NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1_ Ebola outbreak: Congo’s yearlong Ebola outbreak has spread to a new province, with two cases, including one death, confirmed in South Kivu, according to the government health ministry. The movement of the potentially deadly disease to a new province highlights the difficulties that health workers in Congo face in controlling the outbreak. Two new patients tested positive in the Mwenga area of South Kivu, adding to North Kivu and Ituri provinces where there are confirmed cases of the disease, according to the health ministry. The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has killed 1,808 people out of 2,765 confirmed cases, according to the new report. The current outbreak, which started on Aug. 1 last year, is the second largest in history.
2_ Migrant standoff: Three ailing migrants and a family member were evacuated Friday from a Spanish rescue ship anchored near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa while 134 others remained stuck on the boat as Italy’s political battle over migration raged on. The humanitarian ship Open Arms had rescued 147 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya two weeks ago and won a legal battle to enter Italy’s territorial waters despite a ban by rightwing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Yet most of the migrants remained aboard the ship as Salvini stuck to his resolve to keep humanitarian vessels from docking in Italy. Despite offers by Spain and five other European Union nations on Thursday to take in the migrants, whom Salvini doesn’t want to accept, it was unclear when or how the standoff might end.
3_ Syria air strike: A suspected Russian air strike hit a displaced people’s gathering in a town in Syria’s last rebel enclave Friday, killing at least 13, including a number of children, activists and a war monitor said. The Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike, suspected to have been carried out by Russian aircraft, hit in the town of Hass south of Idlib province, where peopled displaced by the violence had congregated. The monitoring group said the attack killed at least four children. Syrian troops have been on the offensive in Idlib and its surroundings, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, since April 30 in a Russiabacked campaign.
4_ Taiwan fighter jets: The Trump administration has informed Congress it plans to sell F16 fighters worth $8 billion to Taiwan in a move that will inflame already high tensions with China. Two U.S. officials and a congressional aide say the administration informally notified lawmakers of the proposed sale on Thursday. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The F16 deal is highly controversial because China fiercely opposes all arms sales to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, but has specifically objected to advanced fighter jets. The State Department declined to comment.
5_ Car attack: Israeli police fatally shot a Palestinian man Friday after he drove his car into two Israeli pedestrians in the West Bank, injuring them, and militants from the Gaza Strip fired at least one rocket toward southern Israel, the Israeli military said. Israel’s national rescue service said a man was severely hurt by the car and a woman was moderately injured. Army radio reported the victims’ ages as 17 and 19. The incident took place near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, south of Jerusalem, not far from where the body of an offduty soldier was found stabbed earlier this month. Israel last week arrested Palestinian suspects in the killing of the 18yearold soldier.