AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in a late-night social media post. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second-in-command of the Islamic State group globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”

Al-Mainuki was viewed as the key figure in IS organizing and finance, and had been plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share sensitive information.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the operation and said Al-Mainuki was killed alongside “several of his lieutenants, during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin."

The joint operation is the latest by both countries since their new security partnership that kicked off last year after Trump claimed Christians were being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis and threatened U.S. military intervention. Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria's security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.

Brass bands in Beijing make way for sticker shock at home as Trump returns to escalating inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump returned from the spectacle of a Chinese state visit to a less than welcoming U.S. economy — with the military band and garden tour in Beijing giving way to pressure over how to fix America's escalating inflation rate.

Consumer inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, higher than what he inherited as the Iran war and the Republican president’s own tariffs have pushed up prices. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains and effectively making workers poorer. The Cleveland Federal Reserve estimates that annual inflation could reach 4.2% in May as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

Trump’s time with Chinese leader Xi Jinping appears unlikely to help the U.S. economy much, despite Trump's claims of coming trade deals. The trip occurred as many people are voting in primaries leading into the November general election while having to absorb the rising costs of gasoline, groceries, utility bills, jewelry, women’s clothing, airplane tickets and delivery services. Democrats see the moment as a political opportunity.

“He’s returning to a dumpster fire,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, a liberal think tank focused on economic issues. “The president will not have the faith and confidence of the American people — the economy is their top issue and the president is saying, ‘You’re on your own.’”

The president’s trip to Beijing and his recent comments that indicated a tone-deafness to voters' concerns about rising prices have suggested his focus is not on the American public and have undermined Republicans who had intended to campaign on last year’s tax cuts as helping families.

Trump's description of Taiwan as a ‘good negotiating chip’ with China raises anxieties

Recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that arms sales to Taiwan are a “very good negotiating chip” in the United States’ dealings with China are heightening anxieties on the island democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Trump made the comment in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier that aired right after the U.S. president wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China on Friday.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary. The U.S., like all countries that have formal ties with Beijing, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but has been the island’s strongest backer and arms supplier.

Trump is now suggesting that is open to negotiation.

Asked if he would approve a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan that has been held up for months, Trump said that’s up to China.

Israeli strike kills Hamas’ military wing leader, who Israel says was an architect of Oct 7 attacks

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing who was one of the last surviving architects of the attacks that triggered the war in late 2023, the Israeli military said Saturday. Hamas confirmed the death.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed on Friday, Israel’s army said, describing him as one of the senior Hamas military commanders who directed the planning and execution of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

A Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, confirmed the killing on social media.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, and the top diplomat overseeing it says it has stalled because of the deadlock over disarming Hamas. Both sides have traded accusations of violations. Gaza has seen near-daily Israeli fire with more than 850 people killed in the Palestinian territory since the ceasefire went into effect in October, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. The ministry overall says Israel’s retaliatory strikes in the war have devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 72,700 people.

Trump blasts 'disloyal' Sen. Cassidy while pushing challenger in Louisiana Republican primary

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is fighting for his political life in Louisiana's Republican primary on Saturday as he faces a challenge backed by President Donald Trump, the latest attempt by the president to purge the party of politicians he views as disloyal.

Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow over Cassidy, in an unusual attempt to dislodge an incumbent senator. Cassidy voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cassidy, a doctor, has also clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy, even though he provided crucial support to help Kennedy get confirmed.

The president unloaded on Cassidy on Saturday morning, calling him “a disloyal disaster" and “a terrible guy" on social media. Trump criticized the senator's impeachment vote and said “he's going to get CLOBBERED,” adding that Letlow is “a winner who will NEVER let you down.”

A third candidate is state Treasurer John Fleming. If no one gets at least 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held June 27.

The winner will almost certainly take the November general election because of the state's Republican leanings.

Driver plows into pedestrians in Modena, 8 injured as driver detained after attempted escape

ROME (AP) — A driver plowed into pedestrians in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring eight people, four of them critically, before trying to flee and being detained by police, local authorities said. They said the man was known to officials for having mental disorders.

Authorities identified the driver as Salim El Koudri, a 31-year-old second-generation Italian born in Bergamo and living in the province of Modena. El Koudri, who holds a degree in economics, is unemployed, authorities said. He was detained and questioned at police headquarters in Modena as investigators tried to determine whether he acted deliberately.

Investigators said at a press conference Saturday evening there was no immediate indication the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. His home was searched as part of the investigation.

Modena Prefect Fabrizia Triolo said el Koudri had been known to local mental health services for schizoid disorders, while officials stressed that early findings pointed to possible mental instability but required further verification. No links to extremist groups emerged.

Mayor Massimo Mezzetti said no one was killed in the dramatic crash but four victims were in serious condition. He said a woman was pinned against a shop window and required the amputation of both legs.

Maldives suspends search for 4 Italians in underwater cave after military diver dies

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Maldivian authorities on Saturday suspended the search for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave, after a military diver died during a perilous mission to try to reach them.

The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).

Maldives presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.

Authorities are awaiting the arrival of three Finnish divers, experts in deep and cave diving, on Sunday, to rethink their search strategy, he said.

Mahudhee will be buried with military honors in a funeral attended by President Mohamed Muzzu on Saturday night. The diver was part of the group that had briefed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday.

USS Ford returns home after 11-month deployment supporting the Iran war and Maduro's capture

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world largest aircraft carrier, returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, that saw it support the U.S. war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela's president.

The most advanced U.S. warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June. Besides combat operations and traversing continents, the sailors aboard the carrier faced a noncombat-related fire that left hundreds without places to sleep and forced lengthy repairs on the Greek island of Crete.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival of the warships, which included the destroyer USS Bainbridge.

Hegseth commended the crew of the Bainbridge for a “job well done.”

“You didn't just accomplish a mission, you made history,” Hegseth said on the destroyer's deck. “You made a nation proud.”

Congolese report constant burials as deaths in new Ebola outbreak reach 87

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — At least 87 deaths have been reported in Congo's new Ebola disease outbreak in eastern Ituri province, the Africa CDC said Saturday, warning of an "active community transmission" as health workers raced to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease.

Meanwhile, Associated Press journalists in Ituri’s capital, Bunia, interviewed locals who recounted their fears and constant burials.

“Every day, people are dying ... and this has been going on for about a week. In a single day, we bury two, three or even more people,” said Jean Marc Asimwe, a resident of Bunia. “At this point, we don’t really know what kind of disease it is.”

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

Officials first announced the latest outbreak in Congo on Friday with 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases. By Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected and 13 confirmed cases. Four people have died among the confirmed cases.

The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final in Vienna with pop and protests

VIENNA (AP) — The Eurovision Song Contest reached its sequin-drenched final on Saturday, with tight security and rainy weather failing to dent the enthusiasm of fans, or the opposition of critics who think Israel shouldn’t be invited to the party.

After a week’s buildup, acts from 25 countries took the stage at the Wiener Stadthalle arena in Vienna to battle for the continent’s pop crown. Millions of viewers around the world will cast judgment on a fiery Finnish violinist, a Moldovan folk rapper, a Serbian metal band and many more at Eurovision’s 70th anniversary event.

The performances are just half of the show. After all the contestants comes the process of casting, tallying and announcing the result of the votes.

The campy, colorful contest has been likened to the World Cup with songs instead of soccer. And like global sports, it often becomes entangled in politics. The contest has been clouded for a third year by calls for Israel to be excluded over its conflicts in Gaza and elsewhere, with five longtime participants — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — boycotting in protest.

The political tensions have clouded a contest that over the decades has given the world the perfect pop of ABBA’s “Waterloo” and the ageless “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” — better known as “Volare” — along with a host of Euro-pop party anthems.