And the founder of CNN has died.
Happy Thursday and welcome to your wrap of the key headlines from around the world to start your morning.
First up, oil prices have tumbled and stock prices have soared overnight amid optimism that the US and Iran were close to an agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of Brent crude oil has fallen by close to US$9, or 8%, to around US$100 per barrel, and Wall Street’s main indices have risen by between 1.2% and 1.8%. Several European stock markets have also surged.
It follows two US officials telling Axios the White House believes it is nearing a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war and prepare for more detailed nuclear talks.
The report said the US expects Iran to respond in the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry told CNBC they were “evaluating” the proposal.
Despite the report, US President Donald Trump took to social media to express doubt a deal would be reached, while simultaneously threatening to resume military strikes if Iran did not agree. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” Trump said.
Donald Trump.
Trump’s comments do not appear to have shaken the mood in markets overnight, nor were they moved by a report from the BBC late this morning that US forces shot at an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command, in a post on social media, said it shot at and disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker, called M/T Hasna, which attempted to sail to an Iranian port in defiance of the US blockade. After repeated warnings, the US shot at and disabled the vessel, the post said.
Staying in the region, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon appears to exist in name only. As Al Jazeera reports, Israeli forces bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs and claimed to have assassinated Malek Balou overnight. Balou was a commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the attack in a post on social media, saying he and Defence Minister Israel Katz had instructed the army to carry out the attack.
“Radwan terrorists are responsible for shooting at Israeli settlements and harming [Israeli army] soldiers. No terrorist has immunity – Israel’s long hand will catch every enemy and murderer,” Netanyahu said in a post on Telegram.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day truce on April 17, which was later extended by three weeks. It was due to expire on May 17.
Since then, the two countries have accused one another of breaching the ceasefire. Israel has continued to strike Lebanon’s south, while militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several operations targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Turning to the other story we’ve been following this week – the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, where three people have died. Overnight, three people who are suspected to have the virus, including a British doctor, have been medically evacuated from the MV Hondius, The Guardian reported.
The ship, which has close to 150 people on board, is heading to the Canary Islands after Spanish authorities gave permission for the vessel to dock. However, the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, rejected the Spanish government’s decision, the BBC reported.
"If the passengers are safe and healthy, it does not make sense that they have to come to the Canary Islands to be repatriated; they could do that from the international airport of Cape Verde," he said. The Hondius is expected to arrive in a few days.
According to the World Health Organization, there have been three confirmed cases of the virus and a further five suspected cases. No suspected cases are on the vessel.
Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot.
In business news, artificial intelligence company Anthropic has reached a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to lease a datacentre, as it continues its push into AI coding.
Reuters reported that under the agreement, Anthropic will use the full computing power of SpaceX’s Colossus1 AI datacentre in Memphis, Tennessee, which will give the Claude chatbot maker 300 megawatts of new capacity within a month.
The deal gives IPO-bound SpaceX a marquee customer, as it looks to sell investors on its AI ambitions while helping Anthropic ease its capacity constraints.
Finally this morning, the outspoken founder of CNN, Ted Turner, has died aged 87, ABC reported. No reason was given for his cause of death, which was announced by Turner Enterprises and CNN.
Turner became a billionaire by taking over his father’s billboard business, buying a television station in the 1970s and parlaying that into what would become a vast, groundbreaking television group.
He would eventually launch Cable News Network, or CNN, in 1980, and create the 24-hour news channel. "Barring satellite problems, we won't be signing off until the world ends," Turner said in a 2013 CNN interview.
In later life, Turner focused on philanthropic and environmental causes. He was also one of the largest private landowners in the United States. He married and divorced three times and had five children.
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