May 27, 2026
Texas Election Results and the Middle East
Good morning, everyone!
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Today, we will look at the Texas Senate Republican runoff election, the situation in the Middle East, and other news spanning the globe.
Let’s get to it.
United States
-Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton overwhelmingly defeated Senator John Cornyn in the Republican runoff election yesterday.
Cornyn’s defeat came just a week after President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton’s candidacy, causing backlash from Senate Republicans who view him as a weaker candidate to take on Democrat James Talarico in the general election.
His defeat also marks the second loss for an incumbent senator in the last two weeks. Earlier this month, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was locked out of the Republican primary field after Trump endorsed one of his challengers.
In his concession speech, Cornyn, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, committed to supporting the Republican ticket.
View his remarks here:
In his victory speech, Paxton thanked Trump for his pivotal endorsement, calling it “the most powerful force in politics.”
View his remarks here:
Following the vote, Talarico posted a video calling Paxton “the most corrupt politician in America.”
View it here:
Meanwhile, in the Houston area, longtime Congressman Al Green lost to Congressman Christian Menefee in the Democratic runoff.
In Dallas County, Congresswoman Julie Johnson lost to former Congressman Collin Allred in the Democratic runoff.
In the state’s 35th district, Johnny Garcia defeated Maureen Galindo in the Democratic runoff after Galindo faced criticism for saying American Zionists should be put into concentration camps.
On the Republican side, Carlos De La Cruz defeated John Lujan.
View full election results here.
-The South Carolina Senate rejected a newly drawn congressional map that would have eliminated the state’s lone Democratic-controlled seat, currently held by Congressman Jim Clyburn.
-New Jersey Senator Andy Kim was pepper sprayed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a protest outside of an immigration detention facility in Newark yesterday.
-The average U.S. gas price stood at $4.49 yesterday amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to AAA.
-The Trump administration is investigating leftist streamer Hasan Piker over his recent trip to Cuba.
-Former Chicago Mayor and longtime Democratic official Rahm Emmanuel released a campaign-like video touting his positions on education policy.
View it here:
-The Daily Mail reported that Vice President JD Vance is considering dropping plans for a presidential bid.
-On this day in 1907, biologist and environmental writer Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania.
In 1911, Hubert Humphrey was born in Wallace, South Dakota.
Other Links:
Middleton defeats Roy in GOP attorney general runoff - The Texas Tribune
Court Rejects Alabama House Map, Calling It Unfair to Black Voters - The New York Times
Florida congressional map survives first court test - Axios
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner stands by ad slamming Red Sox over private equity - AP
Trump administration proposes governmentwide NDAs - Politico
Trump wraps up 3-hour medical visit to Walter Reed and declares ‘Everything checked out PERFECTLY’ - AP
Democratic attorneys general snub Vance’s anti-fraud roundtable at White House after late invite - CNBC
Africa
-The Trump administration announced yesterday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the United States this year.
President Trump has accused the government in Pretoria of allowing a genocide against them, a claim it has vehemently denied. Last year, President Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, where the two clashed over the issue.
View it here:
-Human Rights Watch published a report alleging that the United Arab Emirates trained Colombian mercenaries before sending them to fight alongside Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the African country’s three-year-long civil war.
-Lawmakers in Senegal defied President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and elected ousted Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko as parliament speaker just after Faye dismissed him.
Relations between the former allies have deteriorated in recent months.
-On this day in 2010, President Barack Obama hosted Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the Oval Office for bilateral talks.
Sirleaf was elected as president five years earlier, becoming Africa's first democratically elected female head of state.
In 2017, Trump posed for photographs with several African leaders invited to attend the Group of 7 (G7) leaders’ summit in Sicily.
Other Links:
CDC asks staff to volunteer to help with Ebola screenings at airports amid DRC outbreak - ABC
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa mounts legal challenge against report that could lead to impeachment - BBC
Americas and the Caribbean
-Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado said over the weekend that she would return to Venezuela by the end of the year and that she plans to run for president again.
The announcement came as she met with several fellow Venezuelan opposition leaders in neighboring Panama.
Machado left the country late last year to travel to Norway to accept the Nobel Prize for what the Committee called “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
-President Trump hosted Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in the Oval Office yesterday, which Bolsonaro hopes will boost his flailing candidacy.
Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year prison term for his effort to remain in office following his 2022 election defeat to Lula.
-The Canadian government will require self-isolation for travelers from Ebola-affected countries.
-Japan is gearing up to begin talks with the Latin American trade bloc Mercosur, according to Nikkei.
-Argentine authorities seized over 700 marine animals trafficked from Kenya last month.
-On this day in 1964, the long-running conflict between Colombia’s government and guerrilla groups began after the country’s military launched an operation against communist militants in the rural community of Marquetalia.
Although Bogotá reached a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, dissident factions and other armed groups have continued fighting across the country.
The conflict has killed more than 450,000 people and displaced millions more.
Other Links:
US plans tariffs on USMCA countries, has issues with Canada - Reuters
Mexico’s president sees ‘no issue’ with her country hosting Iran’s World Cup team during tournament - AP
3 men wanted in connection with burglaries of US professional athletes’ homes arrested in Argentina - ABC
Cuba publishes names of prisoners granted freedom in amnesty - Reuters
Global heritage group offers to work with Peru’s government on improving conditions at Machu Picchu - AP
Asia/Indo-Pacific
-Foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue met in India this week, where they pledged to ramp up cooperation on energy security and critical minerals.
The grouping, which is composed of the United States, Australia, India, and Japan, was founded in 2007, and has served as a forum to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
-North Korea fired several missiles toward waters off its west coast yesterday, according to South Korea’s military.
-On this day in 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru, a former Indian prime minister and leader of the country’s independence movement, died at the age of 74.
In 2016, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, the site of the first atomic bomb attack in history.
Other Links:
China controls a metal that’s key for the Iran war, sending the U.S. on a global hunt for more - NBC
China says QUAD cooperation should not target third party - Reuters
China Expands Travel Curbs to Top AI Talent at Private Firms - Bloomberg
China executes man for murdering prominent gaming tycoon - BBC
India’s trade minister says visit by Canada’s Carney reset ties after 2023 killing of Sikh activist - AP
Europe
-Russia has maintained its bombardment of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, representing one of Moscow’s largest drone and missile attacks since the beginning of the war in 2022.
On Monday, Russia urged foreign nationals to leave the city as it continued its “consistent and systemic strikes at enterprises of the Ukrainian defence industry.”
-The Kremlin said yesterday that Russia and Kazakhstan will ink a nuclear power deal when Russian leader Vladimir Putin visits the Central Asian nation this week.
-A heat wave across parts of Western Europe has set springtime records.
-On this day in 1989, Pope John Paul II hosted President and Mrs. Bush in Vatican City.
Other Links:
European stocks edge lower amid U.S-Iran peace talks uncertainty - CNBC
Moscow wants to ‘destabilise’ Europe, EU chief warns, as countries summon Russian ambassadors over Kyiv threats - The Guardian
Germany, Canada to Sign Major LNG Deal as Europe Seeks Energy Security - Bloomberg
A rare public trial opens in Paris child abuse case as parents seek a national wake-up call - AP
Four dead and two injured after train hits school bus in Belgium, deputy PM says - Euronews
Middle East
-Iran said yesterday that recent U.S. strikes near the Strait of Hormuz violated the terms of a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiations between the two countries to reach a long-term peace deal could take “a few days” after both sides expressed optimism that a deal could be reached soon over the weekend.
-A new Frontline documentary details the decision-making process that led President Trump to launch military action against Iran in February.
View it here:
-Israel stepped up airstrikes on Lebanon yesterday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military was expanding its military operations in the country.
-Israeli strikes killed at least seven people in the Gaza Strip yesterday.
-On this day in 1960, Turkey’s democratic government was toppled by 38 military officers, marking the country’s first military coup.
Other Links:
Iran Begins Lifting Monthslong Internet Blackout, Officials Say - The New York Times
Israeli opposition leader Lapid says Trump’s emerging deal with Iran is `bad for the region’ - AP
IDF attempted to assassinate Hamas military leader Mohammed Ouda, PM says - The Jerusalem Post
Iranian hackers responsible for Los Angeles transit system breach, Israeli researchers say - Reuters
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party condemns ousting of main opposition - Reuters
That’s all for today. See you tomorrow.