Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel aims to eventually end its reliance on U.S. financial military support within the next decade. The decision signals a long-term shift in the country’s defence policy as it seeks to deepen ties with Gulf states.
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s billionaire former prime minister, has been released on parole from prison on Monday (11 May). Shinawatra served part of an eight-month sentence that capped years of legal battles, political turmoil and controversy surrounding his return from exile.
Australia confirmed it will repatriate citizens from the MV Hondius cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with quarantine on arrival. Spain, France are evacuating nationals as three deaths are confirmed. In the U.S., two passengers have been isolated after testing positive for the virus.
Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Centre-right leader Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister on Saturday, propelled into office on promises of change after years of economic stagnation and strained ties with key allies under his predecessor Viktor Orbán.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermining the self-determination rights of the Kanak Indigenous People in New Caledonia amid proposed political and constitutional reforms.
China’s leading chipmakers are funnelling unprecedented sums into research and development as Beijing accelerates efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology amid intensifying U.S. export restrictions.
Somalia is facing a severe malnutrition crisis and urgently needs additional humanitarian funding to prevent conditions deteriorating further, the World Food Programme has warned.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to carry on as leader on Friday (8 May) after his ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Labour lost hundreds of councillors across the country, as some figures in the party said he should stand down.
Indonesian rescue teams have located two Singaporeans who went missing after Mount Dukono erupted on Friday (8 May) on the island of Halmahera, though authorities say it remains unclear whether they are alive.
British paratroopers and military medics have been deployed to Tristan da Cunha after a suspected hantavirus case was confirmed, as first evacuation flights carrying passengers from the stricken MV Hondius cruise ship left Tenerife for Madrid and Paris.
The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on Friday (8 May), following an order from President Donald Trump. U.S. officials described as a push for “unprecedented transparency”.
The U.S. military said on 8 May that it struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people and leaving one survivor, in the latest in a series of controversial maritime operations targeting suspected drug trafficking routes.
Libya’s largest operating oil refinery has been shut down and an emergency declared after clashes erupted near the facility in Zawiya, west of Tripoli, according to two engineers and the refinery’s operator.
Indonesian rescue teams are searching for 20 hikers trapped on Mount Dukono after a major volcanic eruption sent ash 10 kilometres into the sky on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to hold negotiations with “everyone,” including European leaders, the Kremlin said on Friday, after reports that the European Union is considering possible talks with Moscow.
Former Chinese defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu have been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday. The cases highlight the scale of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption purge within China’s military.
Türkiye is urging Washington and Tehran to turn their fragile truce into a permanent ceasefire, as analysts say Ankara is seeking to use its geopolitical position to prevent a wider regional conflict.
Australian police have charged two women linked to the Islamic State group with slavery offences after they returned from Syria, where they had been detained in a refugee camp for more than seven years.
A cross-party delegation of British lawmakers is set to visit China in mid-May for the first time since 2019. The trip is positioned as a sign of cautious warming of ties, following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing earlier this year, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
