Iran’s internet blackout enters 13th week

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout, imposed when the US-Israeli strikes began, has now lasted 13 consecutive weeks, severely restricting information flow inside the country as diplomatic talks over a ceasefire continue.

Thousands rally in Taiwan for higher defence spending after US pauses arms sale

Thousands gathered in Taipei calling for increased defence spending amid heightened tensions with China, following the US government’s decision to pause a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan — raising concerns about the reliability of US security commitments.

Gaza flotilla activists allege abuse in Israeli detention; Ben-Gvir banned from France

Activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, detained after Israeli forces intercepted their vessel, allege they were slapped, hit, humiliated, and subjected to sexual violence in custody — claims denied by Israel’s prison service. Flotilla supporters were also beaten and forcibly detained by police at Bilbao Airport in Spain. France responded by banning far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from French territory over his role in “brutalising” the activists.

Separately, a former ICC prosecutor urged EU member states to enact a blocking statute against US sanctions imposed on nine ICC judges and a prosecutor — retaliation for the court’s arrest warrants targeting Israeli cabinet members. She called the sanctions “thuggish” and “bullying” interference with international justice.

Secret Service kills gunman who opened fire at White House checkpoint

A suspect approached a Secret Service checkpoint near the White House, drew a weapon from a bag, and opened fire. Officers returned fire and killed the shooter. A bystander was also wounded.

Israeli strikes kill paramedics and civilians across southern Lebanon

Israel carried out overnight strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa valley and the southern province of Tyre, killing at least four people and reducing buildings to craters. The attacks followed strikes a day earlier that killed a child and six paramedics; funerals for the first responders were held Friday.

Protests sweep Senegal, Spain, and Serbia

Three separate mass protests played out across continents. In Senegal, President Faye sacked Prime Minister Sonko — once his closest ally — and dissolved the government amid a serious debt crisis. In Madrid, thousands demanded PM Sánchez resign over corruption allegations involving his family. In Serbia, tens of thousands continued the student-led movement that began after the deadly Novi Sad train station roof collapse, demanding accountability and early elections.

Philippines building collapse traps 19; China mine blast kills 82

An unfinished nine-storey building collapsed near Manila early Sunday, with 19 construction workers feared trapped under the rubble. In China’s Shanxi province, a gas explosion at a coal mine killed at least 82 people — the country’s deadliest mining disaster since 2009. Xi Jinping urged authorities to “spare no effort” in rescue operations.

Ukraine hits Perm Krai at 1,700km; strikes Novorossiysk naval base and Black Sea oil infrastructure

Ukraine’s deepest publicly confirmed strike in recent months hit the Metafrax Chemicals plant in Perm Krai — over 1,700km from the front — forcing a production halt at a facility supplying Russia’s military-industrial complex. In a separate Novorossiysk raid, drones struck the frigate Admiral Essen (for the fourth time) and a Project 1239 hoverborne corvette, and hit shadow fleet tanker Chrysalis in the Black Sea. The Sheskharis and Grushova oil terminals struck the previous night continued to burn. Six of Russia’s ten refineries have now been hit in May 2026 alone. Russian occupation forces closed the Dzhankoi train station in Crimea and restricted truck traffic through Kherson after interdiction strikes.

A strike on Russian-occupied Luhansk killed 18 and injured 42. Putin accused Ukraine of hitting a student dormitory and vowed retaliation; Ukraine said it struck Russia’s elite Rubicon drone unit.

Ukraine launches mechanized push near Borova, breaching up to 5km

Ukrainian forces conducted a significant mechanized counterattack southeast of Borova with at least 15 armored vehicles, reportedly penetrating up to 5km into Russian-held territory before Russian forces struck the column. The operation targeted the 3rd and 144th motorized rifle divisions of Russia’s 20th Combined Arms Army during a regrouping phase. Russian milbloggers acknowledge Ukrainian presence in Andriivka, Ridkodub, Vovchyi Yar, and southwestern Karpivka, and warn the line south of Borova may not hold.

Separately, Ukrainian forces cleared Ryasne in northern Sumy Oblast, reversing a Russian mechanized assault from May 3. Ukraine has now liberated 590 sq km of territory since January.

Zelensky rejects EU ‘associate membership’; demands full membership

Zelensky publicly pushed back on Germany’s proposal for “associate” EU membership, calling it “unfair” and warning it would leave Ukraine “voiceless” — without a vote or meaningful say. He is demanding full membership, framing it as a security requirement, not just a political aspiration. Sweden’s defence minister separately stated the country backs Ukraine’s NATO membership. Moldova’s president called for increased economic pressure on Russia to force substantive ceasefire talks.

Russian FPV drone targets funeral procession in Sumy

A Russian FPV drone struck a funeral procession on the outskirts of Sumy city, killing one person and injuring 14. A follow-up strike on the city hours later injured four more, including a minor. The deliberate targeting of a civilian gathering is part of a continuing pattern of strikes on non-combatants.

Bambu Lab threatens developer over AGPL compliance; Software Freedom Conservancy confirms violation

Bambu Lab sent legal threats to developer Paweł Jarczak for maintaining a fork of OrcaSlicer that bypassed Bambu Connect restrictions — despite Bambu Studio being AGPL-licensed open-source code. The Software Freedom Conservancy has since confirmed Bambu Lab violated the AGPL’s copyleft terms. The incident has galvanized open-source advocates (including Louis Rossmann) and could reshape expectations for corporate compliance with strong copyleft licenses in the hardware/firmware space.

How Grothendieck revolutionized 20th-century mathematics

Quanta Magazine’s deep profile traces how Grothendieck rebuilt the foundations of algebraic geometry through radical abstraction — replacing geometric objects with functors, schemes replacing varieties, topos theory generalizing topology. One of those rare mathematical stories where the person’s philosophy and the mathematics are inseparable.

.NET/C# finally gets discriminated union types

.NET 11 Preview 2 introduces union types to C# — a feature long available in F# and requested by functional programmers for over a decade. Andrew Lock’s writeup covers the syntax and how it compares to F# and TypeScript equivalents. Significant for the type-systems-interested crowd.

Wayland compositor implemented as a Minecraft mod

Someone built a working Wayland compositor as a Minecraft mod — running inside the Java game engine, it exposes a real Wayland socket and can render actual desktop applications as in-game surfaces. Absurd and technically impressive.

AMD/Xilinx Vivado drops Linux support for free tier

Vivado 2026.1 removes Linux support from the free WebPACK tier, forcing hobbyists, students, and researchers to either pay for a commercial license or stay on older versions. The HN thread surfaces strong pushback and notes this may accelerate adoption of open-source FPGA toolchains like nextpnr and F4PGA.