Governments in the southern African region are closing borders to contain an Ebola outbreak, overriding international calls to maintain open crossings. The closures reflect deepening concerns about viral spread, complicated by existing tensions and conflicts between neighboring states that are now forced into disease-control cooperation.

Álex Saab, a Colombian businessman long suspected of serving as the financial architect for Venezuela's Maduro regime, was deported from Caracas to the United States on May 16th aboard a Gulfstream jet escorted by DEA agents, after the Venezuelan government unexpectedly authorized his extradition. U.S. federal authorities are pursuing new charges against Saab related to alleged money laundering, inflated food contracts through Venezuela's CLAP program, illicit oil and gas operations, and the diversion of public funds through shell companies registered across multiple countries. Intelligence suggests Saab possesses incriminating information about a sprawling international network of businessmen, lawyers, and political figures—including figures close to Nicolás Maduro and Delcy Rodríguez—who allegedly participated in these schemes, raising the possibility of a cooperation agreement with American prosecutors that could expose senior Venezuelan and Colombian officials.