Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview broadcast on May 31, said he wanted to press on with talks on securing peace with Russia before the onset of winter to take account of Kyiv’s improved strategic position.
Talks brokered by the United States on moving towards a peace accord have stalled as Washington has focused on the conflict in Iran.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have said the advance of Russian forces has slowed on the ground while Ukraine has intensified a campaign of medium- and long-range strikes inside Russia, targeting mainly Russia’s oil industry.
“It began in December 2025, Russia began to lose the initiative on the battlefield,” Zelensky told CBS Television’s Face The Nation.
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SCREENSHOT: X
A blast in northern Myanmar killed dozens of people on May 31, two rescue workers said, with rebels controlling the region saying it was caused by the accidental detonation of mining explosives.
One first responder in Shan state’s Namhkan district, where the blast occurred, said 46 people were killed, including children, and more than 70 others were injured.
Another rescuer said 59 people were killed in total, with both speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
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PHOTO: REUTERS
Brazilian health authorities are monitoring two patients for possible Ebola infection in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, officials said, sparking further concern of the deadly virus outbreak in central Africa spreading abroad.
A 37-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the outbreak has been concentrated, “exhibited symptoms such as fever, meeting the definition of a suspected case” of Ebola, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement on May 30.
While initial tests did not detect the Ebola virus in the patient, he is being monitored and isolated as a precautionary measure at a specialised infectious disease facility, the statement said.
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PHOTO: AFP
The US military conducted a lethal strike on a boat in the Eastern Pacific on May 30, killing three men, officials said.
The latest attack brings the total number of those killed to over 200 – according to an AFP tally – since the Trump administration began its offensive in September 2025.
In a post on X, US Southern Command said “the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations”.
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PHOTO: SOTHEBYS
A museum in eastern France on May 31 reported to police the theft of a banana that forms a core part of a multimillion-dollar artwork by Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan.
The fruit – which was taped to a wall to form the provocative work by Cattelan called “Comedian” – was noticed by a guard on May 30 to have gone missing.
The Pompidou-Metz museum, which is a branch of the famous Pompidou Centre in Paris, said in a statement it had lodged a criminal complaint for theft against persons unknown.
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