May 7, 2026
Gas Prices, Gerrymandering, and the Middle East
Good morning, everyone!
Today, we will look at U.S. politics, the situation in the Middle East, and other news spanning the globe.
Let’s get to it.
United States
-The average U.S. gas price stood at $4.53 yesterday amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to AAA.
-The FBI carried out a raid on the offices of state Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas yesterday as part of a long-running public corruption probe.
The lawmaker, who has served in the legislature since 1991, helped lead the state’s effort to redraw its congressional map to advantage Democrats.
-Tennessee lawmakers released a proposed congressional map that would eliminate the state’s lone Democratic district.
The Republican-led state is moving to redraw its congressional boundaries in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision invalidating a pillar of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Separately, the South Carolina legislature is advancing an effort to redraw its congressional map, although a proposed map has not yet been released.
-Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared before the House Oversight Committee yesterday, where he faced questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
-Only a quarter of Americans say that the country is a “great place for immigrants,” according to a new AP/NORC poll.
-Former Senator Debbie Stabenow endorsed Haley Stevens’ candidacy in Michigan’s three-way Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
-Former President Barack Obama sat for an interview with Stephen Colbert this week.
View it here:
-Former President Bill Clinton delivered a commencement address at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock this week, where he said, “everybody deserves a chance.”
-Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and former Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin got into a contentious back-and-forth at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference this week.
View it here:
-Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, died yesterday at the age of 87.
In 2003, the media mogul sat for an interview with 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace to discuss his career.
View it here:
On this day in 1996, former President George H. W. Bush participated in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to honor Persian Gulf veterans.
In 2009, President Obama hosted former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Reverend Al Sharpton in the Oval Office to discuss education reform.
In 2024, President Joe Biden and congressional leaders participated in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the Capitol.
Other Links:
Purported Epstein Suicide Note Is Released - The New York Times
Justice Department can keep 2020 election ballots seized from Georgia’s Fulton County, judge rules - AP
Trump asks judges to pause E. Jean Carroll ruling so he can appeal case to Supreme Court - ABC
Delta ending food and beverage service on shorter flights - CBS
Dow surges 600 points, S&P 500 posts first close above 7,300 as traders hope for Iran deal - CNBC
Africa
-The United States is preparing to remove sanctions on Eritrea, according to Reuters. The move comes as Washington seeks to capitalize on the African country’s strategic location along the Red Sea amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The country has an 838-mile-long coastline along the strategic waterway opposite Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Each year, roughly 15% of the world’s maritime trade passes through the waters, and 12% of seaborne oil.
Analysts believe that the move by Washington also sends a message to Ethiopia, which has fought several wars with Eritrea, that it does not support a return to conflict between the neighboring countries.
Democracy tracker Freedom House rates the Horn of Africa nation low for the government’s lack of respect for “political rights” and “civil liberties.”
The country has not held a national election since 1993.
-Lawmakers in Uganda passed a law that critics worry could be used to further crush dissent.
-Inflation in Ghana rose last month for the first time since December 2024.
-On this day in 1999, Guinea-Bissau President João Bernardo Vieira was ousted in a military coup, ending his 19-year authoritarian rule that had begun when he himself seized power in 1980.
He would return to office in 2005, but was assassinated four years later.
Other Links:
Burkina Faso ups security after Mali attacks - Africa News
Militants ambush fruit trucks on the road to Bamako as a blockade of Mali’s capital persists - AP
Ivory Coast dissolves electoral commission after criticism - Reuters
China condemns Eswatini for being ‘kept and fed’ by Taiwan in travel row - Reuters
Nearly 8 million South Africans use crypto: report - Semafor
Americas and the Caribbean
-China scorned the United States for its ongoing pressure campaign on Cuba, calling Washington’s oil embargo “illegal” and saying it “seriously violated” international law.
Beijing is a longtime ally of the Communist-led government in Havana.
In January, President Trump ramped up a pressure campaign on the island nation in a bid to oust the government. In recent months, he has said that Washington could soon initiate a “friendly takeover” of the country.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the status quo in Cuba was “unacceptable” and that Washington would soon act to change it. On the same day, he visited U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Florida, where he posed for a photograph in front of a map of Cuba.
At the same time, the near-total U.S. oil blockade on the island has brought daily life to a halt.
-Trump will host Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the White House today.
-On this day in 1919, Eva Perón was born in Los Toldos, Argentina.
She would go on to become an influential political figure, serving as First Lady alongside her husband, President Juan Perón.
Her storied life inspired the popular Broadway musical and film Evita.
Other Links:
Brazil’s billionaire Batista helped broker Lula–Trump meeting, source says - Reuters
Mexico’s Sheinbaum battles party split over US cartel charges - Reuters
Hantavirus is on the rise in Argentina, where a stricken cruise ship began its journey - AP
Argentina’s Javier Milei battered by scandals and slowing economy - Financial Times
Mexico nightclub’s $300 cover charge for US citizens captures popular mood - The Guardian
Asia/Indo-Pacific
-China hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the first visit by Iran’s top diplomat to the country since the start of the war in the Middle East in February.
The visit comes just weeks ahead of President Trump’s planned visit to China.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, Beijing has scorned Washington, calling the military action “unacceptable” and “illegal.”
Meanwhile, the Asian giant has been rocked by the conflict and the economic fallout that it has caused. Prior to the war, about 50% of the country’s seaborne oil imports transited the Strait of Hormuz.
For years, Beijing has sought to deepen its ties to Tehran. In 2021, it inked a 25-year comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Iran, pledging to expand economic and political ties with the Islamic Republic.
As of 2024, China was the largest buyer of Iranian oil, purchasing over 90% of its exports.
-Inflation in South Korea rose to a near-two-year high in April, largely due to oil shocks caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
-The jobless rate in New Zealand fell to 5.3% in the first quarter.
-On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan hosted Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki at the White House for a state visit.
The visit came amid intense U.S.-Japan economic competition, with some economists predicting that Japan would supplant the U.S. as the world’s largest economy.
View their remarks at the arrival ceremony here:
Other Links:
Trump advisers step up their calls on China to help open Strait of Hormuz ahead of Beijing summit - AP
Japan’s Takaichi Pitches Strength and Stability in Visits to Australia and Vietnam - The New York Times
China condemns Japan’s first overseas ‘offensive missile’ test since WWII - South China Morning Post
New weapons charges filed against suspect in deadly shooting at Bondi Beach Hanukkah festival - AP
Asian Currencies Rally on AI Enthusiasm, US-Iran Peace Hopes - Bloomberg
Europe
-U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Pope Leo at the Vatican today.
The meeting comes just weeks after President Trump unleashed a wave of criticism of the pontiff, scorning him for his opposition to Washington’s war against Iran.
Rubio, a Roman Catholic himself, said the trip was planned prior to the war of words but that he would discuss the row with Leo during their face-to-face meeting.
-Local elections will be held across the United Kingdom today.
The vote comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ruling Labour Party has been dogged by Starmer’s appointment last year of an ambassador with ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
-On this day in 1915, a German submarine sank the British ocean liner Lusitania, a precursor to America’s entry into World War I two years later.
In 1977, leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) met for the group’s third annual meeting at 10 Downing Street in London.
Other Links:
Armenia hosts a historic European Union summit as the country charts a course away from Russia - AP
Russia snubs Ukraine’s unilateral ceasefire and fires dozens of drones - AP
Ukraine ‘will respond in kind’ Zelenskyy says ahead of Moscow parade - Euronews
Hungary returns a seized cash and gold shipment worth $82 million to Ukraine - AP
Pope to visit Canary Islands, migrant entry point, on trip to Spain - Reuters
Middle East
-The White House believes that it is the closest it has been to reaching an agreement with Iran to end the war, according to Axios.
The proposal, which spans one page, would set a framework for negotiations to limit Tehran’s nuclear program after the war ends.
President Trump said that if Iran did not agree to the deal, then “the bombing starts.”
Iran’s government said yesterday that it was considering the proposal.
Global oil prices tumbled on the news.
-Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the prospect of high-level talks with Israel premature.
-On this day in 2002, President George W. Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the Oval Office to discuss the Middle East peace process.
Other Links:
US fires on Iranian oil tanker as Trump pressures Tehran for deal to end war - AP
Israel strikes Beirut for the first time since the ceasefire - Reuters
France moves aircraft carrier to Red Sea with eye on Hormuz mission - Reuters
Iran’s Oil Sector and Economy Are Under Pressure as U.S. Blockade Bites - The New York Times
Son of Hamas Gaza chief injured in Israeli strike, five others killed - Reuters
Saudi Aramco Cuts Oil Price For June From Record High in May - The Wall Street Journal
That’s all for today. See you tomorrow to close out the week.
Thank you for the Colbert clip with Obama. We need these two leading, maybe not politically, but out there showing how to behave.