DNC releases 2024 autopsy; UN warns of global food crisis from Hormuz blockade; Big Tobacco wins at FDA after Trump donation
Drop Site Daily: May 21, 2026
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei tells officials Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile must not leave the country. U.S. sends Iran revised nuclear proposal. Iran says it accompanied more vessels through the Strait. Iranian president and parliament speaker discuss economic strain of the war. Hezbollah says it conducted 24 operations on Wednesday. Hezbollah drone seriously wounds Israeli commander of brigade accused of killing Hind Rajab. Israeli forces subjected Gaza flotilla detainees to widespread abuse, rights group says. U.S. threatens Palestinian candidate for UN post. Inspector general probes U.S.-backed Gaza aid group over spending. Democratic National Committee releases autopsy of the 2024 presidential election. House Democrats poised to pass Iran war powers resolution. Tobacco industry scores FDA win days after $5 million donation to Trump super PAC. Federal judge orders White House to comply with Presidential Records Act. Colorado Democrats censure Governor Jared Polis. U.S. prosecutors charge former Cuban President Raúl Castro. Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz offers cabinet reshuffle, ejects Colombian ambassador. Colombia’s two main armed groups announce separate ceasefires ahead of presidential election. President Donald Trump says he will call Taiwan’s president, breaking four decades of diplomatic protocol. Russia intercepts British surveillance plane over Black Sea. Doctors Without Borders warns of rapidly escalating atrocities in South Sudan.
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Iran and Ceasefire
Iran reviewing revised U.S. ceasefire proposal: Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was reviewing the latest U.S. revised ceasefire proposal that was submitted on Wednesday. “Based on the original text of Iran’s 14 points, the exchange of messages has been carried out on several occasions,” Baghaei said, according to the Nour News Agency. “We have received the views of the American side and are reviewing them.” The U.S. submitted its proposal after Iran put forward its own 14-point framework three days earlier. Separately on Wednesday, President Trump said the U.S. was dealing with “far more reasonable” people on the Iranian side, and called the negotiators people “with talent, with good brain power,” who were “impressing” the U.S. team.
Trump continued to leverage the threat of further military escalation, saying that he was still on “the borderline” with regard to attacks, adding, “If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go.” Iranian officials also indicated their readiness to assume a military posture, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning on Wednesday that a return to war “will feature many more surprises,” and the IRGC saying any new attack would extend fighting beyond the region.
Khamenei tells officials Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile must not leave the country, Reuters reports: Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters on Thursday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive against sending Iran’s highly enriched uranium abroad, with officials reportedly believing surrender of the stockpile would leave Iran defenseless against future U.S. and Israeli strikes. Sources told the outlet that other “feasible formulas” were under consideration for the stockpiles, including diluting it under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. The sources also said there is “deep suspicion” among Iran’s top officials that the current pause in hostilities is “a tactical deception by Washington to create a sense of security before it renews airstrikes.”
Iran formalizes maritime zone of control in Hormuz: Iran’s newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) has formally delineated a maritime zone under its control in the Strait of Hormuz. The PGSA said on X that the boundaries under Iran’s management are: “The line connecting Kuh Mobarak in Iran to the south of Fujairah in the UAE at the eastern entrance of the strait, to the line connecting the tip of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm al-Quwain in the UAE at the western entrance.” It said, “Transit through this area for the purpose of passing through the Hormuz strait requires coordination with, and authorization from, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority.”
Iran says it accompanied more vessels through the Strait: The IRGC said Wednesday it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours. Separately on Wednesday, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned the ongoing blockade of the Strait could trigger a severe global food price crisis within six to 12 months, describing the disruption as “the beginning of a systemic agrifood shock” moving through energy, fertilizer, and commodity markets in stages.
U.S forces board Iran-flagged tanker: The U.S. military said Wednesday its naval forces intercepted and searched an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman before releasing it and ordering it to “change course.” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media: “U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded M/T Celestial Sea, an Iranian-flagged commercial oil tanker suspected of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade by transiting toward an Iranian port. American forces released the vessel after searching and directing the ship’s crew to alter course.” CENTCOM noted that U.S. forces have so far “redirected 91 commercial ships” as part of the U.S. blockade.
Iranian president and parliament speaker discuss economic strain of war on the country: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called at a nationwide governors’ meeting on Wednesday for public cooperation on energy conservation, warning that without precise planning for water, electricity, and fuel consumption, the country “will face problems ahead.” In a separate message, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf acknowledged soaring prices for essential goods while warning that “the enemy’s overt and covert movements show it is seeking a new round of war.” “Some criticisms of the government are made as if no war has happened,” he said. Ghalibaf also added in the Telegram group that Iran’s military had used the ceasefire period to rebuild its capabilities.
Iran executes two on terror charges: Iran has executed two more people on charges of creating a group to disrupt the country’s security and belonging to a “terrorist” organization, according to the Tasnim news agency. The charges accused the men of “armed uprising through the formation of criminal groups, shooting and attempted assassination in line with the goals of the terrorist group.”
Lebanon
Casualty count: At least 3,089 people have been killed, and 9,397 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Over 16 people were killed and 35 injured in Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the Ministry.
The death toll from what the ministry described as the “Deir Qanoun en-Nahr massacre”—when Israeli warplanes conducted an air raid on the town of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr in southern Lebanon on Tuesday—has risen to 14 killed and three wounded. Among those killed was a family of 11, including three children, their parents and grandparents.
Hezbollah says it conducted 24 operations on Wednesday: Hezbollah announced 24 separate operations in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, claiming strikes on at least five Merkava tanks, 11 Israeli troop and vehicle gatherings, and four artillery and engineering targets across villages along Lebanon’s southern frontier. Its attacks also included multiple rocket and suicide drone strikes near Hadatha, Kfarkela, and Naqoura. The group also said it shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 surveillance drone over the coastal area of Al-Bayyada, near Tyre.
Hezbollah drone seriously wounds Israeli commander of brigade accused of killing Hind Rajab: Israeli Colonel Meir Biderman, commander of the Israeli military’s 401st Armored Brigade, reportedly suffered serious head injuries Tuesday after a Hezbollah explosive drone penetrated a fortified building where he was operating in south Lebanon. Biderman is the highest-ranking IDF officer injured by Hezbollah since Israel began its war in Lebanon in October 2023. The 401st Armored Brigade which he commands is the same unit whose “Vampire Empire” company is named in a 120-page International Criminal Court complaint accusing it of deliberately killing six-year-old Hind Rajab, six family members, and two paramedics in Gaza City in January 2024.
Palestine
Casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, two Palestinians were killed and 27 were injured across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,775 killed, with 172,750 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 883 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,648, while 776 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Five Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday: Five Palestinians were killed and several others injured in Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to WAFA. Two aid truck drivers were reportedly shot dead by Israeli forces in areas under Israeli control west of Rafah, while another Palestinian was killed in the town of Al-Qarara northeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. One Palestinian was also killed and five others injured in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced civilians west of Khan Younis. In northern Gaza, a drone strike by an Israeli quadcopter in the Beit Lahia project area killed one person.
Israeli forces subjected Gaza flotilla detainees to widespread abuse, rights group says: Lawyers from the human rights organization Adalah who met with hundreds of detained Global Sumud Flotilla participants at Ashdod Port report that the detainees were subject to numerous forms of abuse, including beatings, the use of Tasers and rubber bullets, forced stress positions, sexual humiliation, and the forcible removal of hijabs from Muslim women detainees. At least three participants required hospitalization, the group said. All of the activists have been released from the Ktziot detention facility and are currently en route to deportation, according to Adalah. The majority of the participants are being transferred to Ramon Airport to be flown out of the country.
U.S. threatens Palestinian candidate for UN post: The Trump administration instructed U.S. diplomats in a May 19 State Department cable to pressure Palestinian officials to withdraw Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour’s candidacy for vice president of the United Nations General Assembly ahead of the body’s June 2 elections, according to NPR. Washington threatened to revoke visas for the Palestinian delegation if he refused to stand down. Mansour had already withdrawn his bid for president of the UN General Assembly in February after the U.S. lobbied him to drop the bid, according to the cable.
Inspector general probes U.S.-backed Gaza “aid” group over spending: The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is investigating the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation over how it spent a $30 million grant, according to the Financial Times. The OIG investigation will probe, among other things, the prices of food and logistics contracts, according to the Financial Times; sources told the paper that the price at which the group purchased food was particularly suspect. The GHF was created to replace the existing UN-led aid system in Gaza and relied heavily on private contractors; Gaza health authorities said roughly 1,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces firing on civilians attempting to reach GHF’s distribution sites.
Trump’s Gaza reconstruction body stalls as donor pledges go unfulfilled: Only the UAE and Morocco have transferred funds to Trump’s Board of Peace, seven months after the announcement of a ceasefire, according to a report from The Guardian on Wednesday—originally, nine countries had pledged $7 billion for the board, but at present it has only $123 million in funding (leaving it with less than 2 percent of what it had anticipated). The Guardian’s report also notes the generous salaries of the officials appointed to the board: the 12 Palestinian technocrats are reportedly being paid $16,000 to $17,000 a month, and High Representative Nickolay Mladenov is expected to earn about $400,000 in his role with the organization. Regarding the present funding of the group, sources told the outlet that the U.S. war on Iran has given donor countries cover to delay payments. The Guardian’s full report is available here.
Bennett unveils influence-war overhaul plan amid flotilla detention fallout: Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister and Netanyahu’s current political rival, published a detailed proposal on X Wednesday to improve Israel’s image in response to international condemnation of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s abuse of Global Sumud Flotilla detainees. Bennett called in the post for a “powerful national hasbara authority” and “consciousness war room,” and blamed Israel’s “hasbara disaster” on Ben Gvir. Bennett concluded the post by saying “Soon good days will come;” over the course of his career in public life, he has repeatedly called for murder of Palestinians—in 2018, he said he had “already killed a lot of Arabs in his life, and there is no problem with that.”
U.S. News
By Julian Andreone, with Ryan Grim. Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com.
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin released the group’s autopsy of the 2024 presidential election. The report came out Thursday morning just before publication and Drop Site’s team is just beginning to review it. But if you search for “Gaza,” “Palestine,” or “Israel,” there are no results. You can read the full document here:
House Democrats poised to pass Iran war powers resolution: An Iran war powers resolution appears to be on the verge of passage in the House after Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the lone Democrat who has consistently voted against similar previous measures, told Axios Wednesday he intends to vote yes, citing the War Powers Act’s 60-day threshold for congressional authorization. Republican leadership delayed the vote from Wednesday, when Democrats believed the measure would have passed.
Tobacco industry scores FDA win days after $5 million donation to Trump super PAC: The tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to MAGA Inc. on April 30, and two days later Reynolds executives and lobbyists lunched with President Donald Trump at his Florida golf club. During the lunch, Trump called Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to complain about e-cigarette regulation, according to reporting on Wednesday from the New York Times. Less than a week later, the FDA issued new guidance bypassing its standard rule-making process to potentially allow major tobacco companies to sell flavored vapes and higher-nicotine pouches, opening a path into the $6 billion e-cigarette market. Makary resigned four days after the guidance was issued, telling associates he could not in good conscience remain at an agency that backed such a policy.
Federal judge orders White House to comply with Presidential Records Act: U.S. District Judge John Bates issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday ordering the Trump administration to continue complying with the Presidential Records Act after the Justice Department argued in an opinion last month that the 1978 law was “unconstitutional.” The judge’s ruling called the Department memo’s reliance on Supreme Court precedent a “stark misreading.” The ruling, which takes effect May 26, came in response to a lawsuit by watchdog groups American Oversight and the American Historical Association, who alleged that the administration believed it was “legally free to destroy records of…official government conduct, or even spirit away the records for [Trump’s] own future personal use.”
Capitol police officers sue to block Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund: Two police officers who battled with rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 filed suit Wednesday to block payments from President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” which the suit describes as an illegal slush fund.
Colorado Democrats censure Governor Jared Polis: The Colorado State Democratic Party voted Wednesday to censure Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, a censure that garnered 89.8 percent of the central committee’s support, after more than 700 Democrats signed a grassroots rebuke of his decision to commute the nine-year sentence of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines in a failed effort to prove the 2020 election was rigged. The censure is largely symbolic, though it does bar Polis from speaking at upcoming party events.
U.S removes sanctions against Albanese: The U.S. has removed sanctions against UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, according to the Treasury Department website. The move came a week after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the sanctions in response to a lawsuit filed by Albanese’s husband and daughter in February. The judge found that the Trump administration likely violated Albanese’s free-speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticized Israel genocide in Gaza.
Other International News
U.S. prosecutors charge former Cuban President Raúl Castro: The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro over a 1996 incident in which two planes were downed, and four people were killed; four additional indictments were announced later in the day against Lorenzo Pérez-Pérez, Emilio Palacio Blanco, José Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Luis González-Pardo Rodríguez. The planes were operated by “Brothers to the Rescue,” a group of Cuban exiles living in Miami, and contemporary FAA records demonstrate that the White House was aware that further intrusions into Cuban airspace would prompt the country to respond, with an official warning the night before the incident that further flights “may finally tip the Cubans toward an attempt to shoot down or force down the plane.” That official urged the FAA to block the flights, but the agency refused. Cuba’s current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, condemned Castro’s indictment on Wednesday as a “political action with no basis” and accused the U.S. of “lying [about] and manipulating” the 1996 events.
Bolivia’s Paz offers cabinet reshuffle, ejects Colombian ambassador: Facing weeks of demonstrations by farmers, miners, teachers, and laborers opposed to his free-market reforms and fuel subsidy cuts, President Rodrigo Paz said Wednesday he would reorganize his cabinet “to listen” while his foreign minister accused protesters of trying to destabilize the country and “disrupt the democratic order.” Bolivia’s foreign ministry also announced Wednesday it would ask Colombia’s ambassador to leave the country after Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the protests as a “popular insurrection.”
Rubio voices support for Paz: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Wednesday that the United States unequivocally stands with Paz’s government. “Let there be no mistake,” Rubio said, “The United States stands squarely in support of Bolivia’s legitimate constitutional government.” Rubio additionally accused the protest leaders of being “criminals and drug traffickers,” language the Trump administration has previously deployed against the region’s left-wing leaders.
Colombia’s two main armed groups announce separate ceasefires ahead of presidential election: Colombia’s National Liberation Army declared a ceasefire from midnight May 30 to midnight June 2, while the Central General Staff—the largest dissident FARC faction—announced a nationwide suspension of military operations from May 20 to June 10, though the government did not immediately respond to either announcement. Polling shows left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda leading at 44 percent, ahead of conservative rivals Paloma Valencia and independent Abelardo De la Espriella, with a runoff on June 21 if no candidate clears 50 percent.
Chihuahua governor discusses American operations in Mexico: In an interview with journalist Joaquín López-Dóriga, Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván initially confirmed that U.S. agents would participate in security operations in the state before abruptly backtracking as aides off-camera appeared to signal her to stop, at one point interrupting the exchange to say people were making “a lot of signs” at her. The exchange confirms Drop Site’s earlier reporting that Chihuahua is pressing ahead with close collaboration with U.S. agencies despite a recent scandal over unauthorized CIA participation in operations on Mexican territory. Read the full report from Drop Site contributor José Olivares here.
Trump says he will call Taiwan’s president, breaking four decades of diplomatic protocol: President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday he intends to speak directly with Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te—a conversation that would mark the first direct contact between U.S. and Taiwanese presidents since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979—as the White House weighs a $14 billion arms sales package to the island. China’s foreign ministry demanded Washington “handle the Taiwan question with the utmost prudence” and stop “sending wrong signals,” while Lai said Thursday he would be “happy” to discuss matters with Trump and that Taiwan remained committed to maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait. As president-elect, Trump previously received a phone call following his 2016 election victory from then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen.
Russia intercepts British surveillance plane over Black Sea: The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence reported on Wednesday that two Russian jets repeatedly intercepted an unarmed Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft in international airspace in April, with a Su-27 conducting six passes as close as six meters from the British plane’s nose and a Su-35 flying close enough to trigger emergency systems on board. Defence Minister John Healey called the behavior “dangerous and unacceptable,” saying it creates “a serious risk of accidents and potential escalation,” and confirmed that defence and foreign ministry officials have formally complained to the Russian embassy.
Doctors Without Borders warns of rapidly escalating atrocities in South Sudan: In report released Wednesday, Médecins Sans Frontières said it had treated 6,095 victims of violence in South Sudan in 2025 alone, and blamed all actors in the country’s conflict (the government, the rebel group SPLA-IO, and other militias) for the region’s increased precarity. The group also reported 12 attacks on its staff and medical sites this year, including bombings, shootings, looting, and abductions, and warned of catastrophic hunger among displaced families, pointing to one screening of 2,500 children in Chuil found 58 percent suffering from moderate to severe acute malnutrition.
More from Drop Site
U.S. pressure on Cuba escalates: The Trump administration has continued to make increasingly aggressive moves on Cuba, including a Wednesday indictment of former President Raúl Castro, fresh sanctions on its government and on top officials, and an unusual number of surveillance flights over the island, leading many to speculate that a more direct confrontation is imminent. The U.S. has also made a widely publicized $100 million humanitarian aid offer, reportedly contingent on the acceptance of Starlink satellites, which parallels the destabilization strategy used ahead of the U.S. attack on Iran. Cuba says it remains open to receiving assistance through the Catholic Church, and many of its citizens remain adamant that it would not cede to further action without a fight. Read the latest reporting on Cuba for Drop Site, by José Luis Granados Ceja, Ryan Grim, and Murtaza Hussain, here.
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So basically, just like the Epstein files, the autopsy is redacted for all the wrong things, to protect the powerful and the status quo once again.
The lifting of the illegal sanctions on Albanese is very good news. Hopefully, others upon whom sanctions were imposed, like the French judge on the ICJ, will also get relief. The lower federal courts (many, if not all), are now serving as the main obstacle to Trump’s assault on our institutions. Congress has abdicated, the Supreme Court is Trump’s enabler, our universities have largely capitulated and much of the media is corrupt. See, e.g., “How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza,” by Adam H. Johnson (published in April). The book focuses on so-called “center-left” publications and broadcasts like the NYC and MS NOW (formerly, MSNBC).