Latest news for 1 June 2026

IRAN

The latest.

The regime has denied a rumour (amplified by opposition-aligned outlets) about Iran’s figurehead president tendering his resignation. Meanwhile, the US and Iran have again traded fire for the third time in a week, with the Americans claiming hits on Iranian radar sites, while Kuwait is reporting damage to a base hosting US troops. And… in weirder news, hackers have managed to breach the dormant Obama White House Instagram page to post pro-Iran propaganda! (France24)

CHINA

New kid on the regulatory block.

Beijing has appointed Ding Xiangqun as chief of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), China’s top financial regulator. (CNA)

Comment: A veteran banker rather than party apparatchik, this is a “safe hands” choice to signal that Xi is serious about stabilising China’s $70T finance sector, and maybe purging it, too (her predecessor was abruptly removed over unspecified violations).

ARMENIA

EU should be careful.

Moscow has recalled its ambassador to Armenia in protest over Yerevan’s accelerating rapprochement with the EU. Once a Russian ally, Armenia has pivoted sharply toward Brussels since Putin failed to protect it during Azerbaijan’s 2023 takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh. (DW)

Comment: Facing the prospect of going down in history as the guy who squandered rather than rebuilt Russian influence in the region, Putin has responded in the way he knows best: by implicitly threatening a possible “Ukrainian scenario”.

MEXICO

We are nobody’s piñata.

President Sheinbaum has used a big election anniversary rally to dunk on US meddling, framing DOJ indictments of top Mexican officials as attempts to destabilise her government rather than genuine anti-cartel cooperation. Her comments come days after Mexico’s senate approved a constitutional amendment adding ‘foreign interference’ to the list of grounds to annul an election. (Guardian)

Comment: While supporters claim the amendment fills a legislative gap, critics are worried it could help veto elections on flimsy grounds. Just as notable for us is the shift away from Sheinbaum’s trademark calm towards Trump 2.0: it’s partly about holding her party together amid US pressure, and partly about answering criticism from among her base that she’s been too soft.

AUSTRALIA

AUKUS part 2?

Treaty allies the UK, US, and Australia have used the sidelines of the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore to ink a deal for new joint underwater drones that’ll patrol undersea cables. It’s part of their trilateral AUKUS defence tech pact, which will also now see Australia get three used (rather than new) US Virginia-class subs. (BBC)

Comment: The Brits and Aussies will read all this as welcome proof that DC remains invested in AUKUS, even if the goalposts (new vs old) keep shifting. The other notable aspect from this year’s Shangri La Dialogue might be what *didn’t* happen: China’s defence minister skipped the event altogether for the second year running, while America’s Pete Hegseth made zero mention of Taiwan in his keynote. Both absences could be two sides of the same coin: a tactical stabilising in US-China ties.

ITALY

Energising.

Rome is now pushing to “Italianize“ the international unit for electric potential from ‘volt’ to ‘volta’ in honour of Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, whose pioneering work first inspired the name. (Politico)

Comment: When governments start pulling these stops, it’s often an attempt to re-energise (🥁) their base — Meloni’s approval ratings have softened lately.

MOROCCO

Africa’s new industrial leader.

According to the African Development Bank, Morocco has now surpassed South Africa as the continent’s most industrialised economy for the first time. It partly reflects Morocco’s industrial upgrades and export diversification, but also South Africa’s struggles with power outages, corruption, and political instability. (Al Jazeera)