The New York Times-The Evening Newsletter
"Tulsi Gabbard resigns, Mediators rush to save the Iran truce, 'Star Wars' is back in theaters."
Views expressed in this geopolitical news and analysis are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 22 May 2026, 2317 UTC.
Content and Source: "The New York Times-The Evening Newsletter."
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQgLsFGkjThtDWswtqqFpSVgpTk
URL--https://www.nytimes.com.
Please check email link, URL, or scroll down to read your selections. Thanks for joining us today.
Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).
 May 22, 2026 |
Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
|
 |
| Kenny Holston/The New York Times |
Trump’s intelligence chief resigns
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced today that she would leave her role at the end of June. She sent President Trump a resignation letter, explaining that she was stepping away to support her husband after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Read her letter here.
Gabbard’s tenure overseeing the country’s 18 intelligence agencies, including the C.I.A. and N.S.A., was rocky. She was largely sidelined by the White House on significant national security issues, including Iran and Venezuela, and she was not viewed by members of the administration as a key member of the president’s national-security team.
Gabbard is Trump’s fourth cabinet secretary to leave in three months. (All of the departing members have been women.) Trump thanked her today for doing “an incredible job,” adding, “We will miss her.” Her deputy, Aaron Lukas, is set to replace her as acting director.
In other Trump administration news: The president has faced rare criticism from within his own party about his $1.8 billion fund. We fact-checked his claims about it.
 |
| A billboard in Tehran with the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this month. Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times |
Mediators rush to save U.S.-Iran cease-fire
Envoys from Pakistan and Qatar traveled to Iran’s capital, Tehran, in an effort to prevent a monthlong cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran from collapsing. Negotiations between the two sides have been deadlocked for weeks over Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result, gas prices are likely to remain elevated for awhile, as millions of Americans hit the road this holiday weekend. In total, Americans have spent an extra $44.8 billion on gasoline and diesel since the war began. See the breakdown here. An increasing number of us are considering renting electric vehicles as a way to save on gas, but it’s not always a cheaper option.
 |
| Click to watch. The New York Times |
Ebola is spreading in a vulnerable area of Africa
The Ebola outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo has already recorded one of the highest death tolls of its kind in the country’s history. And, as our health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli explains in this video, cuts to the C.D.C. and U.S.A.I.D. could make it even worse. These maps show how the deadly virus has spread across the center of the continent.
One of my colleagues also spent time reporting in Akobo, South Sudan, where issues like hunger and conflict, rather than Ebola, are on everyone’s minds. The situation there shows why South Sudan, which borders Congo, is vulnerable to the virus.
For more: An American doctor with Ebola says he is “optimistic” for his recovery.
 |
| Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. Eric Lee for The New York Times, Pool photo by Mike Kropf |
Democrats disagree over redistricting
Virginia’s Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, clashed this week with her party’s leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. He has pushed to aggressively draw new maps in blue states to benefit Democrats ahead of the 2028 elections. Spanberger, whose approval rating dropped as she campaigned for her state’s redistricting referendum, said the party should focus its efforts on winning back control of Congress this November.
In other politics news:
|
More top news
Immigration
|
Other Big Stories
|
TIME TO UNWIND |
 |
| Lucasfilm Ltd. |
‘Star Wars’ is back in theaters
Pedro Pascal stars as an interplanetary bounty hunter with an adorable sidekick in this weekend’s biggest film, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” The movie’s story line, which began as a TV show, begins roughly five years after the events of “Return of the Jedi.” Read our review, and get a refresher of events before heading to the theater.
The director, Jon Favreau, walked us through a sequence featuring a character who works at a food truck and is voiced by Martin Scorsese. Watch it here.
 |
| Inès Gradot |
Take on our summer reading bucket list
Like you, our Book Review staff is excited for the summer, when we can relax in hammocks and sand-crusted beach chairs and devour something from our to-read piles. They’ve come up with a summer reading bucket list to help you make the most of it.
See how many boxes you can check off, and allow the advice from my colleagues to push you outside your reading comfort zone. (At the end of the summer, some lucky readers will win a prize.)
 |
| Miles Davis in Paris in 1969. Christian Rose/Roger Viollet, via Getty Images |
Dinner table topics
|
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND |
 |
| Andrew Bui for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Kaitlin Wayne. |
Cook: These lemon possets are sweet, creamy and zesty.
Watch these movies and shows before they leave Netflix next month.
Read David Sedaris’s funny new collection of essays exploring the strangeness of life.
Plan a trip to Thailand. We built an ideal itinerary.
Squeeze: My colleague at Wirecutter tasted 20 different yellow mustards. These were the best.
Take this week’s news quiz.
Play: Here are today’s Connections, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING |
 |
| Gage & Tollner, which dates back to 1879, took reservations for 2046. Adam Friedlander for The New York Times |
I’m busy tonight. How about dinner in 2046?
To celebrate its 20th birthday, a real-estate company teamed up with a handful of New York City restaurants to offer reservations 20 years in the future. When I looked this morning, for example, there was a nine o'clock corner table available at the Commodore on Tuesday, May 22, 2046. I’m not sure what I’ll be up to that day, but it’s fun to ponder.
Accepting reservations that far out also poses some practical challenges for the restaurants. One restaurateur we talked to decided to write down the reservations on paper and store it in the restaurant’s safe. “I don’t even know if we’re going to be using computers in 20 years,” he said.
Have a forward-looking weekend.
Thanks for reading. We’ll be off on Monday for Memorial Day. Then, my colleague Evan Gorelick will write this newsletter for the rest of next week. — Matthew
Keith Bedford was our photo editor.
We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com.
 |
Writer: Matthew Cullen Editor: Whet Moser |
If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The Evening from The New York Times. To stop receiving The Evening, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. | |||||
| |||||
  | |||||
The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 |
Comments
Post a Comment
Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.