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World Health Organization Director-General Tedros ⁠Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Monday that the swiftly spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda “will get worse before it gets better,” as a deadly delay in detecting infections has responders to the epidemic “playing catch-up.”“The outbreak is spreading rapidly,” Tedros said during a virtual ministerial meeting on the matter. “So far, 101 cases have been confirmed in DRC, with 10 confirmed deaths. But we know the epidemic in DRC is much larger. There are now more than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths.”“Countries bordering DRC are at especially high risk and should take immediate action,” he asserted. “In Uganda, there are five confirmed cases and one death.”Tedros pointed out that “there are several aspects of this outbreak that make it especially challenging.”“First, the delay in detecting the outbreak means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic,” he said. “We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us.”“Second, as you know, the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu are highly insecure, with intensified fighting in recent months, causing more than 100,000 people to be newly displaced,” the WHO chief continued. “There is also significant distrust of outside authorities among the local population. In the past week, there have been two security incidents at health facilities.”“WHO is fully committed to working under the leadership of the governments of DRC and Uganda, side by side with Africa [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and all other partners,” Tedros added. “We will not rest until we bring this outbreak under control.”Ebola—which typically kills between 25% and 90% of infected people, depending upon the strain of the virus and quality of available medical care—causes widespread and often catastrophic damage to the body’s blood vessels, immune system, and organs.Critics say US President Donald Trump’s ideologically driven decision to withdraw the US from the WHO, his administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and reduced funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global public health efforts have adversely affected the response to the current Ebola epidemic, compared with 2014 and 2019 outbreaks.After US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the WHO was “a little late” in identifying new Ebola infections, Tedros retorted that “we don’t replace the country’s work, we only support them,” and suggested that Rubio’s comments could be rooted in “a lack of understanding” of the agency and countries’ responsibilities.While Rubio said that “our number-one objective on Ebola, before anything else... has to be, we can’t have it affect the United States,” public health experts warn that Trump administration actions could make it more likely that the virus will make its way to the country.There is currently no confirmed CDC director, Food and Drug Administration commissioner, or surgeon general.Taking aim at Trump’s evisceration of key public health agencies and programs, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said last week: “Ebola does not wait for bureaucratic reorganizations. It spreads when surveillance systems are weakened, health workers are laid off, clinics lack protective equipment, and communities lose the trusted partners who help detect and contain outbreaks before they become public health emergencies.”“This is the perfect storm President Trump created,” she continued. “He recklessly dismantled USAID, withheld and slashed other United States assistance to the region, fired critical staff, and created global health chaos. This is not efficiency. It is dangerous neglect.”“The United States spent years building the relationships, supply chains, laboratories, and community health networks that help stop deadly diseases at their source,” DeLauro added. “The Trump administration tore into that capacity and now wants to pretend the consequences were unforeseeable.”

Vice President JD Vance has been put in a tough position and has been considering whether he wants to run for president in 2028 or give up on the move, according to a new report from The Daily Mail published on Monday.With National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard announcing her exit from the Trump administration last week, Vance could be in a more vulnerable position as his "most senior non-interventionist ally is gone." Vance, like Gabbard, had expressed skepticism and concerns about the Iran war behind closed doors, according to insiders."JD Vance, now the lone dove in Donald Trump's cabinet after Tulsi Gabbard's resignation, has been left more isolated than ever and is even considering abandoning a run for the presidency in 2028," sources told The Mail."But the whispers racing through the West Wing find common ground: Iran," The Mail reported.Vance has not confirmed or denied whether he plans to run for president in 2028. And insiders have reported that he opposed the military strikes in Iran, trying to privately urge Trump to limit attacks."Vance's isolation comes at a moment when Marco Rubio's stock inside the West Wing has never been higher, with the Secretary of State helping to plan an invasion of Cuba, while the Vice President flails in peace negotiations with Iran," according to The Mail."The Vice President's dovish brand of foreign policy has set him on a collision course with Trump, the sources say, the rift deepening as Trump embraces his wartime-leader image," The Mail reported.The president has often compared Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio — whom both have called personal and professional friends. He has even asked people who they would support to succeed him as commander-in-chief during private and public events."Rubio has more mojo than Vance. The President listens to him. Vance is out of step and has been for a long time," a White House insider told The Mail. "The source cautioned that Rubio's dominance may prove fleeting. By championing an unpopular war effort, the Secretary of State risks burning through political capital in real time and alienating both Trump's base and the wider American public," The Mail added.

Senior lawyers call on prime minister to request Indian prosecutors drop charges that would breach double jeopardy ruleFour senior lawyers, including the former attorney general Dominic Grieve, have written to Keir Starmer urging him to request that Indian prosecutors drop charges against the British national Jagtar Singh Johal on the basis that continued prosecution would be in manifest breach of the double jeopardy rule which prevents someone being tried twice for the same offence.Johal has been held in an Indian jail for eight years, and in March last year was acquitted of the terrorist charges laid against him in a court in Punjab. The court found the prosecutors had “miserably failed” to present any reliable evidence, despite having had seven years to do so. Continue reading...

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) delivered a scathing assessment of Donald Trump's Iran ceasefire Sunday, welcoming the end of the war while warning that the deal represents a humiliating capitulation to Tehran that leaves the United States weaker than when the conflict began."If this deal with Iran is real, I will welcome it because every day this insane war goes on, America gets weaker," Murphy wrote in a detailed thread on X. "But make no mistake: these are Iran's terms. Our nation emerges humiliated."Murphy laid out his case methodically. The deal, as he understands it, gives Iran billions of dollars to return to essentially the same position it was in before the war started — while reports suggest it may also codify Iran's right to control the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has remained at the centerpiece of the violent conflict."What a disaster this whole thing was," Murphy wrote.On the nuclear question — the issue Trump cited most prominently as justification for the war — Murphy was equally dismissive. The one reported concession from Iran, a promise to ship out enriched uranium, was already part of Barack Obama's 2015 nuclear deal. And by dropping sanctions now, Murphy argued, the United States has surrendered the leverage it would need to extract further concessions in future negotiations.Meanwhile, Murphy noted, Trump has failed to achieve a single one of his stated goals. Iran's ballistic missile and drone program remains intact. Its navy retains the ability to close the Strait. The hardline regime is still in power."They took our best shot and beat us," Murphy wrote. "Iran emerges more powerful."The Connecticut senator was careful to separate his opposition to the war from opposition to ending it. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, he noted, and the American economy has been badly damaged by the conflict. But he argued that silence about the incompetence that produced the war would be its own kind of failure."That doesn't mean we should be silent on how incompetent Trump is and how insane this war was from the start," Murphy wrote.

President Donald Trump confirmed Friday afternoon what set off hours of online speculation, posting to Truth Social with an Oval Office statement about a major foreign policy development.In the post, Trump said he had spoken with a long list of Arab and Muslim world leaders about a possible peace agreement involving Iran."I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia," Trump wrote, going on to name the leaders of the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. The call concerned "the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all things related to a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE."The president said the framework is close to done."An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed," Trump wrote.He added that he had spoken separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that "final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly."Trump closed with one specific detail."In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened," he wrote.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) turned heads on Saturday after openly questioning why the U.S. war against Iran "started to begin with,” despite having personally lobbied for the United States to launch it.Graham’s remarks come amid reports that President Donald Trump – who Graham notably didn’t name in his comments – is “close to a deal to end the war” with Iranian officials, according to a claim from Axios’ Barak Ravid on Saturday. The prospect of a deal appeared to trouble Graham, however, at least without first crippling Iran's military capacity beyond the point of recovery.“This combination of Iran being perceived as having the ability to terrorize the Strait in perpetuity and the ability [to] inflict massive damage to Gulf oil infrastructure is a major shift of the balance of power in the region and over time will be a nightmare for Israel,” Graham wrote in a social media post on X.“Also, it makes one wonder why the war started to begin with if these perceptions are accurate. I personally am a skeptic of the idea that Iran cannot be denied the ability to terrorize the Strait and the region cannot protect itself against Iranian military capability.”Graham was widely mocked back in January after appearing “legitimately depressed” in the wake of Trump’s decision back in January to hold off on striking Iran. In March, it was revealed that Graham had “coached” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on how to convince Trump to bomb Iran.For Graham to now question why the war he lobbied to start was launched “to begin with” caused concern among some onlookers.“Reading Senator Graham's tweets is always really exciting because you really have no idea if you're getting utterly sycophantic sane washing of POTUS, or, entirely accurate and cogent geopolitical analysis,” wrote journalist Matt Gurney in a social media post on X to his more than 52,000 followers.Journalist Chuck Todd noted how Graham was “trying so hard not to use the word ‘Trump’” in his remarks, writing in a social media post on X to his nearly 2 million followers, and political commentator Tommy Vietor offered Graham some advice.“File this one under: things you should’ve thought through before starting the war,” Vietor wrote to his nearly 540,000 followers on X.Graham has long been among the most vocal advocates for a U.S. strike on Iran, consistent with his long record of backing military action against other nations throughout his career, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela, among other nations.Reading Senator Graham's tweets is always really exciting because you really have no idea if you're getting utterly sycophantic sane washing of POTUS, or, entirely accurate and cogent geopolitical analysis. https://t.co/3w29R1Gtoq— Matt Gurney (@mattgurney) May 23, 2026

US president says it’s a ‘solid 50/50’ on either making a ‘good’ deal with Iran or striking the country anewDonald Trump said he would meet today with American negotiators to review Iran’s latest proposal and decide by Sunday whether he will strike Iran “to kingdom come”.The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also told reporters in India on Saturday that “there may be news later today” about Iran. He did not specify what that news would be. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump's brag on Friday at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, left the internet questioning his comments.Trump was in Rockland County, New York — the first time a president has visited the town since Gerald Ford in 1976. He was there to deliver a midterm message on the economy and throw support behind Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who is up for re-election in the fall, according to The Associated Press. The speech took several turns and strayed off topic, with Trump at one point telling his supporters: "You'll never hear me call myself stupid. I’m the smartest guy you’re ever going to meet. In fact I took the cognitive test. I'm the only one."The internet couldn't help but comment after the remark."Only the smartest guy loses the Strait of Hormuz for the entire world," literary agent Mitch Solomon wrote on Bluesky."You know who doesn't talk about how brilliant they are? Smart people," Peter Hopey, former columnist for The Bleacher Report, wrote on X."Not the cognitive test, again. We might get dinner with his friend, Hannibal Lecter in this speech," user Mason, a frequent political commentator and Iraq war veteran, wrote on X."What a complete embarrassment," author and graphic designer Donald Capone wrote on Threads.Trump: "I am the smartest guy you're ever gonna meet. In fact I took the cogni-titive test. I'm the only one."[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 22, 2026 at 1:24 PM