Healthcare workers walk outside the Ebola treatment centre in Beni, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (2019). (Photo by Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) – An Ebola outbreak has been confirmed in the Ituri province in Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of the latest update, about 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported, mainly in Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, officials said.
Africa CDC said that preliminary lab results from the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) have detected Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested. Four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases.
The latest outbreak comes around five months after Congo’s last Ebola outbreak was declared over after more than 40 deaths.
“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,” officials said in a statement Friday.
-ABC News’ Rashid Haddou contributed to this report
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and US President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping feel “very similar on Iran” in wanting the war to end and prohibiting Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as the two started their second day of meetings in their high-stakes summit.
“We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar in Iran. We want that to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the [Strait of Hormuz] opened. We’re closing it now. They closed it, and we closed it on top of them, but we want the straits open, and we want them to get it ended, because it’s a crazy thing,” Trump said at a photo opportunity before the two leaders had tea and a working lunch.
Trump said they had discussed a number of issues, “and I think we’re very much in agreement.” Representatives from China did not offer further comment on what was discussed in the meetings.
He also said the two leaders “made some fantastic trade deals.”
Before Friday’s meeting Trump met Xi to tour the gardens at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound.
Xi said he picked the location “especially to reciprocate the hospitality extended to me in 2017 at Mar-a-Lago.” Xi said Trump was interested to learn about the plants in the garden including the Chinese roses. Xi said he “agreed” to gift Trump seeds for those roses.
The meetings come amid some tension on the issue of Taiwan — an issue about which Xi issued a stark warning to the U.S. during the leaders’ first sit-down — and questions about the role of China in ending the war with Iran.
Trump was seeking to bolster international support amid a push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. war with Iran stretches on. China is Iran’s principal oil consumer.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, responding to inquiries to confirm whether Trump and Xi discussed Iran, sidestepped the question but reiterated China’s position that the ceasefire and negotiations should continue and that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened.
“There is no need to continue this war that should not have happened,” a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said. “Finding a solution earlier is beneficial to the United States and Iran, as well as to the countries in the region and even the whole world.”
“Since the door of dialogue is open, it should not be closed again,” the spokesperson said.
Trump and Xi also attended a state banquet earlier during the visit.
On the first day of the summit, the U.S. president was greeted with pomp and pageantry upon his arrival in Beijing and again before his bilateral meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People that lasted for more than two hours.
Regarding the issue of Taiwan, Xi said that if the issue of Taiwan is handled “improperly,” the two nations could “come into conflict,” according to China’s official state broadcaster Xinhua. However, Xi did say that if the issue is handled “properly,” “bilateral relations can remain generally stable.”
Tech and trade have also been key themes during the talks.
Trump said before the trip that he planned to ask Xi to “open up” the Chinese economy. CEOs Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Tim Cook of Apple and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, among others, traveled with the president to Beijing.
Trump said the business leaders joined him to “pay respects” to Xi.
“We asked the top 30 in the world. Every single one of them said ‘yes,’ and I didn’t want the second or the third in the company. I wanted only the top. And they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China, and they look forward to trade and doing business, and it’s going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf,” Trump said.
The White House said one of Trump’s goals going into the summit with Xi is to secure purchasing agreements with China in the aerospace, agriculture and energy sectors and the CEOs traveled with the president to help push for that.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that the U.S. expects China to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of American agricultural products in the next few years.
“We expect to also see an agreement for double-digit billion purchases … over the next three years, per year, coming out of this visit, and that’s more general, that’s aggregate, that’s not just soybeans, that’s everything else,” Greer told Bloomberg.
Greer didn’t provide any more specifics about the terms of the agreement he said the administration expects.
Before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, Trump called Xi a “great leader” and touted their relationship.
“Such respect for China, the job you’ve done. You’re a great leader. I say it to everybody. You’re a great leader,” Trump said. “Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true. I always say the truth.”
“We’ve had a fantastic relationship. We’ve gotten along,” Trump said. “When there were difficulties, we worked it out. I would call you, and you would call me, and whenever we had a problem — people don’t know — whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly, and we’re going to have a fantastic future together.”
Xi told Trump that China and the U.S. “both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.”
“We should be partners, not rivals,” he continued.” We should help each other succeed and prosper together and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era.”
ABC News’ Karson Yiu, Mariam Khan, Michelle Stoddart and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Almost a third of the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus — 19 of its 62 members — are at risk of losing their seats through the 2028 election cycle as Republicans in southern states where they control the legislature move swiftly to redraw congressional maps less than two weeks after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The mid-decade redistricting push is a continuation of an effort that began in 2025 and that President Donald Trump has encouraged in hopes of increasing the likelihood that the GOP will retain control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections.
Republicans have argued that they are redrawing congressional maps to comply with the Supreme Court and that the districts that could be changed may still elect Black representatives to Congress.
A spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus told ABC News that the group is coordinating with groups such as Elias Law Group and the Legal Defense Fund to challenge the GOP’s redistricting efforts.
The Supreme Court on Monday evening opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black congressional districts before this year’s midterm elections, potentially handing Republicans an additional House seat in the fight for control of the closely divided chamber.
Following Republicans’ redistricting efforts in the South in states like Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed a strong response, listing specific states without sharing specific actions.
“Over the next year or so, what you’re going to see in state after state are Democrats making clear that we are not going to unilaterally disarm,” Jeffries said.
“And as a result of that, in places like New York, New Jersey, Oregon, as well as Washington, in Colorado and, of course, in Illinois and Maryland, we’re going to take the steps necessary to ensure that in advance of the 2028 election, we have a decisive and overwhelming response.”
Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures, whose seat is now in jeopardy as a result of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, said in a statement to ABC News that the decision “sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and 60s in terms of Black political representation in the state.”
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri, whose seat was one of the first targeted by redistricting, said that the ongoing redistricting efforts are “trying to send us back to Reconstruction.”
Cleaver told ABC News that he is supportive of Jeffries’ stance of “maximum warfare” against GOP-led redistricting efforts, but he worries that “if we fight fire with fire, nothing would be left in the station but ash.”
Cleaver has held his seat for more than two decades and is running for reelection, but now says he has “no idea” what district he’s running in and that Democrats may need to redistrict in states like Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Colorado to fight back.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is also at risk of losing his seat if redistricting succeeds in South Carolina, took aim at a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that he said had enabled this sort of targeting of Black legislators, as well as actions by Trump that he said threaten American democracy.
“You know, this is whether or not you’re going to have a democracy. And that’s not a one-party thing, that’s not a one-person thing; that is, this country has come to grips with the fact that we are on the verge of a kleptocracy,” Clyburn said.
While CBC members have continued to push for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Cleaver said that in the current Congress, the legislation “could not get a hearing in the United States of America right now.”
Last Thursday, Tennessee became the first state after the Supreme Court’s Louisiana ruling to officially redraw and pass a new map at the urging of the president, who called the state’s governor about the topic just one day after the ruling. And in one week, a new congressional map was created, presented and passed. The new map will give Republicans a chance to flip the state’s lone current Democratic-held, majority-Black district, which is primarily made up of Memphis.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday evening that opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black districts before this year’s midterms, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has set new special primary elections for the affected districts in the state: the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th.
Louisiana and South Carolina are also working through their own redistricting process in hopes of delivering more House seats to the GOP ahead of November’s elections. In South Carolina, Republicans on Friday formally unveiled a new proposed congressional map that would redraw the district held by Clyburn.
But as Republicans look to add House seats, Black representation in Congress is at risk of dropping substantially over the next couple of years.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement to ABC News, “We are witnessing a return to Jim Crow. And anybody who is alarmed by these developments — as everybody should be — better be making a plan to vote in November to put an end to this madness while we still can.”
“This Supreme Court did not dismiss the case, so the litigation will certainly continue. My hope is that this is a temporary setback and that three-Republican appointed judges will again find what they found the first time: that the State of Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters in drawing its congressional district lines,” Figures added.
ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim and Jeff Ballou contributed to this report
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are developing a movie adaptation of the memoir No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege. Variety reports the book is an Afghan war memoir that follows British Maj. Adam Jowett’s command of a unit of Paras and Royal Irish Rangers in Afghanistan in July 2006. Prince Harry, Markle and Tracy Ryerson will produce the movie for their Archewell Productions …
Doctor Who is headed to AMC+. Thirteen seasons of the British sci-fi series will now stream in the U.S. on AMC+ starting on June 11. The show follows a regenerating Time Lord who travels throughout time and space …
The upcoming film Never Change! now has a release date. The movie is set to debut to Hulu on June 17. It will make its world premiere debut at the Tribeca Festival on June 9. The film follows the 2008 graduating class of North Meadows High School, who had their senior year cut short due to a tornado. Now in their mid-30s, the class returns to their hometown to finish high school once and for all. It stars John Reynolds, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Carmen Christopher, Jo Firestone and Gary Richardson …
From Reba McEntire to Carrie Underwood and beyond, country music has a great tradition of hosts who bring it when it comes to fashion on the big awards shows.
And when Shania Twain leads the 61st ACMs on Sunday, you can bet her glam will be on par with her predecessors.
“I think by now, everyone who knows me, whether it’s a fan or [someone] that works around me, they know I’m gonna be very, very involved in this because it’s part of my joy,” she says. “It’s part of my pleasure.”
The Canadian country/pop superstar seems to be hinting her approach will be more about quality than quantity.
“I don’t plan on making it hectic. I want to enjoy this night. I will not do a crazy amount,” she reveals. “The talk will not be about how many changes I have. I wanna make each one count.”
When you’re in Sin City hosting one of country music’s biggest nights, Shania believes it’s the only option.
“I do love glamour, so I will definitely aim towards being glamorous because it’s an opportunity to dress up. Listen, I love a great pajama day, too. You know, I love a bad hair day,” she adds. “But when you’re hosting the ACMs and you’re in Las Vegas, you go for it.”
Tune in for all the fashion and fun as Shania kicks off the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards live from MGM Grand Garden Arena Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
Poster for ‘Is God Is’ film ( Amazon MGM Studios / Orion Pictures)
Mallori Johnson and Kara Young star as twin sisters Anaia and Racine in the film adaptation of Aleshea Harris’ play Is God Is. Although both actors are singletons, they put in the work to form a convincing twin dynamic.
“Aleshea brought us in two weeks before we shot,” Mallori tells ABC Audio, describing how they worked with choreographer Raja Feather Kelly on different exercises, like trying to finish each other’s sentences, to ensure they were moving in sync.
She adds that the process was intentional, but their connection also developed naturally.
“We just genuinely got close. We built a real kinship outside of set. We spent a lot of time together. We were living in the same hotel, and we would meet each other all the time,” Mallori says. “And I think we have a very similar work ethic in that we just are very passionate about what we’re doing. … We were bonding off that.”
Mallori and Kara also dedicated time to research so they’d portray their characters with care. In the film, Anaia and Racine embark on a revenge mission against their father, who attempted to murder them and their mother in an attack that left them with severe burn scars.
Kara says they studied burn victims and followed people on social media who were “scarred from being burned and or being in a fire.”
“I wanted to approach it with true respect and regard for people with disabilities, especially visible disabilities, and understanding that to the best of my ability,” Mallori says.
Kara adds they also leaned on Aleshea throughout the process, noting, “It is her baby, and the story is just incredibly profound.”
Rihanna attends the 2026 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2026 in New York City. (Theo Wargo/FilmMagic)
Rihanna and Shakira are global music stars, but they’re also very generous. Both artists have landed on the TIME100 Philanthropy list, which highlights the “world’s most influential givers, leaders, advocates, and thinkers.”
The mag notes that the people on the list are “representing the most compelling stories in philanthropy today, in a field that moves more than $1 trillion globally each year.”
Rihanna made the cut thanks to her Clara Lionel Foundation, founded in 2012 after her grandmother’s death and named after her grandparents. Over the years, the charity has donated over $100 million toward climate resilience, women’s entrepreneurship, arts and culture, education and healthcare, not just in her native Caribbean, but also in the U.S. and East Africa.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation gave away $33 million in a single year. Most recently, when Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica in October 2025, the foundation started a fund to rebuild the island’s impacted health care services and improve access to water and education.
As for Rihanna’s “Can’t Remember to Forget You” duet partner Shakira, she’s been building schools in her native Colombia via her charity, the Barefoot Foundation, for almost 30 years. Nineteen schools have been built, 12,000 teachers have been trained and 224,000 children have been helped thanks to the charity, according to TIME.
Shania Twain and Harry Styles perform at the Coachella Stage during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 15, 2022 in Indio, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ABA)
Harry Styles’ Together, Together tour is launching Saturday night in Amsterdam. After his mini-residency there, Harry will head to London, where his opening act will be his pal Shania Twain. Shania, who’s old enough to be Harry’s mother, says one of the things she likes about him is the relationship he has with his actual mother, Anne Twist.
Shania and Harry first connected when he brought her out at Coachella as a special guest in 2022. Shania, 60, tells Apple Music working with Harry, 32, is “a beautiful chapter and to me, it signifies bridges. Bridging generations, bridging audiences, bridging everything — unity brings us all together.”
She goes on to say, “I think music should wrap its arms around everybody who wants to listen to it, and Harry does that. Harry’s got that personality, too. He’s so likable and sweet, and he makes music that is beautiful. It sounds unique when it’s Harry’s voice.”
But also, Shania says, “I am very warmed by his relationship with his own mother. It’s very fitting right now for me to be around them and witness them together as mom and son. I am a mother, I have a son, and [it makes me] think of my own mother and how she would have loved to have watched me go through my career.”
Shania’s mother and stepfather died in a car crash in 1987. Shania was 22 at the time and had yet to launch her record-setting career.
Shania’s dates with Harry begin June 12; she’s releasing a new album, Little Miss Twain, on July 24. She says she plans to tour behind the new album, but first, “I gotta get through my time with Harry, so that’s my focus.”
‘Paul McCartney and Wings’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit (Courtesy MPL and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
The new exhibit Paul McCartney and Wingsopens at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Friday. It’s the first major museum exhibit to explore McCartney’s post-Beatles band, which featured him, his wife Linda McCartney and a rotating lineup. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame President Greg Harris tells ABC Audio the exhibit sheds light on this integral part of McCartney’s post-Beatles artistry.
“It’s a chance for people to reexamine their impact and their legacy,” Harris says of the band, which scored multiple hit singles and albums before breaking up in 1981.
“The songs are incredible, but we also talk about that approach that they took, that DIY approach, and Linda’s integral role with the band,” Harris says of the exhibit.
That “DIY approach” refers to the fact that when Wings first formed, they embarked on a low-key tour of U.K. universities, showing up unannounced in a van and offering to perform for next to nothing.
The exhibit includes “the largest assemblage of Paul McCartney materials ever,” says Harris, including instruments, clothing, artwork and lyrics. “It’s all gonna be an immersive experience with lots of video, lots of photos, lots of images and of course sound,” he adds.
While McCartney is a two-time Rock Hall nominee, as a solo artist and as a member of The Beatles, Wings has yet to appear on the ballot. Might this exhibit be a precursor to a future nomination? “They’re certainly eligible,” Harris says. “And their impact, of course, and influence as told in this exhibition is super powerful.”
As for whether Sir Paul intends to drop by, Harris says, “We’re optimistic that we’ll get him to visit it sometime this spring, and we can share it with him and celebrate it with him.”
