First, a link to an article from Consortium News; other published material is accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for IRAN 5-18-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 18  History turned in Beijing, by Patrick Lawrence | Special to Consortium News  Among the matters besides Taiwan that Presidents Xi and Trump discussed last Thursday and Friday, the most pressing was Beijing’s views on the Iran war. Click HERE for article, which includes a link to video of a CBS News report by Jessi Mitchell and Weiji Jiang.

READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

A link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for UKRAINE and IRAN, and for GAZA 5-16-26.) — MCM

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ICC issues secret arrest warrants for five additional senior Israeli officials: report. From the Cradle. The International Criminal Court has issued secret arrest warrants for three Israeli politicians and two military officials, Haaretz reported on Sunday, citing diplomatic sources. READ MORE . . .

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Links to SEVEN reports: from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, the Moscow Times, Kyiv Post, the Kyiv Independent, Tass, and Middle East Eye, and a note about a Consortium News interview; other published material is  accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for GAZA and IRAN, and down for UKRAINE 5-17-26.) — MCM

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Links to EIGHT reports and analyses: from Reuters, the Cradle, Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Middle East Monitor; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for GAZA and UKRAINE, and down for IRAN 5-16-26.) — MCM

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Pakistan hands U.S. revised Iranian proposal for ending war, by Ariba Shahid and Parisa Hafezi | Reuters  KARACHI, Pakistan / DUBAI — 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 said today, warning that ‌the sides “don’t have much time” to narrow their differences. READ MORE . . .

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Iran announces ‘Persian Gulf Strait Authority’ to manage Hormuz with Oman. From the Cradle. The Islamic Republic has officially launched a new body to oversee its management of the Strait of Hormuz, formalizing its demand that the waterway come under Iranian jurisdiction following the start of the U.S.-Israeli war. READ MORE . . .

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Report: U.S. shows flexibility on limited Iranian nuclear activity. From Middle East Eye. The United States has signaled a degree of flexibility over Iran maintaining limited peaceful nuclear activity under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reuters reported today, citing a senior Iranian official. READ MORE . . .

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U.S. and Israel prepare for potential return to full-scale war with Iran. Reported by Daniel Estrin | NPR  Events over the weekend highlight the risk of renewed war, as the United States and Israel signal they would be ready to fight Iran again. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY 17  Trump inner circle urges UAE to seize strategic Iranian island: report. From the Cradle. Advisors close to U.S. President Donald Trump are encouraging the UAE to escalate its involvement in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including seizing a strategic Iranian island in the Persian Gulf, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 17  Drone strikes UAE nuclear plant as U.S. and Iran signal they are prepared to resume war, by Jon Gambrell and Samy Magdy | AP  DUBAI — A drone strike that sparked a fire on the edge of the United Arab Emirates’ sole nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an “unprovoked terrorist attack” highlighted the risk of renewed war between the United States and Iran. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.  Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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First, a link to a report from Reuters, others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 5-16-26.) — MCM

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Ukrainian drones kill four in Russia as Moscow faces biggest attack in over a year. From Reuters. At ‌least four people were killed in a major Ukrainian drone ‌attack on Russian regions. Three people died in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region, authorities said today. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

A link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for GAZA, UKRAINE, IRAN and MEDIA, and for LEBANON 5-15-26.) — MCM

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Lebanon, Israel agree to ‘ceasefire extension’ as daily Israeli attacks claim nearly 3,000 Lebanese lives. From the Cradle. The U.S. State Department announced on Friday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the so-called “ceasefire” for an additional 45 days after negotiations in Washington, D.C., and a week of intense Israeli bombings. READ MORE . . .

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Links to a report from the Associated Press and to an interview from the Chris Hedges Report via Consortium News; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for LEBANON, UKRAINE, IRAN and MEDIA, and down for GAZA 5-15-26.) — MCM

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Israel says it killed the leader of Hamas’s military wing. From AP. JERUSALEM — Israel’s army said Friday it has killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, one of the senior commanders in Hamas’s military who had directed the planning and execution of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 15  A history of Palestinian resistance. Chris Hedges of the Chris Hedges Report talks with author and historian Ramzy Baroud about his and his family’s experiences in the Palestinians’ powerful resistance to Zionism, today’s national liberation movement, and his new book, Before the Flood: A Gaza Family Memoir Across Three Generations of Colonial Invasion, Occupation, and War in Palestine. Click HERE for video of their conversation, a transcript, and a print commentary by Hedges. 

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Links to FOUR reports: from National Public Radio, the Moscow Times, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for LEBANON, GAZA, IRAN and MEDIA, and down for UKRAINE 5-14-26.) — MCM

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The war in Ukraine is at a standstill as societal fatigue grows in Russia. Reported by Charles Maynes, Joanna Kakissis and Elissa Nadworny | NPR  With the peace process stalled, there are signs of growing public fatigue in Russia with the Kremlin’s war as Ukraine uses robotic warfare to stay in the fight. Click HERE later to listen and, still later, read.

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FROM MAY 15  Ukrainian drones kill 4 and set Ryazan oil refinery ablaze. From the Moscow Times. A Ukrainian drone barrage killed at least four people and ignited a huge fire at an oil refinery in the city of Ryazan on Friday, in what appeared to be a direct retaliation for a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv a day earlier. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 15  Russia and Ukraine begin first phase of large POW exchange. From the Moscow Times. Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 205 prisoners of war on Friday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying it represented the first phase of a large swap that U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week. READ MORE . . .

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Four civilians killed during Victory Day ceasefire: displomat. From Tass. Four civilians were killed and 47 injured in Russia during the May 9-11 ceasefire on the occasion of Victory Day, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large for the crimes of the Kiev regime Rodion Miroshnik told TASS. READ MORE . . .

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Below, links to SIX reports and analyses: from the Cradle, Reuters, Informed Comment via ScheerPost, the Associated Press and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, UKRAINE and MEDIA, and down for IRAN 5-15-26.) — MCM

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EU states in ‘direct talks’ with Iran for safe passage: report. From the Cradle. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network reported today that several European governments have opened direct channels with Tehran to discuss safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. READ MORE . . .

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Trump’s geopolitical brinkmanship has hit a wall with Iran. From Reuters. WASHINGTON — During his first year back in office, U.S. President Donald Trump’s blustery negotiating style won him concessions from countries on issues ranging from tariffs to armed conflict. But with Iran . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 15  Trump to ‘decide soon’ on removing sanctions against Chinese firms buying Iranian oil. From the Cradle. U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was considering lifting Washington’s sanctions on Chinese companies doing business with Iran, following his trip to China and meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. READ MORE . . .

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Araghchi: BRICS looks at Iran with different eyes after ‘American failure,‘ by Juan Cole | Informed Comment / ScheerPost  The BRICS (a broad geopolitical group including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates) held a summit for foreign ministers in New Delhi on May 14-15 that was overshadowed by the relatively fruitless Trump meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Iran, which attended as an observer, was naturally a big subject of conversation. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 15  Israeli forces set up a camp in the Iraqi desert during Iran war, officials say, by Qassim Abdul-Zehra and Abby Sewell | AP  BAGHDAD — Israeli forces set up a post in the desert in Iraq at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Iraqi and U.S. officials told AP. Its existence was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which described it as . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 15  Iran has been confiscating property from critics of the regime. Reported by Emily Feng | NPR  Iran’s government has been confiscating property from people it deems traitors or critics of the regime. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Links to reports and commentary from National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, West Bank Alerts, and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for LEBANON, GAZA, UKRAINE and IRAN, and down for MEDIA 5-9-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 15  From proposal to print: How books make it to store shelves. Reported by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi | NPR  Our Planet Money team has gotten an inside peek at the publishing industry as they follow the journey of their book. They explain how economic forces shape what choices a bookstore makes. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY 15  Mainstream U.S. media complicit in selling Gaza genocide, sweeping new analysis finds. From Middle East Monitor U.S. media is systematically biased in favour of Israel, an analysis by the Intercept has uncovered. Investigation of more than 12,000 articles and 5,000 TV segments found mainstream U.S. coverage was “one-sided, racist and dehumanising,” helping Israel justify its genocide in Gaza. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 7  When democracy fails, by Cara Marianna | West Bank Alerts / The Floutist I’m dissatisfied, it’s time to state bluntly, with reporting events from the West Bank. It seems increasingly obvious that documenting and reporting Israel’s brutality is not enough. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 14  Israel sues NYT over column exposing systematic policy of sexual abuse for Palestinian prisoners. From the Cradle. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday it is launching a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times following its publication of a column by journalist Nicholas Kristof detailing the systematic rape and sexual assault of Palestinian detainees by Israeli guards. READ MORE . . .