The briefing for Monday, May 11.

President Trump dismissed Iran's response to U.S. ceasefire terms as 'totally unacceptable' on Sunday, sending oil prices surging in Monday morning trading. Brent crude rose 4.1% to $105.50 per barrel before pulling back slightly, while U.S. crude jumped 4%. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil and gas normally flows, has remained effectively shut since the war began on February 28.

Iran's proposal, delivered via Pakistani mediators, called for an immediate end to the conflict, guarantees of no further U.S.-Israeli attacks, and restoration of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Washington's terms had included reopening the strait and suspending Iranian nuclear enrichment, according to Axios. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war won't end until Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles are 'taken out,' either through negotiations or renewed military action.

The ceasefire announced in early April has been mostly observed despite occasional exchanges of fire. Trump extended the truce indefinitely on April 21 to give Iran time to present a unified proposal. With no resolution in sight and energy disruptions continuing, major oil companies are seeing windfall profits—Saudi Aramco reported earnings jumped more than 25% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2025.

Virginia's Supreme Court struck down a Democratic congressional redistricting plan in a 4-3 decision Friday, citing procedural violations in how the constitutional amendment was approved. The rejected map would have given Democrats a path to 10 of the state's 11 House seats, up from the six they currently hold. The ruling means existing district lines will remain in place for this year's elections.

The Virginia decision comes amid a broader wave of redistricting following an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that severely weakened Voting Rights Act protections. The decision struck down a Louisiana district drawn with a Black majority, prompting Republican-controlled states across the South to quickly redraw congressional maps. Louisiana suspended its May 16 primaries to create new districts that could eliminate at least one of two current majority-Black districts, while Tennessee enacted a law Thursday splitting Memphis's majority-Black district three ways.

Alabama passed legislation Friday allowing new primaries if courts approve a different map, while South Carolina and Mississippi are considering similar moves. The rushed redistricting is creating widespread confusion—Louisiana has already seen nearly 179,000 early votes cast in congressional races that may not count. Without counting pending changes in Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina, the mid-decade redistricting has created 14 more House seats Republicans believe they could win and six that could favor Democrats.

Péter Magyar took his oath of office Saturday as Hungary's new prime minister, ending Viktor Orbán's 16 years of autocratic rule after a historic electoral victory last month. Magyar's center-right Tisza party won more votes and parliamentary seats than any party in Hungary's post-Communist history, securing a two-thirds majority with 141 of 199 seats. Orbán's Fidesz coalition fell from 135 seats to just 52.

In his inaugural speech to parliament, Magyar pledged he would 'not rule over Hungary, but serve my homeland.' The 45-year-old lawyer, who founded Tisza in 2024 after years as an insider in Orbán's party, has vowed to restore democratic institutions and governmental checks and balances heavily eroded during Orbán's tenure. He also promised to clamp down on alleged corruption and transform Hungary's role within the European Union, where Orbán had frequently vetoed key decisions including support for Ukraine.

Thousands gathered outside parliament for an all-day 'regime-change' celebration as the new government took office. Among Magyar's top priorities is unlocking approximately 17 billion euros in EU funds frozen over rule-of-law and corruption concerns—money badly needed to jump-start Hungary's stagnating economy. The EU flag was raised on the parliament building's facade Saturday afternoon for the first time since Orbán's government removed it in 2014.

Asia's initial defenses against energy disruptions from the Iran war are running short, pushing governments into more drastic measures as the conflict shows no signs of ending. When the Strait of Hormuz closed in late February, countries scrambled to adapt through power conservation, fuel rationing, and emergency stockpiles. But those measures were designed for a short-term crisis, not the prolonged disruption now unfolding.

The sustained energy crunch is rippling across economies in ways that go beyond fuel shortages. About 8.8 million people across the Asia-Pacific region are at risk of being pushed into poverty, according to the UN Development Program, which estimates the conflict could cause $299 billion in economic losses to the region. Oil prices that governments budgeted at around $70 per barrel have surged as high as $120, straining public finances and forcing difficult choices between maintaining costly fuel subsidies or passing higher costs to consumers.

The impacts are hitting households and industries hard. India's Prime Minister Modi urged citizens Sunday to work from home, use public transport, and cut foreign travel to conserve fuel and foreign exchange. The Philippines shifted to a four-day work week, while Thailand abandoned its diesel price cap as subsidies ran dry. In Bangladesh, ride-share driver Tariqul Islam says long fuel lines have cut his income so drastically that his family may have to leave Dhaka. Even when the war eventually ends, analysts warn it could take months or years for global energy trade routes and supply chains to fully recover.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he believes the conflict with Ukraine is 'coming to an end,' speaking after a scaled-back Victory Day military parade in Moscow that lacked the usual display of tanks and missiles. The parade marking the Soviet victory in World War Two proceeded without incident under a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire, though both sides later accused each other of violations as the truce expired Monday.

In his Victory Day speech, Putin justified the war as 'just' and called Ukraine an 'aggressive force' armed and supported by NATO. He later said at a news conference that he would only meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once a lasting peace deal is finalized, and suggested former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder—a longtime Putin ally controversial for his Russian energy ties—could serve as a mediator. European officials quickly dismissed that possibility.

Ukraine and Russia swapped accusations of breaking the ceasefire throughout the weekend, with Ukrainian authorities reporting at least two civilians killed and seven wounded in strikes on Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed Ukraine committed over 1,000 ceasefire violations. The prisoner exchange of 1,000 people from each side—part of the ceasefire agreement—has not yet occurred, with Putin saying Russia has not heard from Ukraine about arranging swaps. Previous ceasefires, including one at Orthodox Easter, have similarly failed to produce tangible progress toward ending the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.