Liberia is no longer ebola free. This just goes to show how health officials must remain exceedingly vigilant. “A second case of Ebola has been confirmed in Liberia, following the death of a teenager from the virus on Sunday, officials say. The country had been declared Ebola-free more than seven weeks ago. The new case was in Nedowein, the same village where the boy died, the ministry of information said. Liberia’s authorities quarantined the area after the teenager’s death and said his funeral was carried out safely. The BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh says the man who tested positive for Ebola did not live with the teenager who died, and has been moved to a treatment centre.” (BBC http://bbc.in/1KtP075)
Yet More Sex Abuse Allegations Against French Troops in Africa…France has suspended two of its soldiers over allegations they sexually abused children, including a five-year-old girl, in the west African country of Burkina Faso, the defence ministry said…The suspensions follow an alleged sex abuse scandal involving French troops in Central African Republic (CAR), which caused outrage and only came to light after claims were leaked to the British press.One of the alleged victims in Burkina Faso was a five-year-old girl whose father found a camera containing images of his daughter being sexually abused. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1JwTXMi)
Stat of the Day: More than 135,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea in the first half of 2015, with most of the burden being borne by countries in southern Europe, according to a new report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1R4yEG1)
Africa
Human traffickers in Ethiopia could face life in jail or the death penalty under a bill presented to parliament aimed at curbing the illegal flow of people in and out of the Horn of Africa country. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1R4yEWt)
Dubai-based Investbridge Capital, Centum Investment Company and education firm SABIS Holdings have agreed to set up a firm which will invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” establishing schools in Africa, the group said on Wednesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1NwXmbT)
U.S. President Barack Obama hailed last week’s Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage as a “thunderbolt” but few share his view of gay rights in socially and religiously conservative Africa, which he visits this month. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1NwXmJ0)
MENA
Islamic State militants launched a wide-scale coordinated assault on several military checkpoints in Egypt’s North Sinai on Wednesday in which 50 people were killed, security sources said, the largest attack yet in the insurgency-hit province. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1R4yBdg)
The World Food Program says it had to cut in half food aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon because of a funding crisis and may soon have to halt all food support for most refugees in Jordan. (AP http://yhoo.it/1LDfMt8)
Kuwait’s first-ever legislation on the rights of domestic helpers is a “major step” that other Gulf states should follow, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1LUU3L9)
Asia
Sri Lanka’s ousted president Mahinda Rajapaksa says he will contest August elections that could determine the fate of his successor’s reform drive. (Time http://ti.me/1KtOExo)
Thai officials said Wednesday they arrested two key figures in a human trafficking ring that provides slave crews for the country’s fishing boats, the latest move in a crackdown on widespread labor abuses in Southeast Asia’s fishing industry. (VOA http://bit.ly/1LDfyCm)
Pakistan’s government says the brutal heat wave that hit the port city of Karachi and the country’s southern province of Sind in June killed 1,250 people before subsiding. (AP http://yhoo.it/1LDfMcE)
Rusty padlocks seal empty classrooms and blank graduation certificates litter a dusty, silent school corridor in Rudong, a haunting glimpse of China’s ageing future in a town which pioneered the one-child policy. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1LUU1D3)
China needs fundamental reform of its state-dominated financial system to keep economic growth on track, the World Bank said Wednesday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1LUU3KZ)
The Americas
A flood of people leaving the Dominican Republic for Haiti could grow into a humanitarian disaster and regional security threat, Port-au-Prince warned. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1LUTZef)
The supreme court in Honduras has ordered the arrest of the vice-president of Congress, Lena Gutierrez, over a corruption scandal. (BBC http://bbc.in/1LUTIYQ)
…and the rest
Hundreds of mayors, CEOs and trade groups from around the world are submitting their ideas for reducing global warming to the French government as it prepares to host a major U.N. climate conference later this year. (AP http://yhoo.it/1LDfNx8)
The Department for International Development could find its ringfenced, multi-billion-pound budget under threat from other departments unless it can demonstrate a “very clear strategic vision” for helping the world’s poorest people and delivering value for money, the new head of the independent aid watchdog has warned. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1LUTMrI)
Opinion/Blogs
Why the development community needs to hear women’s voices (Guardian http://bit.ly/1LDflPv)
BRICS for Building a New World Order? (IPS http://bit.ly/1R4yqP4)
Picking up the Dollars on the Pavement – What I’d Like to See from Addis (Owen Abroad http://bit.ly/1JwUBtg)
Mali’s peace deal represents a welcome development, but will it work this time? (Guradian http://bit.ly/1LDfm60)
It’s all about the money (IRIN http://bit.ly/1LDfwu6)