May 18, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 2012, Facebook held its initial public offering which raised $16 billion.
QotD: “The Clock is Ticking. They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend referring to Iran.
US/IRAN/PAKISTAN/MIL – Pakistan hands US revised Iranian proposal for ending war.
Peace mediator Pakistan has shared with the United States a revised proposal from Iran to end the war in the Middle East, a Pakistani source told Reuters on Monday, warning that the sides "don't have much time" to narrow their differences.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei later confirmed that Tehran's views had been "conveyed to the American side through Pakistan" but gave no details.
A fragile ceasefire is in place after six weeks of war that followed U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but talks mediated by Pakistan have stalled and U.S. President Donald Trump has said the ceasefire is "on life support".
The Pakistani source gave no details of the revised proposal. Asked if it would take time to close gaps, the source said the sides "keep changing their goalposts" and added: "We don't have much time."
Washington has urged Tehran to dismantle its nuclear program and lift an effective blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.
Iran has demanded compensation for war damage, an end to a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and a halt to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social at the weekend that "the Clock is Ticking" for Iran, adding that "they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!"
MORE – Pakistan deploys jet squadron, thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia during Iran war.
Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defence pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war.
The deployment, the full scale of which is reported here for the first time, was confirmed by three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support Saudi Arabia's military if the kingdom comes under further attack.
Pakistan's military and foreign office and Saudi Arabia's government media office did not respond to requests for comment on the deployment.
The full terms of the defence agreement, signed last year, are confidential, but both sides have said it requires Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to come to each other's defence in the event of an attack. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has previously implied that it places Saudi Arabia under Pakistan's nuclear umbrella.
According to the sources, Pakistan has deployed a full squadron of around 16 aircraft, mostly JF-17 fighters made jointly with China, which were sent to Saudi Arabia in early April. Two of the security officials said Pakistan had also sent two squadrons of drones.
All five sources said the deployment includes around 8,000 troops, with a pledge to send more if needed, as well as a Chinese HQ-9 air defence system.
The equipment is operated by Pakistani personnel and financed by Saudi Arabia, they said.
ISRAEL/HAMAS/MIL – Israeli strike kills Hamas’ military wing leader, who Israel says was an architect of Oct 7 attacks.
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-hamas-israel-strike-2ae7c8e7a59b943a47f7a68fdc61051b
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing who was one of the last surviving architects of the attacks that triggered the war in late 2023, the Israeli military said Saturday. Hamas confirmed the death.
Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed on Friday, Israel’s army said, describing him as one of the senior Hamas military commanders who directed the planning and execution of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 250 taken hostage.
A Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, confirmed the killing on social media.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, and the top diplomat overseeing it says it has stalled because of the deadlock over disarming Hamas. Both sides have traded accusations of violations. Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
UKR/RUS/MIL – Russia attacks Odesa and Dnipro, Ukraine strikes Belgorod region.
Russia struck the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Dnipro in missile and drone attacks that damaged residential buildings and injured dozens of people, and Russian officials reported two deaths in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia.
After more than four years of war since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, peace efforts have stalled and each side accuses the other of regularly attacking military, civilian and energy targets as the conflict drags on.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 524 drones and 22 missiles in attacks that began early on Sunday evening and continued overnight. The attacks followed a heavy Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow at the weekend.
Twenty-two people were hurt, including a girl of two and a boy of 10, in the southeastern city of Dnipro and a further eight were injured in the surrounding region, officials said.
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said apartment blocks, a religious institution and a university were damaged, and posted photos online showing a building with shattered balconies and firefighters dousing flames.
"Russia relies on ballistic missiles to strike people, and that is precisely why we in Europe must do everything possible to ensure reliable protection against this," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X after what he said was a more than six-hour attack on Dnipro and the region.
US/TAIWAN/ARMS DEAL – Taiwan president defends US arms purchases that Trump called ‘bargaining chip’.
https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-us-arms-china-trump-9b281ac90e9bcb71aee8011435dec0c2
Taiwan’s president on Sunday stressed that arms purchases from the United States are “the most important deterrent” of regional conflict and instability, after President Donald Trump called into question continued U.S. support of Taiwan following his visit to China.
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and security cooperation between the two sides are not only governed by law but also a catalyst for regional peace and stability, President Lai Ching-te said in a statement.
“We thank President Trump for his continued support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait since his first term, including the continuous increase in the scale and amount of arms sales to Taiwan,” he said.
His statement came days after Trump raised doubts over his willingness to continue to sell arms to Taiwan, the island democracy that China claims as its own breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary.
The U.S., like all countries that have formal ties with China, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but has been the island’s strongest backer and arms supplier. Washington is bound by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and sees all threats to the island as a matter of grave concern.
Trump already approved in December a record-breaking $11 billion arms package to Taiwan including missiles, drones, artillery systems and military software.
In an interview aired Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to greenlight a new $14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.”
“It’s a very good negotiating chip for us frankly,” he said.
EBOLA/HEALTH --- Health workers race to respond to Congo’s fast-spreading Ebola outbreak.
Medical personnel were rushing on Monday to the frontlines of a new Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo whose late detection and quick spread have alarmed health experts.
The World Health Organization on Sunday declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern because of the high risk the disease could spread further beyond DRC's borders after two cases were confirmed in Kampala, the capital of neighbouring Uganda.
The outbreak is suspected to have killed around 80 people in recent weeks, with eight cases confirmed by laboratory testing and 246 suspected cases reported in eastern DRC's Ituri province.
Another case was confirmed in neighbouring North Kivu province's capital, Goma, according to the M23 rebels who control the city. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said on Sunday that it was supporting partners withdrawing a small number of directly affected Americans.
A delegation led by DRC Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba arrived in Ituri's capital Bunia on Sunday with tents to set up treatment centres to support strained local hospitals.
"This is not a mystical disease," he told Reuters. "Make yourself known so that you can be taken care of and so that we can prevent the disease from spreading."
WHO's representative in DRC, Anne Ancia, said WHO had emptied its stocks of protective equipment in the capital Kinshasa and was now preparing a cargo plane to bring additional supplies from a depot in Kenya.
US/NIGERIA/MIL/TERROR – After killing top commander, US sustains attacks on Islamic State in Nigeria.
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Nigerian military said on Monday they had carried out additional airstrikes against Islamic State targets in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday, as joint operations against militant groups intensify.
The operations in the Lake Chad zone underscore Washington's readiness to tackle militants directly in Africa, which is now the focus of the group's global operations.
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters said the latest strikes were conducted in Borno state's Metele area, following intelligence that fighters had converged there.
Multiple airstrikes killed more than 20 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants, according to a Nigerian military statement. Reuters could not independently confirm the toll.
AFRICOM said no U.S. or Nigerian personnel were harmed in the operation.
Sunday's strikes came a day after a joint U.S.-Nigerian mission involving airstrikes and a ground operation that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described by both governments as the second-in-command of Islamic State globally.
ROK/DPRK – North Korea’s new constitution deepens split with Seoul.
https://www.dw.com/en/north-koreas-new-constitution-deepens-split-with-seoul/a-77195733
North Korea's amended constitution has removed any reference to reunification with South Korea and to a shared Korean national identity, formally framing Seoul as a "hostile state."
The changes, which leader Kim Jong Un had signaled at a Supreme People's Assembly in March, are a major policy departure for North Korea, which has technically remained at war with its southern neighbor since an armistice in 1953 halted hostilities in the Korean War.
The new constitution, distributed by South Korea's Ministry of Unification on May 6, has four major changes:
The goal of reunifying the Korean peninsula has been officially abandoned, and South Korea is no longer viewed as part of a shared national community
A new territorial clause has been introduced, defining North Korea as a country bordering China and Russia to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south
Kim Jong Un has been given exclusive authority over the use of nuclear weapons
Clauses related to the achievements of his predecessors, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, have been removed
The shift contrasts with South Korea's constitution, which claims the entire Korean Peninsula and its islands as its own territory.
US/GREENLAND/DENMARK – In closed-door talks, US demands a major role in Greenland.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/world/europe/us-greenland-talks-trump.html
With the conflict in Iran still smoldering, President Trump’s obsession with Greenland seems like a forgotten sideshow.
But for the past four months, negotiators from the United States, Greenland and Denmark, which controls Greenland’s foreign affairs, have been holding confidential talks in Washington about Greenland’s future.
The talks were meant to give Mr. Trump an offramp to his threats of a military takeover of Greenland and to scale back a crisis that risked breaking apart the NATO alliance. But Greenlandic leaders are worried about what is being proposed, which is a much larger U.S. role on the Arctic island. And they fear that if the conflict with Iran winds down, the president will swing his aggression back on them.
Some Greenlandic politicians say they have even circled a date on their calendars to be wary: June 14, Mr. Trump’s birthday.
MEXICO/SEC – Ten killed in armed attack in Mexico’s Puebla state.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ten-killed-armed-attack-mexicos-puebla-state-2026-05-17/
Ten people, including a minor, were killed in an armed attack in Mexico's Puebla state on Sunday, the state's public security ministry said. The victims — six men, three women, and a child — were targeted by armed individuals in the municipality of Tehuitzingo, the state ministry added.
State and federal forces have launched a joint investigation and operational deployment to locate the perpetrators.
The state's public security ministry pledged "zero impunity" for the killings and said intelligence gathering is underway to clarify the motive behind the assault.
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