Daily Brief for May 23, 2026: NATO allies grapple with U.S. pullback, confusion over its military plans; Police urge new witnesses to speak out in...

NATO allies grapple with U.S. pullback, confusion over its military plans

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with NATO foreign ministers in Sweden, the focus is on the U.S. moving to reduce its military footprint in Europe.

Police urge new witnesses to speak out in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor inquiry

The appeal marked the first significant update since the former British prince was arrested in February over allegations of misconduct while in office.

U.S. bears brunt of Israel’s missile defense, Pentagon assessments show

Amid hostilities with Iran, the American military expended far more advanced interceptors to protect Israel than Israeli forces did, according to Defense Department data.

In rare clash, North Korea defeats South Korea … on the soccer field

In an inter-peninsula match-up between women's teams that showed the limits of sports diplomacy, players from North Korea remained stone-faced — until they won.

Ebola responders say aid cuts by Western nations left them ill-equipped for outbreak

The sweeping aid cuts have left the Democratic Republic of Congo struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak despite its extensive experience with the disease.

US-Iran diplomacy continues, but ‘significant’ differences remain on deal

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 3,111 people since March 2, with 9,432 injured: Health Ministry.

Mahmoud Khalil to appeal US deportation case to Supreme Court

Pro-Palestine advocate takes claim that Trump administration targeted him for protected free speech to top US court.

US judge dismisses indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Judge says the human smuggling probe was reopened after Salvadoran national filed his lawsuit against his deportation.

Slovenia’s parliament approves right-wing Janez Jansa as prime minister

Approval of populist former leader is a shift for the EU country recently run by a liberal government.

Pakistan’s army chief in Iran as US’s Rubio says ‘slight progress’ in talks

Pakistan’s Asim Munir is in Tehran as part of mediation efforts, as EU moves to sanction Iran over the Hormuz blockade.

1 person died, 36 injured after blast at New York City shipyard, officials say

One person has died after a blast Friday at a New York City shipyard, officials say. They said 36 people were injured, most of them firefighters and other first responders.

40,000 people under evacuation orders after chemical tank leak in Southern California

About 40,000 people were under evacuation orders and schools shut down Friday in Southern California after a storage tank continued to leak a hazardous chemical that officials said could rupture or explode.

Federal judge dismisses criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw accused the Justice Department of conducting a vindictive prosecution against the Salvadoran man.

DHS says ICE has 'no relationship' with spyware maker Paragon Solutions

The Department of Homeland Security says ICE has no current contract or relationship with the company, but questions remain about ICE's use of commercial spyware.

Ask AI or just Google it? Google makes a big change to a little search box

The search giant is updating its famously minimalist homepage. But what looks like a tiny design change is a very big deal.

China and Pakistan eye stronger ties

President Xi Jinping called on Thursday for stronger strategic communication, continued traditional friendship and deeper all-around cooperation between China and Pakistan, as the two Asian neighbors marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Sino-Russian statements help shore up unity, stability

Long-standing Sino-Pakistani relationship valued

As China and Pakistan marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Thursday, political leaders, diplomats and analysts in Pakistan have highlighted the longstanding, multifaceted Sino-Pakistani relationship, emphasizing its economic, social, cultural and diplomatic dimensions.

WHO warns conflict, displacement hastening spread of Ebola

Conflict and large-scale displacement in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, are severely complicating efforts to contain a growing Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus strain, the World Health Organization has said, warning that insecurity, population movement, and overstretched health systems are hampering surveillance and response operations in one of Central Africa's most volatile regions.

China's UN envoy urges protection of civilians

China called for ceasefires, political dialogue and civilian protection during a UN Security Council annual debate on the protection of civilians on Wednesday, as the United Nations reported rising civilian deaths, displacement and attacks on hospitals in conflicts worldwide.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha warns against natural farming, asks Centre to ensure adequate fertilisers

Samyukt Kisan Morcha warns against natural farming's risks, urging the government to ensure fertiliser supplies and protect farmers' interests.

Jaishankar to host Quad Foreign Ministers meet on May 26: MEA

Jaishankar to host Quad Foreign Ministers meet on May 26, discussing Indo-Pacific cooperation and key geopolitical issues.

Supreme Court orders immediate FIRs in missing person cases, activation of anti-trafficking units within 4 weeks

Supreme Court mandates immediate FIRs for missing persons and activation of anti-trafficking units within four weeks to combat rising cases.

Supreme Court questions quota to children of economically, educationally advanced families in backward classes

Supreme Court questions reservation for children of economically advanced families in backward classes, emphasizing social mobility and economic empowerment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Kolkata as part of his four day visit to India

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a significant four-day diplomatic visit to India, starting in Kolkata.

Senegal president sacks PM Sonko, dissolves government after months of friction

Reuters: Senegal president sacks PM Sonko, dissolves government after months of friction.

One dead, 36 injured in explosion at New York dry dock

Reuters: One dead, 36 injured in explosion at New York dry dock.

US judge dismisses Kilmar Abrego indictment, finding DOJ abused power

Reuters: US judge dismisses Kilmar Abrego indictment, finding DOJ abused power.

White House forced top spy Gabbard to resign, source says

Reuters: White House forced top spy Gabbard to resign, source says.

Trump says he will not attend son Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding

Reuters: Trump says he will not attend son Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding.

Is AI Profitable Yet?

isaiprofitable.com: Is AI Profitable Yet?.

Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

For the last few years, while finally earning my belated Bachelor

Why Japanese companies do so many different things

The internal logic of the world’s strangest corporations

Project Glasswing: An Initial Update

An early update on what we've learned from Project Glasswing.

Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

A University of Toronto professor’s research on the physiology of sleep and breathing has paved the way for a new sleep apnea treatment that recently reported positive results in a phase 3 clinical trial.

Open source Kanban desktop app that runs parallel agents on every card

A kanban board that runs Claude Code and Codex agents in parallel. Free, MIT-licensed OSS desktop. Cloud for teams.

SpaceX launches Starship v3 rocket

Elon Musk's company SpaceX successfully launched a prototype of its Starship rocket after scrubbing the planned May 21 launch due to technical difficulties.

CISA tries to contain data leak

Lawmakers in both houses of Congress are demanding answers from the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) after KrebsOnSecurity reported this week that a CISA contractor intentionally published AWS GovCloud keys and a vast trove of other agency secrets…

FBI director's Based Apparel site has been spotted hosting a 'ClickFix' attack

The FBI director's Based Apparel site has been spotted hosting a 'ClickFix' attack, which involves duping users into running a seemingly benign, but malicious command.

Deno 2.8

`import defer`, six new subcommands (`deno transpile`, `deno pack`, `deno bump-version`, `deno ci`, `deno why`, `deno audit fix`), network debugging in Chrome DevTools, framework-aware `deno compile`, and 3.66x faster cold npm installs.

Smart Miles

Automatic trip tracking for tax-ready exports

DCP

Give your AI agents encrypted permission and keys

Nugget AI

Turn customer interviews into your product roadmap

TestSprite 3.0

Let a fleet of parallel agents test your app in minutes

JAMtime.ai

Just tell your guitar pedal how to sound