Another West African Country Poised to Defeat Ebola

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The spread of ebola from Guinea to Mali seems to be under control. The one imported case, a two year old girl who traveled by bus from Guinea, passed away. Contact tracing and isolation seems to have prevented the further spread of the virus in Mali. This counts as very good news.   Mali will probably have limited the outbreak of Ebola to one case if there are no new patients next week, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said. Malian and international health workers reacted “much faster” after the first case was confirmed than in other West African countries, Teresa Sancristoval, head of the emergency unit for Ebola at Doctors Without Borders, said in an interview yesterday. Mali has the equipment to deal with a small outbreak and MSF is training workers, she said.” (Bloomberg http://bloom.bg/1pGiNk8)

 

Quote of the Weekend: Ban Ki Moon in a WaPo op-ed “The rate of new Ebola cases shows encouraging signs of slowing in some of the hardest-hit parts of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — and that’s good news. The full-scale international strategy to attack Ebola through safe burials, treatment facilities and community mobilization is paying dividends.” (WaPO http://wapo.st/1pGhRfw)

 

A Fatal Police Shooting in Jerusalem may portend more unrest.  “Israel’s Arab minority observed a one-day general strike on Sunday to protest the fatal police shooting of a young Arab man over the weekend, an event that raised tensions here and prompted charges that the Israeli police resort to force rashly when dealing with Arab citizens.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1pGjdXI)

 

Ebola

 

Relatives of Ebola patients in Sierra Leone criticized hospitals for rejecting sick people and not moving fast enough to tackle the outbreak. (VOA http://bit.ly/1uOhjpn)

 

The African Union, African Development Bank and regional business leaders have set up a $28 million crisis fund to help areas hit by the Ebola outbreak, the AU said in a statement. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1uOnpWT)

 

Africa

 

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS called on the international community not to impose sanctions on Burkina Faso after the military took control of a transition following the resignation of longtime President Blaise Compaore. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1uOfgBD)

 

The United Nations’ top advisor on preventing genocide appealed for dialogue and greater freedoms in Burundi, which he said needed to avert “the worst” ahead of elections next year. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1uOmTb8)

 

Since last month, 120 people have been slaughtered in a wave of mysterious overnight massacres near Eringeti, sowing panic and shattering confidence that Congolese and U.N. forces were making progress in stabilizing the region. (Reuters http://bit.ly/10MheFv)

 

One person was killed in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday after youths rioted to protest against the killing of an alleged Islamist militant. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1uOfeKa)

 

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has begun preparations to organize a presidential election to replace the late President Michael Sata as required by the constitution, according to Chomba Chella, deputy director for elections. (VOA http://bit.ly/1uOhrFb)

 

South Sudan’s rebels said Sunday they did not expect the government to respect a truce and agree to a peace plan, despite renewed pledges to end an 11-month civil war. (AFP http://yhoo.it/10MhaWq)

 

Intended as a safe haven, a camp housing tens of thousands of people fleeing conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region is becoming a virtual prison with armed militias roaming outside. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1uOn5Yb)

 

Burkina Faso’s political parties and civil society groups were on Sunday due to adopt a transition plan for the west African country after the ousting of veteran president Blaise Compaore. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1uOnDgF)

 

MENA

 

Several Syrian friends of an American aid worker held by the Islamic State group and threatened with decapitation called Saturday for his release, saying he converted to Islam and was helping Syrians. (AP http://yhoo.it/1uOmVzY)

 

The United Nations Security Council urged political forces in Yemen to unite, as serious ruptures appeared in the impoverished nation’s nascent cabinet. (AFP http://yhoo.it/10MgQXF)

 

Iraqi officials said Sunday that the head of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was wounded in an airstrike in western Anbar province. Pentagon officials said they had no immediate information on such an attack or on the militant leader being injured. (USA Today http://usat.ly/1pGhBNP)

 

Asia

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping is promising $40 billion to help Asian nations improve trade links in a new effort to assert Beijing’s ambitions as a regional leader. (AP http://yhoo.it/10Mh1Ci)

 

Two Americans freed by North Korea have returned safely to the United States. (VOA http://bit.ly/1uOmMwc)

 

The Americas

 

Protesters in the Mexican state of Guerrero attack government buildings after grisly details of the deaths of missing students emerge. (BBC http://bbc.in/1uOfQ2o)

 

The fight over gay rights in Haiti has become one that’s largely over visibility. The question of how closeted gays should be is the subject of internal struggles for many gay Haitians, the root of infighting among advocates and part of a broader societal struggle over what behavior is to be permitted in public. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/1ucfn8E)

 

Arizona’s frustrations over federal enforcement of the state’s border with Mexico spawned a movement nearly a decade ago to have local police confront illegal immigration. Now, the state’s experiment in immigration enforcement is falling apart in the courts. (AP http://yhoo.it/10MeXtV)

 

Seizures of homemade methamphetamine labs are down by nearly half in many Midwestern US states, but use of the drug remains high as people increasingly turn to cheaper, imported Mexican meth. (AP http://yhoo.it/1uOnedS)

 

Opinion/Blogs

 

Podcast: Mariam Mayet on how Western aid can do more harm than good to African farmers  (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/1uPpu4K)

 

Darfur Has Faded From the Headlines, But It’s Still a Total Mess (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1uPp920)

 

In denying Haiti cholera deaths, UN risks violating its core purpose (GlobalPost http://bit.ly/1uOfuIQ)

 

A Strategy for Rich Countries: Absorb More Immigrants (The Upshot http://nyti.ms/1soeCUw)

 

How ColaLife learned to think outside the crate (The Guardian http://bit.ly/1AO5dje)

 

Ban Ki-moon: The Ebola fight is far from over (The Washington Post http://wapo.st/1ynbDAg)

 

Voices: Ebola establishes dictatorship in Sierra Leone (USA Today http://usat.ly/1uPlWj4)

 

A year after its defeat, could the M23 make a comeback? (Congo Siasa http://bit.ly/1uPoz4d)
What really happens to your donated clothing? (WhyDev http://bit.ly/1ynm4UF)