🇺🇸🇨🇺⚡- BREAKING: The DOJ plans to pursue an indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro, and brother to Fidel Castro, concerning the downing of aircraft operated by a humanitarian group in 1996.

🇺🇲🇨🇺⚡️- "Ratcliffe told Cuban officials they have a limited window to stabilize the island’s economy and engage with the Trump administration.

Ratcliffe warned his Cuban counterparts that President Trump should be taken seriously, the official said. To make the point, he referred to the U.S. military raid that deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January." - Wall Street Journal.

🇺🇸🇨🇳⚡️- "One thing I think that we're going to make a deal on, they've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States. They're going to go to Texas. We're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas, and to Louisiana, and to Alaska... that's a big thing" - President Trump on his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

🇺🇸⚡️- According to the Wall Street Journal President Trump is having preliminary discussions about a plan to issue 250 pardons to mark the US 250th anniversary.

🇺🇸🇨🇴⚡️- "Today the FBI and our partners extradited the highest ranking member of Tren de Aragua (TdA) ever brought to justice - Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, aka "Chuqui.

Flores just arrived in Houston from Colombia this evening.

This is the first time ever that a TdA member has been charged with terrorism-related crimes and been extradited to the U.S. - history made pursuant to President Trump’s executive order last summer designating Tren de Aragua as an FTO.

Flores is charged with providing material support to TdA, a designated foreign terrorist organization, as well as with international drug distribution conspiracy. He is scheduled to make his federal court appearance Friday morning." - FBI Director Kash Patel

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇹🇼⚡️- "I think China’s preference is probably to have Taiwan willingly, voluntarily join them, in a perfect world what they would want is some vote or referendum in Taiwan that agrees to fold in, I think that's what they would prefer.

Ultimately President Xi’s mandate in the time he's been in office, he's made clear that what they call reunification is something that has to happen at some point, We think it would be a terrible mistake to force that through force or anything of that nature, there would be repercussion for that globally, not just from the United States.

We kind of leave it there, that sort of ambiguity is what i think has defined the way we characterise this issue. The reason being the strategic ambiguity is we don't want to see conflict, we don't want to see something disruptive happen. I think that would be very disruptive for the world and both countries." - Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State.

🇺🇸🎂⚡️- George Lucas the creator of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and founder of Lucasfilm celebrates his 82nd birthday today.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️- The US House of Representatives has voted again on a war power resolution to limit military action against Iran. The vote failed with 212 for, 212 against.

🇮🇳⚡️- Last summer, FBI Director Kash Patel made a stopover in Hawaii while returning home from his official travel, which was justified by FBI press releases showing his tour of the FBI field office in Honolulu.

The Associated Press obtained exclusive emails showing that the FBI's disclosures left out that Patel stayed in Hawaii for 2 nights and took part in a "VIP snorkel" of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. A sunken battleship where more than 900 sailors and Marines lost their lives during World War II.

The USS Arizona is a closed site with few exceptions outside of maintenance or survey dives being permitted by the US Navy.

The FBI refused to answer questions regarding the snorkeling mission.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Hezbollah rocket alerts in northern Israel.

🇺🇸🇨🇳⚡️- US Defence secretary Pete Hegseth and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun have been meeting on the sidelines of the President Trump and President Xi meetings.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- "URGENT WARNING TO RESIDENTS OF LEBANON LOCATED IN THE FOLLOWING TOWNS AND VILLAGES: Shabriha, Hmaideh (Tyre), Zaqaq al-Mufdi, Mashouk, Al-Hawsh

- In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is compelled to act against it forcefully. The Israeli Defense Forces do not intend to harm you.

- For the sake of your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns for a distance of no less than 1000 meters to open areas.

- Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, and their combat means exposes their life to danger!" - Israeli Defence Force Spokesperson.

🇫🇮⚡️- Air traffic at Helsinki airport was briefly closed earlier due to suspected drones.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- Reporter: "Do you feel that think you have to get the dust [Iran's enriched Uranian], or have you been told there's maybe a way to entomb it, so that they could never get to it".

President Trump: "We were thinking about doing it early on. it would take a while, it would take a week and a half [to get the Uranian out of Iran]. that's a long time to be in enemy territory.

i don't think its necessary, except for a public relations standpoint. i think its important for the fake news that we get it. I'm the one who said were gonna get it, and were gonna get it, we have our eye on it."

🇨🇳🇷🇺⚡️- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Xi Jinping in Beijing next Wednesday, May 20, according to Chinese media.

🇺🇸🇨🇳⚡️- President Trump: "Ask the President [Xi], other presidents and prime ministers, does he bring them here?"

🇺🇸🇨🇳⚡️- President Trump has left China, concluding the two-day summit.

🇨🇩⚡️- An Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 246 cases and 65 deaths.