Four nations commit $20 billion to critical minerals.
Today's events
Quad critical minerals.
The U.S., Japan, Australia, and India launched a Critical Minerals Initiative Framework in New Delhi, intending to mobilize up to $20 billion in government and private support for mining, processing, and recycling supply chains.1May 26 · StateQuad joint statement.
The Quad ministers named the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, opposed any “imposition of tolls,” and expressed “serious concerns” about Chinese coast-guard ramming and water-cannon use in the South China Sea.2May 26 · StateArmenia partnership.
In Yerevan, Secretary Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Charter, a critical-minerals MOU, and a bilateral framework for the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.3May 26 · StateRefugee determination.
President Trump signed an emergency determination opening refugee admissions to South African Afrikaners, citing “incitement of racially motivated violence” by the Government of South Africa and disruptions to U.S. refugee operations there.4May 26 · WHDOJ v. UCLA.
Civil Rights Division sued the University of California, alleging UCLA’s “deliberate indifference” to antisemitic attacks on Jewish and Israeli students after October 7 violated Title VI and breached federal funding contracts.5May 26 · DOJ
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- Lindberg sentencing. Greg Lindberg, founder of Eli Global, was sentenced to 12 years for a $2 billion fraud and bribery conspiracy that bankrupted insurance companies in North Carolina, Bermuda, and Malta; policyholders are still owed more than $1 billion.6May 26 · DOJ
- Rubio on Hormuz. Speaking in Jaipur, Secretary Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz must be “open one way or the other,” rejecting Iran’s tolling proposal; he confirmed U.S.-Iran nuclear talks continued in Qatar.7May 26 · State
- CISA KEV. A LiteSpeed cPanel privilege-escalation flaw (CVE-2026-48172) was added to CISA’s catalog of actively-exploited vulnerabilities; federal agencies are required to remediate by the catalog due date.8May 26 · CISA
- Foreign quarantine. CDC issued an interim final rule giving the HHS Secretary authority to suspend the introduction of persons from designated countries on public-health grounds; effective May 22, comments due June 26.9May 22 · HHS
This week
Iran blockade hits 100.
Central Command marked 100 commercial vessels redirected enforcing the April 13 maritime blockade of Iranian ports, announced May 23. Fifteen thousand U.S. troops, 200 aircraft and warships support the operation; four ships have been disabled, 26 humanitarian-aid vessels allowed through. The count gives the Iran war's maritime phase a measurable scale for the first time since the spring strikes ended.2May 23 · CENTCOMNPT review collapses.
The 2026 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference closed without consensus on May 24, the State Department citing parties unwilling to confront Iran's IAEA-safeguards noncompliance and escalating nuclear activities. The collapse is the multilateral side of the same Iran story driving the maritime blockade and the Hormuz UN draft — the institutional regime that polices nuclear behavior could not produce a joint document on the year's central nuclear case.3May 24 · StateCastro indictment.
DOJ unsealed a superseding indictment on May 20 charging Raúl Castro, 94, and five regime co-defendants with four counts of murder in the 1996 Cuban Air Force shoot-down of two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue Cessnas. It is the first U.S. criminal case against senior Cuban leadership in nearly seventy years. State separately revoked the green card of a sister of a sanctioned GAESA executive.5May 20 · DOJWarsh takes the Fed.
Kevin Warsh took the oath as chairman of the Federal Reserve on May 22; the Federal Open Market Committee unanimously selected him chair the same day. His four-year term as chair runs through May 21, 2030, with a Board seat through 2040. Warsh inherits the rate path with the April 28–29 FOMC minutes released the prior week.6May 22 · Fed. Res.Two financial-system EOs.
Trump signed paired executive orders on May 20. The first tightens customer-identification requirements at U.S. banks, citing $312 billion in Chinese money-laundering exposure. The second directs the Federal Reserve to open payment-account access to non-bank fintechs without intraday credit; the Fed proposed the implementing rule the same afternoon. The pair restructures who reaches the dollar payment rails.7May 20 · WH
Voices
“[The] straits have to be open. They’re going to be open one way or the other. So they need to be open. What’s happening there is unlawful; it’s illegal.”
Sec. of State Marco Rubio, Jaipur · May 267
“We condemn the attacks on commercial shipping vessels and oppose any future measures that are inconsistent with UNCLOS, including imposition of tolls.”
Quad Foreign Ministers Joint Statement · May 262
“Now, the Department of Justice calls UCLA to account for its toleration of the equally appalling hostile educational environment against its Jewish and Israeli students.”
AAG Harmeet K. Dhillon, DOJ Civil Rights · May 265
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“Universities that violate our nation’s civil rights laws by repeatedly failing to shield Jewish students from antisemitism will be held accountable.”
First Asst U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, C.D. Cal. · May 265
“[An] unforeseen emergency refugee situation now exists due to recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence on the part of the Government of South Africa.”
Emergency Presidential Determination · May 264
“Your deeply significant visit underscores the unwavering commitment of Yerevan and Washington to continuously strengthen our bilateral ties.”
Foreign Min. Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenia · May 263
Sources
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework Among the United States, Japan, Australia, and India,” May 26, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/quad-critical-minerals-framework
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement from the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi,” May 26, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/quad-foreign-ministers-joint-statement
- U.S. Dept. of State, “The United States and Armenia Announce TRIPP Framework Agreement and Sign the Strategic Partnership Charter and Critical Minerals MOU,” May 26, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/tripp-armenia-strategic-partnership
- Federal Register, “Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026,” May 27, 2026. federalregister.gov/documents/…/refugee-admissions-fy2026
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Sues University of California for Antisemitic Hostile Educational Environment,” May 26, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/ucla-antisemitic-hostile-environment
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Owner of Multinational Investment Company Sentenced in $2B Fraud, Money Laundering, and Bribery Schemes,” May 26, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/lindberg-2b-fraud-sentencing
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press” (Jaipur International Airport), May 26, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/rubio-press-jaipur
- CISA, “CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog” (CVE-2026-48172, LiteSpeed cPanel), May 26, 2026. cisa.gov/news-events/…/kev-cve-2026-48172
- Federal Register, “Control of Communicable Diseases; Foreign Quarantine” (CDC/HHS interim final rule), May 27, 2026. federalregister.gov/documents/…/foreign-quarantine-rule