10 Things Global News - 29th May 2026
World waits for US & Iranian leaders to green light truce agreement, Japan & Philippines cosy up and you think it's hot now? - Just wait a while | Succinct, unbiased global news
US Iran Truce Awaits Trump Decision (Middle East)
Iran Oil Still Flows Through Shadow Fleet (Middle East)
Netanyahu Seeks Wider Control of Gaza (Conflict)
Russian Drone Hits Romanian Apartment Block (Conflict)
Israel Cuts UN Ties Over Blacklist (Geopolitics)
France Moves to Erase Slavery Era Code (Human Rights)
Japan And Philippines Deepen Defence Ties (Asia)
Carney Calls For New US Canada Partnership (Geopolitics)
UN Warns Heat Records May Fall Again (Climate)
EU Powers Back Market Integration Deal (Markets)
A succinct daily briefing delivered each weekday to help you stay on top of the stories shaping the world.
The US and Iran have reached a tentative agreement to extend their ceasefire by 60 days and continue talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, but the deal still awaits approval from President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders.
The framework follows overnight drone and missile exchanges that exposed the fragility of the April truce. US forces said they struck an Iranian launch site near the Strait of Hormuz after shooting down Iranian drones, while Iran said it retaliated against a US base in Kuwait.
The talks remain tied to the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s enriched uranium and its wider nuclear programme. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump’s red lines include reopening the strait, surrendering highly enriched uranium and ending the nuclear programme. The strait’s effective closure has strangled about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, lifting prices and inflation.
Sources: Bloomberg, Washington Post
Despite US sanctions and a maritime blockade, Iran has continued moving oil toward China through ship-to-ship transfers involving ageing shadow-fleet tankers that obscure ownership, flags and tracking signals.
The trade remains a major source of revenue. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Tehran received about $31 billion from oil sales to China last year, equal to around 90 per cent of Iran’s foreign oil sales and about 45 per cent of its government budget.
Much of the activity centres on the Eastern Outer Port Limits off Malaysia, a legal grey area used for transfers before oil heads to Chinese refineries. Energy analytics company Vortexa estimated about 90 million barrels of Iranian oil were outside the blockade, meaning Iran could keep receiving payments until October because shipments and payment each take two to three months.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the military to expand its control of Gaza to at least 70 per cent, saying Israel is “squeezing Hamas” and starting from the 60 per cent of territory it now controls.
The move defies a US-brokered truce that took effect last year, when Israeli forces withdrew to the Yellow Line and retained about 53 per cent of the enclave. The next phase was meant to bring a phased Israeli withdrawal from much of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas, but talks have stalled.
Israel has instead expanded its hold, forcing Gaza’s two million people into an ever-shrinking area where humanitarian conditions remain catastrophic. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 900 people have been killed since the ceasefire began last October, while Israel says militants have killed four Israeli soldiers.
Sources: FT, New York Times
A Russian drone struck the roof of an apartment building in Galati, Romania, during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, causing an explosion and fire that injured two people.
Romania, a NATO and EU member, said the drone entered its airspace, was tracked by radar to southern Galati and crashed into the building. Two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter were deployed, while residents in border counties were warned to take cover.
The incident was the first time a drone had hit a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries, after repeated airspace breaches since Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube. Romania says Russian drones have breached its airspace 28 times, with fragments recovered 47 times, adding pressure along NATO’s eastern flank as the war keeps spilling close to alliance territory.
Sources: CBS News, Reuters
Israel says it will cut ties with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and his office after being told it will be included in an annual conflict-related sexual violence report over alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees.
Israeli ambassador Danny Danon said Israel and its security services had been formally listed, called the decision disconnected from reality and denied the accusations. He said placing Israel and Hamas on the same list was unacceptable. A spokesman for Guterres called the move symbolic and said the organisation would continue to work with Israel’s mission.
The dispute comes amid intensified friction between Israel and the UN since the October 7 2023 Hamas-led attack and the war in Gaza. Guterres wrote that there had been an increasing number of verified cases of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees, and said Israel had not directly addressed measures to stop the problem.
Sources: New York Times, Al Jazeera
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France’s National Assembly has voted unanimously to repeal the Code Noir, the 1685 royal decree that governed slavery across French colonies and classified enslaved people as movable property.
The lower house voted 254-0 to adopt the bill, nearly two centuries after France abolished slavery in 1848. The decree allowed enslaved people to be worked, beaten, sold, raped and murdered, and included punishments such as branding, mutilation and death for those who fled.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the code should never have survived abolition and called the silence around it a form of offence, though he stopped short of an apology. The Senate must still vote before the law can pass. Supporters describe repeal as symbolic and political, while critics say it leaves unresolved the racism and inequalities that still affect France’s overseas territories.
Sources: Associated Press, Le Monde
Japan and the Philippines will begin talks on a classified information-sharing pact designed to help Tokyo increase transfers of military equipment to Manila, including warships.
The move follows steady upgrades in defence and security ties as both countries respond to China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also agreed in Tokyo to elevate relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Japan is considering providing naval destroyers and patrol aircraft to the Philippines under a new framework for defence equipment cooperation. Marcos said the talks would strengthen defence cooperation and uphold a rules-based maritime order. The Philippines is also seeking stronger security partnerships with the United States and its allies as it faces repeated confrontations with Chinese vessels in disputed waters.
Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for a “new partnership” with the United States, saying closer cooperation in aluminium, automobiles and critical minerals would strengthen both countries as the world undergoes a “rupture” in commercial relations.
The appeal came amid an ongoing trade war with the US and talks in Mexico City on overhauling the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that, for now, exclude Canada. Carney has vowed to double Canadian exports to other markets in the next decade and signed more than 20 economic and security deals in the past year.
Carney said President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada as the 51st state had exposed weaknesses Canada must correct. Yet he struck a conciliatory tone in New York, saying a more independent Canada would be a better ally and could provide reliable power and critical minerals for American growth.
Sources: Reuters, CNN
The world is likely to keep pushing past major climate thresholds over the next five years, according to new projections from the World Meteorological Organization and the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office.
The report says there is a 75 per cent chance that average global temperatures from 2026 to 2030 will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the Paris Agreement benchmark measured over longer periods. It also says there is an 86 per cent chance that at least one year will surpass 2024 as the hottest year recorded.
The projections point to faster Arctic warming, continued sea ice loss and drier conditions in the Amazon, with higher wildfire risk. Scientists said temporary breaches do not mean Paris goals are unattainable, but the forecasts show extreme heat and climate risks are moving further into the near-term outlook.
Sources: Associated Press, UN News
The European Union’s six largest economies have reached a compromise on key parts of a markets package intended to move the bloc toward a US-style investment powerhouse.
Finance ministers from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands agreed in Berlin on aspects of market integration and supervision, including expanded powers for the European Securities and Markets Authority. The agreement leaves no specific timeline, after France and Spain sought immediate powers while Italy and the Netherlands pushed for a transition period.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said he was ready to move forward on centralised supervision, marking a shift from Berlin’s previous opposition. The signatories now face a difficult effort to win broader support among all 27 EU countries. Approval requires 15 countries representing at least 65 per cent of the EU population.
Sources: Politico Europe, FT
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On this day …
On this day in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first confirmed climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Their ascent came after decades of failed expeditions and represented both a major feat of endurance and the final chapter of an era of high-altitude exploration led largely by European powers. News of the climb reached Britain during the coronation celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II, adding to its symbolic resonance at the time.
The achievement remains one of the defining moments in exploration history, though modern debates increasingly focus on commercialisation, environmental pressure and who receives recognition in extreme exploration.