Six weeks after a Pakistan-brokered truce halted US-Iran hostilities, both sides remain deadlocked over sequencing in a 14-point memorandum that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and defer nuclear talks.
Category: Geopolitics
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Putin arrives in Beijing for his 25th China summit, days after Trump
Putin arrived in Beijing on May 19 for his 25th state visit with Xi Jinping, following Donald Trump’s own summit with the Chinese president by just five days.
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Trump delays Iran strike after Gulf leaders intervene, citing imminent deal
Trump called off a scheduled Iran strike on May 18 after three Gulf leaders asked him to hold off, saying the parties are very close to a deal.
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Trump’s troop pullout threatens the town that lives beside America’s army
The planned withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. soldiers from Vilseck, Bavaria would remove roughly double the town’s own population and strip it of more than $800 million in annual revenue.
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Trump leaves Beijing with Boeing deal, vague Iran pledge, and Xi state visit
Two days of talks in Beijing ended Friday with China’s pledge to pressure Iran, a 200-jet Boeing order, and an autumn invitation for Xi to visit Washington.
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Senate blocks Iran war powers limit by one vote as GOP cracks widen
Three Republicans broke ranks, but a single Democratic defection held Trump’s Iran war powers intact in the Senate’s closest vote yet, 50–49.
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Russia bombards Ukraine with 1,600 drones in the war’s largest aerial assault
Russia fired more than 1,600 drones and missiles at Ukraine over 30 hours on May 13-14, breaking every previous record for a single aerial offensive and killing at least 15 people.
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Hungary’s EU realignment removes Moscow’s last foothold inside the bloc
Orbán’s defeat closes a decade-long channel through which Russian diplomatic interests were informally represented within EU councils — eliminating a blocking mechanism on Ukraine aid and reshaping the internal politics of far-right movements across Europe.
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France opens nuclear umbrella talks with Eastern Europe as NATO fractures
Paris has entered preliminary discussions with Poland, the Baltic states, and Germany about extending French nuclear deterrence to cover Eastern European allies — the first concrete move toward a European nuclear guarantee since de Gaulle built the force de frappe in the 1960s.
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The Strait of Hormuz becomes the war’s most dangerous front
Three months into US-Israel military operations against Iran, the narrow passage through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s traded oil travels has become a pressure point that neither side can afford to close — but neither has shown it can keep fully open.