The edition of
Monday 25 May 2026
23 stories, section by section, the most important first.
International
The U.S. Central Command announces that it launched "self-defense" airstrikes in southern Iran, including strikes on surface-to-air missile launch sites in Bandar Abbas and on IRGC Navy boats attempting to lay mines. However, two sources state that the ceasefire remains intact. Additionally, Mehr News Agency reports that the situation is calm.
An Iranian delegation led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrives in Doha, Qatar, for peace talks aimed at ending the war.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he has ordered the military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah.
Pakistani military chief Asim Munir and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif visit Beijing for talks with Chinese officials as part of mediation efforts related to the war.
Several United States officials report that U.S. president Donald Trump had asked Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey to join the Abraham Accords en masse to normalize relations with Israel as he tries to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran, while Pakistan rejected the proposal.
Crude oil tanker Idemitsu Maru arrives in Japan after previously becoming the first Japanese-owned ship to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the war started on February 28.
Human Rights Watch accuses the United Arab Emirates of training Colombian mercenaries near Abu Dhabi, including a military base in Al Dhafra, to fight alongside the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan's civil war.
Around 21 civilians have been killed over the last two days in drone strikes conducted by the RSF at markets in the North Darfur towns of Al-Tina and Kornoi.
Politics
Cambodian senate president and acting head of state Hun Sen grants a pardon to opposition leader Kem Sokha, ending his 27-year treason sentence while maintaining restrictions on his political rights and international travel.
Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye appoints Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo as prime minister, replacing Ousmane Sonko, whom Faye dismissed on 22 May.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is re-elected as speaker of the Iranian parliament for a seventh consecutive year.
Business
Oil prices decrease by 5% in Asia early trading amidst hopes of a Iran–U.S. ceasefire deal to end the war.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX 60 Composite Index climbs to 0.7% at 34,778.98 points, a record high, amidst hopes for a US-Iran deal.
The Law
Science
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian orders the Internet in Iran to be restored, bringing an end to a 87-day blackout in the wake of the Iran war that started three months ago.
Spain confirms a new case of hantavirus in a citizen who evacuated from the cruise ship MV Hondius.
The World Health Organization warns that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is outpacing response efforts, with at least 220 suspected deaths reported.
Environment
The death toll of the building collapse in Angeles, Philippines, rises to four, while search operations are ongoing for 16 people still missing.
The search for those unaccounted after a landslide at a gold mine in Canacassala, Angola, three days ago, has ended with 28 people killed in total and four rescued.
A truck overturns on a highway in Tangail District, Bangladesh, killing 15 people and wounding ten more.
A minibus crashes into a passenger bus in Mardan, Pakistan, killing 17 people and wounding five more.
One person is killed and 17 more injured when a train collides with a truck at a railway crossing in Rogoźno, Poland.
Sport
In basketball, the New York Knicks eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games with a 130–93 victory to win the NBA Eastern Conference and advance to the 2026 NBA Finals, their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. They will face the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
Stories adapted from Wikipedia’s Current events portal for 25 May 2026, by Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.