International

• Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 14:21 UTC

  Leo XIV calls for “disarming” artificial intelligence in first encyclical, links it to historical slavery

  

  Pope Leo XIV on Monday published the first major doctrinal document of his pontificate, an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas in which he calls for “disarming” artificial intelligence, warns of its risks to humanity, and delivers one of the most complete and firm apologies from the Vatican for the Catholic Church's historical role in slavery. “The word is strong, I know, but it has been chosen deliberately because this moment demands words capable of capturing attention,” the pontiff said during the presentation of the text at the Vatican, as reported by the BBC.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 08:14 UTC

  United Kingdom records hottest May since 1922 with overnight temperature record

  

  The United Kingdom registered on Tuesday its warmest dawn ever recorded for a May month, with a minimum temperature of 21.3 degrees Celsius in south London, according to the British Meteorological Office, known as the Met. The reading constitutes what meteorologists call a “tropical night,” a category reserved for periods in which the overnight temperature does not fall below 20 degrees, an unusual phenomenon for this time of year in the British Isles.

• 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 - 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.

• Saturday, May 23rd 2026 - 02:34 UTC

  Uruguay captures 63% of Mercosur's annual rice quota to the European Union

  

  Uruguay this week filled 63% of the annual zero-tariff rice quota granted by the European Union to Mercosur, in the first significant trade milestone since the provisional entry into force, on 1 May, of the association agreement between the two blocs. The total quota of 6,667 tons for the current year was covered within a few weeks of activity, according to Acting Foreign Minister Valeria Csukasi, in what amounts to one of the first operational tests of the treaty signed on 17 January in Asunción.

• Saturday, May 23rd 2026 - 01:44 UTC

  Messi joins billionaire athletes club after crossing USD 1 billion net worth threshold

  

  Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, 38, has crossed the USD 1 billion net worth threshold and joined the exclusive group of billionaire athletes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The captain of the Argentine national team, world champion in Qatar 2022 and winner of eight Ballons d'Or, now shares the category with his historic sporting rival, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached the milestone in 2023 after signing with Al-Nassr of the Saudi Pro League.

• Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 23:12 UTC

  Humpback whales observation show they moved between Australia and Brazil, the longest travel distance ever

  

  Two humpback whales have been sighted in separate breeding grounds off Australia and Brazil, the first time scientists have seen the species travel such vast distances across the Southern Ocean during their lifetimes.

• Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 23:04 UTC

  Record art sales at Christie’s, US$ 1,1bn in three hours; US expressionist Pollard painting sold for US$ 181 million

  

  A painting by US Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock sold for a record US$181.2 million (€156.2 million) with fees, at Christie’s auction house in New York this week, alongside other staggering sales on what was a blockbuster event for the institution.

• Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 22:40 UTC

  Four French frigates for Swedish navy, in a plus US$ 3.5 billion deal

  

  The Swedish government this week announced a deal to purchase four new frigates for its navy from France’s Naval Group. Sweden neutral throughout the Cold War, applied for NATO membership in May 2022 alongside Finland, following on Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine.