Iran Agrees in Principle to Surrender Uranium Even as Hormuz Strikes Resume

More Than 1.5 Million Pilgrims Arrive in Saudi Arabia for Hajj

States Take Lead on Antitrust as Federal Enforcement Retreats

Pope Leo XIV Issues First Encyclical Warning on Artificial Intelligence

Russia Threatens Sustained Kyiv Strikes After Largest Aerial Assault of War

Iran Agrees in Principle to Surrender Uranium Even as Hormuz Strikes Resume

WASHINGTON — Iran has agreed in principle to dispose of its highly-enriched uranium stockpile in ongoing talks with the United States, a senior Trump administration official said Sunday, though a final deal was unlikely to be signed over the weekend. The official said the administration believes Iran's supreme leader has approved the template for an agreement, but acknowledged that whether the framework reaches a signed deal remains an open question. President Trump has expanded the diplomatic ambition beyond an end-of-war agreement, pushing for a broader pact to normalize relations between Israel and the wider Middle East. The normalization push could allow the administration to frame any limited cease-fire and shipping arrangement as a regional success rather than a climbdown, after defense hawks in his own party warned a weak deal could tarnish his legacy.

Hostilities resumed Monday, when U.S. forces sank two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels said to be laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iran to launch surface-to-air missiles at U.S. aircraft. The U.S. responded by striking missile launchers near Bandar Abbas, according to a U.S. official, and the IRGC vowed to retaliate against any further cease-fire violations. Trump indicated longer cease-fire talks had been productive but warned he was prepared to order additional strikes. Brent crude futures fell to roughly $93 a barrel, down about $18 over the past week as markets priced in a lower risk of broader disruption.

WSJ / CBS News

More Than 1.5 Million Pilgrims Arrive in Saudi Arabia for Hajj

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — More than 1.5 million pilgrims from abroad had arrived in Saudi Arabia by Friday ahead of the official start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, according to Saleh bin Saad al-Murabba, commander of the Hajj passport forces. The pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, unfolds this year against the backdrop of a fragile cease-fire in the U.S.-Iran conflict and a global energy crisis tied to the Strait of Hormuz disruption. Saudi authorities have expanded shading, water stations, and cooled walkways after last year's pilgrimage saw widespread heat-related deaths during a punishing summer Hajj. Pilgrims have been circling the Kaaba in sweltering temperatures, with volunteers distributing water and misting fans to help arrivals cope. The spiritual climax falls on Tuesday, when pilgrims gather on the plain of Arafat for collective prayer.

Al Jazeera (AP)

States Take Lead on Antitrust as Federal Enforcement Retreats

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan coalition of more than 30 states won an April jury verdict finding Live Nation engaged in illegal monopolization, after the Justice Department settled with the concert giant on the eve of trial. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi had pressured Republican state attorneys general to join the federal truce, telling some it was personal to President Trump, but most states declined and pursued the case independently. On Thursday, the states asked a judge to impose sweeping remedies, including forcing Live Nation to divest its Ticketmaster subsidiary and some of the amphitheaters it operates. The case has signaled a broader shift, with state attorneys general taking the lead on antitrust as federal enforcement steps back. A bipartisan group recently challenged Nexstar's $6.2 billion bid for broadcast TV rival Tegna, a deal Trump supported, and another coalition is weighing whether to oppose Paramount's $81 billion attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican who helped lead the Live Nation case, said states will play a larger role in antitrust enforcement going forward.

WSJ

Pope Leo XIV Issues First Encyclical Warning on Artificial Intelligence

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV issued his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," or "Magnificent Humanity," addressing the safeguarding of human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. The document, considered one of the most significant forms of papal teaching, runs roughly 42,300 words and tackles what Vatican observers describe as among the most pressing issues likely to shape his papacy. Leo signed the encyclical on the 135th anniversary of "Rerum Novarum," the 1891 letter by his namesake Pope Leo XIII that addressed labor and capital during the Industrial Revolution. The framing draws an explicit parallel between the social upheavals of industrialization and those expected from artificial intelligence. The 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church now has a forward-looking magisterial text shaping the institution's posture toward AI's economic, ethical, and human implications.

NYT

Russia Threatens Sustained Kyiv Strikes After Largest Aerial Assault of War

KYIV — Russia's Foreign Ministry on Monday urged foreign citizens and diplomatic personnel to leave Kyiv ahead of what Moscow described as a coming series of systematic strikes on Ukraine's defense-industrial sites. The warning followed an overnight barrage Sunday that Ukrainian officials called one of the largest aerial assaults of the war, involving roughly 90 missiles and 600 attack drones, and including a nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile aimed at Bila Tserkva south of the capital.

Al Jazeera / Kyiv Independent / Washington Post

May 26, 1924: President Coolidge Signs New Immigration Quota Law

The Immigration Act of 1924 set national-origin quotas that sharply reduced arrivals from parts of Europe and Asia, presenting the change as an effort to regulate the large waves of immigration that had entered the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By basing quotas on older census figures and favoring existing population patterns, the law aimed to slow overall immigration and stabilize the country’s demographic mix as understood by policymakers at the time.

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Sources

1. WSJ — Trump thinks bigger on Mideast / CBS News — Iran HEU negotiations / WSJ — Iran strikes live updates / WSJ — Brent crude futures
2. Al Jazeera — Over 1.5 million pilgrims begin Hajj
3. WSJ — States flex muscle on antitrust
4. NYT — Pope Leo encyclical highlights
5. Al Jazeera — Russia warns foreigners to leave Kyiv / Kyiv Independent — May 24 attack / Washington Post — Oreshnik barrage