May 21, 2026

U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 83.

• Reuters cites unnamed senior Iranian sources as saying Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a directive that the country's stockpile of highly enriched uranium should not be sent abroad. Both the U.S. and Israel have stated previously that removal of Iran's near-weapons-grade uranium would be a necessary component of any peace deal. [more]
• The U.S. military's Central Command said yesterday that its forces boarded an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as part of the ongoing blockade of Iranian shipping and ports. Reports note that this was the fifth time U.S. forces have boarded a commercial vessel in the region since imposing the blockade. [more]

JANUARY 6 | Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, attacks filed a federal lawsuit yesterday seeking to block participants in the attacks from receiving payouts from the Trump administration's new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions. Reports note that Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the Proud Boys militia group who was sentenced to 22 years after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the attacks and who was later pardoned by President Trump, has indicated he will file a claim for compensation from the fund and hopes to receive between $2 million and $5 million. [more]

WHITE HOUSE | Amidst what Senate Majority Leader John Thune called "ongoing vote issues," Senate Republican leaders are widely expected to remove a proposal for $1 billion in funding for White House security upgrades and President Donald Trump's proposed ballroom on the White House grounds from a bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. [more]

NEW MEXICO | State officials say three people have died, and more than a dozen first responders have been quarantined for evaluation, after being exposed to a yet-unidentified substance in a home in Mountainair, New Mexico, yesterday. Police say first responders were called to the home for a suspected drug overdose and found four unresponsive people, one of whom is being treated at a local hospital. [more]

U.S. AND CUBA | Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the criminal indictment yesterday of former Cuban President Raul Castro and five Cuban military pilots for murder in connection with the downing of two small civilian planes in 1996. The downed planes were flown by the Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue and were involved in humanitarian operations to assist people fleeing Cuba. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | Overcoming efforts by some countries to have the measure withdrawn, the U.N General Assembly voted yesterday to endorse a landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice last year that called failure by countries to protect the planet from climate change a violation of international law. The endorsed text includes items for plans to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, phase out subsidies for fossil fuel exploration, production, and exploitation, and urge those in violation of standards to provide "full reparation" for damages. The United States, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia were among the eight countries that voted against the General Assembly measure. [more]

INTERNATIONAL LABOR | The International Court of Justice, the United Nations's top court, is expected to issue a landmark advisory opinion today on the right of workers to strike. At issue is a 2023 request by the U.N.'s International Labour Organization for the court to clarify if one of the ILO's conventions, which have been ratified by 158 countries, gives workers the right to strike. Reports note that while ICJ advisory opinions are not legally binding, they can have significant influence on labor regulations in countries around the world. [more]

RUSSIA | Three days of nuclear forces training exercises across Russia and Ukraine are set to conclude today amidst ongoing tensions between Russia and NATO over the war in Ukraine and drone activity in the Baltic region. Reports say the exercises, in which about 64,000 troops have been involved, have included deployment of a Borei-class ​nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, delivery of nuclear munitions to storage facilities in Belarus, and operations involving the mobile Iskander-M tactical ​missile system. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | With a last-minute deal that sets aside some profits for worker bonuses, Samsung Electronics avoided a strike by some 70,000 employees that was scheduled to begin today and that had raised concerns over potential global supply issues for the company's advanced memory chips. [more]

EUROPEAN SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS | According to a new report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, sexually transmitted infections reached record levels across Europe in 2024, driven by sharp rises in gonorrhea and syphilis. Researchers suggest lower levels of testing and preventive actions played roles in the increased infection rates and say targeted action is urgently needed to prevent further spread, including among women of reproductive age. [press release and full reports] [more]

BRAZIL | In Brazil's latest move to regulate and improve safety measures for social media, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed two decrees yesterday: one making big tech companies liable and subject to further investigation if they refuse to remove content when ordered to do so by a court, and one that establishes guidelines for the protection of women in digital environments. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Social media company X, formerly Twitter, was fined 650,000 Australian dollars (US$465,000) today for what Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan said was the company's failure to provide information on how it handles child exploitation and abuse content on its platforms to Australia's online safety watchdog, eSafety. [more]

MYANMAR | State media cites government officials as saying Myanmar's military, following two weeks of operations, has regained control of two towns near the country's borders with India and Thailand from local resistance groups. [more]

FRANCE | After having been acquitted in a lower court three years ago, Airbus and Air France were found guilty of corporate manslaughter by a Paris appeals court today in connection with the 2009 crash into the Atlantic Ocean of a plane traveling from Rio to Paris in which 228 passengers and crew were killed. [more]

SPACE INDUSTRY | Without specifying a target amount the company hopes to raise, Elon Musk announced plans yesterday for an initial public stock offering for space exploration company SpaceX, which also owns the social media company X, formerly Twitter, and the artificial intelligence company xAI. Reports note that filings indicate SpaceX lost $.2.6 billion last year on revenue of $18.7 billion, and that analysts have suggested the company could raise as much as $75 billion in an IPO. [more]

HOCKEY | The Montreal Victoire beat the Ottawa Charge, 4-0, last night to win their first Professional Women's Hockey League title. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1927, American aviator Charles Lindbergh completed the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling from New York to Paris in the monoplane Spirit of Saint Louis in about 33.5 hours. [more history]