5 Big News Stories Overnight - Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Middle East: U.S. Forces Attack

Al Jazeera reports:

United States forces said they have attacked missile launch sites and mine-laying vessels in southern Iran, in what a US military spokesman described as “self-defence” strikes. Earlier, Iranian media reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

Top negotiators from Tehran have travelled to Qatar to discuss points of contention in a potential deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman cautioned that while progress has been made, it does not mean a deal is “imminent”.

PHOTO: CENTCOM

United Kingdom: Controversy Hits

The Telegraph reports:

Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to “come clean” over what she knew about her husband embezzling £400,000 from the SNP.

Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive, was remanded in custody on Monday and faces jail after admitting to stealing funds to buy a motorhome, cars and luxury items ranging from watches to fountain pens.

His guilty plea at Edinburgh High Court immediately triggered accusations that Ms Sturgeon must have known about Murrell’s actions, which occurred between August 2010 and October 2022. The couple married in July 2010 and shared a home in Uddingston, near Glasgow, before they separated last year.

WHO puts suspected Ebola deaths at 220, warns outbreak is outpacing response efforts

France 24 reports:

The ​head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo ​and ‌Uganda was outpacing response efforts, giving ⁠the latest number of suspected deaths as 220.

He added that countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo “should take immediate action” to contain the virus.

Mongbwalu, a large town in the unstable northeastern province of Ituri, is at the epicentre of the outbreak, which was first detected on May 15. Since then the virus has killed more than 200 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

PHOTO: United Nations

Netanyahu orders IDF to ‘intensify blows’ against Hezbollah amid surge in drone attacks

Times of Israel reports: 

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as a US official said the terror group had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten US-Iran negotiations.

The prime minister’s remarks were followed by confirmation from the IDF that it had launched a fresh wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in eastern and southern Lebanon.

Lebanese security sources said people had begun fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold, for fear of a renewed Israeli assault on the capital.

L.A. is safer than it’s been in decades, but crime is an issue dominating the mayor’s race

Los Angeles Times:

Despite crime rates falling to near-historic lows in recent years, challengers to Mayor Karen Bass have made public safety a central issue in the June 2 primary.

Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt has attacked Bass over homelessness and public drug use.

City Councilmember Nithya Raman has criticized police pay raises, saying the mayor’s LAPD spending is coming at the expense of other city services.

Homicides in Los Angeles are down to levels not seen since the 1960s. Neighborhoods once awash in gang violence now sometimes go weeks, even months, without a shooting. And the follow-home robberies and street takeovers that captured the public’s attention in recent years have largely subsided.

PHOTO: Official Portrait Karen Bass, Mayor