Stories for May 25th 2026

Monday, May 25th 2026 - 22:11 UTC
United States strikes southern Iran targets “in self-defense” amid Doha peace talks

The US Armed Forces struck military targets in southern Iran on Monday “in self-defense,” according to a statement by US Central Command, in an episode that coincides with the arrival of Iranian negotiators in Qatar for peace talks mediated by the Qatari government. The operation also overlaps with the order issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israeli army to “step on the accelerator” in its offensive against the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite parallel negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 21:58 UTC
2026 World Cup drives Airbnb supply surge in Mexican host cities and consolidates real estate firms' control

The approach of the 2026 World Cup, which Mexico will co-host alongside the United States and Canada, has accelerated the mass conversion of traditional housing into short-term tourist rentals in the three Mexican cities hosting the tournament, with a sharp rise of real estate firms as the dominant market actor. According to data from the specialized firm AirDNA cited by the newspaper El País, the supply of properties on Airbnb and similar platforms grew in Mexico City by 30% between 2023 and 2026, rising from 18,000 to close to 24,000 units. In the Guadalajara metropolitan area, growth reached 50%, to 9,760 properties, and in the Monterrey metropolitan area it doubled, to 7,274 units.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 21:39 UTC
Lula receives preventive radiotherapy against skin cancer four months before Brazilian elections

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday began a preventive radiotherapy treatment following the removal of a cancerous lesion from his scalp, in a medical intervention that places the spotlight on the health of the 80-year-old leader four months before the presidential elections in which he will seek a fourth term. The Sirio-Libanés Hospital, the private center where Lula receives care, confirmed the start of the treatment through a medical bulletin released mid-morning in Brasilia.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 04:24 UTC
Three main Colombian presidential candidates close campaigns one week before first round

The three main contenders to succeed President Gustavo Petro on Sunday closed their campaigns with massive political rallies in different cities across the country, one week before the first round of the presidential elections of 31 May. Leftist senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Pacto Histórico; far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria movement; and right-wing senator Paloma Valencia, of the Centro Democrático, lead the polls, while around 10% of the electorate remains undecided one week before the vote. The eventual runoff is scheduled for 21 June.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 01:49 UTC
Peru sends four tons of food to Bolivia and joins humanitarian airlift over blockades

The government of Peru on Sunday delivered to Bolivia a donation of four tons of food intended for families affected by the road blockades that highland peasant sectors have maintained for 19 days, in an initiative that adds Lima to the growing regional humanitarian airlift organized around the government of President Rodrigo Paz. The aid arrived aboard a Peruvian military aircraft and was received by Bolivian Deputy Minister of Consular Management Héctor Huanca and the Peruvian Ambassador in La Paz, Carlos Chávez-Taffur, at El Alto international airport.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 01:06 UTC
Spanish police investigate Plus Ultra bailout scheme, linking Zapatero with Maduro's circle

The Spanish National Police's Economic and Tax Crime Unit (UDEF) considers that former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero may have exercised “non-visible leadership” in an alleged influence network that facilitated the EUR 53 million bailout of airline Plus Ultra during the covid-19 pandemic. The report, comprising more than 300 pages and submitted to National Court judge José Luis Calama, was disclosed on Saturday by the outlet Infobae España and forms part of the judicial file investigating the maneuvers to obtain the public aid from the State Industrial Holdings Company (SEPI) in 2021.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 00:51 UTC
Trump administration anticipates imminent agreement with Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz

The administration of US President Donald Trump took it for granted on Sunday that within the coming days it will be able to announce an agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime route through which approximately 20% of the world's oil flows and which has remained practically closed since the start of the US and Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic on 28 February. Three months after the attack that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei —replaced by his son Mojtaba— Washington and Tehran are negotiating a two-phase scheme that would ease pressure on the global economy without immediately resolving the underlying nuclear questions.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 00:44 UTC
Paraguayan Prosecutor's Office maps Marset drug route from Bolivia to European ports

The Paraguayan Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Gianina García Troche, the former partner of Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, that reconstructs in detail the criminal structure operating from Paraguay that for years moved cocaine from Bolivia to major European ports. The document, cited by the Uruguayan newspaper El País, lays out a three-pronged organization, nearly a thousand clandestine flights inside the Paraguayan Chaco, and a verified export volume amounting to 17,340 kilos of cocaine seized in Belgium and the Netherlands, valued at up to USD 434 million on the European market.
Monday, May 25th 2026 - 00:38 UTC
Evo Morales demands elections in Bolivia in 90 days “to avoid deaths” and warns against militarization

El expresidente boliviano Evo Morales (2006-2019) elevó este domingo la presión sobre el Gobierno de Rodrigo Paz al exigir la convocatoria de elecciones generales en un plazo de 90 días “para que no haya muertos, para que no haya heridos”, en una nueva escalada del pulso político que mantiene paralizadas a las ciudades de La Paz y El Alto desde hace tres semanas. El líder cocalero, prófugo de la justicia boliviana por un caso de presunta trata agravada de menores, advirtió que cualquier decisión del Ejecutivo de “militarizar” el país para desbloquear las rutas constituiría una alternativa “suicida”.