The World in Brief from The Economist

Iran said two ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz using an “unsafe route” were involved in an unspecified “accident”; Ukraine hit four fuel-infrastructure facilities in southern Russia and oil tankers in the Black Sea.

Jens Spahn resigned as parliamentary leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union after coming under scrutiny for fathering a child through surrogacy in America

Jens Spahn resigned as parliamentary leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union after coming under scrutiny for fathering a child through surrogacy in America

Iran launched missiles and drones at Bahrain and Kuwait after America attacked Iran for a seventh night in a row; For a second day, thousands of Ukrainians protested against Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to fire Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s popular defence minister.

America said it destroyed a port surveillance tower in Iran, claiming it was being used to “track and target” commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz

Global stocks sank as investors sold off semiconductor shares, signalling scepticism about the sustainability of the AI boom; The slump in chip stocks allowed Apple to briefly overtake Nvidia as the world’s largest company.

Donald Trump accused China of helping to rig America’s elections. Also, Xi Jinping told an audience at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai that AI development should be a “symphony of international co-operation”.

Protests broke out across several cities in Ukraine, where wartime demonstrations have been rare, after President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked Mykhailo Fedorov, the reformist defence minister.