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BEIRUT (AP) — Three Israeli drone strikes on vehicles just south of Beirut on Saturday killed four people while a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 13, including a man and his 12-year-old daughter, state media and the Health Ministry said.

The three drone strikes south of Beirut marked another escalation since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on April 17. Both Israel and Hezbollah have continued their daily attacks despite the truce.

On Wednesday night, Israel’s air force carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb in which Israel said it killed a senior Hezbollah military official. It was the first strike near the capital since the ceasefire was reached.

Two of the strikes on Saturday took place on the highway linking Beirut with the southern port city of Sidon in which several people were wounded, while the third happened on a road leading to Lebanon’s Chouf region killing three, the state-run National News Agency said.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw a dead body on the highway in the town of Saadiyat.

The Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven, including a child, and wounded 15. The ministry said this was an initial count.

The agency reported strikes in southern Lebanon, including one on the village of Bourj Rahhal that killed three and another in Maifadoun that killed one.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, said three Israeli drone strikes killed a Syrian man who was riding a motorcycle with his 12-year-old daughter in the city of Nabatiyeh.

The ministry said that after the initial strike, the man and his daughter managed to move away from the site only to be attacked again by the drone instantly killing the man. The girl then moved about 100 meters (yards) away and was hit again by the drone after she had been already wounded. The girl later died in a hospital, NNA said.

“The Ministry of Public Health denounces this barbaric targeting and the deliberate violence against civilians and children in Lebanon,” the ministry said in its statement added that the strike marks an ongoing series “of grave violations of International Humanitarian Law.”

The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired explosive drones into Israel near the border with Lebanon adding that three soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in one of the attacks. It added that Hezbollah fired drones inside Lebanon as well in which one hit an Israeli vehicle without inflicting casualties.

Hezbollah claimed several attacks inside Lebanon as well as firing a drone at an Israeli military post in the northern town of Misgav Am.

The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on Hezbollah’s main backer, Iran. Israel has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the border.

Later, Lebanon and Israel held their first direct talks in more than three decades. The two countries have formally been in a state of war since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.

A new round of talks is scheduled to take place in Washington over two days starting Thursday.

A 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington went into effect on April 17. The ceasefire was later extended by three weeks.

In the Syrian capital of Damascus, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held talks Saturday with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in which they discussed strengthening relations between the two neighbors and boosting security cooperation amid regional wars.

Speaking to reporters before heading back home, Salam said that Lebanon will not be used again to harm “our Arab brothers, on top of them Syria.” Salam was indirectly referring to Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria’s civil that broke out in 2011 by backing the five-decade Assad family rule that ended in December 2024.

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LOS LLANITOS, México (AP) — On a dirt field on Mexico’s Pacific coast, five cousins between the ages of 8 and 13 strip down and kick off their shoes. Nearby, adults help them fasten the pre-Hispanic-style “fajado,” securing loincloths and leather belts that wrap around their hips.

The Osuna children grab the rubber ball, all 3.2 kilograms of it — around 7 pounds or seven times heavier than a soccer ball — and begin playing. Only the hips may touch it, forcing players to leap through the air or dive low when it skims the ground.

As Mexico prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the nation is looking back 3,400 years to one of the oldest team sports: the ancient ballgame known as ulama, a ritual practice nearly erased during the Spanish conquest that survived only in the remote pockets of northwestern Mexico before its late 20th-century rebirth. Today, authorities and its modern players are leveraging the momentum of international soccer to shine a spotlight on the ancient sport once again.

While players acknowledge that tourism fueled the sport’s revival, many worry that projecting an “exotic” image undermines a tradition central to their identity.

“We must rid the game of the notion that it is a living fossil,” said Emilie Carreón, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, and director of a project aimed at studying and practicing the sport.

That’s exactly what the Osuna family is trying to do. After ulama player Aurelio Osuna died, his widow, María Herrera, 53, continued his legacy, teaching the ballgame to their grandchildren in their small village in Sinaloa, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) northwest of Mexico City.

“This seed will bear fruit someday,” she said.

According to the Popol Vuh, the sacred Mayan book, the world was created from a ballgame, where light and darkness clashed to balance life and death and set the universe in motion.

Long before the Maya, the Olmecs — the earliest known Mesoamerican civilization — practiced the sport; the recreation of this clash of opposing forces was common in various pre-Hispanic cultures. The evidence is in millennial rubber balls unearthed in Mexico and in nearly 2,000 ball courts found from Nicaragua to Arizona.

The game, depicted in codices, stone carvings and sculptures, had many variations and meanings, from fertility or war ceremonies, to political acts and even sacrifices.

While some players were beheaded — possibly the losers — Guatemalan archaeologist and anthropologist Carlos Navarrete explained this occurred only during specific periods and in certain regions. The physically demanding game was primarily a big social event, drawing crowds for fun and betting.

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés was impressed by the spectacle presented by the Aztec emperor Moctezuma but the Spanish ultimately banned ulama and ordered the destruction of its courts, likely viewing the tradition as a form of resistance to Christianity. For the Catholic Church “the ball was the living devil,” Carreón said.

The game — played by hitting the ball with the hip, the forearm or a mallet — survived only on the Mexican northern Pacific coast, where the colonial process led by Jesuit priests was less aggressive and ulama was accepted in Catholic festivities, said Manuel Aguilar Moreno, a professor of art history at California State University.

On the opening day of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, spectators watched as burly men contorted their bodies in unexpected ways to keep the rubber ball moving for as long as possible. The exhibition sparked studies about the ballgame and how to preserve it in the following decades.

Luis Aurelio Osuna, 30, Herrera’s eldest son, began playing hip ulama after school, just as his father did decades ago in Los Llanitos, a ranch next to the port city of Mazatlán. Now his three children also play.

Osuna and his mother teach the children how to hit the ball and guide them through the complicated rules, which include a scoring system with points that are won and lost.

They do it out of passion, but also out of pragmatism in a state where organized crime is pervasive.

“We need to find a way to keep them entertained with good things,” said Osuna.

Hip ulama teams have up to six players and the Osuna family sometimes participates in tournaments or exhibitions.

Decades ago, matches were big events tied to religious feasts, sometimes stretching on for an entire week. But those days are gone, as interest waned and rubber balls became hard to get.

In the 1980s, filmmaker Roberto Rochín documented the work of perhaps the last rubber ball-maker in the mountains of Sinaloa. The artisan made them similar to the Olmecs, who discovered that mixing hot rubber sap with a plant created a strong, elastic and durable material. This civilization made some of the oldest balls of the world.

During the 1990s, staff from a resort in the Mexican Caribbean traveled across the country in search of Sinaloan families who could represent the ballgame as a tourist attraction in the Riviera Maya, where no one played it anymore.

“It’s pure spectacle: they paint their faces and put on feathered costumes,” Herrera said. Yet, she acknowledges the value. “That’s where the revival began.”

The ballgame began to spread and to be known outside Mexico. Osuna, with the family team his father had formed, ended up playing hip ulama in a Roman amphitheater in Italy. It attracted so much attention that they were hired for a deodorant commercial, he said.

As the World Cup approaches, authorities and corporations are launching exhibitions in Mexico City and Guadalajara, and featuring ulama players in ad campaigns highlighting Mexican heritage — a move that has sparked mixed feelings.

“We’re not circus monkeys,” says Ángel Ortega, a 21-year-old ulama player from Mexico City who recently participated in a TV commercial alongside football players.

Ilse Sil, a player and member of the UNAM project led by Carreón, believes that institutional support will help to preserve ulama but officials need to promote the game in communities and schools to recruit more young players, as it remains a marginal sport with approximately 1,000 players mainly in México and Guatemala.

In Los Llanitos, Herrera’s grandchildren love playing. They don’t care where — in the dirt field, in a court or even in the house corridor — but always with the precious inheritance: a handmade decades-old rubber ball from the mountains of Sinaloa. They say it cushions the blows better.

Eight-year-old Kiki is the most enthusiastic. He says he is determined to keep practicing until he fulfills the dream of leading a team of his own.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) – Britain said on Saturday it was deploying its warship HMS Dragon to the Middle East in preparation for a potential multinational effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.

HMS Dragon, an air defence destroyer, was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in March, shortly after the start of the Iran war, to help defend Cyprus. 

Its relocation to the Middle East follows a move by France to deploy its carrier strike group to the southern Red Sea, as the two countries work together on a defensive plan aimed at restoring confidence in the trade route. 

“The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and France, to secure the Strait, when conditions allow,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. 

As the U.S. and Iran inch toward a potential off-ramp from their 10-week war, France and Britain have been working on a proposal to lay the groundwork for safe transit through the Strait once the situation stabilises. 

The plan would need coordination with Iran and a dozen countries have indicated a willingness to take part.

Britain’s ability to participate in any protective mission will be limited by the stretched Royal Navy, which is much smaller now than in the past and which has had to retire some ships before replacements have become available. 

(Reporting by Sarah YoungEditing by Alexandra Hudson)

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JERUSALEM, May 9 (Reuters) – Two activists arrested last month when Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound flotilla they were travelling on are expected to be deported in the coming days after being released from security detention on Saturday, their lawyers said. 

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities on April 29 and brought to Israel. 

The activists were part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla launched from Spain on April 12 to try to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering aid to the enclave. 

Israel’s foreign ministry said Abu Keshek was suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation and Avila was suspected of illegal activity. Both denied the allegations.

BRAZIL AND SPAIN SAID THE DETENTION WAS UNLAWFUL

The governments of Spain and Brazil said Abu Keshek’s and Avila’s detention was unlawful, but Israel’s Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court remanded them in custody until May 10.

Human rights group Adalah, which has assisted in their legal defence and also said the detention was unlawful, said that Abu Keshek and Avila were informed that they will be released from detention on Saturday and handed over to immigration authorities’ custody until their deportation.

“Adalah is closely monitoring developments to make sure that the release from detention goes ahead, followed by their deportation from Israel in the coming days,” the group said. Israeli officials were not immediately reachable for comment. 

Israeli authorities held them under suspicion of offences that included aiding the enemy and contact with a terrorist group.

Gaza is largely run by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by Israel and much of the West. 

The group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel started the Gaza war that has left much of the enclave’s population homeless and dependent on aid – that humanitarian agencies say is arriving too slowly.   

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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TAIPEI, May 9 (Reuters) – Further delays to Taiwan military spending are a “concession” to China, the U.S. State Department said, as Taipei’s defence ministry detailed the impact of projects excluded from a package passed by the opposition-controlled parliament.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te had sought $40 billion in supplementary defence spending to better deter China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory and has stepped up its military pressure.

But after repeated delays by opposition parties, who hold the majority of seats, parliament on Friday approved only two-thirds of the money requested, all for U.S. weapons rather than including other projects like domestically developed drones and missiles. 

The opposition said that while it supports defence spending, it would not sign “blank cheques”, saying the proposals were vague in places and could open the door to corruption.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. supports Taiwan’s acquisition of critical defence capabilities “commensurate with the threat it faces” and consistent with the ongoing commitment of multiple U.S. administrations.

“While we are encouraged by the passage of this special defence budget after unhelpful stalling, the United States notes that further delays in funding the remaining proposed capabilities are a concession to the Chinese Communist Party,” the spokesperson added.

The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, and has strongly supported increased military spending. Beijing has repeatedly demanded an end to weapons sales.

In a statement late on Friday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the approved spending completely excludes certain commercial purchases, which is highly likely to create “capability gaps”.

“Our country faces a severe and continuously escalating threat environment,” it said.

One plan not included is the Chiang Kung, or “Strong Bow”, anti-ballistic missile which is meant to form the backbone of Taiwan’s new “T-Dome” air defence system, the ministry added.

“Following its removal from the special budget, if it cannot be procured in a timely manner, air defence combat effectiveness will be severely impacted,” it said.

Lack of approval for drone systems like sea attack drones will significantly delay asymmetric warfare capabilities and affect projected economic growth and employment opportunities for domestic industry, the ministry said.

Lai said that while he appreciated the approved funding, which allows purchases of such items as the Lockheed Martin-made HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system to proceed, this was only the first step.

“Any gap will affect the integrity of the overall defence system. Any delay will increase the shared security risks borne by the people of Taiwan,” he posted on Facebook.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)

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Nairobi, KENYA (AP) — Use of electric vehicles in Africa is surging, led by Ethiopia, as soaring prices and fuel shortages compel countries to opt for cleaner and cheaper transport.

Africa imported 44,358 electric vehicles from China in 2025, according to data from China’s Commerce Ministry, up from 19,386 in 2024. The shipments, valued at over $200 million, highlight growing demand, especially in Ethiopia after it banned new imports of gas and diesel-powered vehicles in 2024.

More than 115,000 EVs are now on Ethiopia’s roads, accounting for about 8% of the national fleet. In 2025, it imported a third of Africa’s imports from China, ahead of other major markets in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria.

As the Iran war drags on, Ethiopia’s fuel shortages are rippling through transport systems and daily life, reinforcing its effort to cut costly imports of oil and gas and strengthen its energy security. However that trend is raising questions about charging infrastructure and affordability.

Ethiopia’s spends about $4.2 billion on fuel imports annually, straining its foreign currency reserves.

Its minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Gofe, said in a statement that the country also is spending up to $128 million monthly on fuel subsidies, while shipments fell short by more than 180,000 metric tons as the imports are disrupted by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping route for about a fifth of oil from the Gulf region before the war.

The government has redoubled its campaign for quicker EV adoption, framing it as a critical buffer against external supply shocks.

“From a general perspective, it is sustainable,” said Hiten Parmar, executive director of South African- based The Electric Mission. “By replacing imported fuel with domestically generated electricity, Ethiopia is strengthening its energy security position.”

Ethiopia has a special advantage in that more than 90% of its electricity comes from renewable sources, mainly hydro and solar. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, is expected to double its power generation, though the facility and has fueled a decade-long dispute over water supplies with downstream Egypt and Sudan.

“That scale of generation creates a foundation for electrified transport,” Parmar said. “It allows EVs to be powered by locally produced clean energy, rather than costly imports.”

“By gradually adopting EVs, that intensive fuel import expenditure can be reduced and redirected into other critical development needs,” Parmar said.

Globally, the International Energy Agency estimates electric vehicles displaced more than 1 million barrels of oil consumption per day in 2024.

Egypt, South Africa and Morocco also are pursuing a transition to EV use, adopting a mix of policy incentives, investing in manufacturing capacity and in clean energy.

“That transition is beginning to ease pressure on fuel demand,” said Bob Wesonga, policy and investments lead at the Africa E-Mobility Alliance.

“That’s over 100,000 vehicle owners who are no longer directly exposed to pump price shocks,” he said. “In the medium to long term, this creates a buffer against global oil volatility.”

For those who have switched, the savings are significant.

“A private EV owner now spends roughly $4 a month on charging compared to about $27 previously spent on fuel,” Wesonga said. “For public transport operators, the difference is even more striking.”

The transition to EVs faces some daunting structural hurdles, Parmar notes.

“The technology is already mature, the challenge is building it out fast enough,” he said.

Ethiopia is deploying ultra-fast charging hubs in its capital Addis Ababa, but scaling them nationwide will take time and investment.

“The biggest hurdle is the last-mile power distribution,” Wesonga said. “While Ethiopia has a surplus of generation, getting that power reliably to where it’s needed, especially outside Addis Ababa, remains a challenge.”

Frequent blackouts and delays in connecting high-capacity charging stations have slowed construction of needed infrastructure, even as demand for electric vehicles rises.

“Charging infrastructure is still heavily concentrated in the capital and along a few corridors,” Wesonga said. “That limits e-mobility to specific areas and creates a bottleneck as adoption grows.”

Ethiopia is one of several countries in Africa looking to build their own EV industries. Official data show 17 electric vehicle assembly plants are in the pipeline in Ethiopia, with plans to raise that number to 60 by 2030. It’s part of a broader strategy to localize production and reduce costs.

Affordability, however, remains a major constraint. While operating costs are lower, prices of electric vehicles remain high relative to average incomes.

“The purchase price is still out of reach for many,” Wesonga said. “At the same time, restrictions on fossil fuel vehicles have pushed up the cost of used cars, creating additional barriers.”

That dynamic could have unintended social impacts if not managed carefully.

“A national fleet transition is always gradual,” Parmar said. “Existing combustion vehicles will remain in use for some time, and the transition needs to account for livelihoods tied to that system.”

Even so, both experts say the long-term trajectory remains clear. Lower operating and maintenance costs for electric vehicles could reduce transport costs over time, easing the price of goods and improving access to economic opportunities.

Ethiopia is also looking to lessons from countries such as China and Norway, where policy support, infrastructure investment and consumer incentives have driven rapid adoption.

“This is not just about transport,” Wesonga said. “It’s about reshaping how the country uses energy, and who benefits from that shift.”

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Officials in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province are challenging the idea that the ongoing deadly hantavirus outbreak may have emerged there, pushing instead for investigations into the other Argentine provinces that passengers visited before boarding the ill-fated Atlantic cruise ship.

Current and former officials in the archipelago at the southernmost point of South America insist that the virus did not originate from the trash heap in Ushuaia that national health authorities named earlier this week as the most likely place two Dutch tourists contracted it while bird-watching.

“I believe we are facing a smear campaign against this destination,” Juan Facundo Petrina, the province’s director of epidemiology, told reporters Friday in a press conference from Ushuaia.

Federal officials didn’t contact local authorities initially — instead, they discovered the purported Ushuaia connection via media reports, he said. Additionally, Tierra del Fuego has never recorded a case of the hantavirus — let alone the Andes variant involved in the ship outbreak — unlike Argentine provinces further north.

The Dutch couple — both of whom died — spent just two days in Tierra del Fuego during their four-monthlong trip through Argentina and Chile, he added, which “dramatically reduces the likelihood that the infection happened here.”

As the main gateway to Antarctica, the remote town of Ushuaia drew over 157,000 cruise passengers last year — almost double its local population. Deep-pocketed cruisers have increasingly grown vital to Tierra del Fuego’s economy as its core electronic manufacturing sector reels from libertarian President Javier Milei’s slashing of trade barriers and subsidies.

“Now the whole world is associating Ushuaia, and cruise travel, with a lethal virus, and if this continues, reservations for next season are honestly going to plummet because nobody will want to be exposed,” said Rubén Rafael, the former health minister of Tierra del Fuego. “Ushuaia’s reputation as a tourist destination is suffering badly.”

When asked Friday whether the Argentine Health Ministry still favored the outbreak origin theory of the Ushuaia landfill, a ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk about the investigation, said that nothing had changed and that Ushuaia was the only place where the ministry was sending investigators, adding that it remained possible the virus originated elsewhere in Argentina.

The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that it would dispatch experts from the state-backed Malbran Institute to trap rats at the Ushuaia trash heap and nearby areas and test them for the Andes strain of the hantavirus.

Over two days later, the investigators have yet to arrive. The official dismissed the delay as normal for Argentina’s slow-moving bureaucracy.

In Tierra del Fuego, Petrina said he hoped national investigators would clear Ushuaia’s name. He said it was taking a while “to determine all the exact locations where trapping and analysis will take place.”

Others in the left-leaning province complained that the government’s delay and lack of transparency came as part of a wider pattern ever since Milei took his chain saw to the country’s health system, withdrawing his country from the World Health Organization weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump did the same and defunding national programs responsible for tracking infectious diseases.

“The health system in Argentina is going through a serious crisis,” said Rafael, the former provincial health minister. “The system is weakened, and as a result, the response to this outbreak has been very slow. That exposes all of us.”

Outside Argentina, public health experts said that the investigation is a critical step so that a similar situation can be avoided.

“It’s not an extreme emergency, but it’s still of urgency in terms of collecting the data,” said Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist who serves as editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News and previously advised the Biden administration on the coronavirus pandemic.

“If there is an Andes virus that is more infectious locally you’d want to know that so that you can warn local residents and take measures to prevent their infection. And if they haven’t started that process yet, that would be concerning.”

The Dutch couple that the WHO has identified as the first cruise passengers infected with the Andes variant — the only hantavirus that may be able to spread from person-to-person in rare cases — arrived in Argentina last November, according to the Argentine Health Ministry.

The couple, 70 and 69 years old, spent weeks driving up and down the country before making a series of border crossings between Argentina and Chile over months. They also traveled between Argentina and Uruguay in March before embarking on the Antarctic cruise from Ushuaia on April 1.

The governments of Chile, which has seen deadly outbreaks of the Andes variant before, and Uruguay, which hasn’t, declared the couple couldn’t have become infected while visiting based on the virus’ up-to-eight-week incubation period. They didn’t offer details.

Because the couple died, retracing their steps through the country is exceedingly difficult, said Argentine health officials, adding that they’re working to fill in some gaps in the couple’s travels.

Many independent Argentine epidemiologists believe that the hantavirus outbreak most likely emerged from the woodlands of central Patagonia, another major tourist destination where authorities have recently recorded hantavirus cases and long-tailed rats known to carry the Andes variant run rampant — unlike in Ushuaia.

“With the media pressure now, it wouldn’t surprise me if the government’s response has been more about quieting criticism by appearing to act,” said Raul González Ittig, genetics professor at the National University of Cordoba.

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ISIS Disrupts Damascus Calm, Says It Assassinated Shiite Figure   

[Damascus] In a major security escalation that shook the Syrian capital and its outskirts, the Islamic State (ISIS) officially claimed responsibility for the assassination of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Farhan Hassan al-Mansour, preacher and imam of the Sayyidah Zaynab shrine.  

The attack, which took place on May 1, 2026, revived memories of the group’s past hit-and-run operations targeting carefully selected religious and military figures, demonstrating its ability to breach heavy security fortifications in one of Syria’s most sensitive areas.  

Last Friday morning, a powerful explosion echoed through the southern suburbs of Damascus. A correspondent for The Media Line in Damascus reported at the time that the blast targeted al-Mansour’s vehicle while he was traveling near the Safir Al-Zahra Hotel area surrounding the shrine.  

A Syrian security source who inspected the scene told The Media Line that an explosive device had been planted underneath the vehicle and detonated remotely, killing the cleric instantly and injuring several of his aides, as well as civilians who happened to be nearby.  

The Media Line’s Damascus correspondent said ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing through its official channels and its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba. In a brief statement, the group described al-Mansour as one of the “imams of the Rafida”—a derogatory term used by extremists to refer to Shiites—claiming that the assassination was part of what it called an act of “revenge” and a continuing campaign targeting religious figures associated with the former Syrian regime and its allies.  

The choice of both the target and the location carries significant strategic symbolism. The Sayyidah Zaynab shrine is not only one of the most important religious sites for Shiites but also, for years, served as a political and military symbol of Iranian and Hezbollah influence in Syria before that presence diminished following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.  

The ability to reach and assassinate the shrine’s leading cleric in the heart of his own stronghold sends a powerful message that ISIS sleeper cells still possess the capacity to monitor, maneuver and strike deep inside Damascus.  

Following the bombing, Syrian authorities imposed heightened security measures across Damascus and its countryside. Several Syrian bodies, including the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, mourned al-Mansour, describing him as a “martyr of the pulpit” known for his moderate positions and calls for unity.  

Local media sources in Damascus later reported that authorities dismantled a three-member cell in the Sayyidah Zaynab area suspected of providing logistical support and facilitating the operation.  

The attack comes at a critical transitional moment for Syria, as ISIS appears to be exploiting vulnerabilities created by the redeployment of military forces and the preoccupation of security agencies with broader political challenges.  

Analysts say the group has shifted from its former strategy of territorial control—which effectively collapsed in 2019—to a campaign of “qualitative attrition” based on assassinations and ambushes aimed at undermining public confidence and exposing the state’s inability to protect key figures.  

The assassination of al-Mansour presents Syrian security agencies with a renewed challenge. While ISIS remnants remain largely hidden in pockets of the Syrian desert, the group has once again demonstrated that its operational reach can extend into vital urban centers, raising questions about the effectiveness of current counterterrorism strategies and the potential for sleeper cells to reshape the security landscape. 

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By Ananda Teresia

JAKARTA, May 9 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities resumed their search on Saturday for three hikers missing after Mount Dukono erupted on the Pacific island of Halmahera, a rescue official said.

At least 100 rescuers, military and police personnel, as well as two thermal drones, were deployed to find the two Singaporeans and one Indonesian, Iwan Ramdani, the head of the local rescue agency, told Reuters.

Survivors have told police that three people, including two Singaporeans, died in Friday’s eruption, local police chief Erlichson Pasaribu said, but the rescue agency had not confirmed the deaths by Saturday.

The volcano in North Maluku province began erupting on Friday morning, spewing ash as high as 10 km (6 miles) into the sky, Indonesia’s volcanology agency said.

“We are focusing the search around the crater, covering an area around 700 metres,” Iwan said. Authorities on Friday evacuated 17 people – seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians.

The rescue agency had halted the search on Friday evening as the volcano continued to erupt. Saturday’s search remained hampered, Iwan said, as the volcanology agency reported at least four morning eruptions.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassy in Jakarta were working with the Indonesian authorities to gather information and provide consular assistance and support to the affected Singaporeans and their families, the ministry said in a statement.

The volcanology agency is maintaining the third-highest alert level for Mount Dukono, said Lana Saria, the agency’s head, adding that residents and tourists were advised not to do any activities within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the crater.

There were no reports of flight disruptions caused by the eruption.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia in Jakarta and Xinghui Kok in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill and William Mallard)

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HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports rose 14.1% in April from a year earlier, the government said Saturday, despite the Iran war and lingering impacts from higher U.S. tariffs.

The data were released just days ahead of a planned meeting next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

That beat analysts’ estimates and was a significant improvement from March’s 2.5% year-on-year expansion.

Imports climbed 25.3%, slower than the 27.8% growth in March but still robust.

The Trump-Xi summit comes at a time when relations are beset by multiple issues, with efforts to end the war in Iran eclipsing the usual sources of friction.

“We’re expecting that overall external demand will remain a solid driver of growth this year,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at Dutch bank ING, likely led by China’s exports of semiconductors and autos.

In March, Chinese leaders set an annual economic growth target of 4.5% to 5%, slightly lower than last year’s 5% expansion and the lowest target since 1991. Export growth is expected to continue to power its wider economy, especially as shipments increased from China to Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa over the past months.

Apart from efforts to broker a peace agreement to end the Iran war, trade and export controls, including rare earths and U.S. tech restrictions on China, will likely be on the agenda during the Trump-Xi summit, following a yearlong U.S.-China trade truce reached late last year when the two leaders last met in South Korea.

Major breakthroughs on export controls are unlikely, but the leaders’ upcoming meeting may bring “incremental” steps to troubleshoot trade friction, HSBC economists said in a recent research note.

“On balance, China looks to have more leverage,” wrote Leah Fahy, senior China economist of Capital Economics, in a note. “But higher tariffs haven’t stopped China’s exports from continuing to surge over the past year, and Beijing has showed that it is prepared to wait out U.S. pressure.”

For China, oil and fuel price hikes caused by the war in Iran are also feeding higher manufacturing and logistics costs across its many factories, said Wei Li, head of multi-asset investments at BNP Paribas Securities (China), while higher global inflation could dampen consumer purchasing power in China’s overseas markets.

Still, China’s overall economy has remained resilient compared with other countries, owing to its large oil reserves and more diversified energy sources.

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