President Donald Trump’s high‑tier “Gold Card” visa has attracted just 338 formal applicants and only 165 who have paid the $15,000 processing fee, according to a Department of Homeland Security court filing disclosed in May 2026. The program, introduced by the administration in 2025 and formally launched in December 2025, offers wealthy foreign nationals a pathway to U.S. residency in exchange for multimillion‑dollar payments (individual and corporate variants reported at roughly $1m–$5m or $2m per sponsored employee). DHS said gold‑card petitions “will not necessarily” be adjudicated faster than standard routes, contradicting earlier claims that the fee would buy expedited residency. The initiative faces multiple legal challenges and a lawsuit seeking agency records, while prominent immigration attorneys have publicly advised wealthy clients to avoid the scheme because of legal uncertainty, tax implications and the lack of congressional codification. Commerce officials earlier projected large revenue and tens of thousands of cards sold; DHS figures and litigation undercut those assertions. The low uptake coincides with growing interest among ultra‑wealthy individuals in alternative residency and investment hubs such as Singapore and Dubai.

Investors pushed stocks higher and safe-haven flows shifted on renewed hopes a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding could soon be finalised, easing a near three-month energy shock. President Donald Trump said over the weekend the framework was “largely negotiated,” and U.S. media and sources cited a draft that could include a 60-day ceasefire extension, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and allowing Iranian oil exports. Asian markets rose — Tokyo and Taiwan hit record highs — while Brent crude slid to about $97.75 a barrel and the dollar weakened. Gold climbed more than 1%, with spot bullion trading around $4,557–$4,570 an ounce, and other metals gained. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiators had “a pretty solid thing on the table” and ships began transiting the strait. However, White House caveats, remaining Iranian objections and criticism from hawks in Congress left key details unresolved, keeping volatility risks for energy, inflation expectations and central bank rate paths intact.

Victoria’s coroner opened directions hearings on May 24-25 into the killings of two police officers and the subsequent fatal shooting of Dezi Freeman. Counsel assisting outlined that on August 26, 2025 Freeman ambushed officers executing a search warrant at a Porepunkah property, killing Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 35, and wounding another. The warrant stemmed from a disclosure alleging the sexual assault of a child and an attempt to involve a child in child abuse material. After a seven-month manhunt Freeman was tracked to a remote Thologolong property and on March 30, 2026 was killed in a confrontation with Victoria Police’s Special Operations Group. The court heard officers used foam rounds, gas and an armoured vehicle; Freeman recorded the last 23 minutes on his phone. None of the tactical officers were wearing body-worn cameras, though helicopter footage and Freeman’s audio exist. Investigators have appointed a senior homicide detective and Professional Standards is involved; a coronial brief is due by Oct. 30 and separate inquests will consider the officers’ deaths and Freeman’s shooting.

A Royal Air Force Dassault Falcon 900LX carrying UK Defence Secretary John Healey had its satellite navigation and internet signals jammed during a three‑hour flight after leaving Estonia, British and media sources reported. The incident, which took place on May 21 and was reported by UK outlets on May 24–25, left pilots relying on backup inertial navigation while passengers — including military advisers, a lieutenant‑general, photographers and a journalist — were unable to use onboard internet. Multiple outlets and defence sources said the disruption was consistent with Russian electronic warfare activity near the Russian border, though it is not clear whether Healey was deliberately targeted. The episode follows recent dangerous Russian intercepts of an RAF reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea and echoes earlier GPS disruptions affecting government flights in the region. UK officials described the interference as reckless and stressed RAF crews are prepared to operate under such conditions; the Ministry of Defence has declined to provide detailed public comment.

Former Scottish National Party (SNP) chief executive Peter Murrell appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on 25 May 2026 for a preliminary hearing after being indicted on charges of embezzling £459,000 from the party. Prosecutors allege the 61-year-old, who served as SNP chief executive for 22 years and is the estranged husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, misappropriated funds between August 2010 and January 2023. The indictment, details of which emerged in February, accuses Murrell of using party money to buy luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a £124,550 motorhome in 2020. Murrell was first arrested in April 2023 during a wider police probe into SNP finances and was formally charged in April 2024; he previously appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March 2025 and made no plea. The preliminary hearing in Edinburgh — originally listed for Glasgow — will determine procedural steps ahead of a full trial if the prosecution proceeds. Murrell faces serious criminal allegations that have reverberated through Scottish politics and raised questions about internal party controls and oversight of donations and spending.

Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne has been elected to the Dáil in the Galway West byelection after the 11th and final count, defeating Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas. Kyne finished on 19,218 votes to Thomas’s 16,519, a margin of 2,699, aided by 4,249 transfers from Labour’s eliminated candidate Helen Ogbu. The result closed a contest that swung between Thomas, who led through much of the count on transfers from smaller and anti‑establishment candidates, and Kyne, a long‑standing local TD and senator whose name recognition and record of delivering local projects proved decisive. The count also saw significant transfers from Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Keane and evidence of both a left‑leaning “vote left, transfer left” pattern and tacit transfers between centrist parties. In Dublin Central, the Social Democrats’ Daniel Ennis won the separate byelection held the same weekend. Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris described the Galway West outcome as a boost for centrist politics and party renewal. Labour’s Helen Ogbu performed strongly for the left, finishing third after transfers and signalling potential gains ahead of future contests.