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Congo says more than 1,000 die of Ebola, confirmed cases rise to 2,536

BY AP | POSTED BY TOE More than 1,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in Congo, according to Africa’s top health body, a grim toll in the fastest Ebola outbreak in history, as conflict, community resistance and an uneven response fuel its spread. Speaking at a health summit in Ghana on Wednesday, Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed. “These are people dying. They are dying because we don’t have vaccines, we don’t have medicine, we don’t have funding,” he added. The latest update from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed that as of Monday, 2,473 cases had been recorded in the latest outbreak. At least 737 patients were in isolation or hospitalized, it said. The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments. It h...

Ukraine gets new top commander as protests spark war’s biggest military shake up

BY HANNA ARHIROVA AP | POSTED BY TOE President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday named a young major general, Mykhailo Drapatyi, as the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military after days of street protests, marking the biggest shake-up in the country’s military ‌leadership since its war with Russia began. President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy  on Tuesday fired Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of  Ukraine’s armed forces  and named his replacement, following days of mass protests in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and other cities across the nation demanding his removal. It was the  second major change  Zelenskyy has made under street pressure, after protests last summer forced him to undo a law weakening Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs. Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as  the new army chief , according to a statement on social media. “Our shared wish is one — victory over the enemy and conditions at the front a...

Mali insurgents ambush army convoy, source says more than 50 killed

By Reuters | Posted by TOE Militants linked to al Qaeda and a Tuareg-led separatist group ambushed a military convoy in northern Mali over the weekend, and a source close to the rebels said more than 50 soldiers and allied Russian fighters were killed and others taken hostage.  The attack marked the latest in a series of escalating assaults by the two groups, which joined forces for nationwide attacks in April that killed the defence minister and hit the airport in the capital Bamako, and launched a second wave this month aimed at seizing the town of Anefis. The incident occurred on Saturday between Anefis and the city of Gao in the north, according to statements from Mali’s armed forces, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), and the al Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). Mali’s army said the ambush happened in the Tabrichat area and was followed by retaliatory airstrikes that killed at least 20 insurgents. The FLA statement said ...

Kyiv hit with deadly strikes after attack on Russian e-commerce giant

By AFP | Posted by TOE Russian strikes killed one person and wounded 13 others in Ukraine’s capital on Sunday after Kyiv launched a deadly wave of drones that struck e-commerce warehouses in Russia. The latest bombardment highlights a dual challenge for Ukraine in its fifth year of war, facing almost daily Russian attacks alongside rare domestic political instability triggered by a sudden wartime shakeup of its military leadership. AFP journalists in Kyiv heard explosions moments after the Ukrainian air force warned residents via Telegram of incoming ballistic missiles. One of the explosions was so powerful it set off alarms of cars parked in the city centre, an AFP journalist said. Ukraine’s state emergency services said on Telegram that one person was killed and 13 others wounded in the attack that police said had targeted six districts. According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and local authorities, an apartment building in the Solomianskyi distri...

Israeli strikes kill Palestinians attending Gaza funeral for earlier strike victim

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Enas Alashray Reuters An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 20 attending a funeral in Nuseirat in the ​central Gaza Strip on Friday for a person killed by another Israeli strike on ‌the area earlier in the day, Gaza health officials said. Those deaths, along with at least three Palestinians killed in separate Israeli airstrikes elsewhere in the enclave, brought Friday’s toll to at least 12, medics said. Hamas condemned the ​Nuseirat strike as a “brutal massacre” against mourners and urged mediators, as well as the ​United Nations, to act to halt Israeli attacks in Gaza. Asked about the attack ⁠in Nuseirat, the Israeli military said it struck a cell belonging to the Islamic Jihad ​militant group, which holds sway in parts of the enclave along with Hamas. The military said it was “aware ​of the claims that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike”. ISRA...

Uganda discharges last Ebola patient, starts countdown to be virus-free

By DPA | Posted by TOE Uganda discharged its last Ebola patient – a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo who has fully recovered – the Ugandan Health Ministry said on Thursday on X. It said the Congolese patient can now return home. The discharge triggered a 42-day period required under international guidelines after which Uganda can declare the Ebola outbreak over, provided no new cases occur. Still, the health ministry urged the public to remain alert for possible Ebola symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding. Situation in the Congo While Uganda is hoping for an end to the outbreak, the virus continues to spread in neighbouring Congo. Since mid-May, more than 2,000 people there have been confirmed to have contracted Ebola. The Congolese Information Ministry said the number of confirmed cases currently stands at 2,073, including 796 deaths. At present, 737 patients are being treated in hospitals and isolation centr...

More than 500 feared dead after boats sink off Myanmar coast

By Reuters | Posted by TOE Two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days, ​UN agencies said on Thursday, as refugees from the ‌war-torn country continue to make perilous maritime journeys in search of safety and better opportunities. “According to preliminary information, the two vessels departed from ​Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya ​passengers, reportedly including some who had travelled from refugee ⁠camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,” the International Organization for Migration ​and the UN Refugee Agency said in a joint statement, saying ​more than 500 were feared dead. Two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days, ​UN agencies said on Thursday, as refugees from the ‌war-torn country continue to make perilous maritime journeys in search of safety and better opportunities. “According to preliminary inform...