UK records its hottest ever day in May as temperature hits 34.8CA temperature of 33.5C was recorded at Heathrow airport on Monday lunchtime, according to provisional data from the Met Office, beating the previous May record that was set in 1922 and reached again in 1944. Later in the afternoon a temperature of 34.8C was recorded at London’s Kew Gardens.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/25/uk-heat-may-temperature-record-weather Cyprus election sees parliament fragment as anti-establishment parties gain ground The far-right National Popular Front (ELAM) party, an offshoot of the now-defunct Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, emerged in third place with 10.9 percent support and was set to raise its seats in parliament to eight from three, following a similar trend of far-right advances across the EU. Its campaign focused on migration and on Turkey and Turkish Cypriots on the ethnically divided island.
https://www.politico.eu/article/cyprus-election-anti-establishment-parties/https://archive.ph/3hAoPGovernments escalate the global war on online anonymityWhat is unfolding is not a collection of disconnected regulatory disputes or well-meaning policy overreach. It is a coordinated offensive by the ruling classes of the major imperialist powers—the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia—against the democratic rights of the working class. The objective is a permanent, identity-verified system of mass surveillance in which every act of communication, association and political expression is tethered to a state-issued identity record, visible to governments, corporations and employers in real time.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/05/25/pgvy-m25.html US says it launched ‘self-defense strikes’ in Iran as peace negotiations drag onCapt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that the strikes were carried out “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” “Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines,” Hawkins said. “U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.” The announcement came after American officials, including President Donald Trump, said earlier in the weekend that negotiations were progressing well.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/us-iran-bombing-ceasefire-00935617https://archive.ph/Gs9Jm US and Israel 'actively working' to strip Jordan of Al-Aqsa custodianship, sources say US, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, as well as western and Gulf Arab sources, told MEE that under the plan, championed by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no official role in the administration, and the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, the authority of the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf would abruptly end and a new body created by the Israeli government would declare the Al-Aqsa Mosque a "multi-faith centre". According to the officials, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, the "new arrangement" would grant Jews "equal access" to the Muslim site and formally allow large-group Jewish prayer. Israel would also have a major say over the appointment of imams, preachers and senior mosque officials, and would also be involved in signing off on the content mentioned in Friday sermons.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-al-aqsa-us-israel-strip-jordan-custodianship-sources-sayNursing staff and technicians demand higher salaries as protests erupt in Deir EzzorThe nursing staff and technicians in “Huwaidy” children’s hospital in Deir Ezzor staged a strike, demanding improvement of their living conditions and higher salaries, similar to doctors and administrators in the health sector.
https://www.syriahr.com/en/382689/Iraq records 400 prison deaths in 2025, rights group saysThe observatory noted there were at least 400 deaths recorded in various prisons and detention centres across the country in 2025. This comes after a detainee was announced dead last week in the Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, just days after another died in a detention centre in Fallujah, with authorities stating it was due to unknown circumstances.
https://www.newarab.com/news/iraq-records-400-prison-deaths-2025-rights-group-saysSamsung's non-chip union files injunction in bid to stop vote on bonuses, media reportsThe non-chip union took the action after being told it had no right to join the vote by unionised workers in the semiconductor division, Newsis said, citing a union representative. Around 57,000 workers at Samsung began voting on Friday on a pay deal that would ensure large bonuses for memory chip workers to avert a planned 18-day strike.
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/samsungs-non-chip-union-files-injunction-bid-stop-vote-bonuses-media-reports-2026-05-26/‘My head spins with the heat’: India’s gig workers battle exhaustion amid soaring temperatures Rising temperatures are turning cities across south and south-east Asia into places where workers can no longer recover from the heat. A new report by US-based People’s Courage International (PCI), using research in Delhi, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Jakarta and Quezon City, has found hotter nights, combined with the urban heat island effect – the trapping of heat inside dense cities – are leaving millions of informal workers exhausted before a new workday even begins.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/26/high-temperatures-millions-workers-impacted-by-heat-india-asia“A declaration of war against the poor”: AbM leads resistance against South Africa’s anti-occupation billThe proposed Prevention of Illegal Eviction from an Unlawful Occupation of Land (PIE) Amendment Bill in South Africa has caused widespread outrage among grassroots movements, housing activists, trade unions, and progressive organizations. Leading this resistance is Abahlali baseMjondolo, the country’s largest social movement of the urban poor, which has described the bill as “a declaration of war against the poor.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/05/23/a-declaration-of-war-against-the-poor-abm-leads-resistance-against-south-africas-anti-occupation-bill/Senegal parliament speaker steps down as political crisis worsensThe move by speaker El Malick Ndiaye clears the way for sacked premier Ousmane Sonko to run for the post of head of parliament, where his Pastef party holds a strong majority. That could further complicate reform efforts by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who sacked his former ally Sonko on Friday after months of tensions. Ndiaye said on Facebook that his decision to step down was “a personal choice, guided above all by my notion of institutions, public responsibility and the greater interest of the nation”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/24/senegal-parliament-speaker-steps-down-as-political-crisis-worsenshttps://archive.ph/g9CLKBolivia: COB Rejects Talks as Roadblocks Persist NationwideThe decision was confirmed as Bolivia’s Highway Administration reported 59 active road blockades across six of the country’s nine departments, following the failure of a second police and military operation to reopen the main La Paz–Oruro highway. The COB reiterated its position as the only legitimate national and international representative body of workers, rejecting parallel negotiation channels and endorsing ongoing protest actions as “legitimate, organic and constitutional,” according to Instruction C.O.B. – CEN No. 042/2026 issued on May 23, 2026.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/bolivia-cob-roadblock-persist-nationwide/