Latest news for 1 May 2026

UNITED STATES

Latest.

The Trump administration is arguing the fragile US-Iran ceasefire negates today’s 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline to either get congressional approval or end the Iran war. Meanwhile, reports are again circulating that Trump is mulling fresh strikes on Iran to break the current impasse. (Reuters)

SAUDI ARABIA

Hole in none.

Saudi Arabia’s vast PIF sovereign wealth fund has announced it’ll stop funding the new LIV golf tournament it helped found to rival the PGA tour. (Guardian)

Comment: It’s all part of Saudi Arabia’s new investment strategy, focusing less on the flashy gigaprojects that have pushed the kingdom’s finances into the red, and more on productive investments. As for LIV’s golf legacy? Mike Beauvais put it amusingly like this: “Look, was LIV Golf successful? No. Did it bolster the reputations of everybody involved? Also, no. But was it fun? Once again, no.”

TAIWAN

Maybe it’s easier if I come to you?

Paraguay’s Santiago Peña will visit Taiwan next week, receiving one of Taiwan’s top civilian honours from President Lai. (Focus Taiwan)

Comment: It’s a deliberate show of defiance amid China’s intensifying pressure on Paraguay to ditch Taiwan and recognise mainland China instead. Peña has consistently framed his country’s Taiwan ties as rooted in shared democratic values, not just economics.

TURKEY

Our sphere of influence.

Turkey has warned fellow NATO member France against a planned troop deployment to Cyprus, arguing it’s both unnecessary and destabilises the security balance between the island’s EU south and Turkey-controlled north. (Al-Monitor)

Comment: It’s classic Turkish pushback against a deepening France-Greece-Cyprus alignment, including around their planned EastMed pipeline to pump Israeli gas into Europe without going via Turkey (France’s TotalEnergies has major stakes).

MYANMAR

Home at last?

Myanmar’s military junta has announced it’s moving the country’s 80-year-old elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to house arrest from prison, where she’s been detained since the military’s 2021 coup. (BBC)

Comment: The announcement looks like another junta move to ease its international isolation after recent ✌️elections✌️ consolidated its control.

CANADA

Newfound cash.

19 unspecified NATO members and partners have reportedly wrapped talks in Montreal to launch a new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, unanimously appointing Canada to host. The new bank aims to channel low-cost, long-term funding to accelerate member defence projects. (CBC)

Comment: It’s unclear if the US is a founding bank member — the unspoken aim is to help allies diversify away from over-reliance on US defence supply chains, though early blueprints pushed for US involvement to help secure the bank’s AAA credit. PS — thanks to those Intriguers who pointed out yesterday’s briefing on oil shifting West would be incomplete without citing Canada’s major oil output!

SUDAN

Taking a stance.

The UAE has referred Sudan’s army chief of staff and several Sudanese firms to an Emirati security court over an alleged attempt to illegally supply Sudan’s military with ammo via UAE territory. (Reuters)

Comment: Given the UAE’s active (if denied) support for Sudan’s notorious rival RSF paramilitary, this in-absentia case could be an attempt to flip the PR script and frame Sudan’s military as the bad guys in Sudan’s civil war, especially given word of the RSF’s October war crimes in El Fasher (massacring 6,000 people in three days).