AnewZ Morning Brief - May 19th, 2025

Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for May 19th, covering the latest developments you need to know.

1. Leaders from 53 countries attend Tehran Dialogue Forum to tackle regional, global challenges

Iran launched the fourth Tehran Dialogue Forum, bringing together about 200 foreign delegations from more than 50 countries in Tehran.

The two-day event, which aims to foster dialogue on pressing global and regional issues, is being held at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) under the auspices of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi inaugurated the forum. The gathering, covered by 50 international media outlets, includes 40 thematic panels featuring ministers, policy experts, and heads of think tanks

2. Joe Biden diagnosed with 'aggressive' prostate cancer

Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.

Biden, who left office in January, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.

The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as "high-grade" and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.

3. Trump says he will call Putin to discuss stopping Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Donald Trump has said he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Monday about "stopping the bloodbath" and ending the war in Ukraine.

The US president said on Truth Social that the call would take place at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) and he would then speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the leaders of some Nato countries.

On Sunday, Putin reiterated his demand that any peace deal with Ukraine should "eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis" and "guarantee Russia's security".

4. Polish centrist's narrow presidential lead leaves pro-EU path in balance

Polish liberals performed worse than expected in a presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed, as Rafal Trzaskowski from ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) scraped to victory setting up a close fight for Warsaw's pro-European path.

Trzaskowski placed first with 31.2% of the vote, ahead of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, who had 29.7%, according to an Ipsos late poll. The gap was much narrower than the 4-7 percentage points seen in opinion polls before the vote.

5. Liberal mayor Dan beats nationalist in tense race for Romanian presidency

The liberal, pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, has fought off a strong challenge from a Romanian right-wing nationalist to win the presidency after months of political turbulence.

George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR party, won a dramatic first-round victory earlier this month, riding a wave of anger from Romanians who had seen the presidential race annulled late last year because of claims of Russian interference.

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