中国批欧调查同方威视时存在不当域外管辖措施

2026年5月16日 07:47 / 联合早报

中国官方星期五（5月15日）发布公告指欧盟利用《外国补贴条例》，在对中国安全公司同方威视调查中，对中国实体采取的相关跨境调查做法，构成不当域外管辖措施，并要求组织、个人不得执行或者协助执行这项措施。

中国司法部当天在官网发布上述公告。司法部新闻发言人指欧盟利用《外国补贴条例》对同方威视进行调查，肆意向中国实体跨境索取广泛的、非必要的中国境内信息，是对相关实体施加的不当要求，明显违反国际法与国际关系基本准则。

发言人说：“为维护国家主权、安全和发展利益，保护中国公民、法人或其他组织的合法权益，司法部根据《中华人民共和国反外国不当域外管辖条例》，会同商务部等有关部门依法识别，认定欧盟上述做法构成不当域外管辖措施。”

中国司法部也说，自实施以来，欧盟频繁利用《外国补贴条例》对中国企业进行调查，具有明显针对性和歧视性，是典型的以公平竞争之名行保护主义之实。“我们敦促欧方立即纠正错误做法，为中欧合作创造公平、公正、可预期的市场环境。如欧方执意越界，中方将坚决依法反制。”

路透社报道，针对同方威视可能获得有助于提升公司在欧洲竞争力的补贴疑虑，欧盟去年12月对同方威视展开深入调查。

欧盟委员会发言人通过电邮回应时称，信息请求属于标准流程。他说：“《外国补贴条例》并未根据公司的国籍或所有权对其进行区分，与欧盟的国际义务是一致的。”

同方威视为170多个国家的机场和港口生产人体和行李扫描仪，在2020年被美国政府以安全疑虑为由列入黑名单。

美国肉类出口协会：中国允许425家美国牛肉厂对华出口

2026年5月16日 07:06 / 联合早报

美国肉类出口协会说，中国已为425家美国牛肉厂的注册有效期延长五年。 （法新社档案照片）

美国肉类出口协会说，中国已为425家美国牛肉厂的注册有效期延长五年。 （法新社档案照片）

美国肉类出口协会称，中国已为425家美国牛肉厂续展输华许可，为两国之间牛肉贸易全面恢复铺平道路。

彭博社报道，美国肉类出口协会星期五（5月15日）发声明说，中国已将这些牛肉厂的注册有效期延长五年，这些厂商的注册去年在美中贸易紧张局势下已失效。另有77项注册被加入中国进口食品境外生产企业注册系统。

彭博社星期四（14日）报道称，在美国总统特朗普与中国国家主席习近平举行峰会期间，北京已为数百家美国牛肉厂续发输华许可。

美国肉类出口协会总裁哈尔斯特罗姆说，续发许可是“向前迈出的关键一步”，并称出口协会仍在等待美国政府提供更多细节。

美国农业部数据显示，2024年至2025年间，美国对华牛肉及相关产品出口下降约67%，去年总出口下降12%。

Cuba’s biggest threat to U.S. is collapse, says former Defense Secretary Robert Gates

May 15, 2026 4:28 PM EDT / CBS News

As President Trump makes threats against Cuba, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the biggest risk the Communist-ruled island poses to the U.S. is its potential collapse and a migration crisis to the U.S.

“The biggest risk is that we end up with another Mariel evacuation from Cuba that has tens of thousands of Cubans heading to the United States out of desperation,” Gates said Friday in an interview with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

Known as the Mariel Boatlift, about 125,000 Cubans sought refuge in the U.S. in 1980, as Cuba’s failing economy led to dissent on the island. The mass exodus strained social services in Florida and led the state and federal governments to declare a state of emergency.

Gates said Cuba’s involvement in other events, such as providing security for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has “impacted” U.S. national security, but questioned whether Cuba poses an “imminent threat” to the U.S.

“Other than in these, if you will, peripheral ways, I think the main threat is, frankly, is collapse,” he said.

President Trump has threatened the possibility of military action against Cuba for months and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for economic and political reforms.

The Trump administration has been trying to squeeze Cuba’s economy by imposing an oil blockade that experts say has pushed the nation to its most dire state since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which heavily subsidized Cuba’s economy. Cuba’s energy minister said this week that Cuba has run out of fuel, largely as a result of the blockade.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana on Thursday for a rare meeting with senior Cuban officials, an agency official told CBS News, delivering a message that the U.S. was prepared to expand economic and security engagement with Cuba if Havana “makes fundamental changes.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/robert-gates-says-cubas-biggest-threat-to-u-s-is-its-potential-collapse/

The 1996 incident at the root of expected Raul Castro indictment

2026-05-15 20:30:56 UTC / Reuters

An image of former Cuban President Raul Castro hangs on the street in Havana, Cuba, May 9, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Purchase Licensing Rights

May 15 (Reuters) – The Trump administration plans to unveil criminal charges against Cuba’s former president, Raul Castro, based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban military jets killed four people, according to ​a U.S. Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Here are details about ‌the incident:

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On February 24, 1996, Cuban jets shot down two small planes being flown by Brothers to the Rescue, a group of Cuban exile pilots. All four men aboard were killed. Cuba said the planes were ​in Cuban airspace, while the United States said they were over international waters. Cuba ​defended the shootdown as legitimate defense of its airspace but the U.S. position ⁠was later backed up by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which concluded the attack took ​place over international waters.

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WHO WERE ‘BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE’?

The Miami-based group said its mission was to search ​the Florida Straits for Cuban rafters fleeing the island. The group routinely flew near the Cuban coast. In early 1996, Cuban officials accused the group of dropping tens of thousands of flyers over Havana. The group’s leader, ​Jose Basulto, said the leaflets were dropped over international airspace and carried by winds to ​Cuba. However, the group’s members had flown over Havana in recent months to drop literature.

CUBA’S RESPONSE

Fidel Castro, who ‌was then ⁠Cuba’s president, said after the incident that he gave general orders to stop the flights but did not specifically order them to be shot down. Castro said the military acted on “standing orders” and that his brother Raul, who at the time oversaw the nation’s security services as defense ​minister, also did not ​give a specific ⁠order to shoot the planes.

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A former Brothers to the Rescue member, Juan Pablo Roque, alleged on Cuban television that the pilots’ group had flown ​into Cuban airspace to gather information ahead of a possible attack and ​had planned ⁠to smuggle arms into the country. U.S. officials dismissed his claims as propaganda and said he was likely a Cuban agent.

THE U.S. RESPONSE

President Bill Clinton ordered sanctions including suspending charter flights, restricting Cuban diplomats’ ⁠movement, ​and seeking cooperation with Congress on tightening the embargo. However, ​the Clinton administration did not pursue criminal charges against either Castro brother. The Justice Department filed charges against three Cuban ​military officers in 2003 but they were never extradited.

Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Colorado governor commutes Tina Peters’ sentence as Trump posts ‘FREE TINA!’

2026-05-15T19:07:57-04:00 / Fox News

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold says the clemency validates ‘the election denial movement’

By Jasmine Baehr, Fox News

Published May 15, 2026 7:07pm EDT

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Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — the former election clerk convicted in connection with a 2021 voting equipment breach case that became a flashpoint in the election integrity fight — drawing immediate backlash from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and praise from President Donald Trump, who posted “FREE TINA!” on Truth Social.

Polis announced clemency for 44 individuals Friday, including 35 pardons and nine commutations, according to the governor’s office. Peters was among those granted a commutation reducing her prison sentence and granting parole effective June 1, 2026.

“The Clemency power is a serious responsibility, and not one that I take lightly,” Polis said in a statement announcing the clemency actions.

“This power has the ability to change lives – help grant a second chance for someone who has made grave mistakes – and it comes with great consideration, and sometimes even controversy,” he added.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PARDON FOR COLORADO CLERK: ‘SIMPLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR ELECTIONS WERE FAIR’

Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters speaks at a rally on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado, on April 5, 2022.(Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post)

The move immediately prompted a blistering response from Griswold, who accused Polis of legitimizing “the election denial movement.”

“This clemency grant to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement Friday.

“The Governor’s actions today will validate and embolden the election denial movement, and leave a dark, dangerous imprint on American democracy for years to come,” she added.

FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO RELEASE PRO-TRUMP CLERK CONVICTED IN 2020 ELECTION SCHEME

Mesa County Clerk and Colorado Republican candidate for secretary of state Tina Peters will receive a pardon from President Donald Trump. Peters is serving a nine-year sentence after a state jury convicted her of participating in a scheme to breach the Mesa County voting systems.(Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

According to the executive order signed Friday, Peters’ sentence was commuted from 8 years and 3 months to 4 years and 4.5 months. The order grants her parole effective June 1, 2026, with conditions to be set by the Colorado Parole Board.

“Tina M. Peters be and hereby is granted a limited commutation such that her total sentence, inclusive of time in County Jail and the Department of Corrections, is commuted to 4 years and 4.5 months, and that she is granted parole effective June 1, 2026,” the order states.

The executive order also explicitly noted that the clemency action “shall not in any way affect the underlying criminal conviction.”

TRUMP PARDONS RUDY GIULIANI, MARK MEADOWS, SIDNEY POWELL, OTHERS INVOLVED IN 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE SAGA

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ state is allowing taxpayers to keep their federal deductions on overtime this year, but future years’ federal tax savings are going to be clawed back for state revenue.(AP)

Polis wrote in the order that “the constitutional and statutory conditions for granting this clemency petition have been satisfied, and granting this commutation is in the interest of justice.”

According to the executive order, Peters was convicted in 2024 of three counts of attempt to influence a public servant, along with conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation – cause liability, official misconduct, violation of duty elections and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements.

She had been sentenced to 8 years and 3 months in Department of Corrections custody, along with 6 months in county jail. Her mandatory release date had previously been listed in 2033, while her estimated parole eligibility date had been in 2028.

BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE’S HOW OTHERS PRESIDENTS RANK

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold speaks with members of the media outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 8, 2024.(Nathan Howard/Bloomberg)

Griswold’s office said Peters’ actions stemmed from a 2021 breach involving Mesa County voting equipment.

“In 2021, then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters compromised her county’s voting equipment trying to prove conspiracies,” Griswold’s office said in a release Friday.

The office said Griswold responded by decertifying the county’s voting equipment, working with Mesa County commissioners to remove Peters from election oversight and appointing a former Republican secretary of state to oversee the election process.

Griswold’s office also said Peters’ actions cost Mesa County “nearly one million dollars in replacement equipment.”

The secretary of state’s office noted that on April 2, 2026, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld Peters’ convictions while ordering that she be re-sentenced by the district court.

Trump weighed in on the commutation Friday afternoon with a brief Truth Social post reading simply: “FREE TINA!”

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Peters became a nationally known figure among 2020 election skeptics following the Mesa County voting equipment breach controversy and subsequent criminal prosecution.

Friday’s clemency order immediately deepened political divisions surrounding one of the highest-profile criminal prosecutions in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

Lawmakers press Trump for military support for Taiwan after Xi summit

2026-05-15 17:44 EDT / CBS News

By Patrick Maguire
Patrick Maguire is an Associate Producer at CBS News based in Washington, D.C.

Updated on: May 15, 2026 / 6:53 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Lawmakers in both parties say the U.S. should continue to provide arms to Taiwan after President Trump, at the end of his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said he hasn’t decided whether to move forward with a pending arms sale to the island.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Friday after departing Beijing, Mr. Trump said he and Xi “talked a lot about Taiwan” during their summit and confirmed the Chinese leader had brought up the U.S. weapons sale. The president said he made “no commitment either way” on the issue and declined to publicly state whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

The comments quickly drew attention on Capitol Hill, where Taiwan has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support and lawmakers have been pushing the administration to move ahead with a delayed $14 billion arms sale that Congress approved in January.

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said Friday that the U.S. must “arm Taiwan so they can defend themselves for deterrence against Chairman Xi.” McCaul said that during the summit, Xi was “very aggressive” regarding Taiwan and added that “most of what [Xi] talked about was Taiwan.”

Asked about the fact that the president has not yet made a decision on the arms sale, McCaul replied that there “there should be” a decision.

During the summit, Xi told Mr. Trump that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations, according to a Chinese readout of their meeting. A Chinese ministry spokesperson said Xi made it clear that if Taiwan “is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability.” If not, “the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

The ministry said Xi also told Mr. Trump that “‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water.”

After meeting with Xi, Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier he views the pending weapons sale as a “very good negotiating chip.”

“I may do it, I may not do it,” the president said, later adding: “Taiwan would be very smart to cool it a little bit. China would be very smart to cool it a little bit.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, also stressed the importance of U.S. support for Taiwan’s defenses. Meeks was among a group of top House Democrats who had urged Mr. Trump ahead of the summit to approve the delayed package before meeting Xi, warning that delaying Taiwan arms sales could weaken deterrence of Chinese aggression in the Taiwan Strait.

“I think it is important for us to make sure that Taiwan does have what it needs to defend itself,” Meeks told CBS News on Friday.

Meeks also argued Xi has “leverage over the president” but not “over the United States Congress and the American people.” He said Congress has already acted on the package, and “the president is the one that’s holding it up.”

Speaker Mike Johnson also reiterated his support for Taiwan Friday, though he said he has not yet received a full readout from Trump on the talks with Xi.

“We’ve always been concerned, and we’ve made America’s interests very clear,” Johnson said. “Our position on Taiwan, they need to stay independent and secure there.”

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick compared Taiwan to Ukraine, calling both “fortresses of democracy” that are “on the front lines.”

“We have to support Taiwan,” Fitzpatrick said. “We should be bolstering it.”

Taiwan emerged as one of the most closely watched issues ahead of Trump’s trip to Beijing, as lawmakers worried that the administration could delay or reconsider future arms sales as part of broader negotiations with China on trade and Iran.

The U.S. announced a record $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan late last year, angering Beijing and prompting Chinese military exercises near the island. The larger $14 billion package is still awaiting Mr. Trump’s signature four months after Congress approved it.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/xi-draws-red-line-taiwan-trump-summit/

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PUBLISHED May 15, 2026, 4:45 PM ET

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Tina Peters speaks during a debate for a state leadership position in February 2023 in Hudson, Colorado.

David Zalubowski/AP

Tina Peters, the Republican former election clerk imprisoned for crimes related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, will receive clemency from Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and soon be released from custody, Polis exclusively told CNN.

The decision followed a previously unreleased statement in Peters’ clemency application, obtained by CNN from Polis’ office, in which Peters acknowledged for the first time since her 2024 conviction that she “made a mistake” and “misled” Colorado election officials.

Polis said in an interview Friday that he was cutting Peters’ prison sentence in half, reducing it to 4.5 years. He said that meant she could be paroled within a month, based on the time she has already served behind bars and Colorado’s early-release rules.

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A jury in conservative-leaning Mesa County convicted Peters in 2024 of conspiring with fellow election deniers to breach her county’s election systems in hopes of proving President Donald Trump’s baseless 2020 voter-fraud claims.

Trump has waged a long pressure campaign against Colorado over Peters’ incarceration. She is the last Trump ally still in prison for 2020 election-related crimes.

“I made a mistake four years ago,” Peters said in the statement released Friday. “I misled the secretary of state when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong. Going forward, I will make sure that my actions always follow the law.”

Polis said he agrees with a recent appeals court ruling which found that the trial judge improperly punished Peters for her protected speech about the 2020 election, telling CNN he’d like others to come to the same conclusion as the court. But he knows, especially among Democrats in his state and beyond, that’s going to be tough.

“I hope that Democrats don’t sacrifice our deeply held belief in free speech because of political expediency or disregard for what people are saying,” Polis said. “There should be no consideration of what we say, how unpopular it is, how inaccurate it is in sentencing or in criminal proceedings.”

CNN is reaching out to Peters’ team for comment.

Polis said he also heard from Trump privately in addition to the president’s public posts demanding Peters, 70, be released. He said that the president often gets facts wrong about Peters, her crime and his ability to pardon her for state-level offenses.

“He gets her age wrong. He gets what she did wrong. My focus was doing what’s right and then looking at the merits of the case,” Polis said.

In this July 25, 2025 photo, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks to the National Governors Association at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

David Zalubowski/AP

He says Peters committed a crime, and he was personally disgusted with what Peters said about the 2020 election, “but we have to make sure our justice system is blind and fair.”

The history of Peters’ case

Witnesses testified at Peters’ trial that in 2021, she gave people affiliated with pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell unauthorized access to the election offices in Mesa County, where she was the clerk. Witnesses said they made copies of sensitive election data so they could audit the 2020 results.

Until the statement released Friday, Peters had denied wrongdoing and maintained for years that she was trying to preserve election records, as required by federal law.

Last month, a state appeals court upheld Peters’ criminal convictions. However, it ordered the trial judge to re-sentence her, finding that he improperly based part of the punishment on Peters’ protected speech about elections, violating her First Amendment rights.

A date for a new sentencing hearing hadn’t been set yet. Peters was eligible for parole in 2028. CNN has reported that, even without clemency, Colorado law could have made Peters eligible to move into a halfway house or a similar arrangement as soon as this November with good behavior.

Through her allies, Peters had continued promoting debunked conspiracies about election-rigging from prison.

Her official website still says she is the victim of “politically motivated” prosecutions designed to “silence” her for “exposing what she believed were critical flaws in the election system.” Her social media feed includes unfounded claims from supposed informants who claimed American voting machines can flip votes using technology from Venezuela.

Her account reshared a post Tuesday from a radio host who urged Trump to “INVADE COLORADO if you have to” and “do whatever needs to be done” to free Peters from prison.

The governor has seen the posts and what Peters has continued to say. That’s not a reason to keep her behind bars, he said.

“I hope that she’s no longer a martyr, that she is just another person who believes in conspiracies on the street after this,” Polis said. “I hope she doesn’t believe in conspiracies, but I’m not holding my breath.”

What her release could mean

Still, Peters’ impending release is a victory for Trump and the right-wing election denier movement, which hails her as a hero who was unjustly prosecuted.

In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, Colorado officials accused the administration of a “revenge campaign” that included closing a Colorado-based climate lab, denying federal disaster assistance requests from the state, yanking federal transportation funds and threatening to withhold federal food assistance for low-income families.

Trump also vetoed a bill for a Colorado water project and moved US Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama. And in February, Trump tried to exclude Polis and another Democratic governor from what is traditionally a bipartisan gathering of governors at the White House.

The White House says these decisions were well-founded and legally supported.

Trump issued a symbolic federal pardon for Peters in December, but Polis is the only person who could let Peters out of prison because she was convicted of state charges.

Polis pointed out that the commutation decision is not a pardon because he believes she broke the law and wants her to live with that felony on her record.

Polis’ term ends in January, and he has bucked his party on some key issues in recent years. The Democratic Party has been in near-universal condemnation of the effort to argue Trump’s 2020 election loss was fraudulent.

Polis sloughed off talk of how the decision might affect a 2028 presidential run that some have speculated he might make.

“This has nothing to do with that,” he said. “I think we need to get past the divisive rhetoric of today and understand that just because you’re on the unpopular side of an argument – if you’re a person who believes in conservative things in a liberal state or liberal things in conservative state or conspiracy things in any state or that the earth is flat – you have that free speech.”

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委内瑞拉天然气处理厂发生爆炸 造成六名工人受伤

2026年5月16日 07:19 / 联合早报

委内瑞拉天然气处理厂发生爆炸 造成六名工人受伤

委内瑞拉老旧的油气设施，尤其是西部地区的设施，经常发生火灾和停电事件。图为马拉开波湖畔破败的石油基础设施。 （路透社）

委内瑞拉马拉开波湖畔一个天然气处理厂发生大爆炸并引发火灾，造成六名工人受伤，工厂也遭到损坏。

路透社报道，委内瑞拉国家石油公司（PDVSA）发声明说，星期五（5月15日）爆炸发生后，公司立即启动应急预案并疏散工厂人员，六名员工在事件中受伤。

路透社此前看到的报道和视频显示，两名跳入水中的工人严重烧伤。他们被送往西部城市马拉开波附近的一家医院，另有四名工人受轻伤。

灭火过程中，为设施供气的天然气管道被迫关闭。

据路透社看到的委内瑞拉国家石油公司内部事件报告显示，拉马加斯（Lamargas）压缩厂在进行天然气减压作业时发生火灾。

这座天然气设施属于五湖（Lago Cinco）项目，由中国协和资源有限公司运营。PDVSA已与这家公司签订，在五湖浅水区开采原油。

PDVSA说，一个技术委员会将调查事发原因，并称这起事件并未影响委内瑞拉西部油气业务的持续运营。

由于长期缺乏外国投资和美国制裁阻碍了维护工作，委内瑞拉老旧的油气设施，尤其是西部地区的设施，经常发生火灾和停电事件。

目前，华盛顿正鼓励外国资本投资委内瑞拉能源行业，此举是美国今年1月在抓捕委内瑞拉总统马杜罗后启动的千亿美元重建计划的一部分。

US Supreme Court rebuffs Virginia Democrats in bid for new voting map

May 15, 2026 10:40 PM UTC / Reuters

By John Kruzel

Updated 13 mins ago

Supporters depart a campaign rally against Virginia Democrats’ proposed state redistricting constitutional amendment ahead of the referendum special election on April 21, in Bridgewater, Virginia, April 11, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/ File Photo

Summary

Virginia voters approved pro-Democratic map in April
Redrawn map is part of nationwide redistricting battle
Control of Congress at stake in November US elections

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid by Virginia Democrats to revive ​a voting map designed to help their party wrest control of the U.S. House of Representatives from President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in November’s ‌midterm elections.

The justices declined to halt a ruling by Virginia’s top court that blocked a voter-approved pro-Democratic map for the midterms, denying a request by Democrats in the state. The court’s action came in a brief and unsigned order that provided no rationale. No justice publicly dissented.

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Democrats pursued the revised electoral map – crafted to flip four Republican-held U.S. House of Representatives seats to Democrats – ​as part of a nationwide political battle initiated last year by Trump to redraw the boundaries of U.S. electoral districts for partisan benefit.

The conservative-majority U.S. ​Supreme Court acted in the Virginia case after clearing the way on Monday for Alabama Republicans to pursue a congressional voting map ⁠more favorable to their party ahead of the midterms.

Control of Congress is at stake in the midterms, with Republicans holding slim majorities in the House and Senate. Virginia ​has 11 seats in the 435-member House.

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The Virginia Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision on May 8 threw out the state’s voter-approved map, ruling in favor of Republicans who ​challenged it. The court found that Democratic lawmakers had not followed proper procedures last year when they rushed to approve the referendum in the state legislature in time to put the ballot initiative before voters ahead of the midterms.

Don Scott, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and other Democratic legislators asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to halt the ruling by ​the state’s top court, saying it had “deprived voters, candidates and the Commonwealth (Virginia) of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.”

They cited a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ​that stated that state courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections.”

The Virginia referendum ‌was the ⁠final step in a complicated legislative maneuver to sidestep a state constitutional amendment that was passed by voters in 2020 to put redistricting in the hands of a bipartisan commission.

Virginia Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle, one of the plaintiffs in the case, welcomed the court’s ruling on Friday.

“The Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed what we always knew: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution,” McDougle said.

Virginia voters approved the Democratic-backed electoral map in an April 21 special election by a 51.7% ​to 48.3% margin, with about 3.1 million ​votes cast.

In a process called redistricting, ⁠the boundaries of legislative districts across the United States are reconfigured to reflect population changes as measured by the national U.S. census every 10 years. Redistricting traditionally has been carried out by state legislatures at the start of each new decade.

In the ​unusual mid-decade redistricting fight now unfolding, Republicans hold a clear advantage.

At Trump’s urging, Republican-governed Texas redrew its electoral map last ​year in a bid ⁠to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats, prompting Democratic-led California to reconfigure its congressional map to target five Republican-held seats. Multiple other states have joined the fray.

Democrats suffered a blow when the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority in April gutted a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, opening the door for Republican-led Southern states to dismantle Democratic-held majority-Black ⁠and majority-Latino ​districts ahead of the November elections. Black and Latino voters tend to support Democratic candidates.

Underscoring the stakes ​of the Virginia redistricting effort, Democratic- and Republican-affiliated groups spent close to $100 million on the referendum campaign.

The referendum has faced multiple legal challenges. In addition to the dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court, a ​judge in a separate case on April 22 also blocked the pro-Democratic map, acting in a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee.

Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Lebanon accuses Iran of inserting IRGC terrorists into country ‘under guise of diplomatic activity’

2026-05-15T17:14:22-04:00 / Fox News

The disclosure comes amid US-facilitated Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington described as ‘exceeding expectations’

By Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News

Published May 15, 2026 5:14pm EDT | Updated May 15, 2026 5:16pm EDT

Israeli forces strike Hezbollah launchers in Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces released footage on Saturday, May 9, showing strikes on “two loaded and ready-to-use launchers in southern Lebanon.” (Credit: IDF)

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The Lebanese government filed a sharply worded complaint with the United Nations arguing that the Islamic Republic of Iran has abused diplomatic immunity by refusing to recall its ambassador after Beirut demanded his expulsion and to stop alleged terrorist activities on its soil, according to a recently surfaced letter from late April.

The disclosure of the letter, which is reportedly a precedent-setting move by Lebanon, comes amid a second day of talks in Washington between Israel and Lebanon to normalize relations (the countries are in a state of war) and dismantle the Iranian-regime-backed Hezbollah terrorist movement in Lebanon.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday that “The United States facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon have resumed today and are ongoing. The atmosphere of talks has been very positive, even exceeding expectations.”

FAMILY OF AMERICAN HOSTAGE TORTURED IN LEBANON WINS LANDMARK CASE AGAINST IRAN

A mourner holds a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a funeral procession on March 5, 2026, for members of Iraq’s pro-Iran paramilitary group Kataeb Hezbollah killed in a strike in Baghdad the previous day.(Ahmed Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote on X on Friday that “On May 14 and 15, the United States hosted two days of highly-productive talks between Israel and Lebanon. The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress. The State Department will reconvene the political track of negotiations on June 2 and June 3.”

He added that, “In addition, a security track will be launched at the Pentagon on May 29 with military delegations from both countries. We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border.”

As the sides report back to their capitals, the potentially game-changing letter in which Lebanese ambassador to the U.N. Ahmad Arafa,slammed Iran for inserting alleged terrorists from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) into Lebanon “under the guise of diplomatic activity,” has given hope to critics of Iran and Hezbollah.

Arafa said, according to the letter, that Iran committed “unlawful acts in blatant defiance of the decisions of the Government of Lebanon.” He continued, “This Iranian conduct constitutes direct and blatant interference in the internal affairs of Lebanon and drags the country into a war it did not choose to become involved in.”

Michael Needham, counselor for the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter pose for a photo before a meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2026.(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The U.S. and the European Union have classified the IRGC as a terrorist entity.

The letter took the Iranian Ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, to task for “blatant interference” in Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s U.N. letter, Beirut argued that Iran is violating the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and interfering in Lebanon’s state of affairs.

IDF SOLDIERS ACCUSE UN PEACEKEEPERS OF ENABLING HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS AMID INCREASING CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS

Iranian protesters carry flowers in front of a large banner of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah during a protest in Tehran on Sept. 30, 2024, condemning an Israeli air strike on Hezbollah’s Beirut headquarters and the killing of Nasrallah and IRGC Quds Force commander General Abbas Nilforoushan.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)

When asked about the details of the letter, a spokesperson for Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S. declined to comment. The spokesperson also declined to weigh in on the current talks with Israel in Washington.

Walid Phares, a leading U.S. expert on Lebanon and the Mideast, told Fox News Digital that “Many have considered the Lebanese memo to the U.N. as the start of the Lebanese government change of attitude towards Iran and a sign of escalation by Beirut. While the tone of the letter and its narrative make people feel that there is a government resistance to Iran and Hezbollah reality is still lesser.”

He added that “The subject of the last quarrel is a legal change of status regarding the presence of Iranians on Lebanese soil. The Lebanese government has decided not to grant Iranians, government, and private citizens an automatic visa waiver, which upset Iran and Hezbollah. Besides, Tehran is furious at the fact that the Lebanese government has not been helpful in dealing with the elimination of a number of IRGC members killed in Lebanon by Israel. Tehran blames the foreign ministry of Lebanon, particularly foreign minister Youssef Raggi, for the ‘lessening of solidarity with Iran.’”

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on April 5, 2026.(Emilio Morenatti/AP)

According to Phares, “Raggi represents a Lebanese Christian bloc in the parliament, who is not sympathetic to the regime. However, the actual talks in D.C. are designed by the Lebanese government to show the Trump administration that the ‘state wants to talk’ but not to reach an agreement that would trigger Hezbollah’s wrath. The leaders of the Lebanese state are not yet where the U.S. and Israel expect them to be.”

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A regional official well-versed in the U.N. dispute told Fox News Digital that Lebanon “argued that Iran had not given the Lebanese foreign ministry the list of all Iranians and the details about their place of stay. And that’s why Israel targeted that hotel in Lebanon in which six were killed, which is true.”

The official said that “Iran had not told the foreign ministry of Lebanon about those six people.”

Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com