5 Big News Stories Overnight - Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Middle East: Peace Unravels

Al Jazeera reports:

The United Arab Emirates says its air defences intercepted 15 missiles, four drones fired by Iran today, with authorities in Fujairah reporting a fire at an oil facility. No official comment from Iran.

Two missiles hit a US frigate in the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored warnings from Iran’s navy to halt, state media quote the army as saying, with the US military saying no vessel was struck.

US President Donald Trump announced a naval mission, dubbed Project Freedom, to guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel continues to bombard Lebanon, wounding five medics, and has expanded its area of control in Gaza by announcing a so-called “Orange Line”.

PHOTO: CENT COM, FILE

Washington: Secret Service Shooting

New York Times reports:

The Secret Service shot and wounded an armed man on Monday afternoon just south of the White House in a burst of gunfire that also grazed a young bystander in an area packed with pedestrians, officials said.

There was no indication that the man, who was taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, was targeting anyone in the executive complex, Chris McDonald, a congressional affairs official with the Secret Service, wrote in an email to Congress after the episode.

Europe Must Learn from Ukraine’s War Experience, Finnish President Says

Kyiv Post reports:
Speaking in Prague alongside Czech President Petr Pavel on Monday, Finland’s president said Ukraine’s battlefield experience makes it a strategic asset for Europe and NATO.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb argued that Europe should shift its focus from “what it can do for Ukraine” to “what Ukraine can do for Europe.”

“We should gradually shift our thinking from ‘how can we help Ukraine’ to ‘how can Ukraine help us,’” Stubb said.

Praising Ukraine’s armed forces for their battlefield adaptation, he added: “There is no other army in Europe or in the United States that is capable of modern warfare in the way Ukraine is.”

EU CC: 2.0

Germany: Two Killed

The Guardian reports:

At least two people have been killed and several injured after a driver in an SUV ploughed into a crowd in the centre of Leipzig in eastern Germany, the city’s mayor has said.

“The police have apprehended the suspected assailant,” Burkhard Jung said on Monday, adding that the authorities had the scene in a pedestrian zone under control. “We still don’t really know the motivation. We don’t know anything about the perpetrator.”

Jung said the suspect, whom authorities have confirmed is a 33-year-old German-born resident of the Leipzig area, had been arrested.

Emergency services workers said about two dozen people were hurt in the incident, which happened at about 4.45pm. The area had been full of shoppers and cafe patrons on a warm spring afternoon.

Los Angeles: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Settle

Variety reports:

It ends with a settlement.

After a year and a half of bitter feuding in court and in the press, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have resolved their legal differences two weeks ahead of a federal trial.

Lively had accused Baldoni, her director and co-star, of sexual harassment on set of their 2024 film, “It Ends With Us.” She also alleged that when she raised complaints about it, he and his army of publicists engaged in a digital smear campaign to retaliate.

PHOTO: Izayah Ramos, Unsplash