Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), announced he is stepping back from his executive role. Schwab, who established the WEF in 1971, revealed his decision in an email to staff on Tuesday, May 21.

Schwab, 86, will transition to the role of non-executive chairman, pending approval from the Swiss government. The change is expected to be finalised before the WEF’s annual meeting in 2025.

While he has not named a successor, Schwab noted that the executive board, led by WEF President Børge Brende, has been managing executive responsibilities over the past year. Brende is a former Norwegian conservative leader.

Schwab has been synonymous with the WEF, overseeing its growth from its origins as the European Management Forum into a global platform attracting thousands of attendees, including dozens of high-ranking world leaders and CEOs.

The 2024 meeting in Davos saw over 50 heads of state in attendance.

The WEF operates much like a family enterprise, with Schwab's children in key positions and his wife Hilde overseeing the organisation’s foundation and awards ceremonies. In recent years, the forum has shifted its political stance towards the centre, moving away from its previous liberal focus.

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US-Iran War Live Updates: The United States has renewed its naval blockade of Iranian ports, marking a sharp escalation after a day of intensifying exchanges that appear to have collapsed the fragile interim peace deal between Washington and Tehran. Iranian official Kazem Gharibabadi declared the memorandum of understanding with the US no longer valid, following a fresh wave of American strikes across Iran, with explosions reported in Sirik, eastern Hormozgan, Bampur, Chabahar, Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz and on Qeshm Island.


US President Donald Trump said attacks on Iran would continue until he decided to stop them, adding that he would "save the energy targets for last." He also confirmed a reversal of his earlier proposal to impose a 20 percent tariff on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, citing widespread economic concerns, and said Gulf countries would instead invest in the US. Despite the continuing offensive, Trump told Fox News that Washington and Tehran had held talks on Tuesday, even as American strikes on Iran carried on.

US Central Command accused Iran of targeting regional civilians after attacks on seven commercial ships in the Gulf. Kuwait's Defence Ministry reported that Iranian strikes had hit a Kuwaiti naval vessel, wounding four personnel, while Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had destroyed US weapons stationed in both Kuwait and Bahrain.

Adding further pressure on Tehran, the US Treasury Department has issued fresh sanctions against Iran, targeting several individuals, entities and vessels linked to the country.

Taken together, the developments mark one of the most volatile stretches of the conflict so far. The collapse of the interim agreement, combined with strikes now reaching Gulf allies' military assets, has raised fears of wider regional spillover involving Kuwait, Bahrain and other Gulf states caught between the two warring sides.

Follow along for more developments in West Asia.

Cuba suffered another blackout of the National Electric System, or SEN, on Tuesday, leaving the entire country without power, officials said. It was the third such incident in two weeks as a US oil embargo stresses the island's grid.


Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island's ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have cancelled tens of thousands of surgeries.

Also Read: Cuba's power grid fails for second time this week, plunging country into darkness

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs. A solution for fuel imports is not yet in sight.

The state-owned Electric Union reported that a problem with a generating unit in the eastern province of Holguín caused "a sudden frequency change," resulting in the SEN blackout around midday.

Both the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Electric Union indicated that "protocols for its restoration have been activated," meaning that "micro-islands" are being established and then interconnected to provide power to priority locations, such as hospitals and food processing plants.

By the afternoon, some parts of the capital Havana had power restored, The Associated Press confirmed, while authorities indicated that 4% of the city had received electricity. The provinces of Guantánamo and Cienfuegos reported that they had begun distributing power to their hospitals, and Matanzas confirmed that power had been restored to the city's historic centre.

Last week, two nationwide blackouts — on Monday and Friday — left more than 9 million Cubans in the dark, adding to two others in March, as well as several regional outages.

Also Read: Cuba launches biggest free-market reforms since the revolution

The blackouts have a significant impact on the population and combined with the energy embargo, have led to transportation limitations, reduced work hours and flight cancellations, in addition to serious public health consequences.

The power outages also affect basic activities such as cooking, water supply, and internet and telephone service.

On the streets of Havana, the blackout didn't surprise residents.

"These blackouts are normal in Cuba now. If something else happened, it would be strange," said Roberto Liana, 69, a retail store clerk.

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Meanwhile, many were trying to adapt to the circumstances, like Sayli Aguilera, 25, a mother of two. "We're improvising and doing what we can," she said.

Many families have installed solar backup systems such as panels and portable batteries, and the main mode of transportation for the population consists of electric motorcycles and tricycles equipped with photovoltaic power.

Ukraine's parliament accepted the resignation on Tuesday of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after just a year in office, despite complaints from lawmakers that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had failed to explain the point of his reshuffle.


The motion to accept the 40-year-old economist's resignation passed in parliament, but with Zelenskiy yet to name a successor lawmakers said it was hard to see what he aimed to achieve.

"Every day this year demanded difficult decisions and decisive action. I am deeply grateful for the trust and support I received. You also know that I have always believed results matter most," Svyrydenko said in her farewell speech.

Addressing the parliament dressed in all-white, she said preparing for winter would be the main challenge for the new government, as Russia is expected to double down on attacking Ukraine's electric grid and gas system.

ACCUSED OF FAILING TO CLEAN HOUSE

"No one can even explain exactly why" the government was being dismissed, complained opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko. Another, Kira Rudik, said she had little hope the new government would operate much differently from the last one.

Svyrydenko's year in office coincided with a major corruption scandal involving senior figures. Although she was not implicated, critics accused her of failing to take sufficiently decisive action to clean house.

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker from the opposition Holos party, mocked the outgoing government's record: "We were promised results every day. The government has kept that promise: presentations every day, conferences every day, and every day we had a new suspect in a corruption case."

Lawmakers identified Serhiy Koretskyi, the head of state oil and gas firm Naftogaz, as a likely successor. Parliament is expected to vote for the appointment on Thursday.

Zelenskiy met with Koretskyi and Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after announcing the shakeup. Replacing Fedorov would be seen as a major change at a time when Kyiv has been trying to gain the upper hand in the more than four-year-old war, by emphasising long-range attacks on Russia.

'REAL TEST' IS WHETHER ZELENSKIY CAN DELEGATE

The prime minister is mainly responsible for domestic policy, which has meant shepherding the wartime economy, repairing infrastructure damaged in Russian attacks and pushing for economic reforms sought by Kyiv's Western donors.

Svyrydenko's government faced a particularly brutal winter trying to keep Ukrainians warm with the energy system under relentless Russian attacks. It also navigated a challenging relationship with the U.S. administration and opened technical consultations to join the European Union.

Overhauling the cabinet is one of the few ways for Zelenskiy to demonstrate renewal while elections are prohibited during wartime.

But Lesia Bidochko, policy fellow at the European Policy Institute in Kyiv, said such reshuffles showed the limits of a system highly centralised around the president which was useful early in the war but is increasingly obsolete.

"The real test of the reshuffle is therefore not whether Zelenskiy appoints different ministers, but whether he is prepared to delegate sufficient authority for them to govern effectively," she said.

In past reshuffles, Zelenskiy moved some of the same people through different roles. Svyrydenko's predecessor Denys Shmyhal, for example, stepped down as prime minister a year ago only to become defence minister and then energy minister.

"That may ensure political reliability, but it at the same time raises questions about institutional renewal and broadening the managerial base," Bidochko said.

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