https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/21/world/video/india-chief-justice-cockroach-janta-party-mogul-vrtc
Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, one sign it is rapidly rebuilding certain military capabilities degraded by US-Israeli strikes, according to two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments. Four sources told CNN that US intelligence indicates Iran’s military is reconstituting much faster than initially estimated. The rebuilding of military capabilities, including replacing missile sites, launchers and production capacity for key weapons systems destroyed during the current conflict, means that Iran remains a significant threat to regional allies should President Donald Trump restart the bombing campaign, according to the four sources familiar with the intelligence. It also calls into question claims about the extent to which US-Israeli strikes have degraded Iran’s military in the long term. While the time to restart production of different weapons components varies, some US intelligence estimates indicate Iran could fully reconstitute its drone attack capability in as soon as six months, one of the sources, a US official, told CNN.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/iran-military-rebuild
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of speaking to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, in what would be an unprecedented move for a US leader and a major departure from diplomatic norms. US and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since 1979, when Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei. “I’ll speak to him,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday when asked whether he would call Lai before making a decision on whether he will sign off on a major Congress-approved arms sale to the island.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/21/asia/trump-taiwan-china-lai-call-intl-hnk
Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed ties with Russia as a force for “calm amid chaos” during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, days after Xi hosted President Donald Trump for a landmark US-China summit. Xi alluded to an increasingly fractious international situation – and took a veiled jab at the US – as he sat down with Putin in the Great Hall of the People for meetings kicking off the Russian leader’s roughly 24-hour state visit in the Chinese capital. “The international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and transformation, while unilateral hegemonic currents are running rampant,” Xi said, using Beijing’s typical language to criticize what it sees as American foreign policy overreach.
In rural Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a lethal Ebola strain has torn through local communities – claiming over 100 lives and triggering a global health emergency. The virus was first discovered in the DRC in 1976, and remains an enduring threat. The central African nation has seen 17 outbreaks, more than any other country – a severe outbreak between 2018 and 2020 left 2,299 people dead. Ebola, an often fatal virus that causes severe symptoms, including high fever and both internal and external bleeding, originates in wildlife. It is transmitted to humans through close contact with the blood or fluids of infected forest animals, such as “fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates” like monkeys, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/21/africa/dr-congo-ebola-hotspot-intl