“Virginia Democrats’ last-ditch bid to revive their plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to gain additional Democratic seats fizzled out Friday at the Supreme Court as the justices refused to restore the results of the referendum voters approved last month. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones asked the nation’s highest court to take emergency action to block a Virginia Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that nullified the referendum after concluding that it violated the state’s constitution. The emergency appeal found no traction at the Supreme Court. A one-sentence order released shortly after Jones filed his final brief on the appeal said Chief Justice John Roberts referred the stay request to the full bench, which denied relief.” (05/15/26)
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province a public health emergency of international concern. The agency added that the outbreak, with around 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths reported, does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency. WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned there are currently ‘significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread’ of the outbreak. The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the health agency said, for which there are no approved drugs or vaccines. The WHO said there are now eight laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, with other suspected cases and deaths across three health zones including Bunia the capital of Ituri province, and the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara.” (05/16/26)
“Tens of thousands of people are marching through central London in two separate protests – one pro-Palestine demonstration a day after Nakba Day, and the other, a far-right rally staged by Tommy Robinson. Police in the British capital deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the city, on Saturday and pledged ‘the most assertive possible use of our powers’ in what they called their biggest public order operation in years. … In a Saturday evening update, police said officers had made 43 arrests at the twin protests, which both ended by 18:30 GMT.” (05/16/26)
“Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the city considered the crucible of the modern Civil Rights Movement to push back against conservative states’ efforts to dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation. The gathering in Montgomery, Alabama, was put together in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act and the resulting rush by southern states to redraw lines. Speakers said they returned to the city, famous for the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, because the fight that began there is continuing for later generations. The Rev. Bernice King, speaking near the spot where her father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., addressed voting rights marchers in 1965, said the dedication and sacrifice of that generation changed the trajectory of the country.” (05/16/26)
“The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump had vacated their office. The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.” (05/15/26)
“A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has [murdered] nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House. … a joint effort by 20 journalists led by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) this week published the identities of 13 of those killed, some of whom showed no indication of involvement in drug trafficking.” (05/15/26)
“New York officials urged commuters to work from home Monday as a strike by Long Island Rail Road workers threatened to disrupt travel for hundreds of thousands of riders across the region. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were preparing emergency transit alternatives, including shuttle buses from Long Island into Queens and additional subway service, after negotiations between the MTA and rail unions broke down this weekend, prompting workers to walk off the job and shutting down the railroad Saturday. … The strike — the LIRR’s first in roughly 30 years — has halted service on one of the nation’s busiest commuter rail systems, which carries hundreds of thousands of riders between Long Island and New York City.” (05/17/26)
“Protesters gathered Thursday outside The New York Times building in New York City expressing outrage over an opinion piece by liberal columnist Nicholas Kristof that contained allegations of serial sexual abuse by Israelis against Palestinian detainees. The article featured the testimony of men and women who alleged ‘brutal sexual abuse at the hands of Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.’ The article mentioned several claims, including that Palestinians ‘had their genitals yanked or were beaten on the testicles,’ ‘some men had to have their testicles amputated by doctors,’ and metal batons were used to rape men. Kristof also said a Gaza journalist claimed he was ‘mounted’ by a dog before adding that ‘[o]ther Palestinian prisoners and human rights monitors have also cited reports of police dogs being coached to rape prisoners.'” (05/16/26)
“Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters following pressure from President Donald Trump, the latest instance of the president using his powers to reward those who echoed his baseless claims of mass fraud as the cause of his 2020 loss. Trump has championed the case of Peters, a 70-year-old former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county’s election computer system. She gets released June 1. In April, a Colorado appeals court upheld her conviction but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud, a decision that Polis praised.” (05/15/26)
“A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom fails to meet procedural rules, according to the Senate parliamentarian, dealing a blow to Republican plans to include it as part of a bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies for the next three years. The parliamentarian’s ruling, described late Saturday by Senate Democrats, said that funding for a project as large and complex as President Donald Trump’s massive East Wing renovation is too broad to be included in the narrow GOP budget bill, which cannot be filibustered and only needs a simple majority to pass. It’s unclear if Republicans will be able to immediately salvage any part of the billion-dollar Secret Service proposal, which would fund security for Trump’s ballroom along with other parts of the White House, including a new visitor screening center, additional training for agents and extra reinforcements for large events.” (05/16/26)
