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UN health chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) yesterday, where authorities are struggling to contain the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak.Uganda confirmed two new cases but, in some rare good news, a patient in the DR Congo was confirmed to have recovered – a first since the outbreak was detected in mid-May.World Health Organisation (WHO) head Tedros, who arrived in Kinshasa late on Thursday, had been due to travel yesterday to Ituri, the remote northeastern province at the epicentre of the country's 17th outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, but the trip has been pushed back by a day.There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.However, the true reach of the outbreak, which is thought to have been circulating before it was detected, is likely to be much wider, the WHO has warned. The DR Congo, impoverished and wracked by three decades of conflict in the east, has limited capacity to conduct laboratory tests to confirm cases.The virus is already present in three provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.Uganda's health ministry said yesterday that two new cases were detected in Congolese nationals.One had been isolated with Ebola symptoms, while the other was a contact of a previously confirmed case. ‘All contacts of this new confirmed case have been identified and are under close follow up,’ the ministry said.Uganda closed its border with the DR Congo this week and ordered a 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from that country.’That thing can be stopped,’ Tedros said of the Ebola outbreak on his arrival on Thursday after assuring the Congolese people in a message on X: ‘I want you to know that you are not alone.’Yesterday the WHO announced that a patient had recovered on Wednesday, left hospital and was discharged into the community after two negative tests.The WHO's Anais Legand told reporters in Geneva that it marked the ‘first’ among patients who had been confirmed Ebola carriers in the current outbreak.The WHO said that testing capacity is being improved and that it was hopeful that most of the backlog of test samples from suspected cases will be processed in the coming days.The number of suspected cases is likely to go up, Legand said, but added it was a sign that surveillance is working.’As for whether the peak has passed, investigations are still ongoing. I don’t think we can say that at this stage,’ she said. Ebola, which is passed on through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.The deadliest outbreak in the DR Congo claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said on Thursday that 105 people were in treatment centres.’We need to put the alarmist outcries into perspective,’ he told reporters in Bunia, the Ituri provincial capital.’We're not in the situation that people think we are in internationally,’ he said, adding: ‘We cannot be told that the epidemic is out of control.’State services are largely lacking in Ituri province, where access is hindered by insecurity due to the presence of Islamic State-affiliated ADF militants and other militias that regularly kill civilians.The nearby North and South Kivu and South Kivu provinces, that have also seen Ebola cases in the outbreak, have been plagued by near continuous violence for three decades.Swathes of the regions are controlled by the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 which has been battling government forces.Millions of people have fled the fighting and are living in displacement camps with poor hygiene conditions.Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri province, where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the camps has sparked alarm.’If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines,’ Dorcas Mapenzi said at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia.Deborah Nzale, a widow and head of her family, lives with nine people in a small tarpaulin shelter of barely 2sq m (32sq feet).’We sleep piled on top of each other, with everyone's sweat,’ Nzale said. ‘If a single person gets infected here in this camp, everyone will die.’No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.However, the head of the Africa CDC said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year.The WHO said says its advisory groups had recommended clinical trials for vaccines and treatments that could be useful against the Bundibugyo strain. Source link
The proportion of vessels not linked to Iranian ownership that are transiting the key Strait of Hormuz has risen, according to data from maritime firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence shared on Thursday.This despite Iran blockading the waterway since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, preventing a large share of Gulf countries’ hydrocarbon exports, in turn harming the global economy.”The last week we saw ships flagged with Singapore, UAE, (Republic of) Korea, and also a Norway flagged-vessel going through the Gulf, specifically exiting,” said Bridget Diakun, an analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence.Crossings by very large crude carriers not tied to Iran appear in particular to be picking up again.Of the 27 recorded by analytics firm Kpler since the start of the conflict, more than half took place in May.Five of these huge oil tankers meanwhile left the Gulf through the strait between May 20 and May 26.Three of them – the Eagle Veracruz sailing under the Singaporean flag, as well as the Eagle Verona and the Yuan Gui Yang each flying the Chinese flag – have declared China as their destination.Another ship, the Universal Winner, is heading to Korea, whose flag it flies, while the Nissos Keros, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, is headed for India.China, Korea, India and Japan have co-ordinated with the Iranian government to ensure safe passage, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.On May 18, Iran formalised the creation of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) to manage navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and collect transit fees.The United States strongly opposes the new body, with the US Treasury on Wednesday announcing sanctions against the PGSA, while threatening similar action against anyone paying the fees.Such retaliation risks reducing the number of ships exiting the strait in co-ordination with Iran.Adding to the uncertainty, Iranian forces have fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday. Source link
China’s Major General Meng Xiangqing of the National Defence University, the head of the Chinese delegation, attends the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore yesterday. (AFP)…
US President Donald Trump said he was making his final decision on a potential deal with Iran on Friday, as Tehran insisted any agreement on ending the Middle East war hinged on Washington dropping its “excessive demands”. Iran’s top negotiator had said earlier Tehran would only trust Washington’s actions, not its words, after US Vice President JD Vance said progress had been made on a deal to extend a ceasefire and provide a framework for peace talks. US sources told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.”I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes. He said Tehran would remove mines in the strait, the US would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, though he did not clarify whether the points had already been agreed or were part of the deal under consideration. Related Story Source link
US Vice President JD Vance said that Washington has not yet reached an agreement with Iran, but indicated that the two sides are close to achieving one. Speaking to reporters today, he added that the United States is in a position to significantly hinder Tehran’s nuclear program, noting that there are still some sticking points in the talks with Tehran regarding its stockpile of enriched uranium and the issue of enrichment. Vance continued, “It’s difficult to say when the president will sign the memorandum of understanding, or even if he will sign it at all. We are still negotiating some of the wording.” He concluded, “I cannot guarantee that an agreement will be reached, but I am currently very optimistic about it.” Sources had revealed to American media that the United States and Iran reached a preliminary agreement on Thursday to extend the ceasefire and lift restrictions on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and that the agreement was awaiting the approval of US President Donald Trump. Source link
Canada is pushing more of its aluminium towards Europe to make the most of higher premiums on offer, after its neighbour the United States imposed a 50% tariff on the metal last year. A loss of Middle East volumes due to the Iran war has hit Europe hardest and intensified competition with the US for low-carbon supply, driving prices to extreme levels, with policy and prices determining where scarce aluminium is shipped, analysts, traders and aluminium industry sources said.Disruption in the Middle East, which accounts for 9% of global aluminium smelting capacity, has upended trade flows far beyond the Gulf, industry sources told Reuters. An ensuing tug-of-war is playing out in regional physical market premiums US and European buyers pay above the London Metal Exchange benchmark for aluminium, which is used in everything from cars and cans to building materials.’We are in a situation where the Europeans and the Americans are competing for limited aluminium units,’ said Bank of America analyst Michael Widmer. Duty-paid aluminium premiums in Europe have surged 73% since the start of the Iran war to a record $621 a metric tonne earlier this month, while the US Midwest premium last week hit an all-time high of $1.16 per lb, or $2,557 a tonne.Gregory Wittbecker, president at Wittsend Commodity Advisors, estimates the US Midwest premium needs to rise to at least $1.20 a lb or $2,645 a tonne for Canadian producers to divert supply back from Europe. With LME prices around $3,670 a tonne, US consumers are paying $6,200 a tonne for their aluminium while in Europe the cost has jumped to $4,300 a tonne. ‘The European premium is an incentive for Canadians to push metal east,’ said Wittbecker.The US was traditionally the default destination for aluminium from Canada, which exported a total of nearly 2.6mn tonnes of unwrought aluminium metal and alloys last year, Trade Data Monitor figures showed. But after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports, Canadian producers began to divert metal to Europe.TDM data shows Canadian aluminium accounted for 54% of US imports in the first quarter of this year, down from 63% in the same period last year and 75% in the first three months of 2024.One reason for this is the so-called netback to producers, which refers to how much profit is actually made after deducting transport, tariffs and other costs from the selling price. ‘When comparing US and EU prices from an export perspective one has to shave off the portion going to the U.S. Treasury in tariffs to get to comparable netbacks,’ Jean Simard, president of the Aluminium Association of Canada, told Reuters.’This is why the EU option remains attractive to Canada, adding pressure on the US market,’ Simard added.Canadian aluminium exports to the European Union ranged between 6% and 40% of the monthly totals between April 2025 and March 2026, compared with near zero in the first quarter of last year, TDM data showed. Data for Canada's April aluminium exports is not yet available, but industry sources expect it to confirm the trend of rising exports to Europe and falling shipments to the US.EUROPE'S ALUMINIUM DEFICITBank of America's Widmer estimates Europe faces a 5.6mn-tonne aluminium deficit in 2026, versus a global shortfall of 2.2mn tonnes and a 3.8mn-tonne US deficit. Last year, Europe imported around 1.3mn tonnes or 21% of its primary and alloyed aluminium from the Middle East, TDM data shows, and its loss comes in addition to the phasing out of Russian aluminium by the EU and the mothballing of South32's Mozal smelter in Mozambique.Even before the Iran war began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, Canadian shipments to Europe jumped 276% from 2024 levels to more than 590,000 tons last year, while deliveries to the U.S. fell 25% to around 2mn tonnes, TDM data shows. Source link
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi take part in a joint press conference at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in…
Jo Yong-won, chairman of the Standing Committee of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly meets Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in Pyongyang. (Reuters) North Korea does not seem keen to engage with the US, Republic of Korea or Japan and is focused on building up its self-reliance and military deterrence, Singapore’s foreign minister said following a trip to the reclusive state.According to a transcript shared by the foreign ministry, Vivian Balakrishnan spoke to Singaporean media yesterday after a visit to both Koreas respectively on May 26 and 27. His last trip to North Korea was in 2018.”What’s clear is that they’re certainly in a closer relationship now with Russia. China remains indispensable to it, but they are not yet ready to open up significant channels of communication with the US or with ROK and Japan at this point in time,” he added.US President Donald Trump and Republic of Korea President Lee Jae-myung have repeatedly expressed interest in holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Pyongyang’s ties with Moscow deepened in recent years after North Korea sent thousands of troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk. Beijing has also been working to draw Pyongyang back into its orbit, with passenger train services and flights between the two neighbours resuming in past months.Balakrishnan also mentioned North Korea’s “outright, categorical rejection of reunification” with Republic of Korea — a shift from his last trip to the nation — and noted how Pyongyang, the capital, has developed despite the country’s deepening isolation.”It’s a city which would fit in with any modern city throughout Southeast Asia, or even Northeast Asia, for that matter,” he said.North Korea has revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering Republic of Korea and remove references to reunification, according to a draft of the text reviewed by Reuters this month, codifying leader Kim Jong-un’s push to treat the two Koreas as separate states.Yesterday, Republic of Korea’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Cho Hyun asked Balakrishnan for Singapore and Asean’s support for efforts to reopen dialogue with North Korea.Balakrishnan said he invited North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui to the Asean Regional Forum and had encouraged them to look for appropriate opportunities to continue to engage the larger world. Source link
A drone view shows vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. (Reuters) The United States and Iran reached an agreement yesterday to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US air base in Kuwait following US strikes on what Washington called an Iranian drone operation. According to four sources familiar with the matter, the two sides agreed a memorandum-of-understanding to extend the truce for 60 days but the plan still needed Trump’s signoff. The agreement will state how to address Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which will be among the first issues discussed during the 60-day window, according to an earlier report by Axios, which broke the news. The White House declined to comment. The reports prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply. But Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to Tehran’s negotiating team, said the text had not been finalised and Iran would inform mediator Pakistan if and when it had been agreed.Iranian sources cited by local media also said a deal would only be complete when announced by Tehran, not unilaterally by Trump. Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close but told media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the US was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran’s demands. The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war – which has killed thousands – and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said US forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces had then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base. “These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters earlier. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the US base responsible for an early-morning attack near Bandar Abbas airport and that any repeat would lead to a “more decisive response”, Tasnim news agency reported. To Page 11 Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately halt what it called a serious escalation. The violence, the second flare-up this week, coincided with Eid al-Adha celebrated across the region, where multiple countries have been caught up in the conflict triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. Mediator Pakistan said its foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, would meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington today, although the significance of his visit was unclear.The US warned Oman yesterday not to get involved in any effort to impose a toll in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it will penalise any partners involved in such a system. “Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved – directly or indirectly – in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalised,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X. Trump said that no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, with which the US has decades-long military and economic ties. “It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine,” he said on Wednesday.Oman has not mentioned the idea of joint control of the strait with Iran, with which it says it has discussed freedom of navigation. Tehran expressed solidarity with Oman after what it called “US officials’ threats”. Source link
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani received a phone call from US President Donald Trump. They discussed the latest updates in the Middle East, in light of the political and security developments taking place in the region, along with the regional and international efforts aimed at reducing escalation and enhancing stability. The Amir stressed the need to prioritise political and diplomatic solutions and dialogue between all parties in order to consolidate regional security and stability and spare the region further tension and escalation.The US president voiced his appreciation for Qatar’s role in supporting Pakistani mediation efforts and strengthening communication channels between the various parties. He also commended Qatar’s endeavour aimed at bringing viewpoints closer and advancing de-escalation efforts in the region. Yesterday’s call was the latest in a series of direct contacts between the two leaders in recent weeks, reflecting the growing importance Washington attaches to Doha’s mediation role at a critical juncture for regional security. Qatar has consistently maintained that dialogue and diplomacy represent the only viable path to resolving the region’s overlapping crises, a position His Highness the Amir has reaffirmed in successive engagements with world leaders. Doha has played a central back-channel role in ongoing efforts to broker a diplomatic resolution to tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme, leveraging its long-standing ties with all parties to keep lines of communication open. The call also addressed the close strategic relations between Qatar and the US, along with ways to enhance bilateral co-operation in various fields, in order to serve the common interests of the two friendly countries. Related Story Source link