{"id":94855,"date":"2026-05-20T04:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/?p=94855"},"modified":"2026-05-20T04:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:15:30","slug":"news-and-analysis-5-20-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/?p=94855","title":{"rendered":"News and Analysis 5\/20\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary this weekend, became the latest GOP defector as critics took advantage of Republican absences to advance a war powers resolution&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/05\/19\/senate-anti-iran-war-measure-00928868\">Senate Advances Anti-Iran War Measure in Surprise Blow to Trump<\/a> (Politico)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;The three men are credited with protecting more than a dozen children who were in a school at the Islamic Center when the shooting began&#8221; &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/heroic-security-guard-killed-protecting-children-staff-san-diego-mosqu-rcna345831\">Victims of San Diego Mosque Shooting Remembered as Pillars of Local Muslim Community<\/a> (NBC News)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8230; as &#8220;[s]tatements against Islam by prominent figures, and multiple attacks on houses of worship of all types, have faith leaders deeply worried&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/religion\/2026\/05\/19\/san-diego-mosque-attack-follows-surge-public-anti-islam-rhetoric\/\">Imam Blames Anti-Muslim Rhetoric for San Diego Attack: \u2018This Is What We Get\u2019<\/a> (Washington Post)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;The current war and economic crisis &#8230; threaten to reverse years of slow institutional development&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/insights.niacouncil.org\/p\/the-quiet-collapse-irans-civil-society?publication_id=5970321&amp;post_id=198460743&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=46bwo&amp;triedRedirect=true\">The Quiet Collapse: Iran\u2019s Civil Society Institutions Pushed to Breaking Point<\/a> (NIAC)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;[F]ive stories about states suppressing what people say, print, believe, and broadcast&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/edraak.world\/p\/laws-pledges-and-185-million-books?publication_id=4836546&amp;post_id=198518682&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=46bwo&amp;triedRedirect=true\">Laws, Pledges, and 1.85 Million Books<\/a> (Edraak)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;US officials told the Times that the &#8216;audacious&#8217; plan was developed by the Israelis with the approval of the United States government&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/middle-east\/early-goal-of-us-israeli-war-on-iran-was-to-install-hardline-former-president-report\/3942678\">Early Goal of US-Israeli War on Iran Was to Install Hardline Former President: Report<\/a> (Andalu Ajansi)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;[T]he main militant group in the Sahel with a declared allegiance to al-Qaeda, launched the attacks\u2014including an offensive targeting Bamako and a military garrison &#8230; \u2014that killed Mali\u2019s defense minister&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropsitenews.com\/p\/mali-attacks-jnim-tuareg-france-bamako-kati-kidal?publication_id=2510348&amp;post_id=198446644&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=46bwo&amp;triedRedirect=true\">After Insurgents Battle Military Junta, Mali Pushed Toward War and Economic Collapse<\/a> (Drop Site)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the so-called &#8220;self-sacrifice&#8221; scheme &#8230; where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20260519-iran-stages-mass-weddings-for-couples-ready-for-war-sacrifice\">Iran Stages Mass Weddings for Couples Ready for War &#8216;Sacrifice&#8217;<\/a> (France 24)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Israeli war crimes continue:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/19\/nx-s1-5823861\/israel-palestinians-east-jerusalem\">Israel&#8217;s Trying to Expel a Whole Palestinian District in East Jerusalem, Activists Say<\/a> (NPR)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;According to regional analysts, Gulf leaders fear that even a limited American strike on Iranian energy or military infrastructure could provoke retaliatory attacks targeting vital infrastructure&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/middle-east\/article-896740\">Why Did Gulf States Ask Trump to Hold Off on Iran Strikes? &#8211; Analysis<\/a> (Jerusalem Post)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary this weekend, became the latest GOP defector as critics took advantage of Republican absences to advance a war powers resolution&#8221;: Senate Advances Anti-Iran War Measure in Surprise Blow to Trump (Politico) &#8220;The three men are credited with protecting more than a dozen children who were in a school [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94855"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94861,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94855\/revisions\/94861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}