Deadly Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DR Congo

A health worker puts on Ebola protection gear before entering the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at the ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) Ebola treatment centre in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 31, 2019. Picture taken March 31, 2019. REUTERS
A health worker puts on Ebola protection gear before entering the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at the ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) Ebola treatment centre in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 31, 2019. Picture taken March 31, 2019. REUTERS
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Deadly Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DR Congo

A health worker puts on Ebola protection gear before entering the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at the ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) Ebola treatment centre in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 31, 2019. Picture taken March 31, 2019. REUTERS
A health worker puts on Ebola protection gear before entering the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at the ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) Ebola treatment centre in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 31, 2019. Picture taken March 31, 2019. REUTERS

A deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, African health authorities said Friday.

Some 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported and "four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases," the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) said in a statement on social media.

"Ebola Virus Disease outbreak confirmed in Ituri Province," the pan-African health agency said.

"Africa CDC is closely monitoring the situation and convening an urgent high-level coordination meeting today with the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and global partners to reinforce cross-border surveillance, preparedness and outbreak response efforts," it said.

First identified in 1976 and thought to have crossed over from bats, Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure, said AFP.

The highly contagious hemorrhagic fever has killed some 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC, between 2018 and 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people.



Australia Prosecutes Woman Accused of Enslaving Yazidi Teen in Syria

Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
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Australia Prosecutes Woman Accused of Enslaving Yazidi Teen in Syria

Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)
Syrian government security forces in front of the al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province in January 2026 (EPA)

A woman accused of enslaving a Yazidi teenager in Syria would agree to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and undergo religious counseling if she were freed on bail, her lawyer told a court Friday.

Zeinab Ahmad, 31, continued an application for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on two slavery charges. Her application was heard on Thursday and Friday.

It will continue on June 15 when her lawyer Grace Morgan has called a police witness to testify, according to The Associated Press.

The mother of three would live with her daughter in the Melbourne home of her uncle Abraham Abbas. The mechanic told the court he hated ISIS.

A Yazidi woman has alleged she was enslaved in the Ahmad family home in 2017 and 2018 in the then-ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria.

She also alleged she was raped and beaten by the defendants’ husband and father Mohammed Ahmad, who in currently held in an Iraqi prison.

This came while a district court in The Hague on Friday convicted a 49-year-old Dutch woman of war crimes and sentenced her to seven years in prison for allowing her then 14-year-old son to become a fighter for ISIS, according to Reuters.

The woman, identified only as Ayada K, was convicted of the ⁠war crime of aiding and abetting the recruitment of a child soldier by allowing a minor to take up arms for ISIS, the court said in a press release.

She was also convicted of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and endangering her minor children.

The woman took her teenage son and daughter from the ⁠Netherlands to live in ISIS-held territory in Syria in 2014. Judges say she then let her son join ISIS military police at 14.

He ⁠died two years later while serving in an ISIS military unit, according to the verdict.

During the trial K invoked ⁠her right to remain silent. After the fall of ISIS in 2019 she remained in ⁠Syria until she was repatriated in 2024 with her remaining children and arrested on arrival.


US Military Strikes Iranian Coastal Surveillance Radar as Iran Attempts to Attack Kuwait, Bahrain

A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet takes off from a base in the Middle East last January (US Military)
A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet takes off from a base in the Middle East last January (US Military)
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US Military Strikes Iranian Coastal Surveillance Radar as Iran Attempts to Attack Kuwait, Bahrain

A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet takes off from a base in the Middle East last January (US Military)
A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet takes off from a base in the Middle East last January (US Military)

The US military said it shot down Iranian ballistic missiles and drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf states on Friday, while striking some of Iran’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response.

US Central Command said on social media Friday night that Iran fired seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, with US forces intercepting six of the missiles and a seventh failing to reach its target. The military said there were no reports of harm to US personnel.

The ballistic missiles were fired after the US earlier in the day shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward Strait of Hormuz.

“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” US Central Command said on social media.

Kuwaiti’s military said forces were intercepting missiles and drones attacking the country, while Bahrain activated air raid sirens and told residents to move to the nearest safe location and follow official instructions.

The US military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s chokehold on the crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments.

US Central Command said it hit the radar sites, including an island in the strait, “to defend against further attacks.”

It was the latest in back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and efforts to reach a deal to extend that truce.

Despite the attacks raising new concerns that the ceasefire could collapse, US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that “the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well.”

“We’re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it’s going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it’s a piece of paper or the very tough way,” Trump said at an event with farmers in Wisconsin. “The very tough way is maybe the easier way, but we’re going to come out, and your fertilizer prices are going to go way down, just like they were four months ago.”


US Issues New Iran-Linked Sanctions

US Treasury Department (Reuters)
US Treasury Department (Reuters)
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US Issues New Iran-Linked Sanctions

US Treasury Department (Reuters)
US Treasury Department (Reuters)

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a network allegedly exporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) from Iran to South and Eastern Asia, the Treasury said.

The network used front companies in the United Arab Emirates and China and a "shadow fleet" of vessels, according to a Treasury statement.

The system, designed to evade existing US sanctions, moved LPG worth hundreds of millions of dollars, it added, according to AFP.

The United States has tightened sanctions on Iran since it jointly launched its war on the country with Israel in late February.

In addition, Washington on Friday also sanctioned an Iranian currency exchange house and individuals associated with it for allegedly helping Iran facilitate billions in financial transactions.

"These sanctions are part of the Administration's Economic Fury campaign, which maintains maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and disrupts its ability to generate revenue for weapons development, support for terrorist proxies, and regional aggression," said US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.