5 Big News Stories Overnight - Saturday, May 23, 2026

Ukraine hits Russian oil refinery

France 24 reports:

Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian ​oil refinery in Yaroslavl, around 700km (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, the ​latest ‌in a series of strikes ⁠by Kyiv on oil facilities in Russia.

"In particular, overnight, the Defence Forces ‌of Ukraine operated against targets associated with the ⁠Yaroslavl oil refinery – about 700 kilometres from our territory," he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine ​has intensified its attacks in Russia, ‌aiming to disrupt Russia's oil industry and slash revenue that helps Moscow fund the war in Ukraine. Global ‌energy prices have risen during the Iran conflict and sanctions on ​Moscow's oil sales have been eased.

Kyiv has also increasingly adopted the tactic of hitting the same facilities several times.

Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Director of National Intelligence

New York Times reports:

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and an advocate of a more restrained foreign policy, submitted a letter of resignation to President Trump on Friday, saying that she was stepping away to support her husband after he recently was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

The departure will bring an end to Ms. Gabbard’s rocky tenure overseeing the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, during which she had been largely sidelined by the White House on significant national-security issues, including military operations in Iran and Venezuela.

Mr. Trump assembled a second administration last year with an unusual mix of foreign-policy hawks in one corner and critics of American entanglements overseas like Ms. Gabbard in the other. But Ms. Gabbard and her wing found themselves increasingly marginalized in recent months, and her departure marks the most significant exit yet from the coalition of restrainers.

PHOTO: Campaign

‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Finale Attracts 6.74 Million Viewers, Its Most-Watched Weeknight Episode Of All Time

Variety reports:

The series finale of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” pulled off the series’ most-watched weeknight episode of all time, according to early data from CBS. The Eye network reports that the finale of “The Late Show” posted 6.74 million viewers on Thursday night.

That’s up from the show’s 2026 Q1 average of 2.69 million viewers, per live+7 big data info. And it’s above “The Late Show” series premiere on Sept. 8, 2015, with averaged 6.55 million viewers.

PHOTO: Philip Romano CC: 4.0

Here is who Epstein’s longtime assistant accused of sexual abuse

CNN reports:

Lawmakers investigating the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are turning their attention to three men who Epstein’s longtime assistant accused of sexual abuse in closed-door testimony this week, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

In an interview with the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, former Epstein assistant Sarah Kellen accused the three men of wrongdoing and identified them by name, House Oversight Chair James Comer said.

Sources told CNN that Kellen named Frederic Fekkai, a French celebrity hairstylist; Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach and cruise industry entrepreneur; and Patrick Demarchelier, a French fashion photographer.

Kellen accused Fekkai and Levine of sexually assaulting her and testified that Demarchelier exposed himself to her, one of the sources familiar with the matter said. Another source said Kellen asserted that Fekkai assaulted her in the early 2000s – before she met Epstein – when the two were alone together in a hotel room while on a trip to Hawaii to meet with modeling agents.

Candace Owens Apologizes To Hunter Biden: ‘I’m Sorry, I Feel Sh*tty’

Yahoo reports:

Candace Owens apologized to Hunter Biden in their interview on Thursday, telling the former president’s son she “felt sh*tty” about contributing to the media storm surrounding his drug addiction.

Biden sat down with the controversial podcaster to talk about his past scandals and the state of politics in America as a whole. During a conversation surrounding religion, Biden claimed to have made peace with his previous missteps through appreciating the place he reached in later life.

“Like I wouldn’t be here, we couldn’t have this honest conversation. I couldn’t get to know you as a human being if every single thing didn’t occur behind it,” he said. “And it’s that piece of life that like the only way I got it is when they just tore off all my clothes, tart and feathered me, and put me in the center of town and said, ‘Look at him.’ And  I survived.”

PHOTO: Flickr: Ben Stanfield CC: 2.0