عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Nigeria Confirms Killing of Senior ISIS Leader in Joint US Operation

President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington, on return from Beijing where he met with China's President Xi Jinping. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington, on return from Beijing where he met with China's President Xi Jinping. (AP)
TT
TT

Nigeria Confirms Killing of Senior ISIS Leader in Joint US Operation

President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington, on return from Beijing where he met with China's President Xi Jinping. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington, on return from Beijing where he met with China's President Xi Jinping. (AP)

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu and the west African country's military on Saturday confirmed the killing in Nigeria of a senior ISIS leader in a joint operation with US forces. 

"Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of ISIS," Tinubu said in a statement after US President Donald Trump first announced the killing. 

Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was the second-in-command of ISIS worldwide, according to Trump. 

He was killed overnight, according to both Trump and Tinubu. 

Tinubu said in a statement that Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was killed "along with several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin". 

The Nigerian defense forces said al-Minuki was a "senior ISIS leader and one of the world's most active terrorists". 

It described him as an "operational and strategic figure who provided guidance to ISIS entities outside Nigeria on matters relating to media operations, economic warfare and the development and manufacturing of weapons, explosives and drones". 

It said his "death removes a critical node through which ISIS coordinated and directed operations across different regions of the world". 

Nigeria is battling extremist insurgents, including regional offshoots of the ISIS organization, as well as extremist rival Boko Haram. It has also carried out strikes and operations against non-ideological violent gangs of criminals known as "bandits". 

Since late 2025, the Nigerian government has been under pressure from the United States, which has accused it of not doing enough to combat the extremist militant threat. 

On Christmas Day, the United States, in collaboration with Nigerian authorities, carried out airstrikes in northwestern Sokoto State targeting fighters from the ISIS in the Sahel group, usually active in neighboring Niger. 

Washington has since deployed hundreds of troops to Nigeria to support and train its forces. 

Most Viewed

 
 
World

WHO: Ebola Outbreak in Congo and Uganda Declared Public Health Emergency

FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
TT
TT

WHO: Ebola Outbreak in Congo and Uganda Declared Public Health Emergency

FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
FILE - Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.

In a post on X, the World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

Health authorities have confirmed the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported, The Associated Press reported.

Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in neighboring Uganda, the WHO said.

Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Congo's eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.

“There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” Tedros said.

Uganda on Saturday confirmed one case it said was imported from Congo, and said the patient died at a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and the WHO said that a second case has been reported in Kampala. The two cases had no apparent links to each other and both patients had traveled from Congo, it added.

The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37 people.

The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.

WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.

In 2024 when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.

World

UK’s Ex-Health Minister Streeting Says Will Run to Replace PM Starmer

Britain’s former Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivers a keynote address at the Progress annual conference 2026, in London, Britain, May 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Britain’s former Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivers a keynote address at the Progress annual conference 2026, in London, Britain, May 16, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

UK’s Ex-Health Minister Streeting Says Will Run to Replace PM Starmer

Britain’s former Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivers a keynote address at the Progress annual conference 2026, in London, Britain, May 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Britain’s former Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivers a keynote address at the Progress annual conference 2026, in London, Britain, May 16, 2026. (Reuters)

Wes Streeting, who resigned as UK health secretary this week, announced Saturday he will run to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister, after the party suffered disastrous local election results.

Streeting quit the government Thursday with a withering assessment of Starmer's leadership, but no other senior minister followed suit and the 43-year-old MP did not immediately trigger a leadership contest.

Later that day, Greater Manchester mayor and Andy Burnham unveiled a bid to become an MP which, if successful, would allow the 56-year-old from the left of the party to stand in that contest.

While still not announcing he has kickstarted the formal leadership challenge process, Streeting confirmed Saturday he will vie to replace Starmer and become the center-left Labour's new leader.

Whoever leads the ruling party, which has a big majority in Britain's parliament, will by default become prime minister.

"We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I'll be standing," Streeting said in a speech and question-and-answer session at a think tank event in London.

Explaining the lack of a formal contest launch, Streeting -- from Labour's right-wing and long thought to covet the premiership -- said he wanted "all of the candidates... on the pitch".

"If we had rushed ahead without giving Andy a chance to stand, the new leader, whether it was me or anyone else, would lack the legitimacy."

A Labour party leadership contest can be triggered if 81 of its MPs -- 20 percent of the party in parliament -- formally back a candidate to challenge Starmer and submit the necessary paperwork.

- Brexit 'mistake' -

Starmer, as current leader, would automatically be on the ballot if he wants to defend the challenge.

Labour members and affiliates then get to vote, not just MPs. They rank candidates in order of preference and a contender needs 50 percent to win.

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) -- which selects the party's candidates in parliamentary seat elections -- said Friday it had permitted Burnham "to stand in the candidate selection process" in the by-election in Makerfield, northwest England.

That contest is expected in mid-June at the earliest, meaning any formal leadership challenge is likely to be triggered afterwards.

The political jockeying follows dismal results for Labour in local and regional elections held last week, which have prompted several junior ministers and dozens of the party's MPs to demand Starmer to step down.

But the beleaguered 63-year UK leader appears to have been granted a stay of execution, of sorts, while Burnham's fate is decided in the Makerfield by-election.

Burnham told British media Saturday he was prepared to "fight to the highest level".

Meanwhile it appears Streeting, who delivered a wide-ranging speech at the think tank event, has kicked off a leadership campaign in all but name.

Setting out a fledgling policy platform, he said Brexit was "a catastrophic mistake" and that Britain must pursue a "new special relationship" with the European Union.

He signaled he wanted to see the country rejoin the trade bloc in the future.

World

USS Ford Returns Home After 11-Month Deployment Supporting the Iran War and Maduro’s Capture

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

USS Ford Returns Home After 11-Month Deployment Supporting the Iran War and Maduro’s Capture

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world largest aircraft carrier, returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, that saw it support the US war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela's president.

The most advanced US warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June.

Besides combat operations and traversing continents, the sailors aboard the carrier faced a noncombat-related fire that left hundreds without places to sleep and forced lengthy repairs on the Greek island of Crete.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival of the warships, which included the destroyer USS Bainbridge.

Hegseth commended the crew of the Bainbridge for a “job well done.”

“You didn't just accomplish a mission, you made history,” Hegseth said on the destroyer's deck. “You made a nation proud.”

The Ford’s 326 days at sea are the most for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and broke the record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, according to US Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the US Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization. The only longer deployments were the 1973 deployment of USS Midway at 332 days and the 1965 deployment of USS Coral Sea at 329 days.

The Ford's long time at sea has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods, as well as about increasing strain on the ship and its equipment beyond the fire, which started in one of the carrier's laundry spaces.

When the Ford first left Virginia's coast in June, it headed to the Mediterranean Sea. It was then rerouted to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation in January to capture Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated. The Ford participated in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

Technically, the crew of the USS Nimitz was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, that included extended isolation periods ashore in the US meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.