“As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. The latest state to jump on the redistricting bandwagon is Tennessee, where a special legislative session is to begin Tuesday, a day after a similar session kicked off in Alabama. In Louisiana, lawmakers also are making plans for new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state’s current map. The high court’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second [b]lack-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act.” (05/05/26)
“Actress and producer Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, her It Ends with Us director and co-star, have settled their lawsuit two weeks ahead of a scheduled federal jury trial. The settlement ends an 18-month legal battle that saw Lively accuse Baldoni of sexual harassment on the 2024 film’s set, then hiring a publicity team to tarnish her reputation online when she complained about it. Baldoni counter-sued Lively for defamation, but that lawsuit was quickly dismissed. The terms of their settlement were not disclosed.” (05/05/26)
“More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are urging the Trump administration to break its official silence on Israel’s nuclear weapons program, whose existence is almost universally acknowledged even as its origins and status remain shrouded in secrecy. In a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, the group of House Democrats led by Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas wrote that ‘Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by any party to this conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios,’ particularly as it wages war on Iran in partnership with the Israeli government.” (05/05/26)
“Thailand’s government on Tuesday terminated a 2001 Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia that was meant to provide a bilateral framework for resolving overlapping maritime territorial claims. Cambodia said it regretted the Thai Cabinet’s decision but would continue trying to resolve the issue. The two governments signed the agreement to peacefully pursue maritime boundary delimitation and provide a framework for jointly managing marine resources in accordance with international law. But they failed to make any progress after five rounds of talks over the past two decades.” (05/05/26)
“Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised its policy rate to 4.35%, matching its December 2024 peak, as inflation remains elevated. The move by the Reserve Bank of Australia was in line with expectations in a Reuters poll of economists and marked its third consecutive rate increase. Eight members of the board voted for the hike, while one voted to hold rates at 4.1%. In its statement, the RBA said inflation had picked up materially in the second half of 2025, with conflict in the Middle East pushing up fuel and commodity prices.” (05/05/26)
“FBI Director Kash Patel said he found the agency’s ‘burn bag’ room full of sensitive documents tied to the ‘Russiagate’ investigation, but nobody was able to get inside at first — in fact, the room wasn’t on the building map at all. Patel appeared on Tuesday’s episode of ‘Hang Out with Sean Hannity’ and referenced a previous discussion on the podcast in which former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino talked about the same room. More than one ‘burn bag’, which is ‘a large paper bag that you use to destroy and literally shred and burn classified information’, was found inside this secret room ‘locked away in FBI headquarters,’ Patel said. ‘They weren’t burned, but the room was also off the map. It wasn’t on our blueprint, and nobody had access to it.'” (05/05/26)
“The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, [murdering] two people Monday. The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and [murdered] at least 188 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.” (05/05/26)
“Europe and the United States have more important things to do than waste time on tariff threats, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher duties on European vehicles. Trump said on Friday that he would increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union this week to 25%, a move that could further harm the global economy as it reels from war in the Middle East. ‘Especially in the geopolitical period we are experiencing, allies like the United States of America and the European Union have much better things to do than to stir up threats of destabilization,’ Macron told reporters in Armenia. ‘For our businesses, our households, our populations, we should rather send a message of stability and confidence.’ He added that he hoped ‘reason will prevail soon.'” (05/05/26)
“A woman was shot and killed after allegedly breaking into a home in North Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, according to police. Philadelphia Police Inspector D.F. Pace said preliminary information indicates the woman entered the home through a back window on the 2300 block of North Cleveland Street. Residents inside told her to leave, but she did not comply and was shot multiple times, police said. ‘It appears that this is a case of a person defending oneself inside their own home,’ Inspector Pace said.” (05/04/26)
“The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks in the Gulf on Monday as they wrestled for control over the Strait of Hormuz with duelling maritime blockades, shaking a fragile truce. The fresh volleys of missiles and drones came after U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and other ships through the strait, the vital energy-trade chokepoint that has been virtually closed since the U.S. and Israel began attacks on Iran in February, a war that has killed thousands of people across the region. Before Monday was out, several merchant ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires, the U.S. said it had destroyed six small Iranian military boats, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts a large U.S. military base, was set ablaze by Iranian missiles.” (05/04/26)
