10 Things Global News - 26th May 2026
US talks and hits at the same time, Russia warns of Ukraine escalation and Europe swelters | Succinct, unbiased global news.
US Strikes Iran While Talks Continue (Middle East)
Israel Expands Strikes Against Hizbollah (Conflict)
Russia Warns Foreigners To Leave Kyiv (Conflict)
Hajj Begins Under Regional Tension (Middle East)
Ebola Response Falls Behind In DRC (Africa)
Iran Moves To Restore Internet Access (Middle East)
May Heat Records Fall Across Europe (Climate)
Pope Apologises For Church Role In Slavery (Europe)
China Sends New Crew To Space Station (Asia)
Spain Confirms New Cruise Hantavirus Case (Europe)
A succinct daily briefing delivered each weekday to help you stay on top of the stories shaping the world.
The United States said it carried out “self-defence” strikes in southern Iran on Monday, targeting missile launch sites and boats allegedly placing mines near the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said the strikes were intended to protect American troops while “using restraint” during the ongoing ceasefire. Iranian state media reported explosions near Bandar Abbas and identified four Revolutionary Guard troops killed in attacks on boats.
The strikes came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continued through Qatari mediation. President Donald Trump said discussions were “proceeding nicely” but also called for additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords as part of any settlement framework.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqai said progress had been made in talks but warned no agreement was imminent. The Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, with continued pressure on global energy markets and shipping flows.
Sources: Associated Press, BBC
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said he had ordered the military to intensify attacks on Hizbollah after far-right ministers demanded a wider campaign in Lebanon. The Israeli military later said it had begun strikes in the Bekaa Valley and other parts of the country, while Hizbollah said it had launched drone and rocket attacks on Israeli targets.
The escalation comes despite a ceasefire agreed on April 16, with both sides continuing to trade fire. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, called for a “significant” response to Hizbollah’s drones, while Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, demanded a return to “high-intensity warfare”.
The fighting is now tied to wider US-Iran talks. Iran’s foreign ministry said it wanted a deal to end the war on “all fronts”, while Israeli officials have insisted on freedom of action in Lebanon.
Sources: FT, BBC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate US citizens and diplomats from Kyiv, saying Moscow planned systematic strikes on facilities in the Ukrainian capital. Russia said the attacks would target sites linked to drone design, production, programming and preparation, while warning foreign nationals and diplomatic staff to leave the city.
Moscow framed the planned strikes as retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on Starobilsk in occupied Luhansk, which Russian officials said hit a student dorm and killed at least 18 people. Ukraine’s military denied responsibility for that strike, saying it had targeted an elite drone command unit.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allies not to give in to “Russian blackmail”. Russia has heavily targeted Kyiv since the Starobilsk strike, with Ukrainian authorities reporting at least four deaths and more than 60 injuries in overnight attacks on the capital and surrounding region.
Sources: Bloomberg, Al Jazeera
The annual Hajj pilgrimage began in Saudi Arabia on Monday, with more than 1.5 million pilgrims arriving from outside the kingdom in sweltering heat and amid wider concern over the Iran war. Pilgrims have circled the Kaaba in Mecca and moved towards the tent city of Mina before Tuesday’s gathering at Arafat, considered the pilgrimage’s pinnacle.
The journey is taking place against a tense regional backdrop. President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran, including opening the Strait of Hormuz, had been “largely negotiated”, though the agreement still needed to be finalised. Saudi Arabia is also receiving thousands of pilgrims from Iran and Iraq, despite recent drone and missile attacks involving the kingdom.
The pilgrimage remains both a major spiritual obligation and a security test for Saudi Arabia, which has deployed forces, healthcare workers and guides to manage the gathering.
Sources: PBS, Wall Street Journal
The World Health Organization has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is outpacing response efforts, with neighbouring countries at high risk. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said operations were being urgently scaled up and announced 220 suspected deaths in the current outbreak.
The response has been disrupted by attacks on health facilities in Ituri province, the outbreak’s centre. In Mongbwalu, patients fled after isolation tents were burned, while another treatment centre near Bunia was set on fire after authorities refused to release the body of a victim for burial.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. Uganda has reported seven confirmed cases, including two new cases among health workers in Kampala, increasing concern about regional spread.
Sources: The Guardian, UN News
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the Communications Ministry to restore international internet access to its pre-January status, after months of restrictions linked to protests and war. State media reported the order on Monday, though the mechanism and timing for reconnection were initially unclear.
The shutdown began on January 8 during nationwide anti-government protests, eased in February, then returned after US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28. NetBlocks said most Iranians had been unable to access the worldwide web for 87 days, apart from a few users with expensive and advanced VPNs.
The restoration push followed a cyberspace task force vote, with nine members in favour and three opposed. ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi said the process had begun, while an IRGC-affiliated outlet shifted from questioning the order’s legality to describing reopening as a necessary technical and security decision.
Sources: Sourth China Morning Post, Iran International
More than 350 French towns recorded their highest-ever May temperatures as an extreme early-summer heat event spread across western Europe. The UK also broke its all-time May record, with 34.8C measured at Kew Gardens, while temperatures in parts of Spain were forecast to approach 40C by the end of the week.
The heat was driven by hot air from Morocco trapped under high pressure over western Europe. Météo France described the episode as premature, remarkable and long, with temperatures exceeding norms by 12C or 13C and expected to last several more days.
France activated its national heat warning system in May for the first time since the system was introduced in 2004. Christophe Cassou, a climate scientist, said the event was virtually impossible in the preindustrial era, while Robert Vautard, a climate researcher, said the extension of the heatwave season was characteristic of climate change.
Sources: The Guardian, France 24
Pope Leo XIV issued a historic apology on Monday for the Catholic Church’s role in legitimising slavery and for its delay in condemning the practice, calling the legacy a “wound in Christian memory”. In his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, he wrote that, in the name of the church, he sincerely asked for pardon.
The apology went beyond earlier papal statements that focused on Christians’ involvement in the slave trade. Pope Leo acknowledged that church authorities had, at times, regulated and legitimised forms of subjugation, including the enslavement of non-Christians.
The encyclical also addressed artificial intelligence and new forms of exploitation linked to the global economy. Pope Leo called for robust regulation of AI and said the church must firmly condemn trafficking related to the digital technological revolution to avoid future failures to respect human dignity.
Sources: Associated Press, Reuters
China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft on Sunday night, sending three astronauts to the Tiangong space station as it prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. The spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, with launch official Li Benqi calling it a “complete success”.
The crew includes commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying. Lai, born and raised in Hong Kong, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission and China’s fourth female astronaut to travel to space.
One crew member is scheduled to remain aboard the station for a year to explore human adaptability and performance limits in long-duration spaceflight. The mission also includes dozens of science and application projects and an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou 21 crew.
Sources: NPR, CBS News
Spain’s Health Ministry said on Monday that a Spanish national evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship has tested positive for hantavirus while in quarantine at Gómez Ulla Central Defence Hospital in Madrid. The patient is the second Spaniard from the ship to test positive and has been transferred to a high-level isolation unit for specialised medical supervision.
The case was identified through monitoring already in place after the outbreak on the vessel, which killed three passengers after the ship left Argentina in April. Authorities said the positive test involved a close contact and did not change the risk level for the general public or the response measures underway.
Most countries are monitoring exposed passengers for at least 42 days because hantavirus symptoms can take up to six weeks to appear. Health officials are tracing and containing a rare outbreak never before recorded on a cruise ship.
Sources: NBC News, CNN, Euronews
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On this day …
On this day in 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was published for the first time. Created by financial journalist Charles Dow, the index initially tracked 12 industrial companies and offered investors a simple way to measure the direction of the American economy.
Over time, the Dow became one of the world’s most recognised financial indicators, surviving depressions, wars, market crashes and technological revolutions. Although modern markets are now shaped by far more complex benchmarks, the Dow still carries symbolic weight as a shorthand measure of economic confidence and investor sentiment.
Financial markets change constantly, but the search for a simple signal of economic direction remains remarkably consistent.