Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Contributor/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday ahead of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Putin was welcomed by Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, upon landing late Tuesday local time at an airport in Beijing.
On Wednesday, talks between Putin and Xi are set to occur at the Grand Hall of the People, followed by a formal reception, according to the Kremlin.
The two leaders “will discuss China-Russia relations, cooperation in various fields and international and regional issues of mutual interest,” the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The state visit marks Putin’s 25th trip to China, according to the spokesperson.
The two discussed the U.S. war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, fentanyl and increasing Chinese purchases of American farm products, according to a White House official.
Xi also warned that if the issue of Taiwan is handled “improperly,” the two nations could “come into conflict,” according to China’s official state broadcaster Xinhua.
his photo taken on May 17, 2026 shows an exterior view of a hospital that has been designated as an Ebola treatment center in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC. TO GO WITH “Update: DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to rebel-held city, Rwanda closing down border” (Photo by Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — At least 513 suspected cases and 131 suspected deaths have been recorded in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, officials said Tuesday.
Congolese Minister of Public Health Samuel Roger Kamba said during a press briefing in French that authorities will determine which of these deaths “are actually linked to the disease.”
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during the United Nation agency’s annual World Health Assembly in Geneva on Tuesday, recalled how he declared Congo’s current Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, saying it was the first time a WHO chief had done so before convening an emergency committee.
“I did not do this lightly,” Tedros said. “I did it in accordance with Article 12 of the International Health Regulations, after consulting the ministers of health of both countries, and because I am deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic. We will convene the Emergency Committee today to advise us on temporary recommendations.”
At least 30 cases of Ebola virus disease have been confirmed in the ongoing outbreak in Congo, from the northeastern province of Ituri. In addition, there are more than 500 suspected cases and over 130 suspected deaths, according to Tedros.
Cases have been reported in urban areas, including one of Congo’s largest cities, Goma, the rebel-held capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, Tedros said.
Uganda has also confirmed two cases in its capital Kampala, including one death, among two individuals who traveled from neighboring Congo, according to Tedros.
This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics, Tedros said.
On Tuesday, Dr. Anne Ancia, WHO’s representative in the DRC, said more than 40 experts were deployed to the field on Sunday and the WHO has sent 12 tons of supplies, with six more tons coming.
Supplies include personal protective equipment for front line healthcare workers, laboratory samples, tents, drugs and other treatments.
“What I see here in the field is extremely vulnerable people, a [fragile] population,” Ancia said. “But I see also people working together while facing great uncertainty as to the [scale] or the extent of this outbreak.”
She said the surveillance capacity is limited in the affected region, which could be why the outbreak is spreading rapidly.
“We really need to go fast to really try to stop the spread of the disease further,” she said. “We don’t understand yet the extent of the spread of the disease.”
According to The Associated Press, more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have occurred in Congo and Uganda, but this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
An American doctor working in the DRC is among those who has tested positive for Ebola amid the outbreak, according to an international Christian missions organization.
Dr. Peter Stafford, a medical missionary with the missions organization Serge, was exposed while treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital, the group said Monday.
He sought testing “after presenting symptoms consistent with the virus,” Serge said in a statement.
Dr. Satish K. Pillai, incident manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Ebola response, said the agency had activated its Emergency Operations Center through its country offices in the DRC and in Uganda, and is deploying technical experts that have been requested from Atlanta headquarters.
Pillai added that the risk to the U.S. general public remains low.
The CDC said earlier Monday that it is preparing to restrict entry for travelers arriving from parts of central Africa where an Ebola outbreak has been declared, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
On Sunday, the CDC said in a statement that a “small number of Americans” were directly affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told ABC News on Monday that his agency is “working on” the Ebola outbreak.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud, Eric M. Strauss and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
Burrowing sea anemone from the San Julian Peninsula in Argentina. (The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census/Agustín Garese)
(NEW YORK) — Marine scientists have discovered a record number of new species living in the depths of the world’s oceans over the past year.
A total of 1,121 new marine species were discovered in a single year, marking a “significant step” in the research needed to understand and protect the oceans, according to the scientists behind The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, the world’s largest mission to accelerate ocean species discovery.
The whopping number of discoveries marks a 54% jump in identifications in a single year, the researchers said.
Among the new species discovered include corals, crabs, shrimps, sea urchins and anemones — some found living at depths of more than four miles beneath the ocean surface.
The “Ghost Shark” Chimaera, a distant relative of sharks and rays, was discovered in the Coral Sea Marine Park off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Chimaeras are among the most mysterious inhabitants of the deep ocean, the researchers said. They predate dinosaurs and diverged from rays and sharks into their own distinct evolutionary lineage nearly 400 million years ago.
Symbiotic bristle worms were found living within a “glass castle” on volcanic seamounts in Japan. The “castle” is actually intricate chambers of a glass sponge, whose skeleton is made of crystalline silica.
The ribbon worm, a predator marked by striking pigmentation, was discovered close to the surface, between depths of 3 and 16 feet.
A striking new species of shrimp — the Mediterranean shrimp — was also found in a sea cave off Marseille, France, the researchers said. It is marked by a vivid orange banding and intricate appendages.
The species were identified amid 13 expeditions across some of the world’s most remote and least-explored ocean regions, as well as nine discovery workshops, the researchers said.
“This year, Ocean Census has shown what is possible when scientific ambition is matched by global collaboration at scale,” Mitsuyuku Unno, executive director of the Nippon Foundation, said in a statement. “Through expeditions reaching polar depths to tropical seas, and the science to turn samples into discoveries, this team is revealing the extraordinary richness of ocean life.”
Up to 90% of ocean species remain undiscovered, previous research has suggested.
Documenting the breadth of species living in the oceans is necessary for policymakers and marine managers to properly protect the ocean, the researchers said.
The average time between a species’ initial discovery and its formal “description” in scientific literature is historically about 13.5 years, which puts species at risk of extinction before they are even catalogued, the researchers said.
“With many species at risk of disappearing before they are even documented, we are in a race against time to understand and protect ocean life,” Michelle Taylor, head of science at Ocean Census, said in a statement. “For too long, thousands of species have remained in a scientific “limbo” because the pace of discovery couldn’t keep up.”
To address this, marine scientists are now recognizing “discovered” as a formal scientific status that can immediately be recorded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Contributor/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Beijing this week for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Putin is scheduled to be welcomed at the airport upon landing in Beijing on Tuesday, according to the Kremlin, which said he will be greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Then on Wednesday, talks between Putin and Xi are set to occur at the Grand Hall of the People, followed by a formal reception, according to the Kremlin.
The two leaders “will discuss China-Russia relations, cooperation in various fields and international and regional issues of mutual interest,” the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The state visit marks Putin’s 25th trip to China, according to the spokesperson.
The two discussed the U.S. war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, fentanyl and increasing Chinese purchases of American farm products, according to a White House official.
Xi also warned that if the issue of Taiwan is handled “improperly,” the two nations could “come into conflict,” according to China’s official state broadcaster Xinhua.
Healthcare workers receive training on administering the Ebola vaccine in a study carried out with the support of the World Health Organization as part of the fight against the Ebola virus in Kampala, Uganda on February 14, 2025. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Monday that at least one American working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for Ebola.
Dr. Satish K. Pillai, incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response, told reporters that the individual developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday.
Pillai added that the patient and six other high-risk contacts are being moved to Germany for care and stressed that the risk to the U.S. general public remains low.
“Given the previous experience for caring for Ebola patients, coupled with the flight times being significantly shorter, this allows us to get these persons to points of care quickly,” Pillai said.
Pillai said the CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center through its country offices in the DRC and in Uganda, and is deploying technical experts that have been requested from Atlanta headquarters.
The CDC said earlier Monday that it is preparing to restrict entry for travelers arriving from parts of central Africa where an Ebola outbreak has been declared, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
Non-U.S. passport holders will face entry restrictions if they have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.
The move is being carried out under Title 42 of the Public Health Services Act, which allows the CDC director to suspend entry of individuals into the U.S. to protect public health.
The order will be in effect for 30 days and does not apply to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
The CDC said it is also coordinating with airlines, international partners and port-of-entry officials to identify and manage travelers with possible Ebola exposure as well as enhancing measures like contact tracing, laboratory testing capacity and hospital readiness nationwide.
On Sunday, the CDC said in a statement that a “small number of Americans” are directly affected by an Ebola outbreak occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The CDC is working with other U.S. agencies to coordinate the safe withdrawal of the Americans,” the CDC said. The agency did not confirm the number of people affected, the type of exposure or whether any individuals had experienced symptoms.
“We don’t discuss or comment on individual dispositions,” Pillai said Sunday. “It is a highly dynamic situation, and at this point, what I would say is, we continue to assess, we will continue to keep you posted as we learn more.”
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said in a statement that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda constituted a “public health emergency of international concern.”
As of Sunday, there were 10 confirmed Ebola cases and 336 suspected cases in the DRC. There had been 88 suspected deaths in the DRC, as well as two confirmed cases and one confirmed death in Uganda from people who had traveled to the DRC.
Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person and does not spread through casual contact or air.
“CDC has extensive experience and expertise in responding to Ebola outbreaks,” CDC acting director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said on a call with reporters on Friday. “It is a large outbreak, and we were just informed yesterday about it.”
He added, “We’re absolutely committed to making sure that they can get resources as they need. We have helped with other Ebola outbreaks in the past … we have lots of hard-earned lessons. The key thing here is to know that we are absolutely involved.”
This is the DRC’s 17th outbreak of Ebola since the disease emerged in the 1970s, according to the WHO.
This strain of Ebola is caused by Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no therapeutics or vaccines, the WHO said.
The WHO has declared international public health emergencies over previous Ebola outbreaks as well as COVID-19 and mpox.
Healthcare workers receive training on administering the Ebola vaccine in a study carried out with the support of the World Health Organization as part of the fight against the Ebola virus in Kampala, Uganda on February 14, 2025. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement on Sunday that a “small number of Americans” are directly affected by an Ebola outbreak occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The CDC is working with other U.S. agencies to coordinate the safe withdrawal of the Americans,” the CDC said in its statement. The agency did not confirm the number of people affected, the type of exposure or whether any individuals had experienced symptoms.
“We don’t discuss or comment on individual dispositions,” Dr. Satish Pillai, the CDC’s incident manager for Ebola, said during a press briefing on Sunday. “It is a highly dynamic situation, and at this point, what I would say is, we continue to assess, we will continue to keep you posted as we learn more.”
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said in a statement that the ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda constituted a “public health emergency of international concern.”
As of Sunday, the CDC said there were 10 confirmed Ebola cases and 336 suspected cases in the DRC. There had been 88 suspected deaths in the DRC, as well as two confirmed cases and one confirmed death in Uganda from people who had traveled to the DRC.
The CDC said that the risk to the American public remains low. Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person and does not spread through casual contact or air.
“CDC has extensive experience and expertise in responding to Ebola outbreaks,” CDC acting Director Jay Bhattacharya said on a call with reporters on Friday. “It is a large outbreak, and we were just informed yesterday about it.”
He added, “We’re absolutely committed to making sure that they can get resources as they need. We have helped with other Ebola outbreaks in the past … We have lots of hard-earned lessons. The key thing here is to know that we are absolutely involved.”
It is the DRC’s 17th outbreak of Ebola since the disease emerged in the 1970s, according to the WHO.
This strain of Ebola is caused by Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no therapeutics or vaccines, the WHO said.
The WHO has declared international public health emergencies over previous Ebola outbreaks as well as COVID-19 and mpox.
Boat off the Dhigurah island coastline with its long white sand beach lined with palm trees in the Maldives (@Didier Marti/Getty Images)
(MALDIVES) Five Italian nationals, including a mother and her daughter, died while scuba diving in a deep underwater cave in the Maldives, according to Italian and Maldivian officials, as a risky search effort attempts to recover the remaining missing divers.
The body of one of the divers has since been recovered in a cave about 200 feet deep, authorities said. The remaining four divers are believed to be inside the 200-foot-long cave, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.
Additional divers and special equipment were being sent to the area Friday for the “very dangerous, high-risk operation,” it said. The search was suspended Friday due to bad weather and the recovery operation is expected to resume on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
Maldivian presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef extended his “deepest condolences” to the people of Italy following the “tragic diving incident” in a statement on Friday. He said the search for the four remaining divers “remains our highest priority.”
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the five Italian nationals died in a scuba diving accident. They were reported to have died “while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 meters,” it said.
“The reconstruction of the incident is still underway by the Maldivian authorities,” the ministry said.
The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the University of Genoa (UniGe) identified the deceased divers as Monica Montefalcone, a marine scientist and associate professor at UniGe; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe biomedical engineering student; Muriel Oddenino, a UniGe research fellow; and marine biologist Federico Gualtieril, a recent UniGe graduate in marine biology and ecology.
The institute also identified one of the victims as diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
Montefalcone had won multiple awards for her work to study and protect the marine environment, the institute said.
The Italian ambassador from the embassy in Colombo arrived in the Maldives on Friday to meet with Maldives National Defence Force Coast Guard officials, the ministry said.
The Italian Embassy in Colombo is in contact with the victims’ families and is providing assistance to 20 other Italian nationals aboard the Duke of Yoke who participated in the expedition, the ministry said.
“The vessel is awaiting an improvement in weather conditions in order to return to Malé,” the ministry said Friday.
The aftermath of Russia’s large-scale combined strike on the morning of May 14, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Danylo Dubchak/Frontliner/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russian drone and missiles strikes killed at least seven people and left around 20 people missing, possibly trapped under rubble, amid 24 hours of intense attacks on the Ukrainian capital and other areas around the country, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram on Thursday that Russia launched 675 drones and 56 missiles into the country overnight, of which 652 drones and 41 missiles were intercepted or suppressed.
Fifteen missiles and 23 drones impacted across 24 locations, the air force said, while falling debris was reported in 18 locations. The Russian attack was still ongoing as of Thursday morning, the air force warned.
The overnight barrage followed an intense day of strikes on Wednesday, during which time the air force reported 892 Russian drones launched into the country, of which 821 failed to reach their targets.
In total, Ukraine’s air force reported at least 1,623 Russian munitions launched into the country through Wednesday and Thursday. Ukrainian officials said that at least 16 people had been killed and more than 100 injured across two days of Russian attacks.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Thursday that responders were digging through the rubble of a partially-collapsed nine-story apartment building in Kyiv’s southeastern Darnytsia district, searching for missing people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that at least 20 buildings were damaged in Kyiv, including a school. “There will be a just response to all these attacks. And we need to put pressure on Moscow so that they feel the consequences of their terror there,” he wrote.
“It’s important that there be worldwide sanctions against Russia. Russia’s responsibility for the war and our sanctions pressure should work at full capacity. And it’s also very important that the world not remain silent about this terror and stand with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged foreign leaders — including President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping — to condemn the latest strikes.
“This barbaric attack during such an important summit shows that the Russian regime poses a global threat to international security. Instead of peace and development, Moscow pursues aggression and terror,” he wrote in a post to X, referring to Trump’s ongoing visit to Beijing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sybiha wrote, “wants this war to continue in order to prolong his control and rule over Russia. There should be no illusions or wishful thinking: only pressure on Moscow can force him to stop.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the interception of 36 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday. The ministry claimed to have downed 431 Ukrainian drones during the course of Wednesday.
Both Russia and Ukraine have expanded their long-range attacks exponentially over the past year, with the ongoing frontline combat grinding into a near-stalemate with little apparent hope for either side to achieve significant breakthroughs.
April saw Russia launch the most attacks of any month of the war to date, according to Ukrainian air force data. Kyiv reported facing 6,663 Russian drones and 141 missiles during the course of the month.
Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks reached a high point in March, according to data published by the Russian Defense Ministry. In that month, Moscow said its forces downed at least 7,347 Ukrainian drones.
ABC News cannot independently verify the data released by either Russia or Ukraine. It is possible that both sides may seek to exaggerate the effectiveness of their air defenses, or to amplify the attacks against them as proof that their enemies are not interested in pursuing a peace deal, experts have suggested.
Neither side provides detailed data on the scale of their own attacks or their targets, though often release statements describing the targets as military, energy or industrial sites. Both sides accuse the other of intentionally attacking civilian targets.
Ukraine’s air force publishes what it says is a daily tally of Russian drone and missile strikes, including information as to how many munitions were intercepted and how many penetrated air defenses.
Moscow, meanwhile, publishes only the number of Ukrainian drones and other projectiles it claims to have intercepted.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
French police officers stand in front of the Louvre Museum after a robbery in Paris, France, on October 19, 2025. Robbers break into the Louvre and flee with jewelry on the morning of October 19, 2025. (Photo by Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(PARIS) — A man was arrested in France for allegedly planning a terror attack that may have sought to target the Louvre Museum in Paris, according to the French Interior Ministry and prosecutors in Paris.
Officials told ABC News the investigation began after the suspect was stopped by police in Paris on April 28, where he was allegedly driving with a forged license. Officials said the man’s phone was accessed after that traffic stop.
The Interior Ministry said the attack that was allegedly being planned would probably have targeted the museum, which is the world’s most-visited, but said the man was arrested before details of the attack had been fully formulated.
Police said the suspect also was planning an attack specifically targeting members of the Jewish community in Paris, the ministry said.
The man, a 27-year-old Tunisian national, was arrested on May 7 and was in pre-trial detention, officials said. ABC News has reached out to the man’s lawyer for comment.
An investigation was opened on Monday “on the grounds of terrorist association with the goal to commit crimes against individuals,” according to the French Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office.
Investigators accessed the suspect’s phone, officials said, and found jihadist propaganda videos, hundreds of images of firearms and knives, ISIS-related imagery used on social media and encrypted communications with overseas contacts, who are believed to be potentially linked to extremist networks.
The suspect, according to what was found on his devices, discussed knowledge of access routes into the Louvre, possible placement of explosives inside the museum and production of ricin toxin, officials said.
The man who was arrested arrived in Europe via Lampedusa, Italy, in 2022 and was residing in the Paris region without residency status, officials told ABC News.
Investigators reported to prosecutors that the suspect denied any intent to commit a crime during questioning, claiming his activities were driven by “curiosity” about ISIS ideology.
British Prime Minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer speaks to members of the media following local elections at Kingsdown Methodist Church on May 08, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with his Cabinet on Tuesday amid pressure from scores of his own Labour Party lawmakers to resign, following the party’s poor performance in last week’s local elections in which it came in second to the right-wing populist Reform Party.
Starmer met with his Cabinet at the prime minister’s Downing Street residence in London, with BBC News reporting that the prime minister said during the meeting that he refused to step aside.
The turmoil comes ahead of the King’s Speech and official opening of Parliament on Wednesday, an annual ceremonial event, during which King Charles III will set out the incumbent Labour government’s legislative agenda for the coming term.
Scores of Labour members of parliament have written to Starmer asking him to step down following last week’s local elections — as of Tuesday morning, the number was reportedly more than 81 — representing about 20% of the party’s members of the House of Commons.
But those lawmakers have not publicly backed a single potential leadership challenger, which is required to trigger a leadership contest. Starmer has said he will stand again in the event of a new leadership contest.
On Tuesday, Miatta Fahnbulleh — the minister for devolution, faith and communities — became the first government minister to resign in protest of Starmer’s continued leadership. “I urge the Prime Minister to do the right thing for the country and the Party and set a timetable for an orderly transition,” she wrote in a post to X.
Starmer has long said he intends to see out his full five-year term, which began with his party’s 2024 landslide election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative Party government and delivered Labour a historic majority in the House of Commons.
When he came to office, Starmer promised a departure from the policies of his five consecutive Conservative predecessors. But frustration with the pace and scale of reform has grown among some factions of the party during his first two years in power.
In last week’s elections, voters in England chose the leaders of their local councils and — in some cases — mayors. In Scotland and Wales, voters selected members of their devolved national parliaments.
The results were widely interpreted as a repudiation of Labour’s performance to date by British voters. The elections saw Labour lose 1,498 councillors in England and lose control of both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, prompting immediate demands for change in Downing Street.
Labour held 1,068 councillors but were leapfrogged by the populist, anti-immigration and right-wing Reform Party — led by Nigel Farage — which emerged with 1,452 councillors, the most of any party.
On Monday, Starmer said during a speech, “I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics and some people are frustrated with me. I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will.”
“We are not just facing dangerous times, but dangerous opponents, very dangerous opponents,” he said, framing Labour as the only was to prevent the country heading down a “very dark path.”
Defense Minister John Healey was among those who publicly backed the prime minister on Tuesday.
“People are worried about current conflicts and looming global crises. They expect their government to lead the country through, as the PM is doing,” he wrote on X.
“More instability is not in Britain’s interest. Our full focus now must be on dealing with immediate economic & security challenges,” Healey added.
