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From Washington, this is VOA news. Day two of a lockdown in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to fight Ebola. The U.S. releases Pakistan detainees. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
In Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, police stopped motorists checking their passes for being out on this Saturday. This weekend, President Ernest Bai Koroma appealed to all Sierra Leoneans to stay home for Sunday as health workers look for hidden Ebola cases, seeking to stop the spread of the deadly disease. "To overcome it, all of us must play our part." President Koroma refuted claims by critics the lockdown could be chaotic and ineffective. The regional anti-Ebola effort has been hampered by widespread fears and misinformation about the disease. In Nigeria, dozens of people reportedly have been killed as Boko Haram militant group members stormed a market in the northeastern town of Mainok. Security sources told Reuters news service that at least 23 civilians were among the dead. All the rest were militants. Boko Haram has killed thousands in the past five years. It's trying to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria. The United States reportedly has released 14 Pakistani detainees. According to Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam in Islamabad, the transfer from Bagram military prison in Afghanistan to Pakistan took place on Saturday. The Lahore-based legal aid organization, Justice Project Pakistan, that represents the families of the Bagram detainees, says the U.S. military has released a total of 39 Pakistanis, including Saturday's batch, from custody in the past 10 months. The names of these former detainees have not been released. This is VOA news. Afghan presidential candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, have finally negotiated a long-awaited deal to share power in a so-called national unity government, a move likely to end a months-long election crisis in the war-shattered country. Officials say the two men vying to replace President Hamid Karzai will sign the document on Sunday, the same day the election commission will announce results of a bitterly disputed June presidential runoff. Ayaz Gul has more from Islamabad. Under the power-sharing deal, a newly created office of the chief executive is to be given to the election loser or his nominee, and will have considerable powers in the governance system. The post will be given constitutional cover within two years. Hamedullah Farooqi, a spokesman for the front-runner Ghani, told VOA the deal has been finalized within the Afghan constitution to avoid creating what he called "a shareholder company-type government." Members of the Abdullah team also have confirmed that a deal has finally been struck, but they gave no details. Ayaz Gul, for VOA news, Islamabad. Turkey's prime minister says 49 Turkish hostages seized by Islamic State militants in Iraq in June have been freed. Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday those hostages were released earlier in the day. Security forces in Kenya have been blamed for an unorganized response to last year's terrorist attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi and for failing to heed security warnings ahead of time. A year after that deadly siege, security experts say nothing has changed. For VOA, Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi. Security analyst Andrew Franklin tells VOA nothing has changed: "The introduction of the Kenyan Defense Forces domestically again (and) again since Westgate set no seeming effect the fact Lamu County is under curfew. I would suggested that these signs all indicate nothing has changed since what we saw at Westgate." Kenyan police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi agrees some mistakes were made, but says now they are working hard on how to improve. Mohammed Yusuf, for VOA news, Nairobi. A United Nations envoy says Yemen's government has reached an agreement to end fighting with Shiite Houthi rebels that has intensified in recent days. Jamal Benomar, the special advisor to the U.N. secretary-general on Yemen, said Saturday that the deal will "lay the foundation for national partnership and for security and stability." And this item, Lebanese state media say a suicide bomber has killed three people at a checkpoint manned by Hezbollah fighters near the Syrian border. The National News Agency reports the bomber detonated his explosive-packed vehicle on Saturday. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. More on these at voanews.com. I'm Vincent Bruce in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |