Ebola vaccine trials set to begin

OTTAWA • An Ebola vaccine developed by Canadian researchers and considered by the World Health Organisation to be the first effective treatment against the virus will soon begin a new phase of clinical trials.

The vaccine's safety and effectiveness will be tested on volunteers infected with HIV, starting in Ottawa and Montreal next month, and followed by trials in Senegal and Burkina Faso next year, the Canadian government has announced.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Debt securities seized at airport

MEXICO CITY • The Mexican authorities have seized US$450 million (S$624 million) worth of debt securities at an airport near the capital that were sent from the US to an unidentified Mexican company, a Customs official has said.

The certificates had been sent via a parcel service and found at the Toluca airport marked "business correspondence", the official said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Putin misses cathedral inauguration

PARIS • Russia was set to inaugurate a new state-financed Orthodox cathedral complex in Paris yesterday without the intended guest of honour, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Putin last week pulled out of a trip to open the complex, which includes a spiritual centre and school, after fierce criticism from France of his bombing campaign in Syria.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Earth's longest hot streak ends

MIAMI • The planet's longest hot streak in 137 years of record-keeping has come to an end with last month registering as the second warmest September in modern times, US government scientists have said.

However, the trend of upward temperatures remains clear, with the year so far, from January to September, still the hottest since 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE