Want these clips in your inbox? Sign up here.
Ebola in Mali…Mali is racing to control a fresh Ebola outbreak after confirming its second death from the disease, just when it appeared the country would be given the all clear. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1pQWJn8)
Getting serious about indoor air pollution…The WHO is issuing new guidelines aimed at reducing health-damaging household pollutants in order to reduce the number of people killed by indoor air pollution. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xOhhvp )
On the Docket for Thursday…USAID Admin Shah will deliver keynote remarks at the third Global Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Human Rights and Inclusive Development on Friday at 11AM EST. And…The WHO will release new data on global progress against measles later today.
Ebola
More than 400 health workers at the only Ebola treatment centre in southern Sierra Leone went on strike on Wednesday over unpaid risk allowances the government is meant to fund, officials said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pR0hFZ)
The U.N. peacekeeping chief is urging the Security Council to extend the mandate of its 7,000-member peacekeeping force in Liberia, as the Ebola crisis continues to strain national institutions and threaten gains made since that country’s civil war ended in 2003. (VOA http://bit.ly/1unMpCD)
Britain’s foreign secretary announced plans for 700 Ebola treatment beds in Sierra Leone within weeks, admitting the global response had been too slow as he visited the former colony. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1xOiToW)
The Ebola epidemic is still outstripping efforts to contain it, according to doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières who have mounted most of the early response in west Africa. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EBoCm4)
Sierra Leone will make a one-off payment of $5,000 to the family of any health worker who dies as a result of treating an Ebola patient, authorities said, as a sixth doctor in the country tested positive for the virus. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1EBycoU)
Critical gaps in “behind-the-scenes” infrastructure are hampering Ebola response times and containment efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, aid agencies and health workers say. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pQWwQI)
Africa
South Sudan: Young boys dream of carrying kalashnikovs not books as arms airdrops and night raids for child soldiers make peace in the world’s newest nation ever distant. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EBtQ11)
H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said that it made every effort to ensure its cotton did not come from appropriated land in Ethiopia but could not provide an absolute guarantee. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pR1EnQ)
For subsistence farmers in rain-scarce Kenya, drip irrigation can mean the difference between hand-to-mouth survival and being able to grow an agricultural business. (TRF http://bit.ly/1EBzikH)
Medical experts say cervical cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer related deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. A majority die of ignorance. Less than one percent of women are scanned for the disease. Free vaccination campaigns for 9 to 13 years old girls are ongoing. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EBzW1y)
A protester was killed and two others badly wounded after angry crowds accused UN troops of shooting a man in the head in the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, rights groups said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1umJdHq)
Sudan’s government and rebels from South Kordofan and Blue Nile launched their latest round of peace talks Wednesday, as mediators called for an “urgent” end to over three years of war. (Yahoo http://yhoo.it/1xOhYF1)
Kenyan law provides for life imprisonment when a girl dies from FGM/C, which in addition to excruciating pain, can cause hemorrhage, shock and complications in childbirth. Officials are optimistic they can force a change in attitude but still worry that the practice is too ingrained for legal threats to have an impact. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1unMSVp)
MENA
Amnesty International on Wednesday criticised “woefully insufficient” steps taken by Qatar so far to end abuses of migrant workers building facilities for the controversial 2022 World Cup. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1xMMYVZ)
The U.N. World Food Program has begun distributing food vouchers to Iraqis displaced by war. The WFP gave out the first vouchers in Erbil to about 500 Iraqis last week. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EBwxzV)
Air strikes by U.S.-led forces in Syria have killed 865 people, including 50 civilians, since the start of the campaign in late September against Islamic State militants, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EBEFQH)
Asia
Myanmar’s transition from military rule has not been as fast as hoped and the government is “backsliding” on some reforms, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Wednesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EBFGbJ)
Furious protesters took to the streets in central India on Wednesday, smashing up cars and demanding the chief minister resign, as the death toll from a mass government-run sterilisation programme rose to 13. (AP http://yhoo.it/1pR6v8x)
A team of doctors rushed to central India on Wednesday after at least 13 women died and dozens of others fell ill following sterilization surgeries in a free, nationwide program aimed at limiting births in the world’s second-most populous nation, officials said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1EBEkxs)
Cambodia’s mainly agricultural society is changing fast, driven by urbanization and falling fertility rates. As young workers move to the cities, older people are staying back in the villages, where they have little support. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQYL6z)
Seven Cambodian housing and land rights activists have been sentenced to a year in prison, just one day after they were arrested during a protest. The activists, who were protesting poor flood management in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak neighborhood. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQZcOm)
Cambodia on Wednesday raised the controversial monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28 percent, a decision likely to infuriate unions seeking a higher increase and revive calls for strike action. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pR2eC6)
The U.S. has expressed reservations about the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, but some experts say opposing the newly established bank may not a wise choice for Washington. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xOh0Zw)
The Americas
The number of Americans struggling to afford food has remained stuck near recession-era highs. But a recent Gallup poll suggests things may be starting to get back on track for some. (NPR http://n.pr/1pR2Ibm)
Colombia’s largest left-wing rebel group, the Farc, says it is sorry for killing two members of the Nasa indigenous group last week. (BBC http://bbc.in/1pR2tx5)
Cuba clearly is on the minds of the editors of the New York Times. In the last month the paper has published five weekend editorials in English and in Spanish asking the US administration to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba. (BBC http://bbc.in/1EBtwPQ)
The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador will present the United States with a proposed plan to stem child migration from their countries. (AP http://yhoo.it/1unMrdU)
Opinion/Blogs
Militarizing Global Health (Boston Review http://bit.ly/1xhHs0D)
Obstacles to Development Arising from the International System (IPS http://bit.ly/1EBx8By)
Should NGOs jump on board the Payment by Results bandwagon? New research suggests proceed with caution (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1xhH6Y0)
Sterilization deaths show India’s health care ills (AP http://yhoo.it/1EBFQzF)
When being on the fence is a good thing: GMOs and loss of autonomy for African farmers (HURDL Blog http://bit.ly/1xhH1Uf)
ICAI report slams DFID’s anticorruption efforts, aid experts slam report (Dev Policy http://bit.ly/1xNeBht)
Why it’s time for Band Aid to disband… (Development Truths http://bit.ly/1xhGUIj)
Justice in Syria: If not the ICC, then What? (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1xhHmpY)
Most Money for Health Is Subnational, But What Will Donors Do About It? (CGD http://bit.ly/1xOgsTe)
Research/Reports
Death rates of young children have dropped to record lows in developing countries. Experts say there are two main reasons for the decrease: improved government action and simple protective health measures. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQYUXO)