May 4, 2026 – Daily News Digest

QOTD: ““The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote late Sunday in a social media post. “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

US/IRAN/MIL – US Denies Iran Report That Naval Ship Was Hit by Missiles
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-04/trump-announces-humanitarian-plan-to-get-ships-through-hormuz?srnd=homepage-americas

The US denied a report by Iranian media on Monday that the country had struck an American naval vessel with missiles, Axios reported citing a senior official. Oil prices and stocks pared back some of their earlier moves.

Brent crude had jumped around 5% to over $113 a barrel and stocks fell after Fars reported a strike on a US frigate near the Gulf of Oman port of Jask following ignored warnings from the Islamic Republic’s navy. The US boat was forced to retreat and flee the area, Fars reported, citing unnamed sources.

Shortly before, Tasnim, another Iranian news agency, announced the government had “redefined the control zone” in the Strait of Hormuz and effectively set out maritime borders within which Tehran would regulate shipping traffic.

The developments added to tensions, hours after President Donald Trump said the US will help ships stranded in the Persian Gulf transit the strait, describing it as a “humanitarian gesture.”

The operation, dubbed Project Freedom, was set to begin on Monday with the US military pledging to provide support, including the use of guided-missile destroyers, aircraft and drones.

US/IRAN/TRADE – Iran threatens retaliation after Trump says U.S. will guide ships in Strait of Hormuz
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/05/03/trump-iran-strait-hormuz/

Iran’s military is warning that it will strike U.S. forces if they attempt to approach the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump said the United States would soon begin guiding ships through the strait, calling it a humanitarian gesture requested by other countries whose vessels, crews and supplies have been stuck for weeks.

Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters, said in a statement reported by Iran’s state-run Mehr news agency early Monday that Iran would strike any foreign force — naming the U.S. military in particular — attempting to approach or enter the waterway.

The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led maritime task force, said Monday that the United States had set up an “enhanced security area” and advised vessels choosing to transit the strait to consider using Oman’s territorial waters, south of the normal shipping routes.

It was not clear from the center’s advisory note how the area’s security was enhanced.

In his Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump did not detail the actions the U.S. would take to facilitate the exit of ships or how many vessels are set to pass through the strait. It was not clear from his statement whether the U.S. would only provide ship captains information to guide them to safe routes or take more active measures.

The White House did not respond to questions about the logistics and U.S. military risks.

Trump wrote in his post that the U.S. plan is “meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance.” He also wrote that his representatives have been having “very positive discussions” with Iranian leaders about formally ending the hostilities between the U.S. and Iran that have rattled the region.

MORE – Iran targets UAE tanker in Strait of Hormuz as U.S. begins Project Freedom to guide vessels
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-trump-strait-of-hormuz-ship-attack-threat-peace-proposal/

The U.S. military says two commercial vessels have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz as American warships assist “efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping” through the vital waterway, under the Project Freedom initiative announced by President Trump.

Iran has threatened to attack any vessel that tries to transit the strait without its permission, and the UAE said Monday that a state-owned energy company’s vessel was targeted by drones in an “Iranian terrorist attack.” It was unclear if the vessel had sought guidance to transit the strait under the U.S. Project Freedom initiative.

The Iranian regime says it received a U.S. response to its latest 14-point peace proposal, which it says is aimed at ending the war, not extending the current ceasefire. Mr. Trump said over the weekend that he’d likely reject the Iranian proposal, as “they have not paid a big enough price.”

INDIA/POL – ‘Hegemonic power’: How Modi’s BJP won India’s Bengal for the first time
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/5/4/hegemonic-power-how-modis-bjp-won-indias-bengal-for-the-first-time

Seema Das, a househelp in New Delhi, took on a two-day journey to reach her village in India’s West Bengal state, changing trains to make sure she got home in time to vote in provincial elections.

Das had previously always voted for the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) party under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a centrist political force that has been in power in the eastern Indian state since 2011. But this time, she said, her mother-in-law had convinced her that “Didi” – a nickname for Banerjee, which translates to elder sister in Bangla  – “favours Muslims”.

That’s an accusation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party has long levelled against the TMC, which emphasises religious pluralism and the protection of minority rights. But for 15 years, Banerjee and her party have ruled the state of more than 90 million people, even as the BJP gained ground in a state where it had traditionally been a marginal player.

On Monday, that changed. Modi’s party won West Bengal. Early results from elections to the state’s legislature – which were held in April, but votes were counted on May 4 – show that Modi’s well-oiled election machinery is poised to deliver a thumping majority for the BJP in a state that its ideological founder was from, but that it has never won before. By 4:30pm India time, the BJP had won or was leading in 200 out of the state’s 294 seats, where its previous best performance was 77 seats in 2021. Banerjee’s TMC, meanwhile, was leading or had won just 87 seats.

The West Bengal elections were among five whose results were declared on Monday. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, actor C Joseph Vijay threw up a surprise, defeating dominant parties to win with his upstart TVK party; in its neighbouring state of Kerala, the Congress party – the largest national opposition party – beat a coalition of left parties. A BJP-led alliance won the self-administered territory of Puducherry, once a French colony. And in the northeastern state of Assam, Modi’s party returned to power with a sweeping majority.

Yet it is the outcome in West Bengal that analysts say is by far the most consequential of the results that were declared on Monday, with the BJP walking the trails of religious polarisation and leveraging underlying anti-incumbency to win, experts told Al Jazeera.

[To put this state election into results that most American readers would understand, this is the equivalent of Democrats sweeping Texas, or Republicans flipping California. -mnno]

US/GERMANY/MIL – Trump says cutting US troops in Germany ‘a lot further’
https://www.dw.com/en/trump-says-cutting-us-troops-in-germany-a-lot-further/a-77022292

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to cut the number of US troops stationed in Germany “a lot further,” a day after the Defense Department ordered the pullback of around 5,000 American service members.

“We’re going to cut way down and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” Trump told reporters in Florida ⁠on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Defense Department said the withdrawal would be completed in the next six to 12 months.

As part of the decision, a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany has also been scrapped.

The announcement came after a public spat between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Trump earlier in the week. Merz questioned Washington’s exit strategy in the Middle East and said Iran was “humiliating” the US at the negotiating table, prompting an angry response from Trump.

There are currently more than 50,000 US service members stationed in Germany.

US/MOROCCO/MIL – 2 U.S. service members missing after military exercises in Morocco
https://www.npr.org/2026/05/04/g-s1-119963/2-us-service-members-missing-in-morocco

Two U.S. service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday.

The service members are U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while on a hike, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the issue.

“They were not actively taking part in any training. The day’s exercises had concluded, and, from our understanding, they were out on a recreational hike,” the official said.

AFRICOM said the U.S., Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement.

The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 p.m., the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains.

The search team includes helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, the defense official told the AP.

CRUISE/WHO – 3 Dead of Suspected Hantavirus Infections on Cruise Ship, W.H.O. Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/well/cruise-ship-virus-fatal-outbreak.html

Three people who were aboard a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean have died of suspected infections of hantavirus, the World Health Organization said on Sunday, referring to a rare family of viruses carried by rodents.

One case of the infection was confirmed in a laboratory, the organization said in a statement. There are five additional suspected cases, it said.

Of the six people infected, three have died and one person was in intensive care in South Africa, it said.

Foster Mohale, a spokesman for the National Department of Health in South Africa, said passengers of an international cruise ship, MV Hondius, were in South African medical facilities “following serious health complications arising from undiagnosed severe acute respiratory infection.”

The MV Hondius, which was carrying about 150 passengers from various countries, left Ushuaia in Argentina about three weeks ago for the Canary Islands, stopping in mainland Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan, St. Helena, Ascension and Cape Verde, Mr. Mohale said.

In a statement on Sunday, the operator of the ship, Oceanwide Expeditions, said it was closely monitoring the situation “and is deploying all available resources to ensure appropriate medical care and support for passengers and crew.”

The ship, the operator said, is off the coast of Cape Verde.

“During this voyage, three passengers have passed away,” the statement said. “Two of these deaths occurred on board the vessel, and one occurred after disembarkation. In addition, one passenger is currently being treated in intensive care in Johannesburg, and two individuals on board require urgent medical care.”

IRAN/SANCTIONS – How Iran’s Chief Sanctions Buster Went From Death Row to Crypto
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-irans-chief-sanctions-buster-went-from-death-row-to-crypto-51424fe7?mod=world_lead_pos4

Babak Zanjani had been on death row for years before Iranian authorities suddenly decided to release him last year. He had talents that would soon be put to use.

Before his arrest for alleged corruption, Zanjani had become one of Iran’s wealthiest men and its most famous sanctions buster by helping the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps evade restrictions to sell billions of dollars of oil and bring the proceeds back home—often in the form of gold bullion.

Now, the 55-year-old Zanjani has again emerged at the forefront of Iranian efforts to skirt sanctions, accused by U.S. authorities of using cryptocurrency and international connections to move money for the regime and help fund its regional militias.

Two crypto exchanges connected to Zanjani—called Zedcex and Zedxion—have processed over $94 billion in transactions since 2022, including for wallets linked to the Revolutionary Guard, according to the U.S. Treasury, which imposed sanctions on him in January. Zanjani has denied the allegations.

The Treasury also designated the two exchanges “terror assets” and said Zanjani had laundered money and provided funding for Revolutionary Guard projects.

Zanjani has spoken openly on social media and in interviews about helping Iran skirt Western sanctions, casting himself as an “economic soldier” for the regime. “Even a small economic structure is more powerful than any warship,” Zanjani said on X recently. “But today it has become clear that structuring the economy…can put a country on par with the superpowers.”

UKRAINE/RUSSIA/MIL – Ukrainian Drone Strikes Luxury Residential Block in Moscow
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/ukrainian-drone-strikes-luxury-residential-block-in-moscow-f0f0f4b1?mod=world_lead_pos1

A Ukrainian drone struck an elite residential complex in Moscow on Monday, highlighting the Russian capital’s vulnerability to Ukrainian strikes just days ahead of a military parade that authorities have been forced to scale down for the first time in years.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the overnight strike was part of a wave of drones targeting the capital, with at least three shot down by the city’s air defenses. The salvo caused disruptions in air traffic, with flights canceled and long lines for check-in and luggage retrieval at Moscow’s airports.

The building hit on the city’s southwestern outskirts hosts luxury apartments and a range of facilities including a gym, carwash, and roof garden less than 5 miles from the Kremlin. Russian media reported that Ivan Urgant, a popular Russian talk-show host, is one of the celebrities who own apartments in the gated-off skyscraper that rises 700 feet. It wasn’t clear whether Ukraine had specifically targeted the building.

Videos posted from the scene showed debris from the strike littering a road running through the upscale district, as ambulance sirens could be heard. Other clips showed emergency workers walking through spacious apartments strewn with glass and rubble.

Ukrainian drones and missiles have been menacing Russia’s cities and its energy infrastructure in a bid to cripple the Russian economy and force an end to an invasion now in its fifth year. But it has been months since explosive craft have reached Russia’s capital. Kyiv didn’t comment on Monday’s attack.

The strike, which authorities said caused no casualties, exposed the security risk faced by Moscow’s residents just five days ahead of a grand parade aimed at showcasing the country’s military might and commemorating a storied chapter in Russia’s history: the Soviet victory over invading Nazi forces in World War II.

UAE/MANUFACTURING – Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc to Spend $55 Billion in Domestic Manufacturing Push
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/abu-dhabis-adnoc-to-spend-55-billion-in-domestic-manufacturing-push-d8344e2d?mod=world_feat1_middle-east_pos1

Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc said it will accelerate a plan to boost the United Arab Emirates’ domestic manufacturing capabilities with $55 billion of spending across its operations.

Adnoc, or Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., said the spending will be on projects across its upstream and downstream operations through to 2028 and reinforces its five-year capital expenditure plan that was approved last year.

The move to improve domestic manufacturing base comes as energy infrastructure across the Middle East comes under attack during the Iran conflict and confidence in global supply chains weakens. The Covid-19 pandemic and U.S.-led trade disputes have highlighted vulnerabilities in supply chains that are leading some countries to bolster domestic capabilities.

US/TAIWAN/ESWATINI/LOL – US calls Taiwan ‘trusted and capable partner’, praises its ties with Eswatini
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-calls-taiwan-trusted-capable-partner-praises-its-ties-with-eswatini-2026-05-04/

Taiwan is a “trusted and capable” partner of the United States and Taipei’s ‌global relationships, including with Eswatini, provide significant benefits, the U.S. State Department said of President Lai Ching-te’s trip to the southern African kingdom.

Lai arrived in the former Swaziland on Saturday on a surprise visit after his government blamed Chinese pressure for nixing ​an earlier trip planned for last month by getting three Indian Ocean states to deny overflight ​permission for his aircraft.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as part of its territory with ⁠no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan’s government strongly disputes, and Beijing has demanded countries stop ​any engagements with the island.

The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, to the constant ​anger of Beijing.

“Taiwan is a trusted and capable partner of the United States and many others, and its relationships around the world provide significant benefits to the citizens of those countries, including Eswatini,” a State Department spokesperson said.

Every democratically elected Taiwan ​president has made overseas trips to visit Taiwan’s diplomatic partners, and Lai’s predecessor Tsai Ing-wen went to Eswatini ​in 2023 and 2018, the spokesperson added.