Morning Brief, Tuesday 26 May

The ceasefire that has held since early April in the Iran war came under severe strain on Monday as the United States launched self-defense strikes on Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins confirmed the action.

“US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

The strikes occurred even as an Iranian delegation arrived in Doha for peace talks, with President Donald Trump warning that only a ‘great and meaningful’ deal would suffice. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered intensified military operations against Hezbollah, declaring

“We will intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them.”

The escalation defies a US-brokered ceasefire in effect since April 17, with Hezbollah having fired over a thousand drones and 700 rockets since the truce began. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Israel’s right to self-defense.

“Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah's air attacks.”

In a separate but related development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Rubio that on President Vladimir Putin’s orders, Russian forces have begun systematic strikes on decision-making centres in Kyiv, and urged the evacuation of American diplomats and citizens. The strikes were retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on a dormitory in occupied Starobilsk that killed 21 people. Amid the widening turmoil, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the reopening of international internet access after an 87-day blackout, though the timing remains unclear. The convergence of military action and diplomatic maneuvering left the region teetering between war and an elusive peace.

Pope Leo XIV issued his inaugural encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ on Monday, plunging the Catholic Church into the global debate over artificial intelligence with a 231-page document that frames AI as a moral and political crisis. The pontiff, a mathematician who once programmed websites, warned that algorithmic power has become a form of sovereignty.

“Very influential small groups can orient information and consumption, condition democratic processes, and influence economic dynamics for their own benefit.”

The encyclical explicitly draws a parallel to Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 ‘Rerum Novarum,’ which addressed the plight of workers during the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIV insists that AI systems should never make life-or-death decisions, especially in military contexts, and must never be allowed to decide who is ‘deserving’ or not.

“AI can be a precious gift, but must be used with moral discernment.”

The presentation was accompanied by Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, a company that lost Pentagon contracts after refusing to remove ethical limits from its systems. Theologian Sara Lumbreras praised the text.

“It is a very brave text that follows the line of Antiqua et nova and reflects a great effort to continue building the Church's social doctrine on a new problem, AI.”

The encyclical’s closing challenge—‘Does AI make life on earth more human? More worthy of man?’—demands action now, the Pope wrote.

Ferrari chose the 79th anniversary of its first victory to launch the Luce, its first fully electric car, at the Vela di Calatrava in Rome on Monday. CEO Benedetto Vigna presented the five-seat, four-door model as a ‘programmatic manifesto’ proving that emotion and performance can survive electrification.

“Luce is the result of five years of work. We chose to start from Ferrari and not from electric technology. It's all consistent with what we have always said.”

The design was entrusted to Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom collective, resulting in a fluid silhouette with hidden headlights and rear-hinged doors. Four independent electric motors deliver 1,050 CV, drawing from a 122 kWh battery that provides a declared range of 530 km. President John Elkann framed the car as a historic leap.

“With Ferrari Luce, we redefine once again the limits of the possible. Today we are not just presenting a new car, we are inaugurating a chapter that transforms our vision into reality, strengthening the Ferrari tradition of anticipating and shaping the future.”

Priced at €550,000, the Luce targets both tech-oriented buyers and traditional collectors. Chief Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera promised residual value guarantees to counter fears of technological obsolescence.

“We will guarantee that the cars will remain alive forever and we will build formulas capable of transmitting to the market that we believe in this project.”

Deliveries begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, as competitors scale back their EV ambitions.

An unseasonal heat dome drawing hot air from North Africa shattered temperature records across France on Monday, forcing the government to schedule an emergency inter-ministerial meeting for Thursday. Météo-France reported that several dozen records were broken. In Bergerac, the mercury hit 34.7°C, beating the previous record of 33.8°C set only the day before. Brest recorded 33°C, far surpassing its 29.8°C mark, while Nantes reached 34.3°C and Angers 34°C, erasing a record from 1947.

• Bergerac34.7
• Brest33
• Nantes34.3
• Angers34
• Arras30.7
• Mandelieu-la-Napoule32.4

Eight western departments were placed under an orange heatwave alert—the first such warning ever activated in May. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will chair the meeting with ministers responsible for interior, health, and ecological transition. Matignon stated that

“The ministers will address issues related to public reception, the state of water tables, and the risk of forest fires.”

At least eight people have died since the Pentecost weekend due to the abnormally high temperatures. The heat is expected to persist through the weekend, testing the government’s preparedness for extreme weather events.

Spanish police raided the Madrid residence of Julio Martínez Martínez, a close associate of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, on 11 December 2025, uncovering €286,070 in cash hidden in travel bags, a golf bag, a Christmas sack, and even inside a heating radiator. Most bills were €50 notes, with €5,000 in €500 bills found in a drawer. Five envelopes bore handwritten Chinese characters translating to ‘10,000,’ each containing exactly that amount. Seized notebooks detailed interventions in Venezuelan affairs, including the liberation of prisoners and the repatriation of opposition politician Edmundo González. A UDEF report stated

“These documents go far beyond the sphere of influence or institutional relations an entrepreneur might hold, projecting directly onto state affairs at the highest level, completely outside the normal framework of commercial activity.”

An accounting ledger showed €47,700 in pending payments to Zapatero. Last week a judge ordered the preservation of all emails from Zapatero, his daughters, and their marketing agency. The only direct message attributed to Zapatero himself is a brief note from 2021.

“On time and in form. Successful management.”

The investigation has deepened a scandal linking the former leader to opaque business schemes and Venezuelan influence networks.

Firefighters eliminated the threat of a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion from a compromised chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, California, on Monday. Orange County Fire Authority Interim Chief TJ McGovern confirmed that a crack discovered in the tank over the weekend helped dissipate dangerous internal pressure.

“We are happy to report that the threat of a BLEVE is now off the table. That threat has been eliminated.”

The tank holds close to 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a toxic chemical used in plastics and aircraft production. More than 50,000 residents from six cities remain under evacuation orders as a precaution. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and has asked President Donald Trump for a federal emergency declaration. Two law firms have filed a class action lawsuit against GKN Aerospace, alleging negligent storage and failure to inspect equipment. Officials said no chemicals are currently leaking, but the evacuation order remains in effect indefinitely while crews monitor the situation.