Newshour

The WHO has upgraded the risk from the current Ebola outbreak to "very high" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and says regionally the risk is high -- though it remains low in the rest of the world. Newshour hears from Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group which helped develop the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine.
Also in the programme: Will Grant reports from Havana on Cuba under pressure; and how barnacles affect stationary ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
(Picture: Red Cross workers walk in a formation as they disinfect Rwampara general hospital before handling the body of a person who died of Ebola, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak. Credit: Reuters)

A day after the US's indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Havana has accepted an offer of $100m in aid but that the chances of a negotiated settlement was "not high". Could the US be considering an imminent invasion of Cuba?
Also on the programme: Amid a growing number of cases, a hospital treating Ebola patients in Congo is set on fire; and the new research suggesting that Beluga whales recognise their own reflections.
(Photo: Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, May 21, 2026 Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS)

There has been international condemnation of Israel's treatment of pro-Palestinian activists who were on board a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli naval forces.

Also on the programme: the first case of Ebola has been announced in the rebel-held territory in eastern Congo; and an online political group in India called The Cockroach Janta Party ‌has amassed nearly 15 million followers on Instagram in less than a week.
(Photo: Activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, gather at a port before their departure in the southern Turkish resort of Marmaris, Turkey on May 14, 2026. Credit: Reuters)

The US Justice Department has indicted Cuba's former leader, Raul Castro, on criminal charges. The allegations centre on a Cuban military offensive against US civilian aircraft in 1996. The planes were operated by an organisation called Brothers to the Rescue and were searching for people who wanted to leave the island, when they were shot down by the Cuban military, which was led by Castro at the time. We get the latest from the BBC’s Cuba correspondent.
Also on the programme: Israel's far-right security minister has been condemned for taunting handcuffed Gaza flotilla activists; and we hear from the winner of this year’s International Booker Prize. 
(Photo: Cuba's former President Raul Castro watches a May Day rally in Havana, Cuba 1st May, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Norlys Perez)

Why was the Ebola outbreak able to spread so quickly? We speak to the co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response about Ebola testing shortfalls in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Also on the programme: we examine the relationship between Russia and China as Vladimir Putin fails to reach a gas pipeline deal during a visit to Beijing. Plus, we hear why the Tyrannosaurus Rex had such short arms.
(Picture: A health worker takes the temperature of an M23 rebel in Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/Reuters)