BBC News with Marion Marshall.
President Obama has approved the call-up of reserve in National Guard Forces if they’re needed to help fight Ebola in West Africa. Mr. Obama said the guardsmen would augment the active forces, providing humanitarian assistance in West Africa. The first deployment of guardsmen would be expected to help build 17 Ebola treatment centers in Liberia, one of the countries worst affected by the disease. Officials of the Defense Department said Mr. Obama’s executive order was necessary to speed the deployments and would allow the president to send additional forces as needed.
The US is sending 4000 military personnel to West Africa to help stop the disease. The director of the US Centers for Disease Control, Tomas Freedom has warned that the spread of Ebola virus in Africa could pose a long term threat to America’s healthcare system. He was speaking to a US congressional committee in Washington.
“There was a lot of fear of Ebola. And I will tell you as the director of CDC, one of the things, I fear about Ebola, is that it could spread more widely in Africa. If this would happen, it could become a threat to our health system and the healthcare we give for a long time to come.” But Dr. Freedom said the US had the knowledge and expertise to combat the disease.
The World Health Organization says it is focusing on 15 more African countries in its effort to stop the spread of Ebola. It says they have been chosen because they share land boarders with these 3 worst affected countries, Liberia, Sirra Leon and Guinea, all have significant trade or travel links. In Sirra Leon, a case has been confirmed in the last remaining district to be Ebola free. So the entire country is now affected by the disease.
The extend of female genital mutilation in England has been revealed for the first time. Jane Drapper reports.
“No one has ever been convicted of cutting girls genitalia in the UK. And a recent parliamentary report described the lack of action as a national scandal. This new data from the health and social care information center is an attempt to begin understanding the scale of the problem. The figure showed that as well as 467 new cases seen by MHs hospitals in England just last month, almost 1300 female patients were receiving ongoing treatment because they have been subjected to genital mutilation.”
Turkey has lost its bid for election to the UN Security Council after 3 rounds of voting at the General Assembly. It was beaten by Spain in the runoff for the last vacant seat. The BBC UN correspondent says it was a diplomatic setback for Turkey which has recently faced criticism for not doing enough to stop the advance of Islamic State militants in Kobane. But our correspondent says Turkey’s campaign for a 2-year temporary seat had also been hindered by the fact that it last served on the Security Council 4 years ago.
BBC News.
A series of attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 39 people and injured many more in mainly Shiite neighborhoods. In the deadliest incident, two car bombs were set off in the west district of Dollei. Attackers also targeted a police checkpoint at an army patrol. Another car bomb exploded at a market in the southern district of Mahmudia.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the action is needed to curb EU immigration and pledged to have one last goal in negotiating a better deal for the UK in Europe. Mr. Cameron implied that he might be prepared to advocate Britain in leaving the EU if he didn’t get the deal he wanted.
Brazilian police have arrested a man who, they say, has confessed to at least 39 murders over a period of 3 years. Police said the security guard targeted homeless people, women and homosexuals. Wyre Davies reports from Rio de Janeiro.
“Hand cuffed and wearing a stab vest, Diago locked in car and said nothing as he was shown off in front of the media and victims’ family members in the state capital Goyania. The 26-year old is accused of committing a horrific series of murders, described as cold but driven by raid. Police think he has killed as many as 39 people in Goya State in the last 3 years. R, who has worked as a security guard, is reported to have confessed to the killings, but said reports he had no particular motive and knew none of his victims.”
Mozambique’s main opposition party Renamoo says it won’t accept the results of Wednesday’s presidential elections. Renamoo’s spokesman said that being polling in irregularities and vote in intimidation. Preliminary results suggest the governing F party is heading for victory. As been violent in parts of Mozambique as police clash with protesters who’ve gathered outside polling stations to monitor vote counting. The elections themselves were largely peaceful.