Iniaes

In the Middle East

The U.S. says it disabled two empty Iranian tankers as they tried to enter an Iranian port, part of a widening confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says a Navy F/A-18 fired precision munitions into the ships’ smokestacks, and officials say more than 70 tankers have now been blocked from Iranian ports. Iran says it is not backing down on control of the strait, and both sides are still trading claims while a peace proposal sits on the table.

In education and cybersecurity

Hackers calling themselves ShinyHunters say they hit Instructure, the company behind Canvas, and copied a large amount of private data. The attack landed right near the end of the semester, which is a charming time to knock student records and school access sideways. Many Canvas systems are back up, but the full impact is still unclear, along with whether any institutions paid ransom.

In Britain

Labour took a historic beating in Wales, where First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat and the party dropped to third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform. In England, Reform also made strong gains in council elections, while the Greens picked up seats too. Voters, in a rare display of interest in local democracy, seem to have noticed what was on offer.

In U.S. courts and politics

A federal appeals court roundup brought rulings on eminent domain, silencer convictions, mistaken police entry, online searches, immigration detention, bankruptcy immunity, prison fraud, and COVID-era school discipline. The decisions left Baltimore neighbors without a Takings Clause win over a failed redevelopment project, upheld a silencer conviction under existing precedent, and allowed part of a lawsuit over a police raid to move forward.

In Congress, a Minnesota state lawmaker is seeking a subpoena for Rep. Ilhan Omar after she declined to cooperate with a probe into alleged ties to Somali fraudsters accused of taking $250 million from Twin Cities taxpayers. The request now goes to a House committee.

In crime

Richmond police say 21-year-old Amaya Dixon has been indicted on two counts of felony murder and two counts of child neglect in the deaths of her twin 17-month-old sons. Investigators say officers found the boys with apparent drowning injuries in an apartment bathtub on April 17, and both later died at a hospital. Police have not released a motive or said whether anyone else was in the apartment.

In science and health

A new study says Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba, has been detected in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Lake Mead National Parks. The finding is another reminder that warm freshwater and hot spring environments can carry serious risks, even in places people usually visit for recreation.

In the Middle East

The Iran conflict is now hitting datacenter construction costs, with firms reporting material price increases of up to 20 percent and shortages of key inputs. Industry specialists say oil-based building materials are getting harder to source, while transformer and copper shortages were already squeezing projects before the fighting widened. Developers are being told to lock in long-lead items early and write price-escalation terms into contracts.

Separately, U.S. Central Command says it struck two oil tankers heading toward Iran, saying the ships were trying to violate a blockade. The strike comes as tensions remain high around the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran accuses Washington of violating a fragile ceasefire.

In the courts

The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a ballot measure on congressional gerrymandering, ruling 4-3 that lawmakers used an unconstitutional process to place it before voters. The decision leaves the 2021 district maps in place for the 2026 congressional elections and is limited to Virginia state law.

In Washington, attorneys for Cole Allen, the man accused of trying to kill President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, are asking a court to remove top Justice Department officials from the case. They argue there is a conflict of interest, or at least the appearance of one, because several officials were at the event and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has close ties to Trump.

In South Africa

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ordered parliament to restart an impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa, ruling that lawmakers acted unlawfully when they blocked the process in 2022. The case centers on the Phala Phala farm scandal, including allegations of a cover-up and money laundering, which Ramaphosa denies.

In business

President Trump says he will hit the European Union with much higher tariffs unless the two sides reach a trade deal by July 4. Brussels, meanwhile, has told airlines they cannot tack on higher fuel surcharges after tickets are sold, and that rising kerosene prices do not excuse them from passenger compensation rules. The rules remain more stable than the mood.

Separately, European AI-powered robots are already taking over more warehouse packing, picking and sorting in e-commerce, with developers openly acknowledging the social fallout that comes with a shift they see as hard to stop.

In the Middle East

Trump says the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is still holding after the two sides exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington expects Iran to respond on Friday to a proposal meant to end the war, and that answer could determine whether the talks move into serious negotiations.

In British politics

Early local election counts in England and Wales show Labour losing ground while Reform UK makes gains in former Labour areas, a warning sign for Keir Starmer’s government less than two years after taking office.

Nigel Farage also sidestepped questions about a £5 million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, money he received shortly before saying he would stand in the 2024 general election and which was not declared.

In the courts

A Texas death penalty case has put fresh pressure on the Supreme Court’s Batson ruling, after prosecutors in the Broadnax case tried to strike all seven Black jurors from the pool. Prosecutors offer race-neutral explanations, courts often accept them, and racial bias in jury selection keeps finding a way through.

In education

New research using national data from 2003 to 2022 finds that Black, Hispanic, female, low-income and multilingual elementary students are less likely to be identified with autism than similar white, male, higher-income or English-speaking peers. The gaps matter because school identification is often the gateway to special education support.

In U.S. politics and courts

President Trump is warning Iran it will face “a lot of pain” if there is no nuclear deal, while also taking heat at home for a tense exchange with an ABC reporter over gas prices and Iran. He then turned up at the Lincoln Memorial area to inspect a newly blue Reflecting Pool, because apparently no patch of water is safe from presidential oversight.

On the legal front, a federal trade court blocked Trump’s 10 percent global tariffs, saying he exceeded his authority under the Trade Act of 1974. In a separate ruling, a federal judge stopped Elon Musk’s DOGE from canceling more than $100 million in humanities grants, finding the process unconstitutional.

In markets and consumer tech

Michael Burry says today’s tech stock rally looks even more overextended than the dot-com bubble, with Tesla among the names he sees as especially stretched. He has also been betting against Nvidia and Palantir, and says some megacap tech companies are using aggressive accounting to support their valuations.

Nintendo is raising the U.S. price of the Switch 2 to $499.99 on Sept. 1, blaming higher memory and storage costs. Consumers, naturally, get to pay the invoice for supply chain reality.

In Britain and Russia

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will not step aside after Labour’s poor local election results in England, Wales, and Scotland. The message is clear, the voters were less impressed than he was.

In Moscow, Putin’s Victory Day parade is looking smaller and more isolated than usual, with some former allies staying away from the Kremlin’s main showpiece event.

In the UK

Local election results are still coming in across England, with Scottish and Welsh counts due later, and Keir Starmer says he takes responsibility after Labour lost hundreds of council seats. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Plaid Cymru are all trying to put their own spin on the numbers, as parties do when the numbers refuse to cooperate.

Separately, Halifax says UK house prices fell for a second straight month in April, and it has cut its forecast for annual growth in half, blaming uncertainty linked to the conflict in the Middle East. A 17-year-old in London also avoided jail after admitting a long shoplifting campaign that took more than £100,000 in goods from Boots and additional items from Holland and Barrett.

In global news

At least three hikers are dead and 10 are missing after Mount Dukono erupted on Indonesia’s Halmahera island, sending ash about 10 kilometers into the air. Officials say two of the dead were foreigners and one was a resident of Ternate.

In another serious health story, a hantavirus outbreak on an Antarctic expedition cruise has left three people dead, and authorities are tracing contacts across multiple countries.

In business and tech

Nintendo says it will raise Switch 2 prices in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan, citing changing market conditions. The company is also planning price changes for the original Switch in some regions, because apparently even consoles now have to keep up with inflation.

Elsewhere, the Pentagon has signed seven tech firms for classified AI work, while excluding Anthropic from the program. The government continues its long tradition of inviting innovation, then putting it behind a very thick door.

In world affairs

Southeast Asian leaders are meeting at the ASEAN summit to deal with the fallout from the Iran war, with energy security and reopening the Strait of Hormuz high on the agenda. In a separate sign of shifting anxiety, more Israeli and American Jews are applying for German citizenship, seeing a passport there as a hedge against uncertainty.

A judge in the U.S. has also blocked the Trump administration from canceling more than $100 million in humanities grants, after former DOGE staffers reportedly used ChatGPT to scan funding records for words like “DEI” and “LGBTQ.”

In Washington

Sen. John Fetterman says he has no plans to leave the Democratic Party, despite disagreeing with Democrats on foreign policy and immigration. He says his views on abortion rights, marijuana legalization, LGBTQ rights, SNAP, labor, and bipartisanship have not changed, which is about as close as modern politics gets to a calm statement.

The State Department says it will start revoking passports of some parents with large unpaid child support debts. A Trump-appointed FEMA review council has released its final recommendations for major changes to the agency, while the Air Force has approved $508 million to add missile-defense systems to tankers and cargo planes — a sign that even the big aircraft are being asked to dress for the apocalypse.

Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also met at the White House to discuss trade and security, but the session was abruptly closed to the press after cameras had been expected in the room.

In the Persian Gulf

The U.S. military says Iran launched missiles, drones, and small-boat attacks at American warships near the Strait of Hormuz, and that U.S. forces intercepted the threats before striking Iranian military sites tied to the attack. President Trump said the cease-fire with Iran is still in effect, while also warning Tehran to reach a deal quickly or face more consequences.

In court

A federal lawsuit accusing Ohio State of failing to stop sexual abuse by a team doctor has grown, with 30 former Buckeyes football players now joining the case. The claims stretch back decades and add new pressure to a long-running institutional abuse lawsuit.

In Mexico

At least five people were killed in a large fire at a fairground in Villahermosa, in southeastern Mexico. Officials have not yet given a full account of what sparked the blaze.

In health

The WHO says hantavirus should not be treated like a COVID-level pandemic threat, even as officials in Chile and Argentina report a sustained rise in infections and more deaths in Chile this year. Separate from that, a new Trust for America’s Health report says fewer than half of U.S. states are adequately prepared for a public health emergency, with only 20 states scoring in the top tier. Public health readiness, as ever, remains an ongoing concept.

Also, snack mixes sold at Target and other stores are being recalled over salmonella concerns. Consumers are being told not to eat the affected products and to return them for a refund.

In U.S. politics

A Trump-appointed panel has recommended cutting FEMA’s budget in half over time, shifting more disaster leadership to the states, and trimming or eliminating some federal reviews and programs. Supporters call it streamlining. Critics will probably use less polished language.

In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers approved a new U.S. House map that breaks up a majority-Black district in Memphis and tilts the state’s lines further toward the GOP, despite Democratic protests. Meanwhile, a federal judge in North Carolina has conditionally agreed to cancel James Comey’s upcoming court appearance in the case alleging he threatened President Trump, after Comey asked to skip the hearing and the government did not object.

And Republican Rep. Tom Barrett has introduced a bill that would force the Trump administration to wind down the Iran war by the end of July and limit the scope of the U.S. military campaign. Congress, once again, has discovered the concept of boundaries after the main event has already started.

In public health and travel

The Trump administration has eliminated all full-time civilian CDC inspectors who handled cruise ship hygiene, just as norovirus outbreaks are rising. That leaves fewer people checking sanitation on ships at exactly the wrong moment.

Separately, more than two dozen passengers from at least 12 countries have left a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak that has already killed one person. The WHO says the remaining passengers and crew are not currently symptomatic, but more cases could still appear during the incubation period.

In business and tech

Anthropic has signed a deal with SpaceX for additional computing capacity as demand for its AI products grows. The agreement gives Anthropic access to the full compute load at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center, which has more than 220,000 Nvidia GPUs.

In the courts

A UK immigration officer was among two men found guilty of working for Chinese intelligence. Prosecutors said Chi Leung “Peter” Wai used the main immigration database to track Hong Kong dissidents living in Britain.

In the U.S., former California immigration judge Tania Nemer has sued the Justice Department, saying she was fired because she is a Democrat. Her complaint says she was removed from the bench over her political affiliation.

In New York, a bill would ban childbirth in jail cells and sharply restrict restraints and solitary confinement for pregnant prisoners.

Superdry co-founder James Holder has been jailed for rape. In court, his victim said he took her “choice, dignity and body.”

In U.S. politics and law enforcement

Two members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors say they will move to remove Sheriff Chris Nanos over allegations that he lied under oath about his disciplinary history in Texas. The dispute is also feeding tensions with the FBI over the investigation into the suspected kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie.

In international affairs

Ukrainian negotiators are in the United States trying to restart talks with Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The U.S.-mediated effort has made little progress since February.

In the Middle East

Iran says it is reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the fighting, after President Trump warned Tehran not to reject the deal. The foreign ministry says officials are still considering it. On the ground, people inside Iran say they are stuck between hopes for change and fear of more destruction, with war, strikes, and economic pressure closing in at once.

Turkey also unveiled what it says is its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Yildirimhan, with officials claiming a 6,000-kilometer range and a 3,000-kilogram payload. A very calm announcement for a very not calm kind of hardware.

In Europe

European leaders are weighing a backup defense plan in case the United States pulls key support from NATO before Europe can replace it. The concern is that Washington could step back faster than European governments can build the military and political structures to cover the gap, especially as support for Ukraine remains tied to broader tensions with Moscow.

Separately, the EU executive is reportedly considering dropping methane fines as it revisits energy rules under crisis pressure, a move that would further weaken incentives to monitor pollution.

In business and energy

Shell more than doubled its first-quarter profits after the war in Iran pushed oil and gas prices higher. The company benefited from the surge across the quarter, as energy markets did what they so often do: reward instability with better margins.

The same oil price spike is now feeding pressure across Africa, where several countries are seeking financial help as higher fuel costs add to economic uncertainty.

In security and investigations

The FBI is facing scrutiny after reports that agents may have opened a leak inquiry connected to reporting about Director Kash Patel. The question is whether the bureau was investigating a leak, a journalist, or the awkward overlap between the two.

Interpol says a global operation against illegal online drug sales led to the seizure of 6.42 million doses of counterfeit and unapproved medicines, including fake Viagra, steroids, and weight-loss drugs.

In sports

Paris Saint-Germain are through to the Champions League final after beating Bayern Munich, and Luis Enrique has already set the tone for the Arsenal meeting on May 30 in Budapest. He praised Mikel Arteta and expects a difficult final, while Vincent Kompany said refereeing decisions across both legs helped sink Bayern. Modern European football, once again, finding a way to make every semifinal about the officials.

In UK politics

Voting is under way in local elections that would normally be about potholes, bins, and the usual municipal thrills. Instead, Starmer’s opponents are trying to turn them into a national verdict on his leadership.

In business and tech

Anthropic has struck a major computing partnership with SpaceX, giving it access to a large data center as demand for Claude keeps climbing. Shell also reported first-quarter profit of $6.92 billion, lifted by higher oil prices during the conflict involving Iran.

In international news

EU lawmakers and member states failed to reach a deal on the EU-US agreement after more than six hours of talks, though negotiators said they made some progress and will meet again in 10 days. In the broader security picture, South Korea’s spy agency says North Korea has significantly softened its language toward the South in a revised constitution. Meanwhile, drought, conflict, and aid cuts are pushing more Somalis into hunger, with displacement camps around Kismayo under growing strain.

In U.S. news

A federal appeals court has blocked a Trump administration immigration policy that would have allowed broader detention without bond hearings, including for people who had lived in the U.S. for years. In a separate case, actress Q’orianka Kilcher is suing James Cameron, alleging he used her face as inspiration for an Avatar character without permission or compensation.