Hi Global Recap readers,
After getting drowned in news sludge last weekend, I thought:
"why not make a super-concise weekly overview so people (myself included) can keep track of what’s been happening in one place?"
So here it is. If you missed a day, you can catch up here.
The tradeoff is that it still takes up quite a bit of vertical space, so let me know what you think.
👀 At a Glance
This week…
🇮🇷🇺🇸 IRAN & US
Iran FM seeks Putin's backing
Mural signals Mojtaba may be dead
🇲🇱 MALI
Coordinated attacks hit Mali's capital
Mali Defense Minister killed in Kati
🇵🇸 PALESTINE
Gaza holds first vote in decades
🌐 OTHERS
Trump survives assassination attempt
🇨🇳🇺🇸 CHINA & US
Beijing Blocks Meta
CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, wearing his company’s Meta Glasses.
Remember Manus, the Chinese-founded AI agent we just talked about? China has now blocked Meta's $2 billion purchase of it.
Beijing did not write a big explanation. Its state planner simply ordered the parties to unwind the foreign acquisition after a “security review,” even though Manus is based in Singapore and Meta said the deal complied with the law.
Here's where we are now:
In the AI race, having "Chinese roots" can be enough for China to claim a veto.
At the same time, the US is trying to keep advanced chips out of China's hands.
📌 Context. The "chip war" isn’t just about blocking hardware anymore. AI models, talent, data, and even acquisitions are all being folded into the strategic supply-chain assets.
🇬🇧🇺🇸 UK & US
King In Washington
(From left) Queen Camilla, King Charles III, US President Donald Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Washington for a four-day state visit, the first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2007.
Charles is expected to address Congress on Tuesday and defend "democratic values" while offering sympathy over Saturday's attack at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Interestingly:
The visit also coincides with America's 250th anniversary (July 4, 2026), which is an interesting lore for a country born by rejecting a king.
Trump supporters are noticing this too. Some are asking where the "No Kings" protest energy went now that a literal king is at the White House.
The Older Gesture
Speaking of symbolism, this feels like the perfect excuse to repost one of my favorite clips. I come back to this every now and then, and the sheer grace of the Queen’s gesture still gets me a little emotional every time.
After the horrific 9/11 attacks, Queen Elizabeth II broke palace tradition by asking the Coldstream Guards to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the Changing of the Guard.
Click for video
For a foreign national anthem to be played at Buckingham Palace outside the context of a state visit was unprecedented—a break from a tradition stretching back to 1660.
🇮🇷🇺🇸 IRAN & US
Tehran's Oil Clock
Iran is trying to pitch Washington a "peace" deal: reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while dodging the nuclear issue and kicking serious talks into the future.
That is why Trump's critics and supporters are staring at the same problem from opposite sides.
Iran wants the blockade lifted first.
The US wants nuclear concessions first.
US Secretary of State Rubio called Iran's offer an attempt to buy time. 👇🏼
Oil Squeeze
This is a more complete version of Rubio’s interview with Trey Yingst where he talks about Iran’s stalling tactics. Rubio also talks about how the Islamic regime’s “moderates” are all still hardliners.
Click for video
So why does Iran want the Strait open so badly? Well, the economic squeeze is getting hard to fake away.
Iran is reportedly running out of oil storage as the US blockade keeps tankers stuck, with analysts warning some fields could suffer lasting damage if production has to shut down.
Current Status:
Iran is still pumping roughly 2 million barrels per day.
Tankers near Kharg Island are reportedly being used as floating storage.
Some estimates put the storage bottleneck around Apr. 29.
Restarting shut-in fields could cost billions and permanently reduce output.
The Critics
To provide a different perspective, here's German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Speaking to students in Marsberg, Merz said that Iran’s negotiators are proceeding "very skillfully, or indeed very skillfully not negotiating," and that an "entire nation [the US] is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership."
He said the US is being "humiliated" by Iran's leadership, especially the Revolutionary Guards, by being made to travel to Pakistan and negotiate without results.
This is in line with what other Trump critics are saying:
the US hit Iran
paused
got dragged into indirect talks
and now may accept a deal that fixes shipping before it fixes nukes.
To be fair, even some Trump supporters are making this point: if Trump is stuck after failing to swiftly finish off Iran, then reopening Hormuz before a nuclear deal, or unfreezing Iranian assets just to find an exit ramp, lets Iran win by running out the clock on oil prices and the news cycle.
But of course, supporters of Trump’s tactic believe that he is economically strangling Iran.
🇮🇷🇺🇳 IRAN & UN
Awkward UN Seat
Speaking of nuclear... the US and Iran clashed at the UN after Tehran was chosen as one of 34 vice presidents for the month-long conference reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
How ironic.
Washington called the selection a slap in the face.
Tehran said the US was politicizing a procedural role and repeated that its nuclear program is "peaceful."
The same country accused by the US of using talks to dodge nuclear concessions now has a formal stage inside the world's main non-proliferation review process.
📌 Context. NPT review conferences are bureaucratic, but the symbolism matters when one of the loudest disputes is whether Iran is gaming the treaty from inside it.
🇮🇱🇱🇧 ISRAEL & LEBANON
Hezbollah's Suicide Bombers
Hezbollah is threatening a return to 1980s-style suicide tactics (allegedly) while Lebanon's government and Hezbollah accuse each other of “betrayal” over direct talks with Israel.
Here's what we know:
An unnamed Hezbollah commander reportedly told Al Jazeera that the group has deployed large groups of suicide bombers to stop Israel from stabilizing its buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
That claim is hard to verify, but it tracks with a broader shift of Hezbollah warning Israel that the ceasefire will not make the south governable.
The internal fight may matter just as much.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem called direct negotiations with Israel a "grave sin."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun fired back that the real traitors are those who drag Lebanon into war for foreign interests.
📌 Context. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-backed ceasefire extension, but Hezbollah was never fully inside the deal, which is why the truce keeps acting more like a pressure pause than a settlement.
