WHO meeting on Ebola outbreak in Congo
GENEVA • The World Health Organisation (WHO) will convene an Emergency Committee today to consider the international risks of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said yesterday.
The expert committee will decide whether to declare a "public health emergency of international concern", which would trigger more international involvement, mobilising research and resources, he said.
Congo's Ebola outbreak, which has so far killed 23, has entered "a new phase" after a case was detected for the first time in the north-west city of Mbandaka, the country's Health Minister said late on Wednesday.
REUTERS
Pakistani forces kill notorious militant
ISLAMABAD • A notorious Islamist militant wanted for more than 100 murders was killed in an intense gunfight with security forces in south-western Pakistan yesterday, the military said.
Pakistani forces raided the Killi Almas village on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, based on a tip that there were suicide bombers hiding there, according to a military statement. Three militants were killed in the firefight, including Salman Badeni, the provincial commander of the Sunni sectarian militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
New Beijing airport to open on Oct 1 next year
BEIJING • Beijing's new international airport will officially begin operations on Oct 1 next year, the authorities said.
All airport engineering projects will be completed by the end of June next year, with equipment testing completed over the following three months, Beijing Daily quoted officials from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development as saying on Wednesday.
The new facility, located between Beijing's Daxing district and Langfang, Hebei province, will have four runways and 268 parking bays, and will be able to accommodate 620,000 flights per year.
Two-thirds will live in cities by 2050: UN
UNITED NATIONS • Two-thirds of people in the world will be living in cities by 2050, and the boom will be concentrated in three countries - India, China and Nigeria - according to United Nations estimates.
The world's rural population will peak in a few years then decline by 2050, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
By 2050, India, China and Nigeria will account for more than a third of the projected growth in the world's urban population, it said.
REUTERS
