Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
People set fire to an Ebola treatment center in a town at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo on May 21 after being stopped from retrieving the body of a local man, witnesses and police said.
“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area, told The Associated Press.
“The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”
An Associated Press journalist saw people break into the center at Rwampara Hospital and set fire to objects inside, and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.
The crowd set fire to two tents fitted with eight beds run by a medical charity called The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), said Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean-Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province.
Mukendi said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim.
“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear,” Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”
Mother Speaks OutFamily members of a man who died, soccer player Eli Munongo Wangu, wanted to bury their loved one themselves.
Munongo had played for several local teams and was a well-known figure in his neighborhood. He had been admitted to the hospital days earlier. A doctor said he was a suspected Ebola case, and the hospital had taken samples to run tests.
His mother told Reuters she believes her son had died of typhoid fever, not Ebola.
Authorities buried Munongo safely on Friday.
Calm RestoredArmy and police reinforcements arrived to bring the situation under control, according to Mukendi.
Patrick Muyaya, Congo’s communication minister, said on X that “calm has been restored and care is continuing normally” at the center in Rwampara.
Muyaya and ALIMA said that six patients were being treated in the part of the facility set on fire.
They have all been located and are being cared for at a hospital. Security measures have been strengthened, Muyaya said.
Charred hospital beds stand in a smoldering Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, on May 21, 2026. Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne/AP Photo
CondemnationMukendi told reporters that “this is precisely a misunderstanding due to young people who do not understand the reality of this disease.”
ALIMA condemned in a May 21 statement what it called “the endangerment of human lives and the destruction of medical equipment essential for the safe care of patients, in the context of a particularly critical epidemic.”
It also warned against “the spread of incorrect or unconfirmed information on social media and the internet, which is likely to fuel fear, misinformation and mistrust towards health facilities and the teams involved in the Ebola response.”
Congo Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told a briefing on May 19 that the first known Ebola patient in the current outbreak was placed in a coffin after dying, but that the coffin was damaged.
Family members of the patient put the person in a different coffin, “thus spreading the infection,” Kamba said.
He said that the virus that causes Ebola is mainly spread through touching and improperly handling dead bodies.
“It was from this first case, from this funeral ceremony, that the virus exploded,” he said. “Everyone who was around, of course, was probably infected, and many developed the illness, and everyone thought it was the coffin that was causing it.”
Latest FiguresAs of May 20, there have been 64 confirmed cases, 671 suspected cases, six confirmed deaths, and 160 suspected deaths linked to the outbreak, according to the Congolese government.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and multiple other countries have barred some or all flights from Congo, including Uganda and the United States.
Congo’s government said that the cases and deaths have all been in Ituri province or neighboring North Kivu province.
Rebels holding South Kivu province, though, said Thursday that an Ebola case has been confirmed there. Local officials said there were two suspected cases, including one who died.
Tyler Durden Fri, 05/22/2026 - 13:05Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
A shocking video making the rounds shows the reality of life under Los Angeles bridges: a sprawling setup of makeshift homes complete with lighting tapped into the city power grid, tables of items, and a self-contained community living off public resources.
The clip, originally from local documentarian @whitewallstuntz, captures a resident proudly displaying his space. "This how people living out here in LA man. My boy got the whole bridge to himself."
The footage reveals lighting strung throughout, suggesting direct access to grid electricity, alongside what appears to be a network of living areas.
The homeless are now living under the city of Los Angeles
There is basically a small city of homeless under this part of LA
It's a vast network of makeshift homes and even looks like there are tables setup full of likely drug paraphernalia
It has lighting throughout so they've... pic.twitter.com/9lJFttFnp2
The post continues, "These people are living down here for free, getting energy for free, guaranteed they all have EBT cards and free health insurance. It's like a self contained city 100% paid for by taxpayers. This screams 3rd world country but it's in Los Angeles, California. One of the most expensive, once iconic places on earth."
California's homelessness crisis has reached this scale despite enormous spending. The state poured roughly $24 billion into programs between 2019 and 2024, with totals climbing toward $37 billion when including later allocations.
Yet the problem persists, with over 187,000 people experiencing homelessness statewide as of recent counts. Los Angeles County alone accounts for tens of thousands of that total.
Democrat-led policies in Sacramento and LA have funneled massive sums into the system with little measurable success in reducing street homelessness long-term. Audits have repeatedly flagged poor tracking of outcomes, leaving taxpayers wondering where the money actually went while scenes like this underground network expand.
A related clip, which is actually over three years old, drives home the incentive problem. In it, a man who moved to San Francisco explains: "If you're gonna be homeless, it's pretty f*cking easy here. I mean, if we're gonna be realistic, they pay you to be homeless here."
When asked to clarify he responds "$200 food stamps and $620 bucks cash a month - it's free money, dude. This right now is literally by choice. Literally by choice. Like, why would I want to pay rent? I'm not doing. I got a cell phone that I have Amazon Prime and Netflix on."
EXPOSED ? California Democrats are paying people to be homeless
Homeless man moved across country to California to be homeless
"How long you been in San Francisco?"
Homeless man "Since June. If you're gonna be homeless, it's pretty f*cking easy here. I mean, if we're gonna be... pic.twitter.com/X7j9ut09pm
This dynamic fuels what many call the 'Homeless Industrial Complex'.
Joe Rogan has repeatedly highlighted the issue on his show, slamming the waste and lack of accountability. In one discussion, Rogan questioned pouring billions more into the problem with no results, pointing to high salaries for those managing programs while conditions on the streets worsen.
Rogan and guests like Michael Shellenberger have exposed how the system creates incentives to maintain rather than solve the crisis.
While California's Democrat strongholds descend ever deeper into third-world conditions, Washington D.C. offers a striking contrast. Under President Trump's direct intervention, the nation's capital has seen aggressive encampment clearances, restored historic parks and fountains, and visibly cleaner public spaces - with families and even blue-haired locals now reclaiming areas once overrun by vagrants and decay.
This proves decline is a choice. Where endless taxpayer billions and soft policies create underground cities in LA and San Francisco, decisive enforcement and accountability are already making America's capital livable again.
California Democrats have controlled the levers of power for years, promising compassion while delivering third-world visuals in one of America's wealthiest states. Billions spent, power grids tapped for free, EBT and services flowing - yet the encampments multiply and iconic cities decay.
America First priorities like accountability, enforcement against open drug use, and real pathways to self-sufficiency offer a stark contrast. Taxpayers deserve better than funding underground cities while surface-level failures mount.
Tyler Durden Fri, 05/22/2026 - 13:01The Pentagon is reconsidering an $80 million conditional loan to rare-earths refiner ReElement Technologies, raising tensions with the White House over efforts to reduce US reliance on China for critical minerals, according to Bloomberg.
The loan, announced in November through the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), was part of a broader $1.4 billion critical-minerals initiative alongside Vulcan Elements. But officials reviewing the deal have questioned ReElement’s ability to scale production and meet long-term revenue targets, according to people familiar with the matter.
The loan has not been canceled, and no funds have been disbursed. Pentagon officials emphasized from the outset that ReElement still needed to pass financial, legal, and technical due diligence before receiving funding.
The dispute highlights a broader divide inside the Trump administration between moving quickly to build domestic rare-earth supply chains and conducting rigorous vetting. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro criticized OSC’s review process as too burdensome for emerging companies, calling ReElement “exactly the kind of asymmetric bet we should be making.”
Bloomberg writes that Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell defended OSC’s oversight, saying the office balances speed with disciplined dealmaking. The effort is overseen by Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg.
ReElement CEO Mark Jensen said the company’s work with the government is ongoing and confirmed plans to continue developing its Indiana refining facility.
Under the agreement, ReElement would produce rare-earth oxides from recycled materials, while Vulcan would turn them into magnets used in defense and energy technologies. The Pentagon previously said the companies aimed to produce up to 10,000 metric tons of magnet materials over the coming years.
Despite concerns, the government’s backing helped ReElement attract additional private investment, including a $200 million strategic equity agreement with Transition Equity Partners announced in January.
ReElement, formerly a subsidiary of American Resources Corp., was described in a 2025 filing as being in a “pre-revenue development stage.”
Tyler Durden Fri, 05/22/2026 - 12:50