Trump makes surprise Poland pivot; Colbert ends 33-year franchise

President Donald Trump hits reverse on Europe, canceling one troop plan for Poland only to replace it with a larger deployment. So what changed?

Plus, hurricane season is almost here, and one weather pattern could help keep some of the strongest storms from stacking up.

And one of late night’s biggest names says goodbye. Stephen Colbert signs off and closes the curtain on a television run that stretched across three decades.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, May 22, 2026.

Editor’s note: The Unbiased Updates team will observe the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. Straight Arrow’s Craig Nigrelli will be back with you Tuesday with more unbiased news.

Trump reverses Poland plan, announcing 5,000 troops will deploy

President Donald Trump announced he will send thousands of additional U.S. troops to Poland. The news is a sharp turn after last week’s decision to cancel a deployment headed there.

Last week, the Pentagon said a 4,200-soldier Army brigade would not deploy to Poland, even though the unit had already trained for months and equipment was in place.

Now, Trump said 5,000 troops will head to Poland.

On Truth Social, the president said the decision was driven in part by the election of Karol Nawrocki as Poland’s new president.

The announcement also stands out because Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly discussed scaling back the American military presence in Europe.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden Friday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the turnaround.

“Obviously, the United States continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment, and that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops,” Rubio said. “And this is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing. And it was preexisting, all these recent reports and tensions and so forth.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, while also repeating that Europe needs to continue taking on more of its own defense responsibilities.

“The trajectory we are on, which is a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO, making sure we will, over time, step by step, be less reliant on one ally only, as we have been for so long, which is the United States,” Rutte said. “So that also for them, they have the possibility and the option to pivot more toward other priorities, which are also in our interest, will continue. But of course, I very much welcome the announcement.”

Trump has also previously criticized the U.S. military plan in Europe, calling it a “lack of strategy,” and said he planned to cut even more than 5,000 troops from the region.

Meanwhile, the debate over American military commitments continues here at home.

House Republicans on Thursday delayed a vote on legislation that would require the president to pull U.S. forces out of the Iran conflict, pushing action on that measure until at least June.

Protesters torch Ebola facility after dispute over burial practices sparks violence

Fears and frustrations over the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo have spilled into the streets and turned violent.

A temporary Ebola treatment center in the city of Rwampara was set on fire Thursday after health officials refused to release the body of a young man who died from the virus to his family. The medical tents were set up to help contain the outbreak. The six patients housed in the facility at the time of the attack have since been transferred to a hospital.

Health officials said the incident exposes a deeper challenge in fighting Ebola: balancing safety measures with local customs surrounding death and burial. The bodies of Ebola victims can remain highly infectious, which means burials often have to be handled by specially trained teams wearing protective gear.

That can clash with traditional practices, which frequently include family members washing or touching the body and large gatherings of mourners.

Health officials also face a second challenge: resources.

CNN reported that some health experts and aid organizations said cuts to U.S. and international health funding have left frontline responders with fewer tools to track and contain the outbreak. The Trump administration has pushed back on claims that the response capacity has been weakened.

The United Nations said there are now nearly 600 suspected cases and 148 suspected deaths linked to the outbreak.

World Health Organization officials believe the actual numbers are likely higher.

NOAA predicts fewer storms this hurricane season with El Niño expected to slow Atlantic activity

The Atlantic hurricane season begins in just over a week, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said this year may be quieter than usual.

NOAA released its first official outlook Thursday, predicting a below-average Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters expect between eight and 14 named storms, with three to six hurricanes, including as many as three major storms.

The big driver this year is the expected return of El Niño, a climate pattern that typically reduces storm development in the Atlantic.

“The waters are beginning to warm in the central and eastern part of the tropical Pacific,” Brian Tang, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University at Albany, said. “And usually when we have El Niño developing, especially during the hurricane season, that suppresses clouds, thunderstorms, precipitation, tropical cyclones in the Atlantic generally.”

However, NOAA warned people not to get too comfortable with a “below-average” forecast. Officials said it only takes one storm to turn into a major problem.

Last year, the U.S. had 13 named storms, including four major hurricanes. This year’s outlook will receive updates throughout the summer.

Trump delays AI executive order, saying plan could hurt US edge

Trump slammed on the brakes on a major AI order Thursday, canceling a planned White House signing just hours before it was set to take place. The administration had been preparing an executive order to create a process for the government to review the most advanced AI models before they are released to the public.

The proposal was designed to focus on national security and cyber risks, with major AI companies expected to cooperate voluntarily with the government.

The push grew out of concerns that powerful AI systems could expose software vulnerabilities or create new cyber threats to banks, utilities and other critical systems.

But Trump said he was concerned the order went too far.

“Because I didn’t like certain aspects of it, I postponed it. I think it gets in the way of, you know, we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead. We have a very substantial lead on AI. It’s causing tremendous good. And it’s also bringing in a lot of jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs.” 

President Donald Trump

The White House invited executives from major tech companies to the event, including leaders from OpenAI, Google and other AI firms.

For now, the order is delayed — not scrapped — and officials said it may return later with changes.

Stephen Colbert signs off ‘The Late Show’ for good after 33 years on air

Stephen Colbert said goodbye to late night, signing off from CBS for the final time.

“If you’re just tuning in to ‘The Late Show,’ you missed a lot. Tonight is our final broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where — no, no — we were lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years,” Colbert said.

Fans waited for hours in the rain Thursday to pack the audience for Colbert’s final taping — some traveling from across the country and around the world to see the show’s final night.

It’s not just the end of Colbert’s run. It’s the end of “The Late Show” itself, with the curtain closing after nearly 33 years on the air. Paramount said budget concerns drove the decision to end the franchise.

But some fans have questioned the timing. When Colbert learned his show was being canceled last year, Paramount was also seeking approval from the Trump administration for a major media merger.

Trump celebrated the finale online, writing: “Thank goodness he’s finally gone.”

Colbert didn’t respond to the president during his sign-off; instead, he used his final moments to thank his audience and reflect on the years he spent behind the desk.

“On night one of the Colbert Report, I said, ‘Anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you.’ And I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different — we were here to feel the news with you. And I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it.

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We love doing this show for you, but what we really love is doing this show with you. Now, I’ll say to you what I’ve said to every audience for the last 11 years, and I’ve meant it every time: Have a good show. Thanks for being here. And let’s do it, y’all.”

Stephen Colbert, “The Late Show” host

The finale is also hitting the rest of late night. Jimmy Kimmel pulled his ABC show Thursday and urged viewers not to watch CBS.

Fans celebrate Sherlock Holmes Day as detective’s legacy still draws crowds worldwide

For many in the U.S., Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer. But for armchair detectives worldwide, Friday is a day to celebrate one of the most famous crime solvers ever created: Sherlock Holmes.

Friday marks International Sherlock Holmes Day, honoring the legendary fictional detective who has captivated readers around the world for more than a century with his mysteries. Fans celebrate Sherlock Holmes Day on May 22, the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who wrote four Holmes novels and nearly 60 short stories over four decades.

This month, members of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London traveled to Switzerland to reenact one of the most famous moments in the series: the 1893 showdown in “The Final Problem.” That’s the story in which Holmes and his archrival, Professor James Moriarty, go over the Reichenbach Falls, leaving Dr. Watson to believe his friend was dead.

“Sherlock Holmes is a wonderful way of getting relief from the pressures of day-to-day life, having a bit of fun. There is some spoof scholarship in it as well. But at the end of the day, Conan Doyle’s stories are a wonderful mix of history, good storytelling and brilliant characters, and it’s huge fun to do.

But yes, tomorrow, back into normal clothes, back home and back to normal life.”

Peter Horrocks, member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, playing Professor Moriarty

It turns out fans didn’t take Holmes’ death very well.

After a wave of protests and angry letters, Doyle eventually brought the detective back, revealing Holmes had staged his own death.

Sometimes the best mystery is how you get out of one.

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Teens are ‘taking over’ city streets. Is it the solution to charge parents?

Law enforcement and prosecutors across the nation have turned attention to parents and charged them for their teens’ actions during “teen takeovers.” A criminal justice scholar is skeptical of the approach, as he said the punitive measures criminalize families and are applied too broadly.

A trend on social media has spread to Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Detroit in the past few months, where teens encourage large gatherings out in public. It’s grown across the U.S., with some filming speedruns at Church of Scientology locations, fighting in restaurants or just hanging out in cities, forcing law enforcement to charge parents for their kids’ actions. 

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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief