First, the good news: Fears of a calamitous vapor explosion that could destroy homes in Southern California have dwindled. But as crews grapple with an unpredicable chemical tank full of toxic material, other perils loom. “The crisis is not averted.” Orange County Fire Authority Interim Chief TJ McGovern said Monday. “The evacuation zones are still in place. Please abide by those evacuation zones.” About 50,000 residents were asked to flee their homes Thursday as the temperature and pressure escalated inside a tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove. The tank contains 7,000 gallons of a chemical called MMA, which is used to make plastics and can cause myriad health problems upon exposure.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/24/us/california-orange-county-evacuation-what-we-know-hnk
Hélène Akilimali says she’s taking every precaution against contracting Ebola, including always wearing a face mask in public. But her work as a cocoa seller in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicenter of the latest outbreak, brings her into daily contact with other people, some of whom doubt the disease is even real, and she has no control over how they behave. “Ebola is a real disease. People need to stop deluding themselves,” said Akilimali, cautioning that misinformation, myths about the virus and lax attitudes are killing people. “I always wear my face mask. But as for the customers, when they come, they may or may not be wearing face masks,” Akilimali told a journalist working on behalf of CNN. “You’re not going to chase them away.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/24/africa/ebola-outbreak-view-from-drc-congo-intl
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There’s no sugarcoating it. The complete 2025 data is in, and the message is clear: International visitors stayed away from the US in the first real year-over-year decline since the Covid-19 pandemic. The drop in visitors was larger than during the global recession of 2008. This time, it wasn’t a pandemic or a collapse of the market — it was human error. Travelers cite presidential rhetoric and policies manifesting in highly public wars — both figurative and literal — as some of the reasons for staying away. Four million fewer foreign visitors came to the US in 2025 compared to 2024, with total spending decreasing by more than $8 billion.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/25/travel/analysis-tourism-fewer-international-visitors-2025-vis
The Coca-Cola 600, set on Memorial Day Weekend, has always had a strong element of remembrance to it. On Sunday, the world of NASCAR was still wrapping its collective head around the fact that one of its own was included in this year’s collective mourning. A race that endured 12 caution flags over the nearly five hours of racing ended in one of Busch’s protégés – Daniel Suarez – winning a rain-shortened contest. He choked back tears as fellow drivers congratulated him, and dedicated his victory to Busch. “The very first thing that came to my mind was Kyle,” Suarez told reporters after the race. “We all know this has been a difficult week and weekend for all of us, drivers, promoters, media, fans, most important, his family. A few days ago, I was still hoping that somebody was going to say that it wasn’t real.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/24/sport/kyle-busch-coca-cola-600
Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN. The Trump administration issued the directive stopping individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO. The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw developing treatments for public health emergencies including HIV/AIDs and Covid-19.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/25/politics/global-virus-response-trump-administration