May 14, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day: in 1804, William Clark and 42 men depart from Camp Dubois to join Meriwether Lewis at St Charles, Missouri, marking the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition's historic journey up the Missouri River.
QOTD: “This reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval,” Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command, a central security body, told Iraqi state media in comments about the attack in early March.
UK/POL - UK health secretary resigns, setting up a Labour leadership challenge to Keir Starmer
https://apnews.com/article/britain-politics-starmer-streeting-rayner-6bd359148664c9478ed01b36ebb6e37d
Efforts to unseat British Prime Minister Keir Starmer from inside his own government broke out into open rebellion Thursday, with one potential rival resigning from the Cabinet and another clearing the way to enter any future leadership contest.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting became the first senior minister to quit Starmer ’s Cabinet on Thursday in what is expected to be a precursor to challenging his leadership.
Starmer is facing growing pressure from his own Labour Party to step down after disastrous results for Labour last week in local and regional elections. The election drubbing cemented doubts among many Labour lawmakers about Starmer’s judgment, vision and leadership ability –- a brutal indictment on a leader who returned the party to power in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition.
“You have shown courage and statesmanship on the world stage — not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran,” Streeting wrote in an excoriating resignation letter. “But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift.”
LATVIA/UKRAINE/MIL/POL - Latvian Prime Minister resigns over handling of Ukrainian drone incidents
https://www.reuters.com/world/latvian-prime-minister-silina-says-she-is-resigning-2026-05-14/
Latvia's centre-right Prime Minister Evika Silina said on Thursday she had resigned, triggering the collapse of her coalition government just months before an election due in October.
"I am resigning, but I am not giving up," Silina, who has been prime minister since 2023, said in a televised statement.
Silina's government will stay on as caretaker until a replacement is sworn in. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who is tasked by the constitution to select a leader of the government, will meet all parliamentary parties on Friday.
Silina fired Defence Minister Andris Spruds at the weekend, after two stray Ukrainian drones flew into Latvia from Russia and exploded at an oil storage facility, the latest in a string of such incidents in NATO members Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
The drones were not detected by the Latvian Army as they flew in from Russia, the army's head said, and Silina blamed Spruds for not having developed anti-drone systems fast enough.
In response, Spruds' Progressives party withdrew its support from Silina's government on Wednesday, leaving her without a majority in parliament and vulnerable to a potential no-confidence motion.
CUBA/US/ENERGY - Scattered Protests Erupt as Cuba Says It’s Entirely Out of Fuel
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-14/scattered-protests-erupt-as-cuba-says-it-s-entirely-out-of-fuel
Cuba said the country has completely run out of the diesel and fuel oil it needs to keep its power plants running, with civil unrest starting to break out amid a de facto US energy blockade of the communist-run nation.
“The system has, once again, been left without any fuel reserves,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said during a press conference late Wednesday. “There’s absolutely nothing.”
While the island of 10 million people is using some domestic fuel production and solar energy to keep some lights on, the entire grid is now so fragile that large swathes of the country are going dark. Cuba’s electrical union said it could only cover about a third of national power demand.
Social media reports showed sporadic protests breaking out in and around the capital of Havana before night fell on Wednesday, with people banging pots — and in some cases lighting fires — on darkened streets for hours thereafter.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the increasingly dire situation on Donald Trump’s pressure campaign. “This dramatic decline in conditions has only one cause: the genocidal energy blockade that the US has imposed on our country, as it threatens to impose irrational tariffs on any nation that provides us with energy,” Díaz-Canel said in a post on X.
VENEZUELA - Venezuela starts sovereign, PDVSA debt overhaul; liabilities seen above $150 bln
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuela-starts-sovereign-pdvsa-debt-overhaul-liabilities-seen-above-150-bln-2026-05-13/
Venezuela on Wednesday launched a restructuring of its sovereign debt and that of state oil firm PDVSA, lifting bond prices, as it seeks relief from what it called unsustainable obligations.
In a statement, the government said the “comprehensive and orderly” overhaul would cover both sovereign debt and that of PDVSA and aim for “substantial relief” from debt burdens.
The restructuring is intended to “put the economy at the service of the Venezuelan people” with any relief directed toward social welfare, inclusive growth and job creation, the statement said.
Venezuela said it expects to present its macroeconomic framework and public debt sustainability analysis to the international financial community next month, and has appointed Centerview Partners as financial adviser. The statement did not provide details on a restructuring timetable, creditor engagement, or the terms the country may seek.
The Venezuela Creditor Committee, a formal group of bondholders, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Venezuela is one of the world's largest sovereign default cases, with the sovereign and PDVSA totaling about $60 billion in defaulted bonds outstanding. Analysts estimate total liabilities, including arbitration awards and accrued interest, could exceed $150 billion.
CRUISE/PESTILENCE - Cruise ship, carrying many Brits, stranded in France after stomach flu outbreak
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cruise-ship-stopped-disembarking-france-over-likely-stomach-flu-outbreak-2026-05-13/
A cruise ship, carrying more than 1,000 passengers many of whom are British, remained stranded in Bordeaux on Wednesday after an outbreak of stomach flu during its voyage.
One of the ship's passengers, a 92-year old Briton, had passed away on board due to a cardiac arrest during a stop in Brest, Brittany, on May 11. That death did not appear to be associated with the gastrointestinal outbreak, said the local French authority responsible for the Bordeaux region.
There is no reason to link the stomach flu outbreak on the vessel, that came from Belfast and Liverpool, with the hantavirus cluster on the luxury MV Hondius ship that travelled between Argentina and the Canary Islands, added the regional health authority in a statement.
French authorities allowed some passengers to leave the 'Ambition' ship, which is run by Ambassador Cruise Line, on Wednesday evening, adding that those people would have to take the necessary, precautionary health measures, such as regularly washing their hands.
The vessel was carrying 1,233 passengers, most of them British or Irish nationals and 514 crew members. One passenger was a French national.
ISRAEL/POL - Netanyahu's Coalition Parties Move to Dissolve Israel's Knesset, Paving Way for Elections
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-05-13/ty-article/.premium/coalition-parties-move-to-dissolve-knesset-paving-way-to-elections/0000019e-22e8-d618-adde-32fad1ed0000
Israel's coalition leaders moved Wednesday to dissolve the Knesset, formally paving the way toward early elections.
According to the proposal, the election date – previously set for October 27 – will instead be determined during deliberations in the Knesset Committee.
The move comes amid deepening tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners over legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service.
On Tuesday, Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel Hatorah party, said action must be taken to dissolve the Knesset "as soon as possible" after Netanyahu informed ultra-Orthodox parties that the draft exemption law would not pass before elections.
Netanyahu had spent recent weeks trying to prevent the ultra-Orthodox parties from backing dissolution efforts while insisting that negotiations over a compromise draft law were continuing. But his announcement that the legislation would not pass before elections appears to have removed the main incentive for the Haredi parties to keep the coalition intact.
MALAYSIA/IRAN - Iran-linked ‘shadow fleet’ exploiting maritime loophole for sanctioned oil transfers, Malaysia says
https://apnews.com/article/malaysia-iran-us-oil-tanker-indonesia-sanctions-9ff1366964afc110afe07b93e9475b18
Malaysia ’s maritime agency says Iranian-linked tankers are exploiting “jurisdictional gaps” to conduct ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned oil near its waters, rejecting allegations that authorities ignored a long-running trade allowing Iran to evade U.S. sanctions.
U.S.-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and shipping industry observers say waters near Malaysia’s southern Johor state have become a key hub for ship-to-ship transfers involving Iran’s “shadow fleet” — aging tankers that often operate with disabled tracking systems, false identities and opaque ownership structures to conceal the origins of crude bound largely for China.
The area, known as the Eastern Outer Port Limits, or EOPL, in the South China Sea is about 70 kilometers (45 miles) off Johor. It lies along one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes and is about halfway between Iran and China, which buys about 90% of Iranian oil.
IRAN/SHIPPING - Tensions flare up over Strait of Hormuz as ship is reported seized and heading toward Iran
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-israel-war-oil-hormuz-may-14-2026-efb53c39ee6334733e1cb22ca4a6c279
A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another was attacked and sank, authorities said Thursday, in a renewed escalation on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but the incidents came as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country’s claim to the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil tankers connected to the U.S.
The ship was seized off the east coast of the UAE and is heading toward Iranian waters, the British military said Thursday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian authorities also announced Thursday that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah, another UAE port, on Wednesday, without identifying who attacked the ship.
ISRAEL/IRAQ/IRAN/MIL - Israel Built and Defended a Secret Iran War Base in Iraq
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-built-and-defended-a-secret-iran-war-base-in-iraq-3590851a?mod=world_trendingnow_article_pos3
Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war, people familiar with the matter including U.S. officials said.
Israel built the installation, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the U.S., the people said.
Search-and-rescue teams were positioned there in case Israeli pilots were downed. None have been. When a U.S. F-15 jet fighter was shot down near Isfahan, Iran, the Israelis offered to help, but U.S. forces managed the rescue of two airmen themselves, one of the people said. Israel did carry out airstrikes to help protect the operation.
The Israeli base was almost discovered in early March. Iraqi state media said a local shepherd reported unusual military activity in the area, including helicopter flights, and the Iraqi military sent troops to investigate. Israel kept them at bay with airstrikes, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Israel’s military declined to comment. The Iraqi government at the time condemned the attack, which left an Iraqi soldier dead.
UAE/ISRAEL - UAE denies Netanyahu secretly visited the country during the Iran war
https://www.npr.org/2026/05/14/nx-s1-5822156/uae-netanyahu-visit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quietly visited the United Arab Emirates during the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran, his office said Wednesday. The UAE later denied any secret visit had occurred.
Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a gathering that "resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates," according to the Israeli statement. The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
The UAE's official WAM news agency later posted an article denying "reports circulating" about a Netanyahu visit. According to WAM, the country's relations with Israel "are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements."
PHILIPPINES/POL - Philippine politician wanted by ICC makes 'escape' after Senate chaos
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippine-president-calls-emergency-meeting-after-chaos-shooting-senate-2026-05-14/
A top Philippine politician wanted by the International Criminal Court was no longer taking refuge at the Senate after what his wife called an "escape", the Senate president said on Thursday, a day after chaos erupted over his possible arrest.
Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, the former police chief and top enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody "war on drugs", is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same offences Duterte is accused of, and had been under the Senate's protection since Monday.
Gunshots were heard late on Wednesday inside the heavily-guarded Senate and people there scrambled for cover, hours after dela Rosa, 64, appealed on social media for supporters to mobilise, saying agents were coming to arrest him.
His ally, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, said on Thursday he was no longer there and read to reporters a text message that he said was from dela Rosa's wife, apologising for the turmoil that his presence had created.
"It's for this reason I'm sure Ronald made his escape," said the text message from Nancy dela Rosa.
The message did not disclose dela Rosa's whereabouts but said fleeing "was not part of the plan".