Russia begins May 19-21 nuclear drills across country

May 19, 2026

Summary

Russia began three days of nuclear drills involving 65,000 troops, missiles, ships, and submarines.

Why this matters

The exercises underscored Russia's nuclear posture during the war in Ukraine and after the collapse of New START. They also highlighted Belarus' role in Russia's military planning near NATO territory.

Russia’s military on Tuesday began three days of nuclear drills involving more than 65,000 troops across the country, as Kyiv increased drone attacks and President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit China.

The Defense Ministry said the exercises, scheduled for May 19 to 21, 2026, would cover the preparation and use of nuclear forces in the event of a threat of aggression.

“From May 19 to 21, 2026, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are conducting an exercise on the preparation and use of nuclear forces in the event of a threat of aggression,” the defense ministry said.

The ministry said the drills would involve 7,800 types of equipment and weapons, including more than 200 missile launchers. Aircraft, ships, submarines, and nuclear submarines would take part, and the military would test-launch ballistic and cruise missiles.

The exercises would also include “issues related to the joint training and use of nuclear weapons deployed on the territory of the Republic of Belarus,” the ministry said.

Russia has deployed the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile to Belarus, a Russian ally that borders NATO.

Throughout its more than four-year offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly highlighted its nuclear arsenal and threatened to use it.

Moscow announced the start of the drills hours before Putin was due to arrive in China for a two-day visit.

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Asia

Everest sees record 274 summits in day from Nepal

Everest, at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet), straddles the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region and can be climbed from both sides.

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A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday from the Nepali side, a hiking official said, marking the highest number of same-day ascents ever recorded from Nepal.

Expedition operators said there were no climbers on the Tibetan side this year because Chinese authorities had not issued permits.

Rishi Bhandari, secretary-general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, said Thursday that the previous record from the Nepali side was 223 ascents on May 22, 2019.

The record for the most climbers to reach the summit from both sides was set the next day, May 23, 2019, when 354 climbers reached the peak, according to Guinness World Records.

“This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far,” Bhandari told Reuters, referring to the Nepali record. He added that the total could rise because some climbers who reached the summit might not yet have reported back to base camp.

There are no figures available from China on how many climbers reach the peak when the Tibetan side is open, but Bhandari said that in a typical April-May climbing season, about 100 people climb from that side.

Department of Tourism official Himal Gautam said he had received preliminary information that more than 250 people climbed the peak on Wednesday.

Nepal issued 494 permits to climb Everest this year, each costing $15,000.
Africa

Kenya cuts diesel prices after protest deaths

The cut is expected to cost the government nearly $21 million in lost revenue.

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Kenya cut diesel prices after protests over fuel costs left four people dead and dozens injured in Nairobi.

The transport union called off a planned strike after the government pledged to lower the per-liter diesel price. The price reduction complicates President William Ruto’s effort to reduce the fiscal deficit ahead of next year’s elections.

Comoros made a similar move over the weekend, suspending fuel price increases after demonstrations.

Across Africa, governments that rely on fuel imports from the Middle East are seeking to replenish energy supplies after disruptions linked to the Iran war.

Higher fuel prices also contributed to a sharp increase in South Africa’s consumer inflation.
Europe

French prosecutors investigate Philippe over contract

Another potential presidential candidate, former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, is under preliminary investigation.

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French investigators are examining allegations of embezzlement involving presidential contender Édouard Philippe over the award of a digital hub contract in Le Havre, where he is mayor, prosecutors said.

Philippe, 55, a centrist former prime minister and leader of the Horizons party, denied the accusations. Polls have suggested he could be a strong contender in next year’s election to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.

His team said he had taken note of the probe and would “answer the questions put to him by the judiciary as he has always done in a very serene manner.”

A former senior local government official accused Philippe of possible misconduct over the 2020 decision to award management of a digital hub in Le Havre to an association led by one of his deputies.

The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday that an investigation into suspected embezzlement of public funds, favoritism, unlawful taking of interest, and extortion was ordered earlier this month.

According to the complaint, the investigating magistrate will assess whether there was an arrangement between Philippe and his deputy involving “political, financial and relational support in return for managing” the digital hub.

France’s rights ombudswoman last year granted whistleblower status to the civil servant who filed the complaint, a designation Philippe rejected. The former official said her 2020-2023 contract was not renewed and that she was bullied after raising the allegations.

An association called LH French Tech received the contract in July 2020 after being the only bidder. Under the agreement, the association, created that same month and led by the deputy mayor, was to receive more than 2 million euros, or about $2.3 million, over several years to run the hub.

The former civil servant alleged a conflict of interest because the arrangement gave the mayor and his deputy “control over considerable sums” of money.

In a separate case, financial prosecutor Pascal Prache said Wednesday that another potential presidential candidate, former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, was under preliminary investigation over two statuettes he allegedly received while serving as foreign minister from 2002 to 2004.

Prache said the investigation, opened Tuesday, concerned alleged “handling of embezzled public funds.” De Villepin’s team said he would be “calmly at the disposal” of investigators.

De Villepin earlier this month said he had made a “mistake” in accepting the gifts, but said there had been “no guidelines on these kinds of situations at the time.”
Middle East

Iran reports 26 ships crossed Strait of Hormuz

Drone attacks also hit the UAE and Jordan.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy said Wednesday that 26 commercial vessels, including oil tankers and container ships, transited the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.

In a post on X, the force said the ships passed after “coordination and security provided by the IRGC navy.” Iran has said vessels using the waterway must obtain permission from its armed forces.

Tensions remained high across the region.

The United Arab Emirates urged Iraq to prevent hostile acts from its territory after a drone attack on the Barakah nuclear power plant, according to the UAE Foreign Ministry. The UAE Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the drone that caused a fire at the plant on Sunday had been launched from Iraq.

Jordan’s military said it shot down a drone of unknown origin in its airspace Wednesday, with no casualties reported.

Iranian officials said they preferred diplomacy but were prepared for conflict if hostilities resumed.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also warned against renewed U.S. and Israeli attacks. “If the aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will this time spread far beyond the region, and our devastating blows will crush you,” the Guards said in a statement on Sepah News.

French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin said France had “no certainty” that mines had been laid in the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. media reported that at least 10 mines had been identified there. She told France Info radio that demining ships were being sent to the region as part of a potential Franco-British-led mission, and that France had one at its base in Djibouti.

Shipping data showed that two Chinese tankers carrying about 4 million barrels of Iraqi crude exited the strait Wednesday, according to LSEG and Kpler.
Middle East

87 Gaza flotilla detainees begin hunger strike

The U.S. sanctioned four flotilla activists, saying the organizers were acting “in support of Hamas.”

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At least 87 people detained by Israeli forces from an aid flotilla bound for Gaza began a hunger strike, organizers said Wednesday, after Israel intercepted the last remaining vessel in international waters.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said on X that the group was striking “in protest of their illegal abduction and in solidarity with the over 9,500 Palestinian hostages held in Israeli dungeons.”

Late Tuesday, Israeli forces detained six people on board the Lina al-Nabulsi, organizers said. The boat was the last in a group of more than 50 vessels that left Marmaris, Turkiye, last week with the stated goal of breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Tuesday that its forces were taking hundreds of flotilla participants to Israel.

Organizers said Israeli forces began overtaking the vessels in international waters off Cyprus on Monday, raiding boats, firing rubber bullets, and detaining participants.

Among those detained were nine Indonesian citizens, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday. Indonesia called for the immediate release of all vessels and said that “every diplomatic channel and consular measure will continue to be fully utilised.”

About 15 Irish citizens, including Margaret Connolly, a doctor and sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, were also being held.

Turkiye, Spain, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Libya, and the Maldives condemned the interceptions as “blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”
Business

SpaceX files IPO, picks Nasdaq for market debut

SpaceX filed for an IPO and said it chose Nasdaq for a listing that could be the largest on record.

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Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker SpaceX filed on Wednesday for its initial public offering, setting up what could be the largest initial offering on record.

The company said it chose Nasdaq for its stock market debut.

Dan Ives, head of technology research at Wedbush Securities in New York, said the filing put SpaceX at the center of major long-term growth themes.

“SpaceX officially filed its S-1 to go public via IPO under the ticker symbol SPCX representing the largest IPO in stock market history, as the company remains at the center of two of the largest growth opportunities over the coming decades.

“We continue to believe that SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one company in 2027 with the groundwork already in place for both operations to become one organization.

“Musk wants to own and control more of the AI ecosystem and step by step the holy grail could be combining SpaceX and Tesla in some way to give the connected tissue between both disruptive tech stalwarts looking to lead the AI revolution.”
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Chief Executive Officer Sasan Goodarzi said in the memo that the layoffs are intended to simplify the company’s structure and help it focus on AI efforts.

Intuit, which makes TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma, had 18,200 employees worldwide as of July 2025, according to its annual report.

Those companies have also recently reported strong revenue and profit, and their share prices have generally risen as investors bet AI will drive growth.

Intuit’s shares, however, have lagged the broader S&P 500 over the past 12 months. The company has faced investor concerns that traditional software-as-a-service companies may struggle to compete as AI changes how software is built and used.

For its fiscal second quarter ended in January, Intuit reported revenue of $4.65 billion, up 17%, and net income of $693 million, up 48% from a year earlier.

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Tech & Artificial Intelligence

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Tesla said on X on Wednesday that it had started rolling out its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance software in Lithuania, the second European country to allow the system after Dutch approval last month.

The Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, provisionally approved the system for use on public roads on April 10. RDW is seeking European Union-wide acceptance, but other member states can recognize the Dutch approval and allow the system to be deployed.

Lithuania’s Transport Safety Administration confirmed that it had recognized the Dutch certification.

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The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the risk of Ebola spread in Congo and Uganda was high at the national and regional levels, but low globally.

The assessment came as the head of the World Health Organization team in Congo said the outbreak, which has led to 134 suspected deaths, could last at least two more months as response efforts increased.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. On Tuesday, it cited concern about the outbreak’s “scale and speed.”

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola for which there are no approved medicines or vaccines. Health experts and aid workers said the virus spread undetected for weeks after the first known death because authorities initially tested for a more common Ebola type and results were negative.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that 51 cases had been confirmed in Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, along with two in Uganda. He said there were also nearly 600 suspected cases and suspected deaths.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe of Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research said the country was expecting shipments from the United States and Britain of an experimental Oxford-developed vaccine for other Ebola types.

“We will administer the vaccine and see who develops the disease,” he told reporters Tuesday.

Health officials said delayed detection, population movement, and the humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo had complicated the response. Aid delivery has also been hindered in areas controlled by armed groups.

Congo said the first person died April 24 in Bunia, but the case was not confirmed for weeks. The body was returned to the Mongbwalu health zone, a mining area with a large population.

Dr. Anne Ancia, who leads the World Health Organization team in Congo, said authorities had not identified “patient zero” and that funding cuts had “a marked detrimental effect on humanitarian actors.”
Military & National Security

Army doctor faces 273 allegations involving 96

The Army said the alleged misconduct occurred between 2019 and 2026, extending the timeline previously announced.

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An Army gynecologist in Texas accused of sexually abusing and secretly recording female patients now faces allegations involving 96 victims, military prosecutors said Wednesday.

Blaine McGraw, 48, faces eight charges and 273 specifications, according to the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel.

The office said in April that McGraw, who is assigned to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, faced six charges and 146 specifications involving 73 victims from 2023 to 2025.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 26.

The latest charges include allegations of abusive sexual contact, sexual assault, indecent recording, and attempted sexual assault.

Seven alleged victims were patients at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, where McGraw was assigned during his medical residency, the office said. Those alleged offenses occurred during medical evaluations of female patients between June 2019 and July 2023.

The Army said 87 other alleged victims were tied to Fort Hood and reported offenses during medical examinations of female patients.

An additional alleged victim was secretly recorded at a private residence away from the Army base, the office said.

McGraw also was accused of sexual misconduct in a lawsuit filed in Bell County, Texas, in November.