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From Washington, this is VOA news. The United States accuses Damascus of failing to stop militants from using Syrian territory as a safe haven, and U.S. health agency says the number of Ebola cases in West Africa could rise above one million. I'm Michael Lipin reporting from Washington.
U.S. health researchers say the number of people in West Africa who could become infected with Ebola could rise to as much as 1.4 million by January unless the epidemic is brought under control. That prediction from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, is based on a model that assumes Ebola cases will double every few weeks in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The CDC said its highest projection for the number of cases will become very unlikely if authorities implement new steps to combat Ebola. Those measures include creating more Ebola treatment centers and the U.S. pledged to send 3,000 troops to West Africa to support health care workers. The United States says it has launched its first airstrikes on Islamic State militants inside Syrian because it believes Damascus cannot and will not stop the group from using Syrian territory as a safe haven. The United States and several of its Arab allies carried out a wave of airstrikes in Syria targeting the Islamic State group and a separate al-Qaeda militant faction early Tuesday. U.S. officials described the operation as very successful. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power read a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, saying the Islamic State uses safe havens inside Syria to train, finance and attack civilians in neighboring Iraq. This is VOA news. The United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF, says the suffering of children in conflicts around the world has become a more serious problem than physical and psychological abuse of children in areas without conflict. Lisa Schlein has the story from Geneva. UNICEF Child Protection Programs chief Susan Bissell says far too many children around the world are caught in situations of conflict, where they are killed , maimed and subjected to untold horrors. "We are saying at present, though I suspect this is an underestimation, that about one billion children live in countries and territories affected by conflict. It sort of feels like the world is falling apart for children." Since the war in Syria broke out in March 2011, the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people have been killed. At least 10,000 were children, with many more maimed. Bissell says children have fallen victim to continuous, widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. She says UNICEF tries to ease their pain by providing counseling and tries to protect them by creating so-called child-friendly spaces where children can play and study without fear of having their rights violated. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. The Vatican has put its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic under house arrest on charges of sexually abusing children. Vatican authorities removed Polish-born Archbishop Josef Wesolowski from the clergy in June after a church disciplinary body found him guilty of the charges. He now faces a separate criminal trial for child sex abuse. It is the fist time a senior Vatican official has faced criminal sex abuse charges that could lead to imprisonment. Pope Francis has said no one in the church will have immunity when it comes to allegations of abusing children. The Obama administration says it has taken a first step to discourage U.S. companies from moving their tax residence overseas to reduce their tax burden. The U.S. Treasury Department has announced new regulations designed to limit the ability of companies to seek refuge in lower taxation countries through "corporate inversions." Under such a maneuver, a U.S. business can acquire a foreign company and assume that company's identity for tax purposes. The Treasury Department says it will make it harder for businesses to move overseas by tightening ownership requirements. And Israeli and the Palestinian negotiators have agreed to resume talks late next month on cementing a ???full-recalled cease-fire between Israel and militant-run Gaza Strip. Tuesday's agreement came as both sides met separately with Egyptian mediators in Cairo. I'm Michael Lipin in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |