Futures extended gains following the release of the latest U.S. employment report from the Labor Department. According to the report, non-farm payrolls increased by 115,000 jobs during the month after March payroll growth was revised higher to 185,000.Employment growth was driven primarily by gains in healthcare, retail, transportation and warehousing, while federal government payrolls continued to decline.
Traders are increasingly treating the Hormuz disruption as a lasting macroeconomic challenge rather than a short-term geopolitical shock. Investors still believe negotiations could eventually reopen the Strait, but markets are unlikely to aggressively price in Federal Reserve rate cuts without what it described as a “tangible peace deal”
Technology has made IVF safer and more effective. Embryos can now be culture for up to a week before being sent for genetic testing. Doctors can now transfer two embryos at once, rather than one at a time. Scientists have even been able to culture embryos for longer than three days.
Iran responded to the airstrikes with “reciprocal action,” attacking American military vessels near the Persian Gulf. The new hostilities come as the Trump Administration has sought to wind down the war, which is broadly unpopular with Americans. President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Iranian missiles and drones “dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!
The Spanish government has agreed with the World Health Organization (WHO) that the passengers of the vessel should be allowed to disembark this weekend. But for many Canary islanders, the cruise ship is an unwanted reminder of the early days of Covid. A German tourist on the island of La Gomera was the first identified case in Spain.
The war has also chewed up thousands of Russia's tanks, armored vehicles and artillery systems. According to Ukraine's numbers, Russia has lost nearly 12,000 tanks, more than 24,000 armored vehicles, well over 40,000 artillery system. Despite the demands of the war, Russia still had more than 3,400 main battle tanks, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Despite a cruise ship outbreak of a rare rodent-borne illness, global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low. Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.
South Africa’s highest court has cleared the way for the revival of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa. The allegations surfaced in June 2022 after former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, accused him of attempting to cover up the theft at his farm.Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffalo.
US to revoke passports of parents with child support debt. US passports will be revoked for parents who owe child support, State Dept. says. Federal law allows the agency to revoked passports for anyone who owes more than $2,500 in child support. Those whose passports are revoked won't be able to get them back.
Pope Leo XIV and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday during the latter’s trip to Rome, with hopes of improving relations between the Vatican and Washington. The encounter, which stretched to two and a half hours inside the Vatican, produced a joint public commitment to repairing bilateral relations.
“Our Commonwealth must remain a bulwark and stand on the sacred principle that voters choose their leaders, not the other way around.” “This decision silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth, and it fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy”
The Supreme Court last week declared Louisiana’s map an illegal gerrymander. Republicans are hoping the courts will reverse the earlier decision and let the state implement a 2023 map, drawn up by Republicans, that a federal court previously rejected. That map — which has five GOP-leaning. districts and two Democratic-leaning districts where Black voters are a substantial. portion of the electorate — was drawn by a court-appointed expert in 2023.
Local elections took place in four areas of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Labour lost control of Cambridge and the Liberal Democrats in South Cambridge. The Greens took control of Huntingdonshire, while the Lib Dems had no councillors. The Labour leader Cameron Holloway lost his seat in Cambridge to the Greens.
Defense attorney Emmanuel Perez said Haiti is not going to remember Moïse as a “martyred son.” The defendants in Miami, McLaughlin and fellow prosecutors argued, were not at odds, but rather worked together “day after day, week after week for months”
Starmer’s future is under threat after a series of missteps. The next general election must be held by May 2029. Labour MP Louise Haigh says the party needs ‘new leadership’ to win back the vote. The party is ‘in a state of crisis’, says Labour MP David Lammy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will not step down despite Labour's defeat in local elections. Starmer said he had been handed a mandate to change Britain by the electorate. Many Labour MPs believe the party will lose if Starmer leads it into the next election but do not want him to quit right now.
Ap Iorwerth says his name will be put forward to be nominated as the next first minister. Under Wales’s new, more representative electoral system, at least 49 seats are needed for a majority. No party was likely to win that, but Plaid Cymru can comfortably form a minority government.
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Fifa announced in November 2017 that it had reached an exclusive agreement with CCTV to broadcast both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But a handful have yet to secure the rights to broadcast the 2026 World Cup. India and China together account for around a third of the world's population. Local media in both countries have said Fifa and broadcasters are still wrangling over the cost of showing the games.
President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The two nations have been at war since 2022 and have accused each other of breaking previous ceasefires. The ceasefire will include a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country, Trump said. Ukraine's President said he was ready, willing, and able to strike Moscow should the Russians violate the ceasefire.
Three hikers, including two Singaporeans, were reported dead after Mount Dukono erupted on Indonesia’s eastern Halmahera island. The three victims were part of a group of 20 Singaporeans and Indonesians hiking on the mountain despite restrictions. 17 climbers had been safely evacuated, including seven Singaporean nationals and two Indonesians.
The EU has said there are no "regulatory obstacles" stopping European airlines using US-grade fuel so long as it done so safely. The price of jet fuel most European airlines currently use has jumped by half since the start of the war. IATA's director of flight and technical operations, Stuart Fox warned that if the conflict in the conflict in Iran continued, jet fuel shortages could occur.
Four Australian women and their children have returned to Australia. They had been held in a Syrian detention camp after Islamic State was defeated. One of the women was charged with entering a restricted area and joining a terrorist organisation. Others have accused the women of turning their back on Australia and believe they should be left to face consequences.
The only hantavirus thought to spread human-to-human, it can cause a severe and often fatal lung disease. World Health Organization said the risk to the wider public is low. It is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings. Argentina's health ministry said there were 28 deaths from hantvirus last year.
Toyota expects the effects of the Iran war to cost it about $4.3 billion this financial year. This is one of the most significant warnings yet by a global company on the wider impact of the conflict. A prolonged war in Iran will bump the odds of inflation while simultaneously forcing a slowdown in consumer demand. Maersk, which ships 14% of everything you buy, is adding $500 million in monthly costs it’s trying not to pass down.
The decision follows mounting criticism from both Trump aides and outside allies over Makary’s management of the health agency. Some see Makary as too friendly to the biotechnology industry, even as the FDA under his leadership has at times frustrated drug developers with perceived reversals in its guidance and review process.
Analysts question how the war can be over when the U.S. and Iran continue to exchange fire over the Strait of Hormuz. “He's looking for an off-ramp, to be sure,” Aftandilian said. A deal with Iran brings new concessions that allow him to “tell the American people it was worth it”
Large oil slick detected off key Iranian oil depot, satellite images show. Oil and gas infrastructure has been under strain because of the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. That has left Iran running out of places to store its oil, raising concerns of possible leaks or other mishaps.
A norovirus outbreak aboard an ongoing Princess Cruises ship has sickened more than 100 people. 102 passengers and 13 crew members were reported sick so far, with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. This is the fourth gastrointestinal illness outbreak reported on a cruise ship so far this year, according to the CDC.
Despite a cruise ship outbreak of a rare rodent-borne illness, global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low. The WHO and health officials in numerous countries have stressed that the risk of the outbreak spreading to wider populations is low. Hantavirus is only transmitted through close personal contact, unlike airborne diseases such as Covid-19.
US military forces fired on two Iran-flagged oil tankers to stop them from docking at an Iranian port Friday. US Central Command said its forces had disabled two more Iranian tankers allegedly attempting to breach a US blockade on Iranian ports. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that “sporadic clashes” broke out over the past hour.
EU to clarify airlines can use Jet-A fuel amid Hormuz block. The Continent's airlines are allowed to use a type of jet fuel more commonly consumed in the US. The EU’s clarification may potentially encourage more jet fuel from the US into the region.“No jet fuel shortages have been reported across the EU,” the document says.
President Donald Trump says the blockade is now a "wall of steel" and is demanding Tehran take the deal on the table. Both Dubowitz and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board warned that the contours of the deal resembled the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under former President Obama, which Trump pulled out of during his first term.
“If control and management of the Strait of Hormuz pass out of Iran’s hands, the enemy will once again weaponise it against Iran and its people,” says former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran “will not negotiate the nuclear deal with the West,’’ says ex-IRGC commander.