This is the Intelligence Feed.
Dispatch Washington · May 17, 2026 Ali al-Zaidi was sworn in as Iraq's prime minister on May 14, 2026, taking office against a backdrop of direct U.S. pressure and a parallel Justice Department counterterrorism action that illustrated precisely why Washington wants his cooperation. Al-Zaidi assumed office with only a partial cabinet after lawmakers failed to…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet on Thursday, stating he had “lost confidence” in Starmer’s leadership and that remaining in government would be “dishonourable and unprincipled.” The move was widely read as a precursor to a formal leadership challenge, and Streeting became the first…
DispatchWashington · May 16, 2026 The U.S. Commerce Department has approved approximately 10 Chinese technology companies to purchase Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips under export licenses granted pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. [1][2] Named buyers include Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com, with distributors Lenovo and Foxconn…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 14 that Iran retains residual military capability even as the Trump administration has publicly characterized Operation Epic Fury as a comprehensive success. Cooper, the commander of Central Command, made his first appearance before…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded the first day of a two-day summit in Beijing on May 14 with readouts from each government that highlighted sharply different agendas. Trump arrived focused on trade, agriculture, and commerce, while Xi used the sessions to press hard on Taiwan…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 Israel and Lebanon concluded the third round of U.S.-brokered direct negotiations at the State Department on May 14 and 15, with a senior State Department official characterizing the eight-hour first session as "productive and positive," but substantive gaps over Hezbollah's disarmament remain unresolved [1][2]. The talks, the highest-level direct…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 — CIA Whistleblower Alleges Agency Obstructed DNI COVID Origins Review A senior CIA operations officer testified publicly before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 13, 2026, accusing the agency of obstructing a congressionally relevant review of its COVID-19 origins assessments and illegally surveilling personnel assigned…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 Saudi Arabia conducted undisclosed airstrikes against Iran-linked militia targets inside Iraq during the broader 2026 regional war, and rockets were launched from Kuwaiti territory into southern Iraq on at least two separate occasions, according to a Reuters report published May 14. The sourcing for both sets of strikes includes…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 The Senate on Wednesday rejected, for the seventh time since the start of the U.S.-Iran war, a motion to discharge a War Powers Resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, falling short on a 49-50 vote. [1][2] Three Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and…
Dispatch Washington · May 16, 2026 President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on May 13, 2026, for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first visit to China by a sitting U.S. president since Trump's own 2017 trip. That earlier visit produced a "state visit-plus" featuring a private dinner in the Forbidden City…