The Daily Brief - May 11, 2026
The war in Iran, Alabama wants a new congressional map too, hantavirus, and more
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Trump Rejects Iran’s Response to End War
Peace talks between the US and Iran have stalled, as President Trump yesterday rejected Iran’s counterproposal to the latest US offer to end the war.
Last week, the US proposed a two-month ceasefire, a halt to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, and a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. In its response, Iran said it wanted the war ended within 30 days rather than extended through a ceasefire, and reiterated longstanding demands: war reparations from the US, recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the lifting of US sanctions.
Trump called Iran’s terms “totally unacceptable.”
A ceasefire has been in place since April 8, but both sides have continued to hit each other’s ships around the strait, which Iran has effectively kept closed by laying sea mines, warning ships from attempting to cross the waterway without its permission, and demanding tolls of up to $1 million per ship.
Gas Prices Surge Again
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hit $4.52 yesterday, up from just under $3 the week before the US-Iran war began, according to AAA. Drivers in six states — Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington — are paying near or above $5 a gallon. In California, the state average has crossed $6.
President Trump said Monday that he wants to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, which currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon. The president does not have the authority to suspend the tax unilaterally; only Congress can do so. Suspending the tax will cost the treasury about a half billion dollars a week. Following Trump’s remarks, allies in both the House and Senate said they planned to introduce legislation to pause the federal gas tax.
American Tests Positive for Hantavirus
The Department of Health and Human Services said one American has tested positive for the Andes strain of the hantavirus and another is showing mild symptoms. Seventeen American passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha early this morning for clinical assessment.
The two passengers with confirmed or suspected infections are being held in the medical center’s biocontainment unit. The rest are being observed at the center’s National Quarantine Unit. The Andes virus can take up to 42 days to produce symptoms after exposure, so passengers without signs of infection will be allowed to complete the 42-day monitoring period at home. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, and muscle aches.
The Andes strain is the only hantavirus known to spread person-to-person, typically through close, prolonged contact. Most other hantaviruses spread when humans come in contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, or saliva.
Three passengers from the MV Hondius have died so far. The World Health Organization has said the risk to the broader public is low. The Americans and one British national who lives in the US disembarked the MV Hondius yesterday in the Canary Islands, and were flown overnight to Omaha.
Newsbreak
In Braiding Sweetgrass, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer draws on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, to show how other living beings ― asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass ― offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she argues for the importance of acknowledging and celebrating our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.
Alabama Congressional Map
Alabama is asking the Supreme Court to allow it to throw out its current congressional map that has two majority-Black districts and revert to one with a single majority-Black district, before the state’s May 19 primary. The state filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court after a federal district court rejected its application to throw out the current map last week.
Alabama has seven congressional seats, with Republicans holding five and Democrats two. The current map has been in place since a three-judge panel found Alabama’s 2023 map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voters’ power. The state argues its case mirrors the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down Louisiana’s second majority-Black district as a racial gerrymander.
Hours before Alabama filed the appeal, Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation authorizing her to call special primaries for congressional districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 — whose boundaries would be affected if the courts allow the state to use a different map this year. The special primaries do not yet have a date — Ivey would set one if and when the courts rule in Alabama’s favor.
Alabama is asking the justices to act by May 14. The Black voters and civil rights groups who originally sued Alabama over the map had to file their response today by 5 p.m. EDT.
Trump-Xi Summit
Trump will travel to China this week for a three-day state visit with President Xi Jinping, his first trip to China since 2017.
US officials said he will push China to buy Boeing aircraft, US beef, and soybeans, among other demands. China is expected to press for relief from Trump’s tariffs, an easing of US controls on importing advanced semiconductors, and reduced US military support for Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
Both sides are also expected to discuss AI technology and export restrictions. Trump is bringing a delegation of major US CEOs with him, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, and the heads of Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta.
Iran is also expected to be a subject of discussion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month that Xi had given the White House high-level assurances China would not send weapons to Iran. China is Iran’s largest trading partner and the biggest buyer of its sanctioned oil, purchasing roughly 90% of its oil exports.
Last week, the State Department sanctioned more than a dozen companies for supporting Iran, including three Chinese firms accused of sharing satellite imagery of US facilities in the Middle East.
Hegseth Calls for Mark Kelly Investigation, Again
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called for a second Pentagon investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, this time over Kelly’s comments about how much the Iran war has drained US weapons stockpiles.
On CBS’ “Face the Nation” yesterday, Kelly, who sits on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said he and his colleagues had received multiple Pentagon briefings detailing how much of the stockpile of US weapons had been used in the war. He said he was shocked to find out how depleted the stockpile had become and blamed Trump for going to war “without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline.”
In a post on X, Hegseth accused Kelly — a retired Navy captain — of “blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a CLASSIFIED Pentagon briefing he received.” He said the Defense Department’s legal counsel will review whether Kelly violated his oath as a military retiree.
The senator responded to Hegseth’s post with a video clip of a recent Senate hearing, writing, “We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles. That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you.”
Hegseth’s first call to investigate Kelly was in November of last year after Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds released a video urging US service members to refuse illegal orders.
WHCD Shooter Pleads Not Guilty
The man charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner pleaded not guilty in federal court today.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a tutor from California, faces four counts: attempting to assassinate the president, shooting a Secret Service officer, transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
His lawyers asked the judge to disqualify Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, and the entire US Attorney’s Office from the case, arguing they are potential victims and witnesses because they were at the dinner.
The judge did not rule on that request but asked the defense to elaborate. The government has until May 22 to respond.