Monday, May 18, 2026
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a global health emergency after cases crossed into Uganda. The DRC has faced repeated outbreaks, but the spread to a neighboring country has raised the international alarm significantly.
Peace talks between the US and Iran remain deadlocked as Trump issued stark new warnings — "there won't be anything left" — while drone attacks struck targets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Back in Iran, the UN has verified the execution of at least 32 political prisoners since the US-Israeli war began on February 28.
British companies are freezing investment and recruitment as the economic shockwaves from the Iran war drive up costs and uncertainty, according to a major survey of UK employers. The pain is measurable: April job vacancies have already dropped 7.7%, and bosses say they are prioritising survival over growth.
Two campaign groups are threatening to sue the UK government unless it scraps a key element of its drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration, arguing that changes to how NHS treatments get approved amount to an unlawful transfer of power. The concern is that the new approval process could leave the NHS paying even higher prices for medicines than it already does.
Spain's rightwing populist party Vox has emerged as the decisive coalition partner for the conservative People's Party following a regional election in Andalusia that dealt a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The result reshapes the Spanish political landscape and signals growing momentum for the far right as a credible power broker.
