“Pop star Dua Lipa has filed a $15m (£11m) lawsuit against Samsung, alleging it used her image on packaging for its televisions without permission. Lipa alleges that Samsung prominently used a photograph of her face without consent on various television models sold across the US, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Central District of California. Samsung’s packaging was ‘designed to improperly capitalize on Ms. Lipa’s hard-earned success to promote and sell Samsung’s products,’ the filing said. The BBC has contacted Samsung for comment. The lawsuit includes allegations of copyright infringement, trademark infringement and misappropriation of Lipa’s likeness and image. According to the lawsuit, the image was taken during the singer’s 2024 Austin City Limits Festival performance and Lipa owns the copyright to the photograph.” (05/11/26)
“Philippine lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly backed the impeachment of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, setting the stage for a trial in the Senate that could end her hopes for a presidential run in 2028. The petition was backed by 255 of 318 lawmakers on Monday, surpassing the one-third threshold required. A House justice committee had last month found probable cause for her impeachment in a petition from activists accusing her of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, his wife and the former House speaker.
With her ally-turned-enemy Marcos limited by the constitution to a single term in office, Duterte-Carpio is the clear favourite to succeed him in 2028, but the impeachment could derail her bid.” (05/11/26)
“It wasn’t until his junior year of college that civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons learned about a devastating massacre that took place in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. His African American studies professor lectured about what is known today as the Tulsa Race Massacre — the days in 1921 when white mobs carried out a scorched-earth campaign against an outnumbered Black militia protecting the fabled Black Wall Street, a prosperous all-Black community. ‘I actually told a teacher, ‘I’m from Tulsa. That’s not true,” Solomon-Simmons recalled. ‘And of course, I was wrong.’ That day planted a seed for the then-aspiring attorney, who went on to lead a reparations campaign for the living survivors of the massacre and their descendants. Nearly 105 years later, no one has been compensated for what they lost, and none of the culprits have been held accountable.” (05/11/26)
“Fugitive former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro is now in the United States courtesy of a visa from President Donald Trump after fleeing Hungary. Ziobro had been in Hungary since 2025 after former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán granted the disgraced minister asylum. New Hungarian leader Péter Magyar, however, promised to launch extradition proceedings against Ziobro upon taking office. Ziobro is wanted in Poland over the alleged misuse of public funds and the deployment of Pegasus spyware against political opponents. He has consistently denied the charges, calling the investigation a political vendetta from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.” (05/10/26)
“Days after the U.S. floated an offer in the hopes of re-opening negotiations, Iran on Sunday released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts, especially Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Tehran also included a demand for compensation for war damage and emphasised Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state TV said. It also called on the U.S. to end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions and end a U.S. ban on Iranian oil sales, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said. Within hours, Trump dismissed Iran’s proposal with a post on social media. ‘I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, without giving further detail.” (05/11/26)
“Vladimir Putin has said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down, hours after he had vowed to defeat Ukraine at Moscow’s most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years and even as two of his senior aides played down the notion of a quick end to the conflict. ‘I think that the matter is coming to an end,’ Putin said of Europe’s deadliest conflict since the second world war. He said he would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe and that his preferred negotiating partner would be Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schröder – a choice unlikely to be accepted in Ukraine and the EU. However, two top Kremlin representatives played down any idea of a quick end to the war. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said this weekend that reaching a peace agreement on Ukraine would take a long time.” (05/10/26)
“Bitcoin briefly surged to reclaim $82,000 on Sunday following a weekend rally, while Sui saw a notable price increase driven by institutional developments. According to The Block’s crypto price page, bitcoin rose 1.4% to $81,700 as of 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, ET. Earlier in the day, the cryptocurrency rose above $82,200, the highest level since May 6. … Meanwhile, Sui emerged as the clear outperformer among altcoins today, surging 25% in the past 24 hours to $1.34, according to The Block’s price data.” (05/10/26)
“Universities across the country are rescheduling or canceling finals after a cyberattack shut down a learning platform used by thousands of schools for course information and assignments. The attack comes at a critical moment for college students who are cramming for finals — and underscores education’s growing reliance on singular technology platforms. With caps and gowns already purchased at campuses across the country, several universities announced that the shutdown forced them to reorganize or scratch finals. … on Thursday, an ‘unauthorized actor’ made changes to Canvas pages, forcing the education tech giant to take the site offline. Personal information like names, email addresses, student IDs and messages appeared to have been breached.” (05/08/26)
“Suspiciously well-timed oil and prediction market trades tied to the Iran-U.S. conflict totaled roughly $7 billion. Traders executed massive sell orders in Brent, WTI, gasoline, and diesel futures shortly before ceasefire announcements, strike delays, and Strait of Hormuz reopening news, with some accounts reportedly achieving win rates as high as 93%. Lawmakers and analysts suspect insider leaks, but investigations by the DOJ and CFTC face challenges as prediction markets and digital betting platforms make detecting illegal trading activity increasingly difficult.” (05/10/26)
“Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes prohibited the implementation of a sharp reduction in the 27-year prison sentence of former President Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election, a court document showed on Saturday. Two Brazilian political parties and the press association ABI this week separately challenged the bill, which would have potentially freed Bolsonaro in 2028. Congress last month overturned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s veto of the bill, but the plaintiffs asked Brazil’s top court to overturn it, saying the bill was unconstitutional.” (05/09/26)
