DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Migrants deported from the U.S. and detained in a hotel in Equatorial Guinea say that authorities there also have used the facility to quarantine at least one suspected Ebola patient, deportees and lawyers representing them said Thursday.
The hotel on a tropical island off the country’s coast, owned by the country’s powerful President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is being used to house 17 migrants from countries including Angola, Mauritania and Ethiopia under an opaque third-country deportation deal with the Trump administration.
According to a statement from a coalition of international lawyers and interviews with two of the deportees, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, a man suspected of having Ebola was brought to the hotel last week by medical personnel in hazmat suits, and placed on a floor below the detainees.
The central African nation of Congo is currently battling a rare Ebola virus that has killed over 600 in an outbreak first announced in May. Cases have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, but so far no cases — or even suspected cases — have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, which shares no border with Congo and is roughly 1885 miles (1,425 km) away.
However, two deportees told The Associated Press that they were told by a doctor in English that the man was a suspected Ebola patient and that they should be careful, but that they were provided no further details.
The lawyers group said in a statement that they had received “disturbing reports from multiple detained individuals that a person with a suspected case of Ebola was recently brought under quarantine into the same hotel complex where they are being held.”
One of the deportees said that a woman also was brought to the quarantine floor on Sunday and that medical staff had identified her as a suspected Ebola patient as well.
The AP saw videos showing medical personnel in full protective equipment appearing to transport patients to the hotel, which also served as an isolation center during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Things are getting worse every day,” one of the detainees said in an interview. “It’s very confusing, no one is coming to talk to us. No one is informing us of anything. The hygiene is unimaginable.”
Apart from those present at the moment, the detainees were provided with no masks, disinfectants or other basic protective supplies, nor informed of any measures to reduce the risk of exposure, lawyers and detainees said.
Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people it has deemed to be in the country illegally to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say, as part of a broad U.S. crackdown to deter illegal immigration.
Immigration lawyers said the Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries. Equatorial Guinea is one of at least eight other African nations that the U.S. has struck such agreements with.
Following an $7.5 million deal with Equatorial Guinea, President Obiang has turned a hotel owned by his family in Malabo on Bioko island into a detention center.
There are currently 4 women and 13 men held in the hotel, according to the lawyers. All of them have received orders from U.S. judges that should have protected them from being removed to their home countries, the lawyers said.
Earlier this month, rights lawyers filed a case against Equatorial Guinea before Africa’s top human rights body, accusing the central African nation of forcing deportees from the U.S. back to their home countries in violation of their rights.
The lawyers’ coalition said on Thursday that they also received “multiple reports that individuals with serious medical conditions are being denied adequate medical care while detained in government custody.”
Equatorial Guinea is one of the richest countries in Africa thanks to its oil resources. It is also rife with corruption and human rights abuses, according to U.S. officials.
There are virtually no critical voices in Equatorial Guinea, where the government has been accused by rights groups and the U.S. State Department of detaining, torturing and even killing those that dare to speak out.
The country’s largest foreign investors are U.S. businesses, and its military receives funding for training from the U.S. government.
FILE - A view of Bamy Hotel, where migrants are held, is seen in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Monika Pronczuk, File)
LONDON (AP) — Karolina Muchova ended Coco Gauff’s run at Wimbledon in a drama-filled tiebreaker to reach the final on Thursday.
Muchova won 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) to become the fourth Czech woman in the last six years to reach the championship match of the grass-court Grand Slam.
“It was such a big fight,” Muchova said. “It was a roller coaster.”
Gauff wasted a match point in the tiebreaker when she dinked an attackable forehand into the net to follow a powerful first serve.
Muchova then produced a lob winner to set up her first match point, which she lost when she slipped to the grass and a passing shot from Gauff sailed by her.
But Muchova quickly set up another match point and produced a shot to the corner. Gauff reached the ball but her forehand response landed in the net and Muchova covered her hands in disbelief.
“You’re up and down in 10 seconds. You have a match point, then match point down. It’s no time to think, but very nerve-wracking,” Muchova said. “I’m really kind of shaking and trying to sink it in.”
It will be the ninth-ranked Muchova’s second Grand Slam final after losing to Iga Swiatek in the 2023 French Open championship match.
Muchova could face another Czech player in Saturday’s final, with Linda Noskova to play Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the other semifinal next on Centre Court.
The other Czech women in the Wimbledon final recently were: Karolina Pliskova (runner-up in 2021); Marketa Vondrousova (champion in 2023); and Barbora Krejcikova (champion in 2024).
For Gauff, it was still her most successful Wimbledon. Previously, the seventh-ranked American had gone only as far as the fourth round three times – including during her breakthrough run as a 15-year-old in 2019.
The men’s semifinals on Friday feature top-ranked and defending champion Jannik Sinner against seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic and French Open champion Alexander Zverev against British wild card Arthur Fery.
It was another hot day in London with the temperature soaring to 91 degrees Fahreinheit (33 Celsius), prompting spectators to fan themselves in the stands in an attempt to keep cool.
Muchova appeared to be struggling physically as the match wore on, bending over in exhaustion after one long rally and holding her abdomen in apparent pain during the final game.
“I’m OK,” Muchova said. “I just was trying to catch a breath.”
Muchova said she took a photo of Centre Court when she came to practice on the famed lawn ahead of her first career match on the most revered court in tennis.
“There are so many of us tennis players and I don’t think many of us get to play on this court,” she said. “It’s just a nice moment to experience all of this and this court is beautiful.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic celebrates her victory against Coco Gauff of the United States in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Coco Gauff of the United States loses her balance during a point against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic celebrates her victory against Coco Gauff of the United States in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic celebrates her victory against Coco Gauff of the United States, background, in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Coco Gauff of the United States returns the ball to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic serves to Coco Gauff of the United States in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Coco Gauff of the United States returns the ball to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic returns the ball to Coco Gauff of the United States in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Coco Gauff of the United States reacts after losing a point against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in their semifinal women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
