Uganda’s Health Ministry on Friday evening repatriated five Congolese people who had contact with a 9-year-old girl with Ebola to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The girl, also of Congolese origin, traveled with her mother Wednesday from Goma in the DRC and entered Uganda through the Mpondwe border post for medical care. She was subsequently isolated and transferred to the nearby Bwera hospital Ebola Treatment Unit, where a blood test confirmed Thursday that she was positive for the Ebola virus. Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Uganda’s state minister for primary health care, said even though Bwera’s Kasese district has the capacity to handle a disease outbreak, including an Ebola outbreak, it was too late to save the girl. “Unfortunately, the girl passed on early in the morning today. Upon the request of the father, plans are underway to repatriate the body to DRC for safe and dignified burial,” Kaducu said. Five return to DRC for care Since June, Uganda has vaccinated 8,000 health workers who have been in the proximity of infected patients. Kaducu said health workers observed the appropriate practices regarding infection, prevention and control while the girl was under treatment, but the Uganda surveillance teams listed five people …

This article originated in VOA’s Persian service.  Iran’s state-run media have responded with near silence to the Israeli military’s launching Farsi social media channels to try to convince Iranians that their Islamist rulers are to blame for tensions with Israel. The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, began posting content on Farsi-language Twitter  and Instagram  accounts on Aug. 21 and six days later opened a Farsi channel on Telegram, a messaging app popular with Iranians who access it using virtual private networks to circumvent a government ban on the service. The Twitter and Instagram accounts had gained more than 2,200 and 400 followers respectively by Friday, while the Telegram channel had more than 4,100 members. This week, the IDF opened @Twitter, @Instagram & @Telegram accounts in Farsi. The people of Iran deserve to hear the truth and that’s exactly what we will share. Iranians can follow @IDFFarsi to see for themselves that they are not the enemy, the oppressive Iranian regime is. — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 27, 2019   “The people of Iran deserve to hear the truth and that’s exactly what we will share,” the IDF tweeted on Wednesday as it formally announced the new Farsi platforms. “Iranians can …

The U.N. atomic watchdog reported Friday that Iran remained in violation of limitations set by the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and that its stockpile of low-enriched uranium was increasing.     In a confidential quarterly report distributed to member states and seen by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium still exceeded the amount allowed by the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).    It also said Iran was continuing to enrich uranium up to 4.5%, above the 3.67% allowed.     The violations were announced by Iran, and confirmed by the IAEA last month, and are meant to put pressure on the signatories to the JCPOA to provide more economic incentives.    Enriched uranium at the 3.67% level is enough for peaceful pursuits but is far below weapons-grade levels of 90%. At the 4.5% level, it is enough to help power Iran’s Bushehr reactor, the country’s only nuclear power plant.  FILE – Pharmacists pick medicine from shelves in a drugstore in Tehran, Iran, June 19, 2019. From imported chemo and other medicines to those made domestically, many Iranians blame shortages on US sanctions. U.S. withdrawal   The nuclear deal is meant …

Abdullahi Musa, a Nigerian engineer, does not sleep in the same house for long these days. He frequently moves around different neighborhoods throughout Abuja, where he was born and reared. Musa has been increasingly concerned about his security. “Nobody is safe in this country,” Musa, 33, told VOA. “Nobody has the guts to say he is safe in Nigeria, except if he belongs to the minority who are leading the nation and they are promoting this violence.” Musa is accusing the government of violently repressing Nigeria’s largest Shiite group. It’s called the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, or IMN. Musa is a member.  Nigerian police officers patrol in the streets of Abuja during clashes with members of the shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria on July 22, 2019. This past week at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the government accused the IMN’s detained leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, 66, of colluding with Iran to plot a revolution and forcefully turn the country into an Islamic Shiite state. IMN has garnered international media attention in recent years as IMN members continue to demand the release of El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat. The Iranian government has also called for their release. They have been in government …

VOA’s Yuni Salim contributed to this report.  Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology said Friday that it would continue to block telecommunication services in Papua and West Papua, in an effort, it said, to restore security in the wake of civil unrest that flared in several cities over allegedly racist attacks on Papuan students.  Acting ministry spokesman Ferdinandus Setu said in a news release that the restrictions on telecommunication services were implemented Aug. 22 to speed the process of restoring order in Papua and other areas. The ministry said the block would remain until calm returned to Papua.  Henri Subiakto, senior adviser to the communication and information technology minister, told VOA separately that there was no timeline for restoring service.  “The other day what triggered the unrest was videos and photos. We slowed it [internet service] down so that photo and video sharing was not possible but people could still communicate,” Subiakto said.  He added that the decision to slow down the internet and other policies was based on Article 40 of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law.  According to Article 40, “It is mandatory for the government to prevent the spread and the use of Electronic Information and/or Electronic Documents which have contents prohibited as stated by law.”  Riot police fire tear gas during a protest in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, Aug. 29, 2019 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Protest …

Britain’s politicians are gearing up for what is being dubbed the mother of all battles in the mother of parliaments — a clash that could reshape Britain’s democracy for decades to come by deciding whether the House of Commons or the government has the upper political hand.      The outcome of the high-stakes parliamentary tussle next week over how, when and even whether Britain leaves the European Union is redefining the relationship among the country’s main governing bodies, the House of Commons, Downing Street and the monarchy, constitutional experts say. The country’s traditional constitutional practices are already fraying, they warn.    Opposition party leaders and pro-EU Conservative rebels, who have been at loggerheads for weeks on what strategy to pursue to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson from leading Britain out of the EU, are planning to try to seize control of parliamentary business from the government in order to draft legislation forbidding him from leaving the bloc.  Johnson’s opponents hope to pass legislation binding the Conservative government from departing the EU without a deal on Oct. 31, something the prime minister has pledged to do, if he is unable to secure a new exit agreement replacing one his predecessor, Theresa May, negotiated with Brussels. Her deal incurred the …

Gavi, the global vaccine alliance that targets developing countries, said Friday that it was appealing for $7.4 billion to immunize 300 million children in 2021-25.  Gavi’s latest fundraising drive is its most ambitious to date. Officials said they expected huge returns from what would be the agency’s most comprehensive and cost-effective preventive health package ever.    Gavi said the vaccines would protect against 18 diseases, saving up to 8 million lives. Spokeswoman Frederique Tissandier said sustainable investment was needed for the project because there still are 1.5 million people dying every year from vaccine-preventable diseases.  “The situation is increasingly fragile because of climate change, because of wars, because of the rise of the population in the urban slums,” she said. “So you have more and more epidemics that are spreading around.”  Tissandier said Gavi planned to introduce new vaccines to prevent deadly diseases. For instance, she said, Gavi is ready to invest up to $150 million in a new Ebola vaccine stockpile once it is prequalified by the World Health Organization.    She told VOA that Gavi also would help the Democratic Republic of the Congo obtain the lifesaving vaccines it needs to immunize children against other killer diseases.     “We are going to fund, for instance, starting in September, measles campaigns in DRC to cover — I think the number is close to 18 million kids — to strengthen routine immunization, because we really focus on routine …

U.S. President Donald Trump is facing a crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. But when the president speaks, it is Barack Obama – his predecessor – who takes the brunt of Trump’s barbs and insults. Trump has criticized the former president on issues ranging from U.S. policy in Syria to trade negotiations with China to the amount of time Obama spent playing golf during his presidency. Trump’s latest criticism came at the G-7 summit press conference in France this week when he claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “outsmarted” Obama by annexing Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Trump mentioned Obama in 246 tweets An analysis of the president’s tweets in the Trump Twitter Archive shows that Obama was mentioned or berated 246 times during Trump’s 951 days in office. That compares with Trump’s 313 mentions of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic rival for president and favorite target for insults.   Obama’s negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal — which Trump disavowed after taking office — often figures in Trump’s tweets. For example, the president wrote on June 21 that “President Obama made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran – Gave them 150 Billion …

This Monday is Labor Day in the United States — a holiday linked to workers’ rights and wearing white. That may sound strange, but it is true. Many Americans put away their white clothes on Labor Day and do not wear them again until the following May, after Memorial Day. One reason for the clothing custom relates to the season. In the United States, the months between June and September are summer. The weather is usually hot, including in Northeast cities like Boston, Massachusetts and New York, New York. Many people there historically wore light-colored clothing in the summertime to keep cool. First lady Melania Trump ignored the rule against wearing white after Labor Day by appearing in a white pantsuit at the 2018 State of the Union address in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018. Judith Martin is an expert on manners – in other words, on how to behave politely. She spoke to Time Magazine about the history of wearing white in the summer. She said that Americans in the 1800s and early 1900s wore formal clothes all year long. Wearing white clothes in the summertime may have felt more comfortable because “white is of a lighter weight,” Martin said. …

British lawmakers will next week pull the trigger on their plans to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson leading the country out of the European Union without an exit deal. Johnson says he still wants to convince Brussels to give him an improved exit agreement, but will leave without one on Oct. 31 if he has to. A narrow majority of lawmakers in parliament has previously voted to try to stop this outcome, known as a “no-deal” Brexit. But, with only a few weeks left before the deadline and limited time in parliament to play with, what options do they have to block the prime minister? Change the law British law says that the country will end its membership of the EU on Oct. 31. That date can only be changed by the government of the day. This means members of parliament need to find a way to pass a law that requires Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit and then, if the EU agrees to the request, make the required changes to domestic legislation. In extremis, a law change could even be used to force Johnson to revoke the government’s intention to quite the EU. However, passing a …

Marking the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Aug. 30, several human rights groups called on China to stop using the practice of disappearances to silence human rights defenders, dissidents and other members of civil society.   They are urging the government in Beijing to immediately release those being held, including Yang Hengjun — an Australian writer of Chinese origin, whom Beijing has officially charged with espionage after a months-long detention. The former government official was detained in January as he prepared to head to Shanghai after traveling to Guangzhou from New York with family. He has been held without access to family or lawyers since then. Yang, who was later moved to Beijing, has been a vocal critic of Chinese authorities.   Rights groups, including the International Service for Human Rights and Safeguard Defenders, called China’s arrest of foreign citizens, including Yang and two Canadians, part of its aggressive “hostage diplomacy,” according to a joint statement.  Hostage diplomacy   Some observers believe that Yang’s incarceration may be linked to Australia’s decision to ban the purchase of equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei over security concerns. Others, however, argued that Yang may be a target under China’s campaigns to find double …

European Union foreign ministers on Friday urged Serbia not to stray from its EU membership path as the Balkans country readies to sign a trade agreement with a Russian-led economic bloc. Serbia is expected to sign the pact with the Eurasian Economic Union _ made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan _ on Oct. 25. But to join the EU, candidate countries such as Serbia must align their policies with their European partners, notably on trade.   At talks with his EU counterparts Friday, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak described Serbia’s actions as “confusing.”  “If you are serious about your European orientation then obviously you make political decisions that bring you closer to it. This is not one of them,’”Lajcak said.  Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that “if countries want to join the club they must comply with the rules, values, principles.” He said every country has a right to take its own trade and economic decisions but that “preferably it would be good to have them in alignment with the policy of the Union they are going to join.” The EU remains Serbia’s largest trade partner, with trade amounting to nearly 26 billion euros ($29 billion) …

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached another grim milestone, the World Health Organization says. More than one year after the epidemic was declared, the WHO confirmed 3,004 cases, including 2,006 deaths.  That is the second worst Ebola outbreak after the 2014 West African epidemic, which infected more than 28,000 people and killed more than 11,000. Most Ebola cases in the current epidemic are in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s conflict-ridden North Kivu province. WHO says Ebola transmission has been substantial, but somewhat less intense for the past 10 weeks. On average, it says 80 people a week are being sickened by the virus. Unlike previous outbreaks, health workers have new tools to help them tackle the deadly disease. WHO says more than 200,000 people in the DRC and in four neighboring countries have been vaccinated against Ebola, and two therapeutic treatments are saving the lives of people who seek early treatment. More than 89 million people have been screened for the disease inside the DRC and at international borders, according to WHO, which has helped control the spread of the disease by identifying and providing care to anyone with symptoms. However, WHO added, ongoing insecurity …

Taiwan’s relations with the United States have reached their strongest point ever despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties as officials in Washington value the Asian government’s role in international causes, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Friday. Close ties with the United States give Taiwan military and diplomatic support that it struggles to get elsewhere because most countries recognize Beijing over Taipei. Taiwan faces a chronic military threat from nearby China. The government of U.S. President Donald Trump, though it also maintains formal ties with Beijing instead of with Taipei, is locked in a trade dispute with China and often sends naval ships to oppose Chinese maritime expansion. “I agree with most assessments that Taiwan’s relations with the United States relations are very good and probably better than at any time before,” Wu told VOA in an interview. He cited a pickup in recent U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, totaling some $12 billion, more high-level dialogue than before, and the welcome for Taiwan’s president in the United States in July as examples. “So, if you put all this together, I think Taiwan-U.S. relations are very good,” he said. More friends in the United States Taiwan has “more friends” in …

An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. on Friday again listed its destination as Turkey but the Turkish foreign minister added to the confusion by saying the vessel is headed to Lebanon — statements that were promptly denied in Beirut.   The flurry of contradictory statements further muddies the waters for the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, and obscures where its 2.1 million barrels of oil will ultimately go.   The tanker has taken center stage recently amid a crisis roiling the Persian Gulf and escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago. The vessel’s detention and later release by Gibraltar has fueled the growing tensions.   The tanker on Friday changed its listed destination in its Automatic Identification System to Iskenderun, Turkey, a small port on the Mediterranean Sea.   However, mariners can input any destination into the AIS, so Turkey may not be its true destination. On Aug. 24, it had listed its destination as Mersin, Turkey, before removing that from its system. Earlier, it had said it was going to Greece. Iskenderun is some 200 …

This week, on #VOAOurVoices: from afro beats and South Africa’s hypnotic gqom music, to the Ivorian sounds of Coupé-Decalé, African artists continue to reinvent the rhythms of Africa – and the world is taking note. This week, our hosts are joined by David Vandy, from VOA’s The African Beat. Together, they explore the global influence and reach of African music, and how that expansion benefits artists from the continent. In our #WomentoWatch segment, we highlight the women who are pushing the sounds of Africa to a new level, and feature a live performance from singer-songwriter ToluMiDe. …

Hurricane Dorian is expected to strengthen into “a major hurricane later today,” the National Hurricane Center said Friday.  “Dorian is likely to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula through the weekend,” the center said.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Aug. 29, 2019. The Bahamian government has issued a hurricane watch for the northwestern Bahamas, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for the entire state. Rainfall from Dorian could produce life-threatening flash floods, the hurricane center says.   Dorian is moving with maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour.  Forecasters predict that Dorian could slam into southeastern Florida early Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of at least 209 kilometers per hour. Category 4 storms are capable of what experts describe as catastrophic damage — destroying homes and stores, ripping up roads, and knocking down trees and power lines. U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled a planned trip to Poland to “ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm … …

Thousands of people in Pakistan took to the streets Friday in mass demonstrations protesting India’s recent decision to revoke the special status of Indian-controlled Kashmir.  Traffic around the country stopped for several minutes as the anthems of Pakistan and Kashmir were played on state media at noon.  Prime Minister Imran Khan told the assembled crowd in Islamabad, the capital: “The message that goes out of here today is that as long as Kashmiris don’t get freedom, we will stand with them.”  The Indian action to cancel the special status for the country’s only Muslim-majority state was accompanied by a wide-ranging curfew and communications blackout, cutting off millions of Kashmiris from the rest of the world. Indian media reports say nearly 4,000 political leaders, activists and civil society representatives have been arrested.  The Indian government defends its actions in Kashmir as important for the region’s development and said they will benefit all. India’s Kashmir-related moves have prompted Khan to repeatedly describe the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as fascist and supremacist. Khan has also compared the Modi government with Nazi Germany and has alleged that Modi’s actions pose a threat to both Pakistan and religious minorities in India.  Both …

The Boy Scouts of America is facing a threat from a growing wave of lawsuits over decades-old allegations of sexual abuse. The Scouts have been sued in multiple states in recent months by people claiming to be abuse victims, including plaintiffs taking advantage of new state laws or court decisions that are now allowing suits previously barred because of the age of the allegations. More litigation is on the way. In this Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 photo, Greg Hunt poses for a photo in St. Petersburg, Fla. Attorneys for victims from around the country of alleged childhood sex abuse by Boy Scout officials say they are preparing to sue the organization in New… A lawyer representing 150 people who say they were abused as Boy Scouts is planning a suit in New Jersey when the state’s new civil statute of limitations law takes effect Dec. 1. New Jersey was home to the Boy Scouts’ headquarters for about 25 years until 1978. Among the plaintiffs is Greg Hunt, 62, of St. Petersburg, Florida. He said he was abused during a camping trip in about 1969 in Pennsylvania, where his family lived at the time. “It’d be nice to have the Boy …

Among protesters on the streets of Kong Kong are many who are prompted by their religious faith.  Christians, like others in Hong Kong, are divided in their politics, but as Mike O’Sullivan reports, Christians in the pro-democracy movement say they hope to be a voice for peaceful change.   …

Scientists warn that Greenland’s melting ice sheet is a real doomsday scenario.  Rising temperatures and record heat this summer accelerated what has already been a much faster thaw than seen in previous years. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.   …

A report by the U.N. refugee agency finds more than half of the world’s refugee children, about 3.7 million, do not go to school and will not gain the skills needed to build a productive future. The statistics on education for refugee children worsen as the children grow older. The report finds 63% of refugee children go to primary school, compared to 91% globally. But that dwindles to only 24% of refugee adolescents getting a secondary education, compared to 84% globally. Investing in the future The U.N. refugee agency says lack of money is keeping refugee children out of school. The head of the Global Communications Service and UNHCR spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, calls the failure to invest in refugee education shortsighted. She says this is not only sad, but also foolish. “Not investing in refugees, people who have fled warzones, people who have fled countries where the world is interested in the future of peace is not investing—very simply—in the future of its people … who are interested in reconciliation and not revenge.” The UNHCR is backing a new initiative aimed at kick-starting secondary education for refugees. The initiative will seek to construct and refurbish schools, train teachers and provide …

In India’s northeastern Assam state, anxiety and panic is mounting among nearly four million people who fear they may no longer count as Indian citizens although many have lived in the country for decades. As part of a campaign to root out illegal immigrants, authorities will publish on Saturday a final list of the state’s bonafide citizens. The hundreds of thousands whose names were excluded from a preliminary list last July have scrambled through a bureaucratic maze for the past year, trying to dig out documents from government offices or engaging lawyers they often cannot afford to fight for their inclusion in the citizens’ register. Waiting to hear their fate, they fear being packed to detention camps or becoming “stateless” and stripped of benefits such as voting rights. “People are going around with bundles of hope, wrapped in plastic, waiting for hearings, lining up to get on to the register,” says Sanjoy Hazarika, international director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and an Assamese scholar. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a youth rally organized by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) ahead of Assam state elections in Gauhati, India, Jan. 19, 2016. The process to identify illegal immigrants has the …

Hong Kong police arrested well-known activist Joshua Wong and another core member of a pro-democracy group Friday in a mounting crackdown on people involved in this summer’s protests. Police also arrested Andy Chan, the leader of a pro-independence movement, at the airport Thursday night. An appeals board also denied permission for a major march planned for Saturday, the fifth anniversary of a decision by China against allowing fully democratic elections for the leader of Hong Kong. March canceled The organizers said they were calling off the march. “The first priority of the Civil Human Rights Front is to make sure that all of the participants who participate in our marches will be physically and legally safe. That’s our first priority,” said Bonnie Leung, a leader of the group. “And because of the decision made by the appeal board, we feel very sorry but we have no choice but to cancel the march.” Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow attends a news conference at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, June 10, 2019. Police said that Wong and Agnes Chow are being investigated for their role in a June 21 unauthorized protest outside a police station. Both face potential charges of …