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(AFP) – Israel’s far-right national security minister posts a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground while being brought to Israel following their detention. The Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard the Global Sumud flotilla, which was attempting to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza, are now en route to Israel, while the Adalah rights group said some have already arrived at Ashdod port and are being held there.

Geneva (AFP) – The risk from a deadly Ebola outbreak is high in central Africa but remains low globally, the head of the World Health Organization says, adding that the virus has likely been spreading for months. The outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever was declared in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week.

Black Sea (AFP) – Images from the British defence ministry show Russian jets flying close to a RAF Rivet Joint aircraft. The surveillance aircraft was taking part in a routine flight in international airspace as part of the UK’s work alongside allies to secure NATO’s Eastern Flank. “One Russian Su-35 aircraft flew close enough to trigger emergency systems on the Rivet Joint, including disabling the autopilot system,” the ministry said, adding that “in another dangerous intercept, a Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted six passes in front of the British aircraft.” The incident comes as relations between the two countries remain at a historic low over the Ukraine war and longstanding spying allegations.

Caracas (AFP) – Demonstrators clash with police over the death of Carmen Navas, an 82-year-old woman who has become a symbol for families of political prisoners demanding the release of their loved ones, and denouncing human rights abuses. Navas had spent almost a year searching for her son, Victor Quero, who died in custody in July 2025. The case highlights abuses committed under Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, before he was captured by the US in January.

Tehran (AFP) – Gathered around a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in central Tehran, a group of Iranians is learning to use an AK-47 assault rifle, in case it falls to them to defend the country from renewed US attacks. During the ceasefire, Iran and the United States have held just a single round of direct talks, which failed to secure a peace deal, and since then, the two sides have been swapping proposals on a lasting settlement without a breakthrough.

Havana (AFP) – It’s the middle of the night in Havana, but Alejandro Benitez is just getting down to work. The power is back on for the first time in 15 hours, and Benitez, a fourth-year architecture student at the Universidad Tecnologica de la Habana, needs to get his assignment in fast before the electricity cuts out again. Desperate times call for desperate measures in crisis-hit Cuba, where a US fuel blockade — part of a pressure campaign which Havana fears will culminate in military intervention — has aggravated an energy crisis, leaving people without power for up to 20 hours a day.

Suwon (South Korea) (AFP) – North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC players train ahead of their match against South Korea’s Suwon FC Women in the semi-finals of the Asian Women’s Champions League on 20 May. Women’s football is one of North Korea’s strongest international sports, with their national sides regularly competing at the highest levels in Asia and globally. The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization chief voices concern about the “scale and speed” of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has killed an estimated 131 people. No vaccine or therapeutic treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the latest outbreak of the disease, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century.

Baghdad (AFP) – Dust blankets Baghdad as a sandstorm sweeps through the Iraqi capital.

Moscow (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia-China relations “have reached a truly unprecedented level” in a video message ahead of his two-day visit to Beijing for a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The confirmation of Putin’s trip came just hours after Trump wrapped up his visit, the first by a US president to China in nearly a decade and one aimed at stabilising their turbulent relations.

Ushuaïa (Argentine) (AFP) – Equipped with gloves, masks and protective gear, a group of 11 specialists and national park staff are deployed on the trails near Baliza Escarpados, in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, to install traps in an effort to capture rodents that may be hantavirus carriers. The mission is critical since the outbreak aboard the Hondius led to three deaths and triggered global alarm. IMAGES

Undisclosed (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian forces launch long-range drones from an undisclosed location towards Russia in one of the largest barrages of the ongoing conflict so far, which has left four dead. AFP had exclusive access to one of the launch sites, operated by the 9th Kairos Battalion of the ‘Madyar’s Birds’ on the evening of May 16, 2026. In a recent exclusive interview with AFP, before the latest wave of attacks, the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned forces, Robert Brovdi, known as ‘Madyar’, says Ukraine’s deep strikes target defence industry and oil facilities to deprive Russia of the resources it needs to continue the war, making them “legitimate” targets.