Further evidence this is a regional threat. “The Cameroonian military says members of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram have abducted the wife of the country’s deputy prime minister in the northern Cameroonian town of Kolofata.A local religious leader and mayor was also abducted from the same town.Separately, at least five people in northern Nigeria were killed in a blast – residents suspect Boko Haram.Boko Haram has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks, as the army was deployed to the region.Militants have kidnapped foreign nationals in northern Cameroon before, including a French family and Chinese workers” (BBC http://bbc.in/1nNSsNa)
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Africa
The United Nations has reported alarming rates of malnutrition in the Somali capital where aid agencies cannot meet the needs of 350,000 people due to insufficient funds, drought and conflict. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1prDCJy)
A 33-year-old American doctor working for a relief organisation in Liberia’s capital has tested positive for Ebola, according to a statement from Samaritan’s Purse. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1prDERE)
A Sierra Leone Ebola patient whose family sparked a nationwide hunt when they forcefully removed her from a treatment centre and took her to a traditional healer, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, a health official said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1rMpvmH)
Police were guarding an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone, the day after thousands marched on the clinic following allegations by a former nurse the deadly virus was invented to conceal “cannibalistic rituals” there, a regional police chief said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1prDSZ1)
A South Sudan army spokesman that 140 fighters, most of them from the opposition forces, were killed in fresh rounds of fighting that broke out in Jonglei and Upper Nile states less than a week ago. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army said 83 rebels were killed in clashes in Nassir, in Upper Nile state, and 52 in Ayod in Jonglei state. (VOA http://bit.ly/1prEBcC)
MENA
Hamas Islamist militants agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in its conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip. (VOA http://bit.ly/1prFcuL)
Israel denies causing casualties at UN School on Thursday. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1nNT3hV)
Four children were killed and five other people were injured when a rocket landed near their homes in Rafah, an Egyptian town in Sinai near the border with Gaza, security officials said. (Reutersd http://bit.ly/1prDVnq)
Health officials in Libya say heavy clashes between army troops loyal to a renegade general and Islamist-led militias have killed 38 people — including civilians — in the country’s restive east.’ (AP http://yhoo.it/1prGIx1)
Asia
The United Nations’ new human rights envoy to Myanmar says camps housing tens of thousands of homeless Muslims are “deplorable.” (VOA http://bit.ly/1prEWMy)
Thailand’s military rulers have written a temporary constitution that lets the army keep a great deal of power. (VOA http://bit.ly/1prF3rq)
The Americas
A grave containing at least 400 people is unearthed in the Bolivian city of Potosi, with the remains thought to be those of colonial-era miners. (BBC http://bbc.in/1rMqi6W)
UNASUR Economy and Finance ministers have given a boost to the creation of a Bank of the South, as an institution to foster sustainable and balanced regional development. (Prensa Latina http://bit.ly/1prEmOJ)
Cuba marked the 61st anniversary of the beginning of Fidel and Raul Castro’s revolution with a leading official calling on islanders to be united and to defend the nation’s communist system. (AP http://yhoo.it/1prFqCm)
Opinion/Blogs
The new UN Human Development Report on vulnerability and resilience: ignoring trade-offs and an epic fail on power and politics (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1tPPd9d)
The Affinity Between Iraqi Sunni Extremists and the Rulers of Saudi Arabia (IPS http://bit.ly/1rMpr6h)
Imagining a brave new world for girls (ODI http://bit.ly/1prEtK6)
What countries are the most hypocritical on human rights? (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/1tPN4KP)
Uncertainty About How Best to Convey Uncertainty (Dart Throwing Chimp http://bit.ly/1tPNkJP)
Editing ODA: What to Omit and Add in the Definition of Aid (David Roodman http://bit.ly/1nKNCC8)
Migration and my own children (Wait…What? http://bit.ly/1tPNIb4)
The BRICS Development Bank: Why the World’s Newest Global Bank Must Adopt a Pro-Poor Agenda (Policy Innovations http://bit.ly/1tPOBAz)
The Ebola virus and the vampire state (Mats Utas http://bit.ly/1tPOKE7)
Research/Reports
A group of developing countries brought a tectonic shift at the World Trade Organization by turning the tables against the industrialised countries, when they offered a positive trade agenda to expeditiously arrive at a permanent solution for food security and other development issues, before adopting the protocol of amendment of the contested Trade Facilitation Agreement. (IPS http://bit.ly/1prD3PG)
The exceedingly high cost for the new hepatitis C wonder drug, sofosbuvir, has sparked protests. (VOA http://bit.ly/1rMqJhJ)