The Gaza Flotilla sails again. Several boats set sail this Friday from Crete after a week ago about twenty ships were assaulted by Israel in international waters. The civil humanitarian mission thus resumes its course to Gaza. The next stop will be Turkey, where it will make a technical stop and more boats will join. It is expected that a total of more than 30 ships will sail.

The United Kingdom has a problem; so does the British Labour Party, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer even more so. The first provisional results In an initial assessment to the press, Keir Starmer has assumed "responsibility" for the Labour Party's electoral results in England. "They are very tough, and there's no way to sugarcoat them," he said. "We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country... This hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility. Days like this do not weaken my resolve to deliver the change I promised," he added.

The exchange of attacks between Ukraine and Russia does not cease despite announcements of unilateral truces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced this Friday that Russia has not respected the unilateral two-day truce declared by the Kremlin for today and tomorrow due to the celebration in Moscow of the Soviet victory day over Nazi Germany. Despite Ukraine also having proposed a truce, in this case since Wednesday, attacks from both sides have not ceased for days.

Some days ago I went to Qargha, a green area with a large lake on the outskirts of Kabul. A kite-flying festival was being held, a widespread practice in Afghanistan, and the media outlet I work for asked me to cover it. It was Friday, the weekly day of rest in Afghanistan, during which it was customary for families to go to this beautiful recreational spot to spend the day.

The ceasefire enters uncharted territory after the new episode of crossfire between the US and Iran, which represents an unprecedented escalation since the start of the truce. The US military's Central Command (Centcom) reported that on Thursday it opened fire "against Iranian facilities responsible for attacking US forces." Centcom issued the statement, in which it strove to emphasize the "defensive" nature of the action, after Iranian state media reported various explosions in Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz. This is the first time since hostilities were agreed to cease on April 8 that the US has bombed Iranian territory again. Until now, offensives had been against Iranian ships amidst a US counter-blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrived at the White House this Thursday at eleven in the morning, met with US President Donald Trump, and left without holding the planned joint press conference. After keeping journalists waiting for more than three hours without explaining what was happening behind the door, the Republican published a message on Truth Social stating that the visit was concluded: "We discussed many topics, including trade and tariffs. The meeting went very well." According to the magnate, "additional meetings will be agreed upon" in the coming months.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a series of operations related to the oil market carried out at particularly opportune moments: just before major announcements by U.S. President Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials in the context of the war in the Middle East. According to ABC News, at least four operations are being investigated in which traders made over $2.6 billion (about 2.2 billion euros) betting that oil prices would fall just before news emerged that caused them to do so.

Peace in the Middle East and the promotion of religious freedom have been some of the issues addressed this Thursday by Pope Leo XIV and the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The head of US diplomacy was received by the pontiff amid a diplomatic crisis between the White House and the Vatican, after the unprecedented attacks by US President Donald Trump.

A federal judge has released a suicide note attributed to the child molester Jeffrey Epstein. The note had been kept under seal for years, since the billionaire was found dead in his jail cell before being tried for sex trafficking. "They have been investigating me for months and they have found nothing!!", says the note, which various US media outlets have accessed.

Cooperation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has taken a qualitative leap. What began with Tel Aviv would also have sent an advanced surveillance system known as Spectro to help Abu Dhabi detect Iranian drones at a distance of up to twenty kilometers. According to a source cited by the same newspaper, Israel also sent other unspecified weapons systems. "It is not a minor deployment on the ground," he stated. Although many of these pieces of equipment would be prototypes, the most relevant thing is that these are the first documented cases of direct military cooperation between the two countries.These revelations came after the American outlet Axios reported that Israel had deployed an Iron Dome battery in the Emirates and sent several dozen soldiers to operate it. According to this outlet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered its deployment after a conversation with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed. Since the start of the war, Israeli and Emirati authorities have admitted close coordination in the military and political spheres.The fact that Israel has sent a version of its laser system reinforces the idea that normalization between the two countries, following the Abraham Accords, is no longer just political or economic, but is beginning to crystallize into an emerging regional security architecture. All this points to an unprecedented level of trust between the Israeli state and a Gulf monarchy.“The relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates are very strong”, Neil Quilliam, a researcher for the Middle East and North Africa program at the international analysis center Chatham House, explains to ARA. “The current conflict with Iran has shown how strong the ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are, and all indications are that they will be strengthened in this new security paradigm that is crossing the region”.Iran, the shared threat

Both Israel and the United Arab Emirates perceive Tehran as a threat, especially after the latest round of confrontations. Between February 28 and April 8, Iran launched approximately 550 missiles and over 2,200 drones, making the Emirates the most attacked country in the region, according to the Emirati Ministry of Defense. Although most of the projectiles were intercepted, some managed to hit and cause damage, such as the impacts on the Al Taweelah aluminum plant in Abu Dhabi.“Cooperation indicates that the Emirates and Israel share the same perception of regional threat: Iran represents a constant and real danger to the well-being of both states and the region as a whole”, describes the expert. “Their priority is to face this threat head-on. In contrast, other Gulf countries, although very annoyed with Iran, believe that regional security can only be guaranteed by reaching some kind of accommodation with Tehran, rather than confronting it militarily”, adds Quilliam. Along these lines, Abu Dhabi has made it clear that it wants to deepen ties with Israel and the United States, has criticized the response of other Arab actors to Iran, and has shown that the region is being reconfigured.According to the expert, we are already seeing a regional realignment in which Israel and the Emirates are working closely together, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are drawing closer to manage their interests; and Oman and Qatar are intensifying their mediation efforts to try to end the war.Break with Saudi Arabia

In this context, the Emirates' decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+, the organizations of oil-producing countries that coordinate crude production and prices globally, also evidences the shift in the region. This departure has broken with years of coordination with Saudi Arabia, the other major leader in the Gulf. Now this divergence is also becoming visible in the relationship with Israel: while the Emirates have opted decisively for normalization and cooperation in security matters, Saudi Arabia maintains a more cautious position, conditioned by internal and religious factors that raise the cost of a formal approach.The result is a Middle East in transformation, where alliances are no longer defined solely by historical affinities, but also by shared perceptions of threat and shared energy and economic interests.

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This Saturday, the same day that Europe Day will be celebrated in many European cities, there will be a Community Prime Minister who will be neither in Brussels nor in the capital of his country. Instead of commemorating the historic Schumann Declaration, which laid the foundations for the European Union, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, will be in Moscow to commemorate the victory of the Soviet army over Nazi Germany in World War II. He will be the only EU leader to travel to Russia during Vladimir Putin's major annual military display anniversary.

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While the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to maritime traffic and Iran and the United States continue to negotiate under the threat of resuming armed attacks, the highest officials of Iranian and Chinese diplomacy have met in Beijing. The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, traveled to Beijing to meet, this Wednesday, with his counterpart, Wang Yi. It was the first personal meeting since the conflict began. Wang Yi acknowledged the close economic and political ties with Iran and insisted on calling the war "illegitimate". The Chinese diplomat once again called for a comprehensive ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He also reiterated China's opposition to sanctions.Wang positioned himself in favor of a solution involving the region's actors. He assured that the Gulf and Middle Eastern countries "should take the reins of their future" and that China supports "the establishment of a regional peace and security framework led by the countries of the region". Since the beginning of the conflict, the Chinese position has been to defend the need to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to restore world trade. The closure of this route directly affects Chinese interests. China used to buy 80% of Iranian oil, and 45% of the gas and oil imported by the Asian giant circulates through this route.The meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister comes a week before President Trump's visit to Beijing. A trip scheduled for May 14 and 15, which China has not yet officially confirmed.The war has become the focus of talks that were initially intended to restore trade relations. Donald Trump has requested Xi Jinping's cooperation to reach an agreement with Iran. At the beginning of the week, it was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who urged China to influence Iran to reopen Hormuz. And Marco Rubio also joined the pressure in statements to the press from Washington. A whole battery of pressures reminiscent of those deployed by the European Union for China to influence Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine, without success.Beijing's ambiguity

So far, China has limited itself to advocating for diplomatic solutions to conflicts, without getting involved. In the case of Iran, Chinese economic interests are clearer, but it remains to be seen whether China will do anything more than limit itself to statements, as in the case of Ukraine. Unlike the United States, accustomed to using military force, China bases its influence on trade. China has no allies, it has commercial partners. It limits itself to defending its interests under the axiom of not interfering in the internal affairs of its partners. The Asian giant has woven a network of commercial interests and investments to guarantee access to ports and trade routes. Routes and agreements that serve to supply itself with raw materials and to deliver its exports. For example, in these times of energy crisis, China uses its reserves to supply fuel to Southeast Asian countries, highly dependent on the Persian Gulf, and thus strengthen alliances.Officially, it is difficult for China to do anything more than make statements in defense of truces and negotiations. But it is very possible that it is supplying arms to Iran, as the United States has denounced. In the case of Russia, there is no doubt that its economic support helps Putin's regime to survive the sanctions, and there are suspicions that it exports dual-use material, civilian, but which can be used for military purposes.In the process of militarization

But in addition to the lack of will, Beijing also lacks the military capacity to confront the United States. The Chinese army has undergone a radical modernization, but it has not yet reached the level of the North American one. China currently only has 3 aircraft carriers compared to the United States' 11, and only has one military base outside its territory. But perhaps the most important thing is that the Chinese army has no experience; it has not participated in real war missions.Trump's erratic position weakens his figure and also that of the United States as a reliable ally on the international stage. This conjuncture facilitates Xi Jinping positioning himself as a stable leader and defender of international order, but it remains to be seen if China will truly benefit from the situation.In a short time, it has seen how important allies, Venezuela or Iran, for example, have been attacked and destabilized by the United States. And surely the next on the list will be Cuba. China's role as a leader of the Global South could deteriorate if it is perceived that being an ally of the Asian giant does not translate into protection against possible aggressions.

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At seven in the morning this Thursday, local time, polling stations have opened on a day that could be decisive for the political future of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Millions of citizens are called to the polls to renew almost 5,000 councilor positions in different local authorities in England, including the 32 districts of London; and the national parliaments of Scotland and Wales. The final results will not begin to be known until well into the early hours of Friday and, above all, throughout the morning and midday, when the most important counts are completed. Political expectation is at its peak in Westminster because the super-Thursday will be the first major verdict on the management of the premier since he arrived at Downing Street, less than two years ago.

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The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, confirmed in an interview with the state agency ISNA that Tehran is reviewing a new peace proposal from the United States. "After concluding the evaluations, Iran will convey its perspective to the Pakistani side," Baghaei stated. In the preceding hours, a text had been circulating, allegedly containing the US proposal, published by the North American outlet "Axios". Iran has dismissed this version of the text, stating it is more of a "wish list" from Washington than a plan with prospects of success. Once again, the picture is blurred by contradictory signals from both sides.

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Vladimir Putin has ignored the ceasefire offer proposed by Volodymyr Zelensky, which came into effect this Wednesday, just after midnight. Ukraine denounces that Russian drones have attacked several cities and caused casualties. According to Kyiv authorities, this shows that the Russian president rejects peace and that his invitation to stop attacks on Friday and Saturday only aims to secure Russia's Victory Day military parade this Saturday. Some voices within the Ukrainian government even advocate for not respecting the truce promoted by the Kremlin on its important holiday.

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The premise in the White House right now is one: the ceasefire continues despite the cross-border attacks on Monday between American and Iranian forces, and despite the fact that this Tuesday the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intercepted new Iranian missiles. The assertion has been triple by the American executive: in the morning, the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, affirmed it; at noon, President Donald Trump; and in the afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The question is no longer how long the fragile truce will last, which has managed to survive for a month, but what will make it fall. Or rather: until when will it make sense to continue talking about a humanitarian pause if attacks continue to occur.

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In the streets of Amsterdam, from now on, no advertisements for hamburgers or chicken wings will be seen. Nor for cruises or plane tickets, nor for diesel or gasoline cars. The Dutch city has become the first capital in the world to ban advertising for meat products and fossil fuels. The decision, driven by the GroenLinks (Green Left) and Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals) parties, was made in January but came into effect this May.

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An Israeli court has extended until Sunday the detention of the two leaders of the Global Flotilla Sumud, the Catalan-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, who have been in a prison facility since they were captured in international waters in Wednesday's assault on the civilian humanitarian mission against the Gaza blockade. The court in the coastal city of Ashkelon, where they are being held, ruled on Sunday that the prosecution had two more days to present the formal indictment. The Israeli government accuses them of terrorism, and they are detained in Shikma prison, on a hunger strike for the seventh day.

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In an Israel marked by months of war with no end in sight, the country will hold elections this fall, the first in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face the polls since the Palestinian attacks of October 7, 2023. The prospect that, despite his weariness, he may win again has led the opposition to unite against him. Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, two of the prime minister's main rivals, have announced a coalition to unseat him after 25 years of almost uninterrupted dominance of Israeli politics. The alliance responds to a clear political logic: the two former prime ministers are trying to rebuild a broad central space capable of attracting voters from both the moderate right and the center. Bennett, a former army commander and a reference for the ultranationalist right, has gained weight as a credible figure on security matters – a key factor in full regional confrontation –, while Lapid, leader of liberal centrism and a former television presenter, maintains strength in the urban and secular vote. However, the union has generated doubts regarding its political viability and the power to be a real alternative to Netanyahu.The most recent poll by the Israeli media Walla places the new candidacy, baptized as Junts (Beyahad in Hebrew), around 27 seats, one less than Netanyahu's Likud, which would remain the leading force with about 28 seats. Even more decisive is the bloc's configuration. Parties opposed to Netanyahu are around 59 seats, below the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Even in favorable scenarios, the opposition bloc needs the support of other parties. The parties representing Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, who make up 20% of Israel's population, would maintain about a dozen seats, but Lapid and Bennett have ruled out forming a coalition with them.

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In Hormuz, the only thing that seems to have resumed, for now, is the crossfire between the US military and Iranian forces. This Monday morning, the US military admitted an Iranian cruise missile attack against one of its ships in the waters of the Gulf. Previously, the Central Command (CENTCOM) of the military had denied the facts in a post on X, stating that Iranian state media were lying. In parallel, Admiral Bradley Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, assured that the navy had sunk six small Iranian ships. Oman has reported an Iranian attack in a residential area, and the United Arab Emirates claim to have intercepted three missiles fired from Iran. The region is heating up again after days of stalemate.

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