Also: The state of abortion in America
May 11th 2026 For subscribers
The World in Brief
Catch up quickly on the global stories that matter
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Today’s top stories
▸ Donald Trump called Iran’sresponse to America’s proposal to end the war “totally unacceptable”. It included compensation for war damage and recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state television said. It is not clear whether the proposal mentioned Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said the war would not end until Iran relinquishes the material. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose to around $105 a barrel.
▸ Factory prices in China rose by 2.8% year on year in April, the biggest increase since 2022. China’s statistics ministry blamed the “rapid rise in international commodity prices” and greater demand in “certain domestic sectors”. The war in Iran has helped end China’s deflationary slide but domestic demand remains sluggish. Consumer prices increased by 1.2%.
▸ China’s foreign ministry confirmed the summit between Xi Jinping and Mr Trump will go ahead this week. Mr Trump will arrive in China on May 14th. The war caused the leaders’ previously scheduled meeting to be postponed. The conflict will be one of many contentious topics under discussion. Last week America imposed sanctions on three Chinese satellite firms for supplying images to Iran.
▸ Alphabet announced plans to issue bonds denominated in Japanese yen for the first time, as it seeks to raise more funding for its artificial-intelligence spending spree. Google’s parent company is hoping to spend $190bn on AI infrastructure in 2026. Last week the firm raised nearly $17bn by issuing bonds denominated in euros and Canadian dollars.
▸ Narges Mohammadi , an Iranian Nobel peace-prize winner, was released on bail and transferred to a hospital in Tehran, her family’s foundation said. The human-rights activist, who suffered a heart attack two weeks ago, has been granted a suspension of her sentence. She won the Nobel in 2023, while imprisoned, for campaigning for women’s rights and against the death penalty.
▸ Narendra Modi , India’s prime minister, urged citizens to use fuel “sparingly”. He asked them to carpool, work from home and reduce non-essential travel abroad. Asia was the destination for almost 90% of the oil and gas that transited the Strait of Hormuz last year. Several countries, including Sri Lanka and the Philippines, have mandated energy-saving policies.
▸ An American who had returned to the country from the _MV Hondius_ cruise tested positive for hantavirus , according to health authorities. Another passenger has mild symptoms. A further 15 Americans returned on the same flight; all will be transferred to a quarantine unit in Nebraska. Meanwhile British soldiers parachuted onto Tristan da Cunha, a remote British territory, to deal with a suspected case there.
Figure of the day
Almost 2%. The reduction in carbon-dioxide concentration when 60 square centimetres of plants were placed in an office, according to one study.Do houseplants actually improve air quality?
Today’s markets
Topix | 3,840.9 | +0.30% ↑
STOXX 600 | 612.2 | +0.00% ↑
S&P; 500 futures | 7,418.3 | -0.01% ↓
Data at May 11th 2026, 09:53 GMT | % change on previous close | Source: LSEG
The day ahead
GETTY IMAGES
Will Labour get a new leader?
Britain’s Labour Party is still reeling from the disastrous local elections of May 7th, when it lost hundreds of seats in its traditional heartlands. Some MPs, though, are past grieving: about 30 Labour lawmakers have publicly called for their leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to resign. But he insists he will not, and said he would stand against any leadership challenger.
Only one MP has gone as far as to say she will challenge Sir Keir for the leadership. Catherine West, a backbencher, said she might put her name forward on Monday if no cabinet minister steps up. Ms West is unlikely to garner the necessary 81 nominations from MP s, but she might encourage potential big hitters, including Andy Burnham, the ambitious mayor of Greater Manchester, Angela Rayner, Sir Keir’s former deputy, and Wes Streeting, the health minister. Ms West wants to begin collecting nominations ahead of Parliament’s opening on Wednesday. By then more MPs may be beyond denial and demanding action.
The triple threat to Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, will boast to investors of its resilience on Monday when it expands on its first-quarter results. Analysts had been worried that many shipments would be bottled up by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and that production would be damaged by Iran’s attacks on energy infrastructure.
In fact, the colossus defied expectations by posting net profits of $33.6bn on Sunday, up a quarter year on year, and continuing to pay a large dividend to its government owners. Saudi Aramco used pipelines to reroute exports away from Hormuz and benefited from higher oil prices.
Still, three challenges loom. Iran could inflict new damage on those vital pipelines. And, though Aramco may want to slash its dividend to pay for fixing war-related damage, the Saudi state, which also needs the money, may say no. Finally, as Amin Nasser, the firm’s boss, warned, if hostilities continue beyond a few weeks, supply disruptions will persist and the market will not normalise until 2027.
Bringing Ukraine’s children home
Over 20,000 Ukrainian kids have been deported from their homes towards Russia and the territories it seized during the full-scale invasion from 2022, according to authorities in Kyiv. On Monday foreign ministers representing Canada, Ukraine and the European Union will meet in Brussels to co-ordinate their efforts to trace, return, and reintegrate the forcibly transferred youngsters.
Russia has long denied that it has carried out a mass kidnapping scheme, which the UN decries as both a crime against humanity and a war crime. The EU has imposed sanctions on over 60 individuals who helped organise the operation, which involves re-education and indoctrination. A coalition of 47 countries and international organisations are taking part in efforts to return the children. So far around 2,000 have been returned home. The fate of many others remains unclear.
The state of abortions in America
In the first half of 2025 over a quarter of abortions in America were provided remotely—many of them in states where the procedure is banned and the women received mifepristone pills by post. That is, in part, why although 17 states have banned or severely limited abortions, more are provided now than they were in 2022. A ban on prescribing mifepristone remotely was put on pause by the Supreme Court earlier this month at the request of abortion-pill manufacturers. An appeals court had blocked provision of the drug through telemedicine.
That pause ends on Monday. Louisiana, which would like the pills only to be available in person, filed its latest arguments to the court on Thursday. If the state’s case succeeds, it will upend America’s tenuous settlement on abortion. Donald Trump has been relatively mum on the issue, which has contributed to the relative success of the Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Abortion returning to the headlines may make some Republicans quiver—a greater possibility if the ban is upheld.
REUTERS
France charts a new path in Africa
France has for decades held regular get-togethers with Africa’s French-speaking leaders, members of _la francophonie_. On Monday, for the first time, it is co-hosting an Africa summit in an Anglophone country: Kenya. Over two days “Africa Forward” will bring together international political leaders and businesspeople. For William Ruto, Kenya’s president, and other African leaders, the emphasis on investment, finance and tech is a welcome opportunity to showcase what the continent has to offer.
For Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, the summit is symbolic too. It represents a pivot away from an Africa policy focused on its former colonies and weighed down by historical baggage. Mr Macron wants instead to mark a “renewed partnership”. Last year France was forced by hostile military leaders in the Sahel to close its last military base there. Mr Macron is hoping to show that the country is forging diversified alliances by choice, not coercion.
SANDRA NAVARRO
Daily quiz
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Monday: Which Renaissance artist had a sideline as a military engineer for Cesare Borgia?
It’s no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti
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