May. 18, 2026, 4:53 PM EDT

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is considering ending its collection of corporations’ data on the racial and gender makeup of their employees, potentially undercutting a key federal tool to track employment discrimination.

The move also raises questions as to what data the administration expects to use to carry out its effort to prove anti-white discrimination is a systemic problem worthy of intervention.

According to the Washington Post:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is considering no longer collecting demographic information including race, sex and national origin from major American companies, departing from a practice that began during the civil rights era of the 1960s and was critical to the agency’s efforts to root out workplace discrimination. The EEOC also wants to ax data reporting rules for apprenticeship programs, unions, state and local governments, and schools, as well as reporting requirements in other civil rights laws that protect workers, including those who are pregnant or have disabilities.

The Post’s report notes that race and gender employment data came under fire in Project 2025the far-right playbook Trump’s administration has been following to enact its agenda:

“Crudely categorizing employees by race or ethnicity fails to recognize the diversity of the American workforce and forces individuals into categories that do not fully reflect their racial and ethnic heritage,” wrote Project 2025 author Jonathan Berry, who is now solicitor for the Department of Labor.

The Trump administration’s gutting of federal agenciesits mass purges of employees that decimated diversity in the government and its assault on diversity in corporate America have pushed many people from marginalized groups, particularly Black womenout of the workforce.

Civil rights activist Noreen Farrell, whose work focuses on fair pay and workplace discrimination, told me last year that Trump’s changes at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and his push to end the agency’s jobs report risked making that problem worse.

“First they dismantled workplace protections. Then they gutted DEI programs. Now, as women abandon careers in record numbers, they want to stop counting,” Farrell said, adding, “This is what systematic discrimination looks like in 2025.”

So continues the Trump administration’s war on reputable government data. If the government can obscure or abandon data about who is working where, it will open the door to potential discrimination and hinder efforts to combat it.

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.

May. 18, 2026, 6:14 PM EDT

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has postponed a planned U.S. military strike on Iran at the request of key Gulf allies who said negotiations with Tehran could produce a deal that “will be very acceptable” to the U.S. and other Middle Eastern countries.

Trump said in a lengthy Truth Social postthat he received requests from the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan “to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place.”

“In their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” Trump said.

Trump said that, “based on [his] respect” of the three leaders, he ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the U.S. military to stand down from a strike against Iran scheduled for Tuesday.

The president said, however, that the U.S. military had been instructed to remain ready to launch “a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice” if negotiations fail to produce what he described as an acceptable agreement.

The governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have increasingly positioned themselves as intermediaries while also seeking to avoid a direct military confrontation between the United States and Iran that could threaten oil markets and shipping lanes across the Middle East.

Trump told reporters on Monday the U.S. has briefed Israel and other Middle Eastern partners on the delay and cautioned that it remains unclear whether it will lead to a final agreement.

“It’s a very positive development, but we’ll see whether or not it amounts to anything,” Trump said at a healthcare affordability event. “We’ve had periods of time where we had, we thought, pretty much getting close to making a deal, and didn’t work out, but this is a little bit different now.”

The announcement comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S and Iran following months of military threats, regional instability and disputes over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump had warnedSunday that “the clock is ticking” for Iran to accept a deal as Iran has yet to accept the latest peace proposal.

As diplomatic efforts continue, the president has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran in recent weeks before ultimately delaying or pulling back strikes.

The latest postponement follows earlier pauses tied to ceasefire negotiations and talks through regional allies.

Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.

May. 18, 2026, 4:35 PM EDT

At least three people and two suspects are dead following a shooting Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a press conference Monday afternoon that officers found three dead victims outside the center after responding to reports of an active shooter in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego.

Wahl said the two suspected shooters — identified as teenage boys ages 17 and 19 — also died from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

The victims include a security guard and two staff members from the Islamic school on the center’s grounds, Imam Taha Hassane, the mosque’s director, told MS NOW.

One of the gunmen also fired at a landscaper, who was not injured, according to Wahl.

“Because of the Islamic Center location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not,” Wahl said.

Nearby Sharp Memorial Hospital said it is receiving patients.

“Our disaster procedures have been activated and we are coordinating with the County of San Diego and other resources to respond to the incident,” a hospital spokesperson told MS NOW.

“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before. And at this moment all what I can say is we are sending our prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here,” Hassane told reporters after the shooting. “The other mosques and all the places of worship in our beautiful city should always be protected.”

Hassane called the targeting of a place of worship “extremely outrageous.”

The mosque, the largest in San Diego County, also houses the Al Rashid School, which teaches Arabic language and Islamic studies. All children present at the school are safe and officials established a reunification point for families.

“No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, said in a statement. “We are working to learn more about this incident and we encourage everyone to keep this community in your prayers.”

The FBI’s San Diego Field Office will assist local law enforcement with the investigation.

A White House official told MS NOW that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting this afternoon.

President Donald Trump called the shooting at the mosque a “terrible situation” while speaking to reporters at a White House health care event Monday.

“I’ve been given some early updates, but we’re going to be going back and looking at it very strongly,” Trump said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.