Russian Strikes Kill Six Across Ukraine

Smoke rises in the city after a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in the city after a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Strikes Kill Six Across Ukraine

Smoke rises in the city after a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in the city after a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine April 25, 2026. (Reuters)

Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least six people, officials said Saturday, most of them in an attack on a residential building in the eastern city of Dnipro. 

"The Russians' tactics remain unchanged: attack drones, cruise missiles and a significant amount of ballistic missiles," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. 

"Most of the targets are ordinary infrastructure in cities. Residential buildings, energy facilities and businesses have been damaged," he said. 

Four people were killed and 27 wounded in one overnight strike on an apartment block in Dnipro, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of Drinpropetrovsk regional military administration said on Telegram. 

A later strike on another apartment building in the city, killed one person and wounded seven, he said. 

"The Russians hit the same residential neighborhood as the one targeted overnight," Ganzha said. 

In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and four wounded by a Russian drone hit on a civilian minibus, the head of the region's administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram. 

Zelensky said the incessant Russian strikes on civilian targets required a strong response from Ukraine's allies, especially in Europe. 

"Every such strike should serve as a reminder to our partners that the situation requires immediate and firm action, and the rapid strengthening of our air defense," he said. 

- EU sanctions - 

He urged the European Union to impose even more sanctions on Russia. 

The plea came two days after EU leaders approved a long-stalled 20th sanctions round against Russia that target the banking sector and add new restrictions on exports of Russian oil. 

That package had been blocked for months by Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who was voted from power two weeks ago. The EU also approved a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine intended to strengthen its defenses and cover state expenditures for the 2026-2027 period. 

Almost every day since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, civilians have been killed in Ukraine in Russian bombardments. 

Ukrainian drone attacks over the past 24 hours injured one person in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein announced Saturday on Max. 

The governor for Russia's neighboring Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a woman was killed and a man seriously wounded in a drone attack on a car, and a man driving a tractor was wounded in another strike. 

Diplomatic efforts to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II are at a standstill with US mediation efforts diverted by the outbreak of the Middle East war in February. 



WHO Says Ebola Risk High Regionally, Low Worldwide

A visitor walks at the entrance of a hospital in Rwampara on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
A visitor walks at the entrance of a hospital in Rwampara on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
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WHO Says Ebola Risk High Regionally, Low Worldwide

A visitor walks at the entrance of a hospital in Rwampara on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
A visitor walks at the entrance of a hospital in Rwampara on May 19, 2026. (AFP)

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said the risk of the Democratic Republic of Congo's deadly Ebola outbreak was currently high at the national and regional levels but low worldwide.

WHO experts said that while investigations into its origins were ongoing, given the scale of the situation in the eastern DRC, the outbreak probably began a couple of months ago.

But the UN health agency's emergency committee said it did not currently meet the pandemic emergency threshold.

"WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels, and low at the global level," said the organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in the DRC, in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, "although we know the scale of the epidemic in DRC is much larger", he told a press conference at the WHO's headquarters in Geneva.

He said Uganda had also reported two confirmed cases in the capital Kampala, including one death, while a US national working in the DRC has been confirmed positive and transferred to Germany.

"There are several factors that warrant serious concern about the potential for further spread and further deaths," said Tedros.

"Beyond the confirmed cases, there are almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths.

"We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected."

- Not a pandemic -

On Sunday, Tedros declared the situation to be a public health emergency of international concern -- the second-highest level of alarm under the legally binding International Health Regulations (IHR) -- triggering emergency responses in countries worldwide.

The WHO emergency committee convened to assess the outbreak met on Tuesday.

"The current situation and criteria for a public health emergency of international concern have been met, and we agree that the current situation does not satisfy the criteria for a pandemic emergency," the committee's chair, Lucille Blumberg, told reporters from South Africa.

Anais Legand, WHO technical officer on viral hemorrhagic fevers, said investigations were under way to pinpoint how long Ebola has been spreading in the eastern DRC.

"Given the scale, we are thinking that it has started probably a couple of months ago, but investigations are ongoing and our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspect and confirmed cases," she said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said the WHO was "a little late" in identifying a deadly outbreak.

President Donald Trump, in one of his first acts on returning to office last year, set in motion a US withdrawal from the WHO, which he attacked bitterly over its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Asked about Rubio's criticism, Tedros said that "maybe what the secretary said... could be from lack of understanding of how IHR work, and the responsibilities of WHO and other entities", he said, explaining that the agency acted in support of countries rather than replacing them in outbreak responses.


Germany Arrests Married Couple on China Spying Charges

FILED - 12 May 2026, Bavaria, Munich: A view of the construction in the Freiham development area in Munich. Photo: Malin Wunderlich/dpa
FILED - 12 May 2026, Bavaria, Munich: A view of the construction in the Freiham development area in Munich. Photo: Malin Wunderlich/dpa
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Germany Arrests Married Couple on China Spying Charges

FILED - 12 May 2026, Bavaria, Munich: A view of the construction in the Freiham development area in Munich. Photo: Malin Wunderlich/dpa
FILED - 12 May 2026, Bavaria, Munich: A view of the construction in the Freiham development area in Munich. Photo: Malin Wunderlich/dpa

German police on Wednesday arrested a married couple on charges of spying for China, accusing them of seeking information on advanced technology with military uses.

The couple, German nationals partially named as Xuejun C. and Hua S., were arrested in the southern city of Munich, said the federal prosecution service, which alleged that the pair "work for a Chinese intelligence agency.”

Their homes and workplaces in Munich were being searched, AFP reported.

The couple are alleged to have "established contacts with numerous academics at German universities and research institutions, in particular with chairs in the fields of aerospace engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence.”

To make these contacts, the couple are believed to have "posed as interpreters or as employees of an automobile manufacturer.”

Some scientists were then "enticed to travel to China under the pretext of giving paid lectures to a civilian audience,” but actually ended up addressing employees of state-owned arms manufacturers, prosecutors said.

As well as the suspects' arrests, prosecutors said that "further measures" were being carried out "concerning a total of 10 people who are not suspected of any offence but are potential witnesses" in Berlin, Munich and several other locations across the country.


Israel Takes Step Toward Snap Election as Knesset Votes to Dissolve

Knesset members at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 20 May 2026. (EPA)
Knesset members at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 20 May 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Takes Step Toward Snap Election as Knesset Votes to Dissolve

Knesset members at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 20 May 2026. (EPA)
Knesset members at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 20 May 2026. (EPA)

Israel moved closer on Wednesday to a snap election after lawmakers gave an initial nod to dissolve parliament, with opinion polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose the first national vote since the 2023 Hamas attacks.

Lawmakers voted almost unanimously for an early ballot in a preliminary reading of a bill to disband the 120-seat Knesset.

If it receives final approval, a process ‌that could ‌take weeks, Israel could hold an election several ‌weeks ⁠ahead of an ⁠October 27 deadline.

Netanyahu's own coalition submitted the bill to dissolve parliament after an ultra-Orthodox faction traditionally close to the Israeli leader accused him of failing to deliver on a promise to pass a law exempting their community from mandatory military service.

NETANYAHU BEHIND IN POLLS

Some 110 members of parliament voted in favor of ⁠the bill to dissolve, with no opponents or abstentions. ‌It now heads to committee where ‌an election date is agreed, before going back to the Knesset ‌for final approval.

The vote comes at a pivotal time ‌for Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister who leads the most right-wing government in his country's history. Israel has been at war with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran, fronts that remain volatile and could ‌have an impact on the election.

Netanyahu still faces a long-running corruption trial. Israel's President Isaac Herzog ⁠is mediating ⁠talks to broker a plea deal in the case, which could see the 76-year-old Netanyahu retiring from politics as part of the deal.

Netanyahu's health could also be an issue. He recently disclosed that he was successfully treated for prostate cancer and in 2023 he was fitted with a pacemaker.

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, polls have consistently shown Netanyahu's governing coalition falling far short of a parliamentary majority.

However, there is also a chance that opposition parties will fail to form a coalition, leaving Netanyahu at the head of an interim government until the political stalemate is broken.