct result of transit hazards to shipping, which block the oil trade. A fifth of the world’s energy commodities pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which is mostly controlled by Iran.

Many refining and production facilities across the Gulf have already suffered extensive damage. The world’s oil inventories are shrinking at the fastest pace on record, Bloomberg reported. Even if the current predicament ends, a return to the $70 per barrel price range is unlikely.

For India, that means paying more for oil imports for a much longer period, implying higher dollar outflows. Stronger demand for dollars would weaken the rupee, and a weaker rupee would, in turn, make all imports more expensive, creating a cascading effect across the economy.

Glitter of gold

A pause in gold buying seems like a sensible option for a nation which, as a whole, can adapt while it curbs the demand for dollars. A dip in dollar demand would mean less pressure on the rupee and on the cost of imports.

India’s domestic gold consumption remains large but increasingly price-sensitive. According to the World Gold Council, India’s total gold demand rose 10% year-on-year to 151 tons in Q1 2026. But in value terms, the surge is 99%, as record prices have lifted spending.

Last year’s figure has some solace on offer for policy planners. For the full year 2025, India’s overall gold purchases fell 11% to 710.9 tons, and jewelry consumption dropped 24% to 430.5 tons. This means that while Indian households have a strong affinity for buying gold, they tend to cut back when prices rise.

Public broadcasters in Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have said they would not air the 70th anniversary Eurovision Song Contest, which begins on Tuesday in Austria and will culminate in Saturday’s grand finale, citing opposition to Israel’s participation.

The three countries, along with the Netherlands and Iceland, withdrew on Monday from this year’s event in Vienna, leaving the contest facing the biggest boycott in its 70-year history.

Vienna police have said they expect disruptive protests and possible attempts to block the event, particularly on the last day. Authorities said a pro-Palestinian demonstration involving around 3,000 people has been registered for May 16.

The lead-up

Israel has rejected accusations of genocide since launching its operation targeting Hamas in Gaza after the militant group made its deadly incursion into southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. The enclave’s authorities say Israel’s response has left nearly 70,000 Palestinians dead.

In December 2025, Swiss singer Nemo announced that he is returning his 2024 Eurovision Song Contest trophy in protest over Israel’s continued participation in the competition.

During the competitions in Malmö, Sweden, in 2024 and Basel, Switzerland, in 2025, large anti-Israel protests took place outside the venues, while the country’s participants were placed under heavy security protection.

Vote-rigging accusations

In last year’s contest, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael got second place and won the popular audience vote, leading multiple countries to raise concerns about outside interference in the voting process.

Following the pushback, Eurovision changed the rules, lowering the maximum number of votes each fan could cast from 20 to 10, and banned “disproportionate” promotion campaigns. However, the contest stressed that no rules were broken.

In the contest’s two-part voting process, the jury’s ranking is added to an audience score, with each viewer able to vote multiple times. Each vote costs a fee.

Israeli soft power

According to a new investigation by the New York Times, Raphael won the popular vote in several countries where the public is highly critical of Israel.

The Israeli government funded a concerted internet campaign, buying advertisements in multiple languages urging viewers to vote for their contestant up to the then-maximum 20 times, the NYT reported. En masse, it would have taken only a few thousand viewers dropping 20 votes each to secure second place, the newspaper said.

In 2024, West Jerusalem spent more than $800,000 on Eurovision-related advertising, with the bulk of the money coming from the Foreign Ministry, the NYT wrote, citing Israeli Government Advertising Agency data.

The Eurovision Song Contest, organized annually by the EBU, has long faced accusations of political bias, with critics saying voting patterns often reflect political alliances, cultural ties or historical relationships rather than musical merit.

The contest has faced accusations of double standards after banning Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Moscow in turn accused organizers of favoring Western participants and promoting anti-Russian sentiment.

French presidential hopeful Florian Philippot has called for lifting sanctions against Russia and restoring Russian energy imports. In an interview with RT, the politician claimed that Brussels-driven EU policies run counter to France’s national interests. 

A former vice president of the National Front (now National Rally) and ex-member of the European Parliament, Philippot announced on Saturday that he will run in the 2027 election. He leads the sovereigntist movement ‘Les Patriotes’ and is a longtime critic of the EU, the euro, and NATO. He advocates restoring French sovereignty, reducing dependence on supranational institutions, and ending French military and financial aid to Ukraine. 

“I want, and it is in my program, for France to regain its independence by leaving all the supranational globalist structures: the EU, the euro, NATO,” Florian Philippot told RT France on Sunday. “And I want a policy of dialogue and friendship with Russia, and not, as today, one of mistrust, war, and insults. All of this is absurd for our national interests.” 

The politician said Paris should “take back control” by withdrawing from free trade agreements such as Mercosur, which he said “condemn French farmers to death.” He added that sanctions on Russia imposed by Brussels should be ended in order to restore the flow of Russian gas and oil. 

In addition, the politician pledged to expand the use of referendums, including citizen-initiated votes, as part of strengthening popular sovereignty. He also called for reducing France’s dependence on the EU, which he said is largely shaped in Berlin and Washington rather than in Paris. Philippot stressed that leaving the EU would allow France to lower energy and electricity costs. 

France is heading toward a highly fragmented presidential race, with around 30 people already expressing interest in being on the 2027 ballot. These include Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of ‘La France Insoumise’, Bruno Retailleau, president of ‘Les Republicains’, Xavier Bertrand, a senior center-right politician, David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes, Laurent Wauquiez, a prominent conservative figure, and Edouard Philippe, France’s former prime minister.

Donald Trump is set to touch down in Beijing, China, on Wednesday for a two-day state visit – the first by a US president in eight years – as relations between the world’s two largest economies teeter at a crossroads defined by the Iran war, trade friction, and technological rivalry.

The visit is expected to feature a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping on Thursday morning, to be followed by a visit to the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet, as well as a working lunch on Friday before Trump departs for home.

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly described the trip as “a visit of tremendous symbolic significance” while teasing “more good deals on behalf of our country.” 

Iran and oil

The Iran war and the Hormuz crisis are expected to loom large over the agenda, with an unnamed US official telling reporters during a briefing that Trump would likely “apply pressure” on China on the purchase of Iranian oil and on the alleged supply of dual-use components to Tehran.

In response, China ordered its firms to ignore US sanctions, a move Max Meizlish, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described as an “unprecedented… measure of defiance by Beijing.” 

Trump is also expected to call on Xi to leverage Beijing’s unique clout over Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway accounting for around 20% of pre-war seaborne oil trade. China, itself the world’s largest buyer of Gulf oil, has been sympathetic to the cause, urging Tehran to remove obstacles to maritime traffic.

The ‘Five Bs’ of trade

The two leaders are poised to discuss what observers have labeled the ‘Five Bs’: Chinese purchase of Boeing aircraft, American beef and soybeans, and the creation of a Board of Trade and a Board of Investments.

As the world’s largest importer of soybeans, China has historically purchased half of US exports of the crop and has been a primary market for American agricultural produce. The soybean trade has not been problem-free, however, as US beans currently face a total duty of 13% from China, while Brazilian beans are subject to only 3%. In addition, while China fulfilled its pledge to purchase 12 million metric tons of beans in 2025, it is unclear whether Beijing will meet the larger target of 25 million tons annually for 2026-2028.

Taiwan hotspot

Taiwan, which China regards as part of its sovereign territory, has long been a sore point in relations between Washington and Beijing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has described the self-governed island as “the biggest point of risk” in the bilateral relationship and urged Washington to “honor its commitments and make the right choice, to open up new space for China-US cooperation.”

An unnamed American official told the Financial Times, though, that “we don’t expect to see any changes in US policy [on Taiwan] going forward.” 

While the Trump administration has continued to supply Taiwan with weapons, the US president has previously expressed skepticism about defending the island and accused it of stealing the US semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Rare earths and tariffs

China holds a powerful card in its near-total grip on rare earth mineral supply chains, with analysts cited by the Guardian suggesting Beijing may dangle a long-term commercial arrangement to grant US access to the commodities, on condition they are not used for military ends.

As for the wider trade war, both sides are also locked in a “ceasefire” that puts Trump’s effective tariffs at between 19% and 24% after peaking at 145% during intense tit-for-tat escalations. The US and China are reportedly debating a one-year extension in exchange for guaranteed rare earths flows.

The digital battleground

Trump’s visit comes as the White House has accused China of “stealing” AI technologies, including running “deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns” to extract capabilities from America-based AI models to train cheaper rivals.

In response, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Beijing “opposes the unjustified suppression of Chinese companies by the US,” adding that it “attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights.” 

Beijing has long protested what it views as a US crackdown on its tech companies, including restrictions on Huawei and a push to replace China-linked technology in American-connected cars, a policy widely seen as a blow to Chinese EV manufacturers.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of deliberately targeting medics during airstrikes on the country.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue to intensify despite a US-brokered ceasefire between the sides, which took effect in mid-April.

The latest wave of IDF strikes on Lebanon left 51 people dead, including two medics, the country’s health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“The Israeli enemy continues to violate international laws and humanitarian norms, adding more crimes against paramedics, as it directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district, in two raids,” the statement read.

According to the ministry’s data, 2,846 people were killed when Israel launched its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon on March 2, just days after attacking Iran together with the US. More than 550 of those deaths occurred after the truce had been introduced.

Israel already faces accusations of deliberately hitting ambulances and hospitals during the conflict in Gaza, with West Jerusalem saying they were targeted due to being used by Palestinian armed group Hamas.

War surgeon Tahir Mohammed, who worked in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that “we used to see our colleagues in Gaza come through the door all the time. I’ve had colleagues, nurses, medical students killed by Israeli weapons, and so to see the same policy of targeting healthcare workers in Lebanon… it’s consistent.”

The IDF said on Sunday that it targeted more than 20 facilities of Hezbollah in several areas of southern Lebanon, including weapons depots, command centers and other “buildings used for military purposes.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told Al-Arabiya the same day that a total of 86 villages in the south of the country remain under Israeli occupation. The Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil has become “a copy of Gaza” due to the vast scale of destruction, he said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed that US President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to Beijing from May 13 to 15, the first such trip in nearly nine years.

The summit had initially been planned for late March but was postponed due to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which disrupted global energy markets following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Principal deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly described the trip as one of “tremendous symbolic significance” that would focus on “rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence.”

The US president will hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, and the two leaders are expected to meet again on Friday for a tea session and working lunch.

Last month, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington was seeking to preserve stability in bilateral ties while securing continued access to Chinese rare earth minerals essential for American industry.

China, which has rejected Washington’s “unilateral” sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, has repeatedly called for the war to end. Trump’s visit comes just a week after Beijing hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The path to the summit was paved by a temporary trade truce reached in South Korea last October after Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods climbed as high as 145%. Beijing responded by restricting exports of rare earths critical to US industry and military production, forcing several American factories to suspend operations.

After crying wolf over Iran’s non-existent nuclear weapons program for decades, Washington has finally pushed the Islamic Republic over the brink, with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei proclaiming last month that Tehran will protect its nuclear and missile technology “as national assets.”  

Tehran had long maintained that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes only, a fact endorsed by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Decades of crippling sanctions and a punitive war, however, have compelled it to change track.

In a message on the occasion of National Persian Gulf Day (when Persia liberated the waterway from 115 years of Portuguese control in 1622), Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei asserted that Washington has suffered a “humiliating defeat,” which opens a “new chapter” in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

He said Iran shares a “common destiny” with its neighbors in the region, which will not be dominated by “outsiders who come from thousands of kilometers away.” He promised that new legal regulations and management systems in the Strait will benefit all of the nations of the region while yielding economic dividends for Iran.

This significant announcement was accompanied by an invitation to the Gulf States to accept Iranian protection for their safety as the era of American protectionism is over. The same day, a spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces warned that if the US attacks again, the region’s oil and gas infrastructure will be destroyed.  

Last week, after US President Donald Trump made a U-turn on ‘Project Freedom,’ Iran reportedly launched a new mechanism for overseeing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.  There has been a constant churn in the regional chessboard since the US-Israel attack on Iran and decapitation of its top spiritual and military leadership on February 28. Most notable is the United Arab Emirates’ decision to exit the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that decides the oil extraction quotas of member states, and the price at which oil will be sold in the international market. 

In the short term, Abu Dhabi’s defection from the oil cartel could lead to its expulsion from the Arab League, with consequences for its identity as a safe luxury destination with unique architecture (Burj Khalifa, Dubai Frame), high-end leisure (Palm Jumeirah, indoor skiing), and as a magnet for affluent professionals in its tax-free, centrally located business hub (Dubai). 

However, the UAE’s exit could provoke other members to weigh the value of remaining in OPEC, given the current political instability, inability to trust the US, and the grim reality of falling oil revenues. More countries could decide upon their own production, adding to volatility in the oil markets. Increased supplies could soften prices over time and benefit oil refining and marketing companies in countries such as India. Some introspection has already begun with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud asserting that, “the era of relying on the United States has ended. If Trump could not protect his own country, how can he protect ours?” 

Araghchi told the media that the US was responsible for the failure of the first round of negotiations in Pakistan in mid-April with its “excessive demands,” adding that “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is an important global issue.” As a mark of respect to the negotiators, Araghchi met Pakistani military and civilian leader as well as Omani leaders before travelling to Russia. Both Pakistan and Oman continue to be involved in backchannel efforts to prevent a return to an open US-Israel war on Iran.

The key role, however, will be played by Moscow, as evidenced by the 90-minute telephone call between Presidents Putin and Trump, which covered a range of events, including the Iran war, the Ukraine conflict and the attempted attack on Trump during a high-profile dinner in Washington. 

The latest reports suggest that the exchange or proposals to end the war between Tehran and Washington, conducted through Pakistani mediators, is not yielding results. According to AP, Iran’s response to Washington’s counter-proposal submitted last week calls for a wider end to hostilities on multiple fronts, including Lebanon, before reopening the Strait of Hormuz and moving ahead with further nuclear talks. Iran’s earlier demands included guarantees against military aggression, the withdrawal of US military forces from near Iran, a lifting of the naval blockade, the release of Iran’s frozen assets, compensation payments, a lifting of sanctions, and end to the war on all fronts including Lebanon, and the recognition a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz.  

Trump, however, on Sunday called Iran’s response “totally unacceptable.”  Trump has repeatedly extended the ceasefire, arguing that Iran’s leadership is divided and unable to formulate a unified position. Iranian officials, for their part, have publicly rejected Washington’s terms as an ultimatum, accusing the US of trying to turn negotiations into a surrender process after failing to achieve its stated goals on the battlefield. With diplomacy currently at a deadlock, the US finds itself isolated from many of its traditional allies on the matter. 

The US decision not to quarantine passengers of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, the MV Hondius, could be dangerous, the chief of the World Health Organization has said.

Since April 11, three people aboard the Dutch-flagged Atlantic liner have died from the rare pathogen, which is typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings, urine or saliva, while several others have contracted the disease. The vessel was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries.

On Sunday, 17 Americans and one UK national residing in the US disembarked the vessel, which docked at the Spanish island of Tenerife, and are currently on their way back home.

The passengers will be flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska for what US health officials have described as a brief visit to check their health, not quarantine.

One American, the only to have tested positive for the disease, will be placed in a biocontainment unit, according to the US Department of Health.

During a press conference in Tenerife on Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the UN health body’s advice for dealing with MV Hondius passengers “is clear: starting from May 10, 42 days of quarantine, but it could be in a facility or at home.”

When asked about the approach taken by the US, he warned that it “may have risks.”

However, Ghebreyesus stressed that the WHO doesn’t impose anything on countries; it only proposes to them what it considers the most appropriate way to deal with the situation.

The UK and France announced earlier that they would require their passengers to quarantine at a staffed facility or in isolation at home for 42 and 45 days, respectively.

Ghebreyesus said last week that, despite being “serious,” the hantavirus “is not another COVID” due to its limited human-to-human transition.

In the past months, numerous reports have emerged that Somali pirate groups have acquired modern weapons and technology from the Houthis.

Ties between the Yemeni Zaydi Shiite movement Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis), Somali pirates, and two terrorist organizations in Somalia, Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State – Somalia Province (IS–SP), continue to strengthen. This has been confirmed by both officials in Somalia and various UN reports.

In January 2026, Mohamed Musa Abulle, deputy director of intelligence for the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF), said that some Somali pirate groups had received GPS devices from the Houthis, enabling them to “accurately track the routes of commercial vessels.” He noted that the security forces believe some members of these groups have undergone military training in Yemen. 

“This new technology has significantly simplified their planning of attacks far from the Somali coast,” the official stated.

A month earlier, on December 12, 2025, the PMPF intercepted a boat off the coast of Eyl carrying explosives and chemicals used for making explosive devices. At the time of the interception, there were seven people on board, two Yemeni nationals and five Somalis. The operation was part of Puntland’s counterterrorism efforts, in the course of which local security forces destroyed over 100 Islamic State facilities in the Cal Miskaad mountains, where militants were based.

‘Transactional, not ideological’

The 2025 report by the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team also mentioned deals between the Houthis and terrorist groups in Somalia, characterizing their relationships as “transactional or opportunistic, and not ideological.” According to UN experts, Al-Shabaab militants met with Houthi representatives in Somalia at least twice, in July and September, to request modern weapons and training.

“In return, Al-Shabaab was to increase piracy activities within the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, targeting cargo ships and disrupting vessel movement as well as collecting ransom from the captured vessels. During this period, Al-Shabaab was reported to have received some small arms and light weapons and technical expertise from the Houthis,” the report stated.

The same report noted that the Houthis maintain an agreement with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) which has been in place for over three years and involves mutual non-aggression, prisoner exchanges, and arms transfers. While AQAP primarily attacks local targets in Yemen, it seeks to expand operations beyond its borders, including in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Somali pirates, who also collaborate with the Houthis, operate as a criminal organization separate from the terrorist groups. The ties between them are transactional and situational rather than ideological. Primarily motivated by economic gain, pirates seek large hauls or ransom payments, while groups like Al-Shabaab and ISIS are driven by ideology.

Occasionally, pirates partner with the Islamists to ensure their own safety or obtain logistical support in areas under their control. For instance, in March 2024, Al-Shabaab militants in the Sanaag region of northern Somalia struck a deal to provide protection for pirates in exchange for 30% of all ransoms and a share of any loot.

How much do pirates earn?

Since the early 2000s, piracy has thrived in the port city of Eyl in Puntland, which has earned the nickname ‘Harunta Burcadda’ (Pirate Capital). Small bands of pirates boldly attacked massive container ships and oil tankers, forcing shipping companies to steer clear of the Horn of Africa.

From 2005 to 2012, Somali pirate groups reportedly made between $339 million and $413 million, according to World Bank data. Between 2013 and 2019, the European Union’s counterpiracy mission, Operation Atalanta, launched in December 2008 to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, recorded 26 attacks by Somali groups. In 2020-2022 there was a temporary lull in pirate activity, with no recorded attacks. However, in the following years piracy resumed – six attacks were recorded in 2023, and as many as 22 attacks in 2024. 

This prompted international naval forces to bolster patrols in Somali waters. The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) in collaboration with Operation Atalanta, evolved into a well-trained and experienced counter-terrorism unit. However, they were compelled to redirect a significant portion of their troops inland to support Puntland security forces against IS–SP in the Cal Miskaad mountains. Pirates took advantage of this, and the situation was further exacerbated by ongoing maritime instability due to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, pirates continued to target commercial vessels, executing at least six hijackings. These attacks occurred as far as 2,270 miles from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean. In April 2026 alone, they successfully detained at least three ships, including a tanker and a fishing trawler.

The recent success of pirates off the coast of Somalia can largely be attributed to the war initiated by the US and Israel against Iran. This conflict has shifted the region’s focus toward the Persian Gulf, prompting forces that once ensured security in the Red Sea to redirect their efforts toward escorting vessels attempting to navigate the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

Puntland and Somaliland, Israel and the US

The main source of pirate activity in Somali waters is Puntland, which positions itself as an autonomous state within Somalia. Since 2024, it has functioned independently of the federal government. Located in the tip of the Horn of Africa, Puntland does not claim full independence from Somalia, unlike Somaliland to the north, which actively seeks international recognition for its sovereignty.

Somaliland has made significant strides in this regard. On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first (and currently the only) country to officially recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Somaliland. It later emerged that Israel, in collaboration with the US and the UAE, has begun constructing a military base in the port city of Berbera in northern Somaliland. This base is intended to serve as a launchpad for intelligence-gathering and operations against the Houthis, who regularly target Israeli territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unexpected recognition of Somaliland at the end of 2025 likely aimed to establish a strategic Israeli foothold in the Gulf of Aden, close to Yemen’s coastline, where the Houthis operate. The Houthis renewed their conflict with Israel on March 28, threatening to disrupt shipping traffic in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Satellite images obtained by Le Monde indicate that the Berbera airport has been expanded since October 2025. 

Interestingly, this airport was originally built in the 1970s by Soviet specialists, who established a naval base around the Bab-el-Mandeb strait during the Cold War to control maritime routes and counter American influence while maintaining a presence in the Indian Ocean.

Somali pirates conduct maritime attacks from Puntland, where terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab and IS–SP operate; however, these groups are not present in Somaliland. Thus, from a strategic perspective, for foreign states Berbera holds greater significance than the port of Bosaso in Puntland, as it allows them to exert influence in the region without having to aid local authorities in their fight against terrorism and piracy.

Two axes of international influence

Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, experts began discussing the formation of two competing ‘axes’ defining foreign interests in the Horn of Africa. The emerging Berbera Axis (Israel – UAE – Ethiopia – Somaliland) is aimed at securing access to ports and monitoring capabilities in the Red Sea, as well as countering the dominant influence of Türkiye and Iran in the region.

Somaliland boasts 850 kilometers of coastline along the Gulf of Aden, directly opposite Yemen across the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. This geographical advantage allows Israel to gather real-time intelligence, conduct drone surveillance, and swiftly respond to missile and UAV attacks from the Houthis. Tel Aviv’s strategic partners in the region include the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Since 2018, through its largest port operator, DP World, the UAE has been working on expanding and modernizing the port of Berbera.

Ethiopia, which maintains friendly ties with both Tel Aviv and Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, also benefits from Israel’s recognition of the self-proclaimed republic. The December agreement grants Addis Ababa greater leverage for potential access to the Red Sea. According to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland in January 2024, Somaliland agreed to lease a part of its coastline to Ethiopia for 50 years. However, following negotiations facilitated by Türkiye, Addis Ababa has been discussing this issue with the federal authorities in Somalia. Both processes are still in the development phase.

The second axis, known as the Mogadishu Axis (Somalia-Türkiye-Egypt-Saudi Arabia), aims to protect Somalia’s sovereignty against external intervention. Türkiye plays a crucial role here, having become Somalia’s primary foreign partner since the 2010s. In 2017, Ankara opened its largest military base abroad, TURKSOM, in Mogadishu. Türkiye has trained thousands of Somali soldiers, many of whom serve in the elite Gorgor unit, deployed against al-Shabaab. On February 9, 2026, the Turkish parliament extended the mandate of its naval forces operating in Somali waters, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea for another year. Türkiye has also deployed F-16 fighter jets and helicopters to Mogadishu.

On February 9, 2026, Saudi Arabia signed a military agreement with Somalia aimed at ensuring “regional stability and security in the Red Sea.” Discussions included the establishment of a naval base in the port town of Las Qoray. Additionally, Riyadh is mediating and possibly sponsoring a potential deal for Somalia to acquire 24 JF-17 Thunder Block III fighters from Pakistan for $900 million.

Clearly, Egypt could also be part of the Mogadishu Axis, since it views the Israel-Somaliland-Ethiopia alliance as a possible strategic blockade. For Cairo, the Suez Canal is not just a matter of revenue but of national survival.

On February 8, 2026, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Somali counterpart, reaffirming that “Egypt will always remain a sincere partner and unwavering supporter of Somalia.” Following the meeting, Cairo deployed over 1,000 troops to Mogadishu as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The role of Iran

Iran is not part of any of the aforementioned axes, but it actively participates in the anti-Israeli Axis of Resistance which includes various groups across the Middle East. In fact, the Berbera Axis emerged in response to threats from Iran and its proxy forces, particularly the Houthis. 

Tehran’s relationship with Mogadishu has been strained. In 2016, Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Iran (acting in solidarity with Saudi Arabia), accusing it of meddling in its internal affairs and promoting Shiism. While relations were restored in 2024, tensions persist to this day.

Mogadishu has strongly condemned Iran’s recent attacks on critical energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, which have disrupted maritime shipping routes and exacerbated Somalia’s humanitarian crisis. 

Moreover, Iran is indirectly complicit in deals between the Houthis, Somali pirates, and the militant group Al-Shabaab, as it is the primary arms supplier for the Ansar Allah movement. Tehran uses Somalia’s coastline as a key transit point for weapons shipments to the Houthis. Incidents involving the interception of such shipments have been documented in the report by the Panel of Experts on Yemen, submitted to the UN Security Council on October 11, 2024. In recent years, this cooperation has evolved into a full-fledged regional network encompassing Al-Shabaab and local piracy groups.

In addition to established players like Türkiye and the UAE, long-time rivals Israel and Iran are a influencing the region’s political landscape. Amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, their confrontation in the Red Sea is growing, and this is vividly demonstrated by the Iranian proxy forces’ support for Somali pirates.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the public to cut their fuel usage by returning to public transport and remote office work amid the energy supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

International conflicts, especially the current Middle East conflict, have put pressure on oil prices and depleted India’s foreign exchange reserves, Modi said on Sunday.

“During the Corona period, we developed many systems of work from home, online meetings and video conferences, and we even became accustomed to them,” he said, adding, “If we restart these systems, it will be in the national interest.”

ICYMI: PM Modi Calls for ‘Collective National Effort’ to Ease Global Economic Pressures Brought on by West Asia War

PM Modi advocated for Indian citizens to use public transport and EVs where possible and called for a revival of ‘Covid-era’ efficiency measures, such as WFH and… pic.twitter.com/6L7PXweWUl

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) May 11, 2026

The prime minister urged citizens and institutions to prioritize remote work and digital interactions as steps to slash fuel consumption and ease pressure on the economy.

“We must prioritize work from home, online conferences, and virtual meetings again. We must also place a strong emphasis on saving foreign exchange, as petrol and diesel have become so expensive globally,” Modi said.

He also advocated for the wider use of public transport, including metro and railways, as well as electric vehicles for the movement of goods to reduce dependence on fuel imports.

Modi positioned the appeal as a broader national effort to minimize the shocks of oil supply disruptions triggered by the Middle East conflict. Modi’s statement came on the day when US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to a proposal for ending the war.

India’s central bank has said a 10% rise in crude prices cuts economic growth by 15 basis points and lifts inflation by 30 basis points. Though the federal government has forecast economic growth for the current fiscal year at 6.8%-7.2%, economic agencies, including Goldman Sachs, have put forth estimates in the 5.9%-6.2% range.

In nature, nearly everything obeys the law of the pendulum. Motion begins with an impulse, accelerates under the pressure of kinetic energy, reaches an extreme point, and then, sooner or later, is pulled back toward balance. This balance is never absolute and never eternal.

It is only a temporary state of stability, a pause before the next shock, the next pressure, the next external force that sets the mechanism in motion again. Political history has often moved with the same rhythm. Empires expand and contract, revolutions radicalize and institutionalize, wars erupt and then search for a language of exhaustion. The current war of the United States and Israel against Iran is no exception.

An uneasy balance

The active phase of aggression against Iran, which began on February 28 with large scale US and Israeli strikes, lasted almost two months in its most intense form. The conflict opened with coordinated attacks on Iranian military, infrastructure, and leadership targets, after which Iran’s response transformed the initial strike into a wider regional confrontation. In the pendulum analogy, Iran’s retaliation became an additional impulse of kinetic energy. It did not stop the mechanism. It gave it another swing. It widened the arc of the war, pulled the Strait of Hormuz into the center of the crisis, disrupted energy flows, and forced Washington to confront the fact that military pressure alone was no longer producing political control.

Now the pendulum appears to be moving back toward its point of equilibrium. Not toward peace in the full moral sense of the word, and not toward reconciliation, but toward temporary stabilization. In politics, equilibrium is often less a triumph of wisdom than a recognition of limits. The US has discovered the limits of coercion, Iran has discovered the limits of escalation, and Israel has discovered that even military superiority cannot easily enforce a durable regional order. The region itself has once again discovered that no war around Iran remains confined to Iran.

The first round of negotiations in Islamabad failed, but it did show that diplomacy was still working beneath the surface. In early April, Iran and the US received a plan for ending hostilities, described as a two-stage framework that would begin with a ceasefire and move later toward a broader final agreement involving nuclear restrictions and sanctions relief. Later reporting described a one-page memorandum that would declare an end to the war and open a 30-day negotiation window on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program, and US sanctions.

The first track of the reported two-track structure is a peace arrangement, or more precisely, an arrangement for stopping the war. The second track is a nuclear settlement, which would require more time, more legal formality, and probably a Security Council framework. According to reports, the emerging plan would first use a memorandum of understanding to announce an end to hostilities across several fronts, including Lebanon, while both sides would commit to respecting each other’s territorial sovereignty. After that, the parties would receive roughly 30 days to negotiate sanctions relief, compensation, the release of frozen assets, nuclear limits, and the reopening of maritime routes.

Such a formula reflects the real balance of pressure. Washington wants a nuclear agreement, but it needs the Strait of Hormuz reopened and the war politically closed. Tehran wants sanctions relief and security guarantees, but it also needs time to repair damage, restore internal economic confidence, and convert battlefield endurance into diplomatic leverage. The US reportedly offered partial sanctions relief and the release of some Iranian frozen funds as part of the emerging framework, while Iran would accept limits or a moratorium connected to uranium enrichment and maritime restrictions.

How the US played itself into a corner

The American position is weakened by a central contradiction: Washington entered the confrontation with overwhelming force, but it did not receive overwhelming political support. NATO allies praised certain objectives, but repeatedly avoided direct participation in the US campaign. Later, they refused to join Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports, proposing instead to help only after fighting ended. That was a sign that American power, while still enormous, no longer automatically produces allied obedience in wars that others consider optional, risky, or politically toxic.

Washington’s regional partners were also cautious. Gulf states may fear Iran, but they also fear becoming the battlefield on which American and Iranian escalation is settled. The Strait of Hormuz crisis demonstrated that the geography of this war gives Iran a lever that cannot be bombed away without consequences for everyone. Iran’s military response inflicted costs on American positions and assets in the region, while its control over the maritime choke point turned a war against Iran into a global economic problem.

First came force. Then came the blockade. Then came an operation to overcome the consequences of the blockade and a counter-blockade. Then came a pause in that operation because diplomacy again became necessary. In chess this is called zugzwang, a state where every available move worsens the player’s position. Escalation risks a larger regional war. De-escalation looks like retreat. Maintaining the blockade hurts global trade and alienates partners. Lifting it without concessions looks like failure. Demanding total Iranian capitulation makes agreement impossible. Accepting partial compromise undermines the original rhetoric of maximum pressure.

A shaky foundation

The new de-escalation plan recognizes that Iran cannot be wished out of the regional order, that American military power cannot secure Hormuz without political arrangements, and that Israel’s preference for permanent strategic pressure cannot by itself produce a stable Middle East. If the plan is real and if the parties accept its core logic, it could become a temporary bridge from war to managed confrontation.

Yet the risks remain enormous, and the first of those risks is Israel. Any agreement that reduces pressure on Iran will be viewed by Israeli hardliners as a strategic defeat. Israel may fear that even a limited peace memorandum gives Iran time to rebuild, rearm, and restore deterrence. If Israeli leaders conclude that diplomacy is freezing the conflict on terms favorable to Tehran, they may attempt to sabotage the process through new strikes, intelligence operations, or pressure on Washington. The broader war has already included multiple fronts, and reports on the emerging state of affairs explicitly mention hostilities beyond Iran, including in Lebanon. Any front left unresolved can become the spark that pushes the pendulum outward again.

The third risk is the nuclear issue itself. A peace memorandum can be short because silence often helps diplomacy. But a nuclear agreement cannot be built on silence. It must answer hard questions about enrichment, stockpiles, verification, sanctions sequencing, compensation, and the legal durability of commitments. The earlier JCPOA experience remains the shadow over any new arrangement. Iran will be justified to ask why it should accept restrictions if a future US administration can abandon the agreement. Washington, in turn will want some guarantees that it can trust Iran’s nuclear restraint after war. Resolving these mattes will take specific mechanisms, not mere rhetoric.

Still, the possibility of a new agreement is real if viewed pragmatically. The pendulum is settling toward equilibrium, if slowly, because the previous level of kinetic energy has become unsustainable. The forces that pushed the system into motion are still present, but the system seeks rest because continued motion threatens to break the mechanism.

The coming weeks will show whether the new two-stage plan is a genuine bridge or only another tactical pause. If the memorandum is signed, it may pull the pendulum into temporary balance. If Israel rejects stabilization, or if Washington treats the agreement as a pause before renewed pressure, the pendulum will again receive an impulse. And if that happens, the next swing may be wider, faster, and more destructive than the last.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that he plans to “wean” his country off US financial aid within the next decade, while blaming social media “manipulation” for declining public support for his country among Americans.

Israel is the largest recipient of aggregate US foreign aid since World War II, having received more than $300 billion in economic and military assistance from Washington since 1948.

Under a ten-year agreement signed in 2016, the US committed $38 billion in military aid to Israel through 2028, including $5 billion for the Iron Dome missile defense system. Overall, American assistance accounts for roughly 16% of the country’s military budget.

In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Netanyahu was asked whether it was time for the Jewish state to “reexamine and possibly reset” its financial relationship with Washington.

“I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have,” the prime minister said, stating that the process should “start now” and be completed “over the next ten years.”

Netanyahu noted that he is well aware of declining support for Israel in the US. A recent Pew poll indicated that six in ten Americans have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Israel, up seven percentage points since last year and nearly 20 points since 2022.

The Israeli leader outright dismissed the notion that the war in Gaza might have “contributed to this negative impression of Israel,” blaming the shift almost entirely on social media.

“Israel is besieged on the media front, on the propaganda front, and we’ve not done well on the propaganda war,” he said.

“We have several countries that basically manipulated social media with bot farms with fake addresses, to break the American sympathy to Israel.”

In March, US Senator Bernie Sanders filed three resolutions seeking to block nearly $660 million in arms sales to Israel, arguing that three-quarters of Democrats and two-thirds of independents oppose Washington sending weapons to the country.

The Ukrainian military has violated the Victory Day ceasefire more than 16,000 times since it took effect on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said Ukrainian forces had carried out drone and artillery strikes on civilian sites in Crimea, Belgorod Region, Kursk Region, Kaluga Region, Rostov Region, and Krasnodar Region. In Belgorod alone, five civilians, including a teenager, were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Ukrainian troops also carried out 676 strikes against Russian positions using artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, mortars, and tanks. Kiev’s forces launched 6,331 drone attacks and attempted eight assaults on Russian positions.

Russian forces “continue to strictly observe the ceasefire regime and remain at previously occupied lines and positions,” the ministry stated.

The Victory Day truce announced by Russia last week to mark the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II was initially set to expire on Sunday, but following a proposal from US President Donald Trump, Moscow agreed to extend it for two more days.

Throughout the conflict, Moscow has repeatedly declared temporary truces during major religious and national holidays. Last month, Russia announced an Easter ceasefire, which the Defense Ministry said was violated by Ukrainian forces more than 6,500 times within 32 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the warning apparently reached Washington and contributed to Trump’s extended ceasefire initiative. He also said that while the globalist faction of Western elites is still effectively waging war against Russia, using Ukrainians as proxies, the conflict is heading towards its end.

The British Army has airdropped a team of medics accompanied by paratroopers to treat a suspected hantavirus case on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha. The patient was among the passengers who left the Dutch-flagged cruise vessel MV Hondius before the deadly outbreak was confirmed.

The cruise liner, now dubbed the “plague ship” by some media, initially carried 175 guests and crew from 23 countries when it suffered an outbreak of a rare pathogen typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings. The outbreak was caused by the Andes strain of hantavirus – the only one known to be capable of human-to-human transmission through close contact.

9,788km from the UK across the South Atlantic, one operation 🪂@BritishArmy and @RoyalAirForce joined forces to deliver urgent medical supplies to one of the world’s most remote communities, Tristan da Cunha. pic.twitter.com/uOQJP6pmcy

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 10, 2026

On Saturday, a British Royal Air Force A400M aircraft dropped two medics and six paratroopers on the island, along with oxygen and medical supplies to aid in the treatment of the case. The small island, with a population of fewer than 300, has no airstrip and is reachable only by sea.

UK specialist paratroopers and military clinicians have carried out a daring parachute operation to deliver critical medical support to Tristan da Cunha – Britain’s most remote inhabited Overseas Territory – after a suspected case of Hantavirus was identified on the island. pic.twitter.com/w0xPU8fvcw

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 10, 2026

The World Health Organization has so far reported eight hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius, including six confirmed cases and two still considered suspected. Three people have died from the infection. Authorities are also trying to trace the contacts of some two dozen people who disembarked at St. Helena on April 24, along with the body of the first victim.

Patient zero is believed to be a 70-year-old Dutch man, who was the first to die from the disease. According to the New York Post, he was an ornithologist who visited a landfill near the Argentinian city of Ushuaia for birdwatching shortly before boarding the ship. There, he and his wife, who also died, could have inhaled particles from the feces of local rats known to carry the disease.

US President Donald Trump has called Iran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal for ending the war “totally unacceptable,” after Tehran insisted it would not surrender its strategic leverage in the Strait of Hormuz without concessions.

The details of Iran’s response have not been made public, but according to US media reports, Tehran’s counterproposal focused on ending the war and securing guarantees that hostilities would not resume, while offering none of the nuclear concessions sought by Washington.

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. He previously told Axios that the Iranian reply was “inappropriate,” but did not elaborate.

Tehran has also made clear that it views control over the Strait of Hormuz as a central bargaining chip, with Mohammad Mokhber, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, comparing the waterway’s strategic value to an “atomic bomb” and vowing that Iran would not “forfeit the gains of this war.”

The latest exchange comes after weeks of fragile diplomacy and intermittent clashes around the Strait of Hormuz, where the US has enforced a naval blockade and Iran has sought to assert control over the strategic waterway.

The diplomatic setback also comes as tensions rise over possible European involvement in the Gulf. France and Britain had been discussing a multinational mission to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran has warned that any such deployment would draw an immediate response. 

US President Donald Trump has said his country will get hold of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium “at some point,” repeating one of his key demands in peace talks.

In an interview aired on Sunday, journalist Sharyl Attkisson asked Trump what stage the war with the Islamic Republic had reached, considering that the US has yet to secure Iran’s fissile material.

“Well, we’ll get that at some point, whatever we want,” he said. “We have it surveilled, you know, I did a thing called Space Force… If anybody got near the place, we will know about it. And we’ll blow them up.”

The US and Israel launched their attack on Iran in late February, framing the war as a way to preempt Tehran’s development of a nuclear weapon.

Russia has repeatedly offered to aid in the peace process and help remove the material.

“Not only did we make such an offer; we already implemented it once before, back in 2015. Iran has complete trust in us, and not without reason,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists during Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on Saturday. Russia has never violated its agreements and continues to cooperate with Iran on its peaceful nuclear energy programs, he added.

While Iran has not published a response to the latest US offer, it has consistently refused to hand over its uranium stockpile or halt its civilian nuclear program, while demanding that Washington provide guarantees of non-aggression and remove its forces from the region. Tehran has also long denied plans to build a nuclear bomb.

Russia expects Armenia to explain its lack of reaction to the “anti-Russian” statements made by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky during a recent summit in Yerevan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Providing a venue for such rhetoric goes against the spirit of partnership between the two nations, he told journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday.

Zelensky was in Yerevan earlier this week for a two-day summit of the European Political Community (EPC), an EU-led intergovernmental group launched in 2022 in response to the escalation of the Ukraine crisis. He asked for more military and financial assistance from the West while claiming that Moscow was scared that Ukrainian “drones may buzz over Red Square” ahead of Victory Day celebrations in Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry then warned that if Ukraine attempted to disrupt the festivities with attacks, a major retaliatory strike would follow.

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Armenian ambassador in Moscow to protest “opening the floor” for Zelensky’s “terrorist threats against Russia.”

Peskov maintained that Yerevan has a “sovereign right” to define its foreign policy and host any summits it wants, adding that Moscow only wants it not to take an anti-Russian position.

Relations between Russia and Armenia started to cool after Pashinyan came to power in 2018. During his time in office, Armenia lost a proxy war with neighboring Azerbaijan over the latter’s region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan then attempted to fault Moscow for not providing military assistance at the time.

The headlines are filled with reports of growing discord inside NATO. Donald Trump openly questions the value of allies who, in his view, fail to carry their share of the burden. Western Europe complains about the unreliability of its American patron while simultaneously pledging loyalty to the Atlantic alliance. Beneath the daily noise, however, something far more significant is taking place: the gradual transformation of Europe’s political and military order.

For decades, the United States guaranteed Western Europe’s security while those Europeans concentrated on prosperity and welfare. That arrangement now appears increasingly unstable. Washington’s strategic priorities have shifted toward Asia and the confrontation with China. Europe remains important as a logistical and political platform for American power, but it is no longer the unquestioned center of US grand strategy.

Trump didn’t create this process, though he has accelerated it dramatically. His irritation with NATO is not simply personal caprice. It reflects a deeper American conclusion that the era of underwriting Western European security indefinitely has become too expensive and strategically distracting.

The alliance itself was built for another age and another purpose. NATO was designed to contain the Soviet Union and anchor American influence in Europe. It was never intended to become a global instrument for confronting China. Yet this is precisely the direction in which many in Washington would like to push it.

These Europeans, however, do not share America’s sense of urgency regarding Beijing. For most of them, China is an economic competitor, not an existential threat. Russia, by contrast, remains the central security obsession of much of the bloc, especially in Northern and Eastern members. 

France has emerged as the loudest advocate of greater Western European strategic independence. Paris retains a long tradition of military autonomy and still possesses something few other European powers can claim: a genuinely independent nuclear deterrent. France cannot realistically replace the American nuclear umbrella over Western Europe, but it increasingly seeks to position itself as the ideological leader of a more self-reliant bloc.

Britain, meanwhile, continues its traditional balancing act between the EU and the United States. London insists on its independence from Brussels while simultaneously searching for external support from Washington. Northern and Eastern states remain intensely hawkish and committed to confrontation with Russia, regardless of whether the Americans remain fully engaged. Southern Europe appears far less enthusiastic, distracted instead by migration, economic stagnation and domestic instability.

As so often in European history, however, the decisive factor will likely be Germany.

Much of post-war Europe was built around one central idea: Germany must never again become an independent geopolitical force. After 1945 the country was divided, militarily constrained and tightly integrated into Western structures under American supervision.

Even German reunification in 1990 was accepted partly because Germany remained embedded inside NATO. At the time, many believed that anchoring a unified Germany within the Atlantic alliance was the safest possible arrangement for Europe.

Ironically, that very decision became one of the starting points of today’s geopolitical crisis. NATO expansion eastward created a security architecture that Moscow increasingly viewed as hostile and destabilizing.

Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a “new era” in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. For some time the slogan appeared largely symbolic. Under Germany’s current leadership, however, concrete changes are beginning to emerge.

Berlin is discussing accelerated rearmament, expanded military infrastructure and legislative changes aimed at increasing recruitment for the Bundeswehr. The debate over compulsory military service, once politically unthinkable, has returned to the mainstream.

Recent comments by Franz-Josef Overbeck, the Catholic military bishop of the Bundeswehr, are revealing. Overbeck openly called for Germany to send forces to the Strait of Hormuz and argued that compulsory military service should be restored not only for men but also for women.

His reasoning was blunt. Germany, he argued, can no longer remain on the sidelines in an increasingly dangerous world.

Many within Germany’s political establishment likely agree with him privately. Politicians, however, remain cautious because German society is still deeply uncomfortable with militarism and foreign deployments. Decades of post-war political culture have created a pacifist instinct that remains powerful among voters.

At the same time, Germany faces mounting economic difficulties. This is not merely a temporary downturn. The old German economic model rested heavily on cheap Russian energy and export-driven industrial growth, not to mention stable globalization. Much of that foundation has eroded.

As a result, discussions that would once have been politically toxic are now occurring openly. Militarization is increasingly presented not simply as a security necessity, but also as a potential engine of economic renewal.

Only a few years ago such arguments would have sounded extraordinary in Germany. Today they are becoming part of mainstream debate.

This is where the historical dimension becomes impossible to ignore.

German political culture has long been characterized by discipline and a tendency to follow strategic paths with remarkable determination once a consensus forms. In calmer periods this can be an enormous strength. In moments of geopolitical confrontation, however, it can become dangerous.

The path on which Russia once again serves as Germany’s principal antagonist is deeply familiar from European history.

Trump’s pressure on NATO is therefore acting as a catalyst for changes that were already underway. Western Europe is being pushed, reluctantly and unevenly, toward greater military independence. Whether this ultimately strengthens NATO or gradually hollows it out remains unclear.

The alliance is unlikely to collapse outright. Institutions of this scale rarely disappear suddenly. More likely is a gradual transformation into something narrower and more fragmented.

A core bloc focused primarily on containing Russia may emerge within NATO, while the United States shifts more of its attention toward Asia.

Whether such a bloc becomes effective will depend above all on Germany. If Berlin fully embraces rearmament and strategic emancipation from American oversight, Europe’s political landscape could change profoundly and by the end of Trump’s presidency, this process may already be far advanced.

Thus, once again, Europe may discover that history is not something safely confined to textbooks. The old rivalries and anxieties that shaped the continent for centuries have an unsettling habit of returning precisely when people convince themselves they are gone forever.

This article was first published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and was translated and edited by the RT team