Trump Called Off a Planned Iran Strike at the Request of Gulf Allies — and the Senate Moved to End the War
President Trump called off a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday after Gulf allies — including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — asked him to stand down, according to AP confirmed reporting. The strike had been in advanced planning stages following Trump’s public threats last week that Iran would have a “very bad time.” The request from Gulf states, whose economies and populations are directly exposed to any escalation in the region, appears to have been the deciding factor. No details about the nature of the planned strike or its specific targets have been confirmed by the Pentagon.
Separately on Monday the Senate advanced a bill aimed at ending the Iran war after Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — who lost his Republican primary earlier this month — flipped to support the measure. The bill, introduced under the War Powers Resolution, would require congressional authorization to continue military operations against Iran beyond 60 days. The administration has opposed the measure. Its advancement in the Senate signals growing bipartisan fatigue with the conflict, now in its third month. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Gas prices remain at $4.45 a gallon. Fifty thousand American troops remain in the region.
Two Capitol Police Officers Sued to Dissolve Trump’s $1.8 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund — Calling It an Illegal Slush Fund
Two law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to dissolve the Trump administration’s newly created $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund — the first known legal challenge to the newly created fund. The plaintiffs are former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges, both of whom were present and injured during the Capitol attack. Their 29-page complaint calls the fund “a corrupt sham” and argues it has no statutory authorization — meaning Congress never passed a law creating it or appropriating the money for it.
The fund was created as part of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the 2019 leak of his tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — who previously served as one of Trump’s personal defense attorneys — will appoint a five-member commission to hear claims and determine compensation. Administration officials declined to rule out payments to individuals convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6. The settlement also permanently bars the IRS from auditing Trump’s tax returns. IRS attorneys reportedly believed they had a strong legal case to fight the lawsuit but the agency settled anyway, according to the New York Times.
The WHO Declared a Rare Ebola Strain a Global Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on May 16 for an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda — the highest level of global health alert the WHO can issue. As of May 20 authorities have reported at least 134 suspected deaths and more than 500 suspected cases in Congo’s Ituri Province. The virus spread undetected for weeks after the first known death because health workers initially tested for the more common Sudan strain of Ebola and came back negative. The Bundibugyo virus — a rare strain — was not identified until May 14.
The outbreak has also reached Uganda’s capital Kampala, where two confirmed cases with no apparent link to each other were reported within 24 hours of each other after individuals traveled from Congo. There is no licensed vaccine or specific approved treatment for the Bundibugyo virus — unlike the more common Ebola strains for which vaccines and treatments exist. The case fatality rate in past Bundibugyo outbreaks has ranged from 30 to 50 percent. The WHO’s Director-General expressed concern over the scale and speed of the outbreak at a press conference Tuesday.
This claim is false. In May 2026 a cluster of hantavirus cases was identified among passengers aboard a cruise ship — the MV Hondius — after travelers who had visited South America fell ill. Three passengers died. The WHO described the event as a contained cluster, not a global outbreak. At a press conference on May 12 WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the global risk assessment remains low. Hantavirus does not spread like the flu — transmission between people requires close prolonged contact and is rare. The claim circulating on X and Facebook misrepresents what the WHO said. The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Congo is a separate and unrelated public health event that has been declared a PHEIC — but it is also not hantavirus.
Taiwan Travelogue by Taiwanese author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated into English by Taiwanese-American translator Lin King, won the International Booker Prize on Monday — making them the first Taiwanese and Taiwanese-American winners of the award and the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to win in the prize’s 10-year history. The novel, a work of historical fiction set during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan, was praised by judges for its lyrical prose and its exploration of identity, memory, and belonging across generations. Lin King, who was born in the United States to Taiwanese parents, said in her acceptance speech that the book taught her something about her own family’s history she had not known before she translated it. The International Booker Prize — awarded annually to the best work of international fiction translated into English — is one of literature’s most prestigious recognitions. The win arrives in the same week Taiwan’s political future is being discussed at the highest levels of diplomacy in Beijing.