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Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, walked out of prison on May 11, 2026 after eight months for corruption. His conditional release reignites debate over his political future in a profoundly changed Thailand, where his Pheu Thai party suffered its worst ever electoral defeat.
From May 13-15, Donald Trump makes his first state visit to China since 2017, accompanied by Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and roughly a dozen American CEOs. The Trump-Xi summit takes place against a charged backdrop—Iran, Taiwan, tariffs, rare earths—and is being scrutinized by middle powers worldwide as a signal about the international order to come.
The international evacuation operation for the MV Hondius, hit by a hantavirus outbreak, concluded at the Canary Islands. Passengers were repatriated by nationality, but one French evacuee is showing symptoms. The Filipino crew of 150 faces a 42-day quarantine in the Netherlands. British paratroopers were dropped on Tristan da Cunha for a suspected case.
Iran has sent its response to the US peace proposal via Pakistan: it agrees to transfer its enriched uranium stockpile but flatly refuses to dismantle its nuclear facilities. Trump declared the response 'totally unacceptable.' The nuclear red line is now the sole public sticking point.
Russia issued a formal warning to foreign diplomatic missions in Kyiv to evacuate staff ahead of threatened retaliatory strikes if Ukraine disrupts the Victory Day parade on May 9. Both sides accuse each other of violating the unilateral truces they each declared, amid a dual military and rhetorical escalation.
Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs for the first time since the April 17 ceasefire, killing Malek Ballout, operations commander of Hezbollah's Radwan force — an act Netanyahu frames as self-defense, but one that endangers the truce underpinning the Iran-US negotiations.
After Donald Trump's public attacks on Pope Leo XIV — who had condemned the Iran war as 'unjust' — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is dispatched to Rome for a Thursday meeting with the pontiff. The first face-to-face meeting between a senior US official and Pope Leo since his election. Rubio, a Catholic, will also meet Meloni, whom Trump attacked after she defended the pope.
Iran transmitted a 14-point peace plan via Pakistan proposing to end the war in 30 days, progressively reopen Hormuz, but deliberately omitting the nuclear program. Trump declared he 'cannot imagine' the plan being acceptable, saying Iran hasn't 'paid a big enough price.' Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned the US faces a choice between an 'impossible' military operation and a 'bad deal.' The first round of direct talks in Islamabad failed last month; no second round is scheduled.
After Merz accused Iran of 'humiliating' Washington in peace talks, Trump retaliated by announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 US soldiers from Germany — then escalated, threatening to go 'a lot further.' The cancellation of long-range Tomahawk missile deployment, promised by Biden, is also confirmed. NATO says it is 'working to understand' the decision. Republican committee chairs are 'very concerned.'
As Iran doubles down on permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz — comparing it to Mossadegh's 1951 oil nationalization — Trump launches 'Project Freedom' to escort stranded neutral ships out of the Gulf starting Monday. A cargo ship was just attacked by small craft, Pakistan-mediated peace talks remain deadlocked, and OPEC+'s third production quota hike is purely symbolic as long as Hormuz stays shut.
On May 1, 2026, Donald Trump signed an executive order massively expanding US sanctions against Cuba, targeting foreign banks that cooperate with Havana and Cuban officials in the energy, defense and finance sectors. The next day, Trump declared at a private Florida dinner that the US could take control of Cuba 'almost immediately,' citing the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier 'on the way back from Iran.' Cuba's president denounces a 'dangerous and unprecedented level' of US military threats.
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