EXCLUSIVE: White House delays release of US voting machine study as midterms near

• Former Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman suggested a "collective movement" is underway within the UK's Labour Party to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer. • Andy Burnham, the 56-year-old politician known as the "King of the North," decisively won the Makerfield seat in northwestern England, defeating Reform UK's Rob Kenyon.

• Rival factions of the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, celebrated the party's foundation day through separate events. • The split celebrations occur against a backdrop of political tension and speculation surrounding a rumored strategic move termed "Operation Tiger."

• The White House delayed the release of a federal government report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) regarding voting machine security. • The report concludes that U.S. voting machines may have software vulnerabilities and require additional protections, such as updated software, to ensure security.

• A Uttar Pradesh minister has claimed that several MPs and MLAs from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress are in contact with the ruling party, suggesting potential defections. • The Samajwadi Party has denied these claims, asserting that their house is in order and all their lawmakers are fully accounted for.

• Tensions rose within the INDIA bloc on Friday following the defeat of Congress candidate Pranav Jha in Thursday's Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand. • The two available seats were won by JMM’s Baidyanath Ram and NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani.

• President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will jointly launch a series of development projects in Odisha this Saturday. • The initiatives represent a massive financial investment totaling over ₹47,600 crore for the state.

• Major Wall Street banks warn that Andy Burnham is likely to break Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules regarding government borrowing if he becomes prime minister. • Oxford Economics reports that the cost of UK government borrowing has risen at the fastest pace in Europe following Mr. Burnham’s recent by-election victory.

• On May 15, 2026, in Chișinău, Moldova, 34 Council of Europe member states, the EU, Australia, and Costa Rica adopted a resolution to establish a Steering Committee for a Special Tribunal. • The tribunal is specifically designed to prosecute the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine, filling a critical gap in international legal accountability.

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Delhi next week for high-level diplomatic discussions. • In Mexico, the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport has introduced cricket into four low-to-medium security prisons to instill discipline among inmates.

• The European Parliament has approved the toughest deportation policy in the history of the European Union. • Right-wing MEPs celebrated the decision with cheers of "send them back," sparking a heated confrontation within the chamber.

• The EU Parliament has passed new legislation to reform the bloc's deportation processes, which includes the establishment of dedicated "return hubs." • The move is seen as a significant victory for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose previous efforts to tighten migration rules were hindered by judicial challenges in Italy and the EU.