May 27, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1660, the Treaty of Copenhagen between Sweden and Denmark-Norway was signed, concluding a generation of warfare between the two powers as well as helping establish the modern boundaries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
QotD: "The first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said in a post on X.
US/IRAN/MIL – Trump gathers Cabinet as he looks to seal deal to end war that some backers worry will embolden Iran.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nuclear-cabinet-meeting-af77d581873bfeec32d7342b56841244
President Donald Trump will meet with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux.
As he prepares to huddle with his top aides, Trump is projecting confidence that he’s closing in on a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans.
But as things stand, Trump also risks finding closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.
The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the Republican president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran’s hard-line leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened. It all comes to a head just as the midterm elections to determine control of Congress come into focus and as Republicans worry that rising costs and fuel prices are darkening the American electorate’s mood.
MORE – Iran: data show partial restoration of internet connectivity.
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-data-show-partial-restoration-of-internet-connectivity/live-77292206
Iran's vice president Mohammad Reza Aref said the government has taken the first steps to restore internet access.
The announcement comes after a near-total blackout has been in place in Iran since war with the US and Israel broke out in late February.
Iranian state media had reported yesterday that President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an order to reopen international internet access.
"The first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken," the Iranian vice president said in a post on X, adding that the demands of Iranians "will be fulfilled."
According to a post on X by the internet monitoring group Netblocks, live data showed partial restoration of internet connectivity in Iran.
ISRAEL/GAZA/MIL – Israel says it killed new Hamas military leader in Gaza.
Israel said Wednesday it targeted and killed the new leader of Hamas’ military wing during airstrikes in Gaza City less than two weeks after killing his predecessor.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Israeli military said the strikes carried out Tuesday killed Mohammed Odeh. Hamas did not comment on Odeh.
At least five people were killed and 12 injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market including Odeh, his wife, son and daughter and another woman, local hospitals said. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.
Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh’s family in Gaza City. Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air. Some carried posters with Odeh’s poster emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas’ military wing.
Katz called him “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered over two years of war in Gaza and said it was the fourth time Israel has killed the head of Hamas’ military wing since that massacre. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.
ROK/SAMSUNG – Samsung avoids strike as workers approve massive bonus deal.
https://www.dw.com/en/samsung-avoids-strike-as-workers-approve-massive-bonus-deal/a-77307043
Samsung workers in South Korea approved a wage deal on Wednesday, averting a strike that had threatened to disrupt global chip supplies and dent the country's economy.
The deal comes as demand for chips for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers drives record profits and follows months of negotiations over bonuses tied to Samsung's booming semiconductor business.
In April, Samsung's first-quarter operating profit soared roughly 750% year-on-year, while its market capitalization topped $1 trillion (€859 billion) for the first time this month.
The government-mediated agreement covers around 78,000 employees, a little more than 60% of the company's workforce, who will each be eligible to receive a bonus of roughly $370,000 (€317,904) this year.
Nearly 74% of more than 62,000 union members voted in favor of the agreement, driven in part by the fact that workers at rival chipmaker SK Hynix received bonuses more than three times larger than those paid by Samsung last year, according to Samsung's union.
Under the agreement, Samsung will introduce a new 10-year performance bonus system for semiconductor workers, alongside an average 6.2% wage increase.
The deal also revealed fissures within the company as workers in other divisions say that the deal disproportionately favors semiconductor employees.
EUROPE/MOTHER NATURE – Exceptionally early heat wave shatters records and brings deaths in Europe.
The United Kingdom smashed a century-old temperature record for the second time in 24 hours on Tuesday as a spring heat wave scorches parts of Western Europe, triggering government warnings about risks to life. Several drownings were reported in Britain and France as people tried to cool down.
A temperature of 35.1 degrees Celsius (95.2 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at London’s Kew Gardens, Britain’s Met Office weather service said, breaking the 34.8 C (94.6 F) record set a day earlier at Kew. The provisional readings smashed the long-standing record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and matched in 1944.
London also recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20 C (68 F).
Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36 C (97 F) on Monday in the country’s southwest and widely remained above 20 C at night.
The national weather service, Météo-France, said a “heat dome,” with heat held in place by a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures more than 10 degrees Celsius above what is usual for this time of year.
UKR/DRONES – Errant Ukrainian drones fuel tensions on NATO’s eastern flank.
Ukrainian drones have strayed into Baltic countries' airspace in recent weeks, sowing confusion and raising tensions with Russia at a time when U.S. commitment to NATO's collective security is in question.
The airspace incursions have occurred as Ukraine, seeking to land heavier blows on Russia four years after Moscow's full-scale invasion, uses exploding drones to hit Russian Baltic ports that handle nearly 40% of national oil and gas exports.
In most cases, Kyiv and the Baltic states have confirmed the stray drones are Ukrainian but have blamed Russia for causing them to deviate from their flight path with the use of electronic defences that jam or spoof signals.
Such devices are widely used by Russia and Ukraine to disrupt the navigation of enemy drones and missiles.
Russia has suggested the Baltic states are colluding to let Ukraine use their airspace to stage attacks on Russian targets. The Baltic states and Ukraine deny this.
The Baltic states in the NATO military alliance - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - are staunch supporters of Kyiv and accuse Russia of using escalatory language to intimidate them in the hope they will persuade Ukraine to stop its attacks.
"They're desperately now using any kind of opportunity to divide the Western part of the world and ... to put more pressure on Ukraine not to launch these attacks," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a phone interview.
CONGO/UGANDA/HEALTH – Uganda closes border with Congo to try to limit Ebola spread.
Uganda has closed its border with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo with immediate effect to try to limit the spread of Ebola, Uganda's government said on Wednesday.
The border will be closed for four weeks, except for Ebola response teams, humanitarian and security operations, and food and cargo transport, senior health official Diana Atwine told a press conference.
Uganda has reported seven Ebola cases and one death in the outbreak, whose epicentre is in Congo's Ituri province.
Congo has seen more than 900 suspected cases and over 220 deaths according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
Uganda's government last week announced an initial set of measures to try to limit the cross-border spread of the virus, including suspending public transport services with Congo.
CANADA/SWEDEN/DEFENSE – Canada to buy Swedish early warning planes rather than US model.
Canada, which says it wants to reduce reliance on U.S. defense firms, on Wednesday announced plans to buy a fleet of early warning planes from Sweden's Saab rather than a competing option from Boeing.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would opt for Saab's GlobalEye, which is based on Bombardier's Global 6500 jet. Boeing's E-7 Wedgetail plane - which has suffered from delays and cost overruns - had also been in contention.
"(This move) builds Canadian strategic autonomy, creates Canadian jobs, and reinforces Canada's position as a global leader. And it is the product of choice for many of Canada's partners, including France, Sweden, and the UAE," Carney told a defense conference in Ottawa.
Carney's Liberal government last year announced plans to ramp up defense spending. The United States and other allies had complained for years Canada was not meeting long-standing NATO targets on military expenditure.
In a statement, Saab said it planned to invest in research and development work in Canada as part of any deal.
Although Carney did not give details of the fleet size or the cost of a potential contract, military officials had earlier said they were looking to buy six early warning aircraft.
DPRK/MIL – North Korea tests new lightweight multi-purpose missile launch system.
North Korea said Wednesday it had tested a new lightweight multi-purpose missile launching system and a multiple tactical cruise missile weapon system the previous day.
The tests, previously reported by South Korea's military, were overseen by the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
South Korea said on Tuesday the North fired several projectiles, including a ballistic missile, off its west coast, the latest in a flurry of tests this year. Seoul said the missiles flew about 80 kilometres (50 miles).
Analysts have said that by conducting a series of missile tests in recent months, Pyongyang may be trying to take advantage of eroding international norms to cement its nuclear status.
Tuesday's launch "analyzed and estimated the power of special mission warhead of tactical ballistic missile, the reliability of 240mm controlled artillery rocket with expanded firing range which employed an ultra-precision autonomous navigation system", KCNA said in an English dispatch.
US/CHIPS – The Idaho chipmaker that doubled to $1 trillion in 48 days.
A potato tycoon who couldn’t type was the first to bet big on Micron. Now, the rest of the world is catching on.
The Boise, Idaho-based maker of memory chips closed above $1 trillion in market value for the first time on Tuesday, a sign of how even the most basic elements of the AI build-out are getting swept up in the yearlong frenzy for semiconductor stocks.
Shares of Micron rose 19% on Tuesday, solidifying the country’s largest homegrown chip maker as the latest flag-bearer of the semiconductor rally. The stock has surged by about 80% in the past month.
“For all intents and purposes, that seems to be unprecedented,” said Dan Russo, co-chief investment officer and a chartered market technician at Potomac.
With its dizzying rise, Micron is the 12th U.S. company worth $1 trillion and the first based in Idaho, cementing the fastest run to a 13-figure valuation ever seen. The company reached the threshold only 48 days after it was first valued at $500 billion, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Nvidia, the undisputed champion of artificial-intelligence chip makers, took 490 days to pass the same benchmark.
“Micron for years was considered just a commodity play. They make very basic, fairly simple things,” said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments. Now, “Micron is the poster child.”
The stock might have yet more room to run as Micron builds capacity to accommodate the biggest supply crunch the memory industry has seen in over 40 years.