Trump pauses Hormuz escort operation amid Iran talks
U.S. President Donald Trump halted "Project Freedom," a military operation launched one day earlier to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, following a mediation request from Pakistan and other countries. The naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in force to maintain pressure on Tehran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said offensive operations achieved their objectives and Iran faces "catastrophic destruction" to its economy. The conflict began February 28 with coordinated U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran's leadership and infrastructure, which failed to topple the regime.
Major Publishers Sue Meta for Using Books to Train AI
Major publishers Elsevier, Cengage, Hachette, Macmillan and McGraw Hill, along with author Scott Turow, sued Meta Platforms in Manhattan federal court on May 5. The lawsuit accused Meta of using millions of copyrighted books and journal articles without permission to train its AI model Llama. Meta responded that training AI on copyrighted material constitutes fair use and pledged to fight the lawsuit. The filing is part of a broader copyright battle involving dozens of creators suing tech companies including Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic. Anthropic previously settled a similar case for $1.5 billion.
Nobel Laureate Mohammadi 'Between Life and Death' in Iran
Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was hospitalized on May 1 in northwestern Iran, with her support committee describing her condition as "between life and death." She suffered a suspected heart attack in late March and has been on hunger strike to protest her detention conditions. Her Paris-based lawyer told supporters the fight was to ensure "her heart continues to beat." Mohammadi was awarded the prize while in detention for her advocacy for women's rights and against the death penalty in Iran. She has been imprisoned since December and spent much of recent years behind bars.
LeCun tells anxious students: AI won't kill most jobs
Turing Award winner Yann LeCun called apocalyptic AI job predictions "extremely destructive," saying tech CEOs pushing doom have "a vested interest in propping up the power of the products they sell." A Bank of America analysis of 85 years of labor data found 60% of current US jobs did not exist in 1940, with only 2.3% of global positions facing full AI replacement. Gen Z anxiety about AI rose to 31% from 22% a year ago. A Microsoft report found just 26% of AI users see leadership aligned on AI strategy, with the company recommending managers model effective use.
Dubai launches plan to put Agentic AI in private sector
Dubai has launched a two-year programme to transition its private sector toward Agentic AI. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the initiative under his father's directives, with specialised training, incubators and dedicated funding for startups working in the technology. San Francisco-based Nova Intelligence raised a $31.5 million Series A round led by Chemistry to build an agentic AI platform for SAP environments, with a case study showing 75% reduction in manual effort. Indian GenAI unicorn Krutrim is pivoting from AI model development to cloud services following significant layoffs, redirecting capital from chip design efforts.
Apple to let users pick third-party AI models this fall
Apple will let iPhone, iPad, and Mac users choose from multiple third-party AI models in fall software updates through a system called Extensions. The framework, which Apple is testing with Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and ChatGPT, will allow AI providers to opt in through App Store apps. Users will be able to assign different Siri voices to different AI providers. The expansion will be announced at WWDC on June 8 as part of a broader leadership transition in which incoming executive John Ternus takes over AI strategy from Tim Cook.
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- Ayuso honors Cortés, fueling Spain-Mexico colonial rift. The Madrid regional leader celebrated mestizaje in Mexico City, drawing indigenous protests and reigniting a diplomatic dispute over the Spanish conquest.
- Romania set to oust PM Bolojan in no-confidence vote. A rare alliance between the leftist PSD and far-right AUR threatens to topple the government, deepening political instability at a time when Romania is already grappling with a 7.9% deficit and a currency at record lows.
- Spirit Airlines ceases operations as Iran war fuels crisis. Spirit Airlines has become the first major casualty of the Iran war-driven aviation crisis, entering bankruptcy after failing to secure a $500 million bailout. Qantas has cut 20 percent of international capacity and flagged $700 million in additional fuel costs.
- Three dead as hantavirus outbreak hits stranded cruise ship. A hantavirus outbreak has killed three passengers and sickened several others aboard the MV Hondius, stranding 149 people off Cabo Verde as authorities investigate possible person-to-person transmission.
- Labour faces wipeout as backbenchers plot Starmer's removal. Polling suggests Labour could lose up to 1,800 of its 2,500 council seats in Thursday's elections, with party critics demanding the prime minister set a departure date.