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From Washington, this is VOA news. The World Health Organization suggests against closing West African borders to battle Ebola. The U.S. pledges millions in aid to those affected by the war in Syria. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
While the Ebola crisis has created closure of borders in West Africa, the World Health Organization says that is not a good idea. Christin Roby reports from Dakar. Senegal and Ivory Coast have closed their airports to planes coming from Ebola-affected countries. The World Health Organization says this is not the answer to containing Ebola, since the risk of transmitting the disease during a flight is quite low. The virus cannot be transferred from one person to another through the air by coughing, for example, but only from contact with blood or other bodily fluids. Christin Roby, for VOA news, Dakar. Secretary of State John Kerry has announced nearly $500 million in additional United States aid for those affected by Syria's civil war. Kerry announced the aid package Friday in Turkey: "We have concerns with respect to what's happening from Libya to Mali to the Horn of Africa and throughout the Middle East, and of course, now the events in Iraq. So we have a great deal to talk about." More than $250 million of the aid package will go to help the over three million Syrian refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. Much of the rest will focus on civilians displaced within Syria. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says it would not be appropriate for Iran to join upcoming talks on fighting the group calling itself the Islamic State because of Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. More on these stories at voanews.com. This is VOA news. Firebrand Unionist leader and former first minister of Northern Ireland Ian Paisley has died at the age of 88. The hardline Presbyterian minister and politician was known for reaching a power-sharing agreement with his former Sinn Fein enemies. Paisley had been ill for some time. The father of teenage activist Malala Yousafzai has called the arrest of his daughter's alleged attackers "the beginning of real hope" for Pakistan. Pakistani officials announced Friday they had apprehended 10 suspects in the attempted assassination of Malala, who recovered from grave injuries to become a globally recognized human rights figure. Authorities say the men acted on orders from the Pakistani Taliban and were part of Tehrik-e-Taliban, an umbrella group for militant organizations in Pakistan's tribal areas. The group has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to an Associated Press report, more than 5,000 people have been killed in the Central African Republic since December in violence between Muslims and Christians, and enhanced regional peacekeeping forces poised come under United Nations control next week. And U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the deployments will be difficult: "We're dealing with an extremely, extremely complicated logistical situation. CAR, as you well know, is landlocked, has very little in terms of transport infrastructure." The European Union and the United States have imposed new packages of economic sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The new measures went into effect Friday. They expand sanctions targeting Russia's energy, financial and defense sectors. Among the companies targeted in the latest round of sanctions are Gazprom, Russia's giant natural gas monopoly, and its oil unit Gazprom Neft. Earlier Friday, the European Union imposed new sanctions that target Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Transneft as well as three large defense firms. Friday, South African track star Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, while being cleared of more serious murder charges in connection with the killing of his girlfriend. Prosecutors argued Pistorius acted intentionally when he shot model Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home last year. Pistorius maintained he thought he was firing at a nighttime intruder. After the verdict was delivered Friday, Pistorius's uncle Arnold said the family was "grateful" the 27-year-old Olympic sprinter was found not guilty of murder. Steenkamp's parents expressed "disbelief" at the ruling. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has criticized the Texas government's decision to deploy National Guard troops along the state's border with Mexico. He calls it "reprehensible." More at voanews.com. I'm Vincent Bruce in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |